Letting the Children Enter. The Simulators Open Today for Field Trips.

Hello Troops,
Today is the day we open the curtain and take down the "Keep Out" partitions. The Space Center opens for our first school year 2011-12 field trip missions. We start with Central Elementary School's fifth graders. They are very excited and have been peeking in on the simulators and asking questions for weeks now. Their patience will be rewarded. We are ready to go!

Yesterday Lorraine, Aleta and Megan spent the day teaching the science curriculum and briefing the students on their mission. I spent the day answering calls and emails and getting acquainted with the new Voyager Control Room lay out. Last month, Bracken spent several days changing things around - all of which takes some getting use to. He threw out my CD players forcing me to modernize and use iPods instead. That alone will be a bit of a challenge - but nothing I can't handle, after all, this will be my 21st year of flying missions in the Voyager. If I haven't got it down now, I never will :)

Today we will be telling "A Cry from the Dark". It will be a bit rough, considering I haven't sat in the Flight Director's seat for three months and missed it.

Yesterday we held our second Open Mission (read the top of the blog's right side bar) in the Phoenix, flight directed by Megan Warner. Brent Anderson and Matt Ricks taught the first lesson for this year's Revolution Programming Class in the school's computer lab. We had a good turn out; you can't beat a free class!

Let's get this day started with a couple items from the Imaginarium.

From the Space Center,
Mr. W.

Advice I'm taking to heart. I'm a bit worried about my first day back in the Flight Director's chair after three months.

I'm tempted to issue this as Space Center currency. Pretty cool.

One Epic Library!

Back to the Flight Director's Chair.

Hello Troops,
Nearly time to crank up the old Battlestar and head to the Space Center. Today will be spent answering emails, booking schools, researching where to put another simulator and registering students for Super Saturdays, Overnight Camps, Academy Classes, Computer Classes and Parties. Mrs. Houston, Megan Warner and Casey Voeks will work in Discovery on this year's Field Trips lessons and Starlab Planetarium presentation. I've also got to spend a little time in the Voyager reacquainting myself with the ship in preparation to fly at the end of this week. Yes, Mr. Williamson will be back in the Flight Director's Chair for another season of chills and thrills.

Before I lumber down the hill to school, I thought I'd share a few things from the Imaginarium to get your day either started or ended correctly (depending on when you read this).

See You in the Trenches,
Mr. W.

Behind every good Storm Trooper is a good woman

Every day is a challenge. Attitude determines the outcome.

Attitude determines whether failure defeats you or teaches a lesson. Failure just means you, like the rest of us, are human. We try, we fail, we learn and go on. Give yourself a break. Do you think the success we've had at the Space Center was the result of pure genius!? What you see is twenty years of trying, failing, succeeding, trying, failing, succeeding, frustration, victory, and then all over again.

Here are the results of the question. Sad isn't it.

The Perfect Book Sandwich

A Two Day Weekend, The Definition of Bliss for a Space Center Worker

Hello Troops,
For most people, a two day weekend is par for the course. A two day weekend is a treat unlike no other for many of us that work at the Space Education Center. We work six days a week with Saturday being the tail end of Friday's long overnight camp. At 5:30 P.M. on any given Saturday, a visitor to the Center would be amazed and bewildered by the odd assortment of pale skinned humans stumbling out of Central Elementary's darkened halls and into the sun kissed world of light and color. A visitor's inquiry about our ability to drive would be appropriate at that time.

Occasionally I'll saunter as far as the parking lot only to find my energy spent when I reach the Battlestar. The remedy is to pop the trunk and collapse onto my overnight kit of blanket and two pillows. Don't be alarmed if you drive by the school and see my open trunk with two appendages hanging over the side - one arm and leg. If you're in a weird Christian mood, feel free to stop and cover me with the blanket. I'm usually woken after dark by the wet nose of a passing dog. I always find my way home.

And Now, From Wonderland's Imaginarium to brighten your weekend.



A road sign in Denmark. I'm guessing it's a Danish thing. Cars are being signaled out from their lanes and ushered to the shoulder where several policemen and their sniffing dogs wait to inspect the car's interior atmosphere. The generators of noxious vapors deemed above and beyond Denmark's strict air pollutions standards are fined and sent on their way with a thank you and a bottle of Beano, compliments of the local Constabulary.

Once again in the lovely Kingdom of Denmark. You'll always get an interesting shot wherever you point your camera. This sign either points you to street or a village. Either way, I, for one, would be pleased as punch to live on either. How cool would it be to have Sore Badfart as your return address on every invitation or letter sent out?

"Are you coming to the party tonight?"
"Sure, where do you live?"
"Easy to find, just drive along the ring road until you get to a sign pointing to our neighborhood."
"What's your street?"
"Sore Badfart."
"Right....." spoken as the speaker slowly backs away while looking for the nearest exit.

As soon as you get your farting under control, you and your friends can gather at Denmark's famous Cafe Arsenik for good food, good drink and limited conversation (very limited once the meal has begun). It's known as that perfect place to have your last meal.


We travel halfway around the world to China for this next shot. Hummm??? Do you see what's wrong with this picture? I don't know who would be more offended, the Brits or the Germans?
Now you know why we are so concerned about the Chinese. They are the worlds next superpower. They hold most of America's debt. How did we ever let ourselves get into this position? What a sorry lot we are compared to America's previous generations.


How could I have lived as long as I have and never experienced the refreshing and rejuvenating Poo Water from springs deep under the streets of Bangkok, Thailand? Its said to have a strange mineral taste and loved by humans and animals alike. Dogs are particularly fond of PooWater so keep your bottles safely stored in your refrigerator.

I've read that PooWater is looking for people interested in franchise opportunities in the United States. Don't let this gem get by you if you've some money set aside for investing.


Speaking of dogs..... I met many a strange dog during my days as a missionary in England. I wish I would have been warned of their fondness for my leg before accepting many an invitation to "Come in and have a warm, you'll catch your death in the cold."
Perhaps it was the polyester. Who knows....


I've heard that with the Second Coming only months away (considering the Mayan Calendar predicting he end of the world on December 23, 2012) some cemeteries are putting up signs to stop the expected mass raisings of the dead.

"We're concerned with overcrowding," said the head grounds keeper at the Eternal Hope cemetery. "Seeing thousands of people poppin out of the ground will scare the snot out of the people that live around here; many of whom are elderly. The shock would be too much. Besides where are the dead suppose to go? My county handbook doesn't have a chapter on the dead raising. I say, "No thank you. Raise everyone else first, let others work out the logistics, then come back to Eternal Hope."

The solution, signs urging the angels to move along and not stop.


Dry cleaners for your clothes. Psychic Cleaners for your peace of mind, offering to help you work out your remaining issues with the dearly departed. You can't beat the price; $1.99 to iron out that final argument you had with a parent or grandparent gone on to their reward?

Welcome to the world of the future (already in practice at the Space Center). Let me state for the record how happy I am that I was born and spent my adventurous youth in a time and place far from the ever watchful eye. Being a kid is tough today. Sorry.....

A New Yorker's preparation for Hurricane Irene.

Do I hear an "Amen?" Life isn't about never making mistakes.
It's making them then learning from them.

Shall I order several of these and keep them in stock at the Space Center? I'm sure the staff would love them during our long cold winters at the Center where some of them can never stay warm enough.


And Finally, an Imaginative Approach to a few company's logos.

Have a Great two day weekend Space Center Staff! (Three days to your civilians).

Mr. W.