The Staples of a Space Center Breakfast

Here's a memory magnifier for all you old time campers from years gone by. Do you remember your delicious, nutritious, and delightfully decadent Space Center breakfasts?

Here are a few pictures to remind you:

We start with these deceptively delicious Vitamin Rings packaged exclusively for the Space Center by our friends at the local WalMart. Do you remember how the pastry melted in your mouth? Remember the perfect sweetness of the powdered sugar glaze? Remember how generous we were by offering them "All you can Eat?"
Remember the upset stomach? Remember needing the Happy Bucket?

Fresh from the orchards behind most local Walmarts comes the varied fruit offered with every Space Center breakfast. Juicy oranges, ripe bananas and sweet Red Delicious apples graced the serving counter in the school's cafeteria. Nutrition and fruit go hand in hand. We like to think that a piece of fruit will cancel any and all negatives from the doughnuts. At least, that's what we like to think.

How could you forget the multiple flavored GoGurts freely distributed at every Space Center breakfast. Cotton Candy, Banana Split, and Watermelon flavors just to name a few. Remember struggling to tear the top away to get at the sweet yogurt inside? Remember how many times the GoGurt exploded in the attempt, shooting all over your shirt, pants and shoes? Remember the look I gave you? Ah, you don't want to remember that do you?

And to wash it all down, your selection of breakfast liquids. Every Space Center breakfast offered WalMart chocolate milk, 1% milk and Sunny Delight. You look surprised? Did you think that orange tasting liquid was real orange juice? Well it wasn't . In our concern not to upset potential ulcers in our young campers, we made the decision not to offer real orange juice. Instead, we offered the chemically based Sunny Delight - barely distinguishable from freshly squeezed OJ. Not to mention much cheaper - which I guarantee had nothing to do in the decision between OJ and SD.

Feeling nostalgic for the Space Center? I knew you would after this post.

May I offer a suggestion? Go to your local WalMart and purchase the donuts, Sunny Delight, GoGurts and fruit. Bring it all home and feed your family a traditional Space Center breakfast - for old times sake.

Best Wishes,
Mr. Williamson

Really?

Dave Daymont sent this to me. Yes, it's real. You can by the 2001 Monolith for $13.00. They say there's a sucker born every minute and this is the proof.

Are we missing something here? Should we stock this kind of thing in the Space Center's gift counter? We could make these dirt cheap with all the broken black plastic laying about we use to cover our computer screens in the simulators.
Let's see, we need clever packaging a great series of missions involving the Monolith told in the simulators.

Yes, its all coming clear to me now.

THE MONOLITH and THE SHADOW (that added bit means nothing in the story but it will increase the sales for sure).

Once upon a future time, in a Galaxy closer than you think there was a Starship called Voyager on route to a planet that looked remarkably like Jupiter.

"Captain, on final approach," Ensign Parker sighed, obviously bored from spending several hours on duty with very little sleep from an all night party in the Lounge.

"Wake up!" The captain flicked him on the back of the head. "Sit up straight."
Parker sat up quickly, not wanting to spend another break period in the ship's canteen scrubbing the food processors. "Scans?"

"Captain, detecting something in orbit of the gas giant," Commander Anderson said. He peered deep into his desk top visor, flipped a few switches and continued. "Its very dark and quite large. A monolith to be precise made of solid neutronium - impossible to scan the interior."

"Strange." The Captain stood over the Commander looking at the data as it streamed in from the sensor sweeps. "What's that red line mean?"

"Oh crap. A hugh energy discharge heading straight for us!"

"Red Alert!" Klaxons rang throughout the ship. Parker was wide awake and clutched the sides of his desk. It wasn't going to be a good day........

Mr. W.

The Early Morning Call. October 5, 2005

Hello Troops,
Before I created this blog I posted my stories and observations in a YahooGroup. That group is no longer used for posting and I'm afraid all those stories may be lost over time.

To preserve the history located in those older posts, I've decided to transfer them from the YahooGroup to The Troubadour where they can be read and enjoyed by our readers.

Therefore, the following story is a repost from the YahooGroup originally posted on October 5, 2005.

Mr. Williamson


The Early Morning Call

Early morning disturbances are the flavor of an overnight camp and its the flavor that stays on memory's tongue for years to come.

I was settled for my Friday evening `nap'. The overnight campers were in bed and quiet. The staff were asleep (including the high schoolers who feel going to sleep before 2:00 in the morning is a waste of social time). I was on my pad near the Voyager's doorway into the Briefing Room. For fifteen years I've spent nearly every Friday evening sleeping near this door on the floor. With me, my two pillows, my flashlight, my alarm clock, the Enforcer, and Taz - my Tasmanian Devil sofa pillow. Taz is our unofficial mascot for the Overnight Camps.

Sleep had caught up with me. So far it had been a good night. No crying kids. No sick campers. No staff shouting to each other as if they were separate by yards and not inches. Yes a good night.

Shortly before 3:00 A.M. I was pulled into consciousness by the ringing of the Center's telephone. Who wants to answer a telephone ringing at that time of
night? My experience tells me that a 3:00 A.M. call is usually bad news. At the Space Center these early morning calls are usually faxes coming in at a time the mass faxers think no one is around to turn off their fax machines to stop the unwanted advertisement for real estate or educational books some publisher has warehouses full of wanting to dump them onto the market at unbelievable prices?

Just in case it was an emergency I struggled to my feet and over to the phone.

"Hello," I said quietly. I looked around the room. There were a few that stirred but so
far so good. I used my hand to cup my mouth over the receiver hoping to quiet my voice.

"Hello," came a voice on the other end. It was a boy's voice. My next thought was a family emergency of some kind for me, a staff member or a camper.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

There was along pause. "I'm wondering when you have an opening for the Odyssey simulator?" he said. I looked up at the clock and rubbed my eyes. Yes it was a bit after 3:00 A.M. It was a first in my fifteen years at the Center. Either this kid couldn't sleep and wanted to call and leave a message - or this kid likes to call in the middle of the night to hear my voice on the answering machine (I've been told I have a very calming voice). Perhaps this kid though the Space Center was some international corporation which had its telephones manned day and night for our overseas customers.

"I'm sorry but its the middle of the night and we are running an overnight camp at the
moment. Could you call back in the morning?" I asked.

"Oh, all right....... bye," he said. There was a click on the other end. I put the phone
down and went back to bed. This place always amazes me. Just when you think you've seen or heard it all, some kid will surprise you.

Mr. Williamson