Thank you for the Recent Emails.

Hello Troops,
Two recent emails to the Space Center staff, demonstrating once again how awesome they really are (in case you doubted).
Mr. Williamson

First a poem written by Nathan R. to the Space Center staff.
Thanks Nathan!

Mr. W
This is Dedicated to You and the Space Center Staff.

I imagine the stars, going by so fast.
I look back through the mission, remember the past.
Through space, and the planets, the fun, and the strife.
I remember the coolest, best thing, in my life!

I imagine the people behind the wall,
Who worked so hard to do it all.
I wish, and I hope, and I dream, and I pray,
That I could be one of them someday.

--
Nathan R

Lieutenant Junior Grade

Christa Mcaullife Space Education Center

(Coolest Place On And Off Planet Earth!)

And another email from Deven:

It's Deven again, if you remember me. I recently went on the Voyager with friends and it has been the best experience by far. The flight director Emily did an excellent job and the rest of the crew did not cause trouble. (Other than what they were suppossed to do, but I quickly took care of them. I was security.) Anyway, the only thing I found lacking was how long it took to train the Security position. It didn't cause a problem but we were still on our tour while the missioin had started. My suggestion is you re-record the tapes so they play a little faster. However I do realize that children do this and that is why they are so slow. Perhaps you could make a second set of tracks. However, you guys did excellent as always. I am planning on doing another mission in April, we don't have a time set yet but we plan on a five hour mission this time to compare how the longer time goes to the shorter time. It will also be my last chance to do it before I leave on my Mission in South Carolina for two years. Keep up the good work. I'll be sure to let you know how it went. Please tell Emily and her crew they did an excellent job. Many times praise is seen by the higher ups and doesn't get passed down to the people we are thanking.

Sincerely,

Deven

The Phoenix has a New View Screen (And Other Things)

Hello Troops,
We had a good weekend punctuated with a couple hiccups. Alex stopped me as I walked into the office Friday evening. It was almost 6:00 P.M. and I had several things I needed to do for the Overnight Camp at 7:00 P.M.

"Our main viewer is down. I couldn't get it to turn on." Alex was neck deep in a Phoenix private mission so he had to speak quickly. "I'm using the two side TV's only."

I asked if he'd clicked the input button on the remote. He said he had but I wasn't convinced. I'm usually pretty good at making what some classify as impossible, possible. I found the remote, walked into the ship, told the kids to carry on and pretend I wasn't there and fiddled with the viewer. It was obvious the TV had power - the red light on the front control panel flickered whenever I pushed a remote button, but no matter what I did, no matter which button combination I pushed, that TV wouldn't cooperate. I pronounced it DOA when I came out of the ship.

I was left with one choice - I had to purchase another TV for the Phoenix. The old set would be removed and taken to the repair shop for diagnosis. If it could be repaired at a reasonable cost then it would be. If it couldn't, then it would be carted off to recycling - or whatever else you do with dead large screen TVs.

The Phoenix private mission ended at 7:00 P.M. That gave Dave and Alex just 20 minutes or so to come up with an alternative plan for the Overnight camp. They found an old 24 inch TV in the Animation Studio and installed it. Mind you, it looked odd having this large wall of black plastic with a 24 inch screen shining through but would the campers know? Most likely they wouldn't - thinking what they saw was how the ship was designed.

The second hiccup was discovered around 8:00 P.M. Several volunteers failed to show up to work the camp. That immediately put us into 'problem solving' mode. Within fifteen minutes we had the problem worked out. I want to thank Erick B. for answering the email call for additional staff and coming when he did. It made a big difference.

Saturday morning I called Brady Young, a Voyager Flight Director and a member of Best Buy's Geek Squad, and explained the problem. Brady said he would talk to the store's manager and see if they would sell us a TV at cost. He called back saying he'd worked out a deal.

Later that afternoon, Bill Schuler picked me up in his truck and we drove to Lehi's Best Buy. We met Brady near the Geek Squad's area. He introduced me to the asst. manager and we worked out a deal. One thousand dollars later and we were out the door with a nice 47 inch LCD television for the Phoenix's main viewer. We got back to the Space Center just as the afternoon mission was wrapping up.

The Center closed at 5:00 P.M. Alex and Jon stayed until 7:30 P.M. installing the new TV. It wasn't easy, considering the number of cables that had to be stretched across the Phoenix's ceiling.

The new TV is in and, according to Alex, looks awesome!

"There is one problem," Alex said when he called me to deliver the news. "Whenever we switch between inputs, the TV displays the word 'Component' in the corner for a few seconds. It's something we can't make go away so it will be something we have to live with."
Alex and Jon will come up with some "sci fi" explanation for the word's appearance in the context of the Phoenix being a starship etc. We are good and dishing out the bull when necessary.

I'm anxious to see the TV in action on Monday. I hope its worth the $1000 paid. I want to thank Bill, Alex and Jon for helping with this small crisis.

And how about a few things from the Imaginarum to wrap up this post?

This is exactly what we had to do this weekend. It is what we do well. We have no choice. Try running this program on a tight budget. You'll see what I mean.

Now this is what I call a real man's 'Captain Crunch'.

Have you ever succeeded from walking away from a sheet of bubblewrap without popping a single bubble? I haven't. Self control was never one of my strong points.

I couldn't resist. The perfect St. Patrick's day picture for The Troubadour's Irish readers.

And finally, this is what I heard all the time as a teenager. I'm sure you teen readers out there hear the same from your parents. Well, guess what - read and memorize because you'll be saying the exact same things to your kids. It is just one of those eternal things passed down generation to generation. Yes your own kids will think your stupid because you "Don't Get It". Well here's news to all you teens - Yes we Get It, just like our parent's Got It when we were teens. It's just that the role you play in life changes as you get older. So, be good to your parent's. They aren't stupid. There is merit to what they say.

See you in the Trenches!
Mr. Williamson

Wednesday's Thoughts

Hello Troops,
All is well on the front lines at the Space Education Center. Our forces engaged the Ignoraemii in heavy combat today. We reclaimed the innocent from enslavement using heavy doses of imagination and electrical jolts to restart cognitive thought processes. Yes, It's what we do.

The battle is still being fought as I type. Jon leads the Voyager's forces. Alex is sounding the trumpet in the Phoenix while Ben urges his Galileo troops over the top to engage the enemy with bayonets drawn. It is a wonder to behold.

I had the District Metal Shop build a new addition to the Captain's Loft. It was installed on Tuesday. In the following two pictures Jace demonstrates the correct exit from the Captain's Lounge using the new ladder.

You'll see the new carpeted platform at the exit (or entrance). This gives Jace room to turn around and descend the ladder if he's coming out of the Loft. Once again, done with the safety of our staff and crew in mind.



Alex started the work of installing a couple new cameras in the Galileo this afternoon. The one camera currently in the simulator doesn't cut it.


We had fun hosting students from Foothill Elementary in Orem and the John Hancock Charter School in Pleasant Grove on Tuesday. Both teams worked well through their respective missions. John Hancock's Captain was very good and Foothill's Ambassador was outstanding.

Foothill had a few students with unusual names never heard before at the Space Center.

Gomer (Yes, like Gomer Pyle from the 1960's TV show)
Egbert and
Pahoran

It was refreshing to see those unique names. I think its time to bring back other odd and unusual names that went out of style long ago (or perhaps never were in style). I'd like to see more Georges (we had one last week. First in a long while). I'm also thinking of Fred, Wilma, Betty, Elmer, Hank, Mildred, Luella, Minerva, Abigail, etc.

Before ending this post I'd like to add a few items for your consideration from the Imgainarium.

Great back to a new Space Center T-Shirt?

An intelligent mind never stops questioning. Push boundaries with good questions and be wise enough to know that the answers may not be what you were expecting.

A perfect illustration of what its like being the Captain of one of our simulators. I'm constantly having to remind Captains and Ambassadors to FOCUS. It's not easy at that age to learn how to direct your thoughts to the task at hand and not be distracted by things happening around you.

As some of my teens say, "Like a Boss!"

Respect is earned. Don't demand it. Muck in with everyone else and soldier on. Be a great example and maintain your principles. Respect will be the natural outcome.

Anyone out there have a killer cat? Mr. Schuller has one that lies in wait and attacks the unknowing as they come down the stairs to his family room. There's a chair near a desk where "The Cat" scratches a record of his victories. One scratch per broken or twisted ankle.


The moral of this illustration is to encourage you to abandon your scents and let people smell the real you. I'm considering tossing the cologne I use at the Space Center. It's the blue bottle next to the printer that smells like mosquito repellent. Remember that strange smell which lingers like an invisible fog in the air around my desk?

Thank you for being kind enough not to comment when you pass.

See you all in the Trenches!

Mr. W.