Some of the overlooked ones

One of the services in WWII that is not known by many people is the Women Airforce Service Pilots. During WWII pilots were needed in Europe and the Pacific. And unlike the Soviet Union, women were not allowed in combat. Since every single male pilot was needed for the front lines, there was a real need for experienced pilots to ferry airplanes from place to place, both within the United States and abroad. In 1943 the WASPs were formed.

If you’ve never heard of them, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. During the war, they weren’t considered a part of the military, only an auxiliary, and received no military recognition or benefits. This is starting to change. There is now a WWII WASP museum located in Sweetwater, Texas. I plan on visiting it sometime.

One of the books that I read that helped to tell me about the WASPs and about the Mercury 13 is Amelia Earhart’s Daughters, The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age. This isn’t the most scholarly book, but it is a good place to start.

The day we fight back against mass surveillance

If you’ve been as disgusted with the overreaching and unconstitutional surveillance that the NSA is doing, then please see this website The day we fight back. There is a banner on that site that gives you an overview of some legislation that will help reign in some of the worst abuses and links to look up your senators and other legislators.

 

Winter weather is on its way again,

have you made any additional preparation for it?

Time to fill that car tank with gas if its anywhere close to low. Grab a cheap 5 pound bag of kitty litter. If your car is a rear wheel drive, get a bit more weight over those back wheels. Clothing layers are important, and covering all extremities can be vital. Socks can double as mittens, so throw a couple of pairs of socks in the car just in case. Protein or nutrition bars are good to have on hand. Monday night will be too late, so get it together now.

Prep for the next snowpocalypse

So, with so many people stranded in their cars on Tuesday night, people are realizing that bad stuff can happen and they need to be better prepared. The Alabama Emergency Management Agency has some good resources on its preparedness page, including a link to a basic list for a winter car kit.

My parents grew up in the midwest, and grew up driving on snow and in nasty wintry conditions. My dad remembers days with weather conditions going from a clear winter day to whiteout conditions with a 40F temperature drop in a time span of 2 to 3 hours. My husband was stationed in Germany for 3 years before we met. My parents and my husband have been insistent on making sure all the cars are ready for winter. I will say my car was pretty well prepared on Tuesday. Not perfectly prepared, but decently.

I keep a car maintenance kit with jumper cables in it at all times. In the winter I keep a reflective poncho liner in it as well. I also have a space blanket and several chemical hand warmers. I have several peanut butter crackers that rotate in the car. A 5pound bag of kitty litter is also a part of the winter kit. I have a car phone charger that stays in my car all the time. I have a water bottle in it too. I do have an ice scraper, and it stays in the car all the time.

Knowing that we were going into a multi-day stretch of below freezing weather, I chose to dress very warmly in layers. I also wore my good hiking boots that are waterproof.

In looking at the things that happened here, and the contents of my car, I need to add a couple of things to it. A number of people abandoned their cars to survive the cold. They had cell phones, but had no way to charge them after they left their cars. I need to get a travel charger that plugs into the wall for my phone to leave in the car. I also need to put some duct tape in the car, since I don’t think I have any in it. I need to add a bit more water. I probably need to get a change of clothes in the car as well. So it looks like I’m going to find a small bag here at the house to put those things in, as well as a travel toothbrush and toothpaste. I wear contact lenses, so a travel case and solution wouldn’t be a bad idea either.  What would you add?

Happy Snowmageddeon 2014

Welcome 2014, snowpocalyse style.

DH and I are safely home, and from what I’ve seen on twitter and facebook, most of my friends have made it home too; or are at least in a safe place, sheltered from the weather. Weather forecasting is an art, and the forecasters work very hard to get it right as much as possible. But ya gotta love it when a forecaster/multiple forecasters get it as wrong as they did on Tuesday. James Spann has apologized for missing the mark on this, as well as JP Dice. Honestly, as hard as forecasting the weather is, you expect there to be misses. And for all the folks casting aspersions on the forecasters, let the ones who’ve never been wrong in their predictions cast the first stone.

There’s plenty of blame to go around, and lots of local leaders share in it. And when the schools, businesses, and governments all chose to release people into the weather at the same time it tends to be a bit chaotic in the best situations. Add in the snow turning into ice on the roads very quickly and you get horribly snarled.

Here’s my relatively easy trip home for it. This is a novella, so let me put a cut in here. 

Happy 2014!

Its a brand new year on the calendar. I’ve been away from here for the better part of the year, and haven’t published at all here in the last year. Hi folks! I hope that your 2014 exceeds all your expectations.

Ideas for app developers

I started thisnpost early last year and saved it. It still applies, so I’m going to publish it now. 

I’ve had my smartphone for over 2 years now. I’ve gotten used to the idea and practice of holding a small computer in my pocket just to make calls and do stuff. I really like having the ability to do the various things it allows: access to travel plans, maps, pictures, and the larger world. There are apps on my phone that are invaluable to me.

But there are apps on my phone that I initially downloaded that were useful that are losing their utility for me. As the phone and battery age, and the battery life degrades, I’m having to pay closer and closer attention to performance issues that I was once able to overlook.

It seems that a growing trend in phone apps is to have them start up when the phone boots up. It isn’t enough to have access to them when you want it, you must have them on ALL THE TIME. And if you do try to turn them off? Well, its just too bad, so sad, you can’t. There is no way to turn the app off. You can back out of it, but it stays on and takes up memory space, as well as adds to the power drain on your battery. I don’t care that you the developer think that your app is the best thing since sliced bread, and should be able to go instantly. I use your app differently that you think I should. Give me the option to turn the damn thing off. If it doesn’t already start up at the phone booting up, DON’T ADD THAT TO ITS NEWLY UPGRADED FEATURES! You don’t add value to it by doing so, you make me re-evaluate its status as a valuable tool, and it becomes more likely to be uninstalled.

Happy 2013!

Its now 2013. 2012 was not a good year for many friends of mine. So welcome new year, and may it be a much better one than the previous one! 

Dia de los Muertos 2012

Here in Birmingham, you wouldn’t think that you would see any references to Dia de los Mertos, Day of the Dead. It is actually a fairly small but enthusiastically embraced festival here in town. A local gallery has been hosting/holding, as they call it  “A one-day festival of public art installation, performance & remembrance celebrating the ancient Hispanic memorial of lost loved ones.”

DH and I both have plenty of family member to remember today, this feast day of  the remembrance of all souls. As we go through day and into the new month and year, we carry those loved ones with us in our hearts and in our minds always.

The day has come, bankruptcy is upon us

I watched my twitter feed closely this afternoon. After being put off several months, the county commission finally made a decision on a course of action.

Its only been over three YEARS since they had the option. I blogged about this in August 2008. And millions of dollars have been spent in interest, millions of dollars have been spent in lawyers’ fees, and millions of dollars have been spent in receiver fees.

It sucks. Its not good for anyone. But the alternative is worse. The county has been functionally bankrupt for over 2 years. The loss of tax revenue, thank you very much you greedy, money grubbing pair of lawyers who were only in it for the fees you could get, has removed a third of the previous budget from the table. And JP Morgan, that sorry excuse for a financial institution, has given the county major contradictory signals when it came to trying to negotiate some sort of solution to refinancing the debt. It was willing to forgive Greece billions in its debt owed, but wants to make up any difference on the shoulders of Jefferson county residents. Then the court appointed receiver wants to do the bidding of his corporate overlord, JPMorgan, and hike the sewer rates that have already risen over 300% another 300%. He’s only being paid $500.00 per HOUR to come in and raise the sewer rates.

When the county commission met in September, they were trying in good faith to avoid bankruptcy, and Governor Bentley twisted the commissioner’s arms in executive session to keep them from declaring bankruptcy at that time. The governor said he would get the county’s legislative delegation to come to an agreement about how to help the county raise the money and meet the bond obligations. The local business leaders have been all pissed off cause its going to impact their ability to get a loan, but they’ve done nothing to actually work to create a solution.

Then the county’s legislative delegation refused to come to any compromise on an additional revenue stream for the county. The governor couldn’t get them to do it. They wouldn’t budge. As before, the county tried to work with the banks to come to some sort of equally agreeable decision for both parties. And, as before, the banks tried to get the county to agree to things they had no control over, and forgive less than they first offered. So the county finally pulled the trigger on bankruptcy.

Now the governor is hurt and mad that he was shown as the ineffectual leader that he is. And the sewer receiver is threatening bad things for the county and its residents because his master the bank has been told that it won’t get things that the commission can’t legally give it. This is going to affect municipal bonds all over the state, cause the banks are now going to go into reprisal mode.

Interesting times.

And its all for the want of a nice suit and some cashola. There are currently 5 previous county commissioners that have been convicted of felonies, four of them directly related to this sewer mess. The county is now screwed for avarice of some people and institutions.

Followup to my ebook rant

And after reading xkcd today, I just had to link to it. It is, unfortunately, spot on.

A year ago I got word about NASA tweetup

At the end of the work day on Sept 1, 2010, I got an email from NASA HQ. I had been seeing some tweets from folks about the NASA tweetup, but was not expecting anything. I had signed up for the NASA tweetup, but honestly I sign up for contests and mostly don’t win, so I figured it was a another contest to try but not win.

My mind was officially blown. I opened up the email and it said “Congratulations, you have been selected.” I came very, very close to sitting on the floor at that point. I read through the email, and re-read it. I was in shock.

Now its a year later. I have met some really incredible folks in the year between. Thank you NASA.

And now I have been given the opportunity to attend another NASAtweetup, this time for the GRAIL mission. I’ll be heading down early next week with several other people in town to speak to the mission specialists and watch the Delta II with the satellites launch. Woohoo! I have truly become a space geek.

Publishers, why do you make it SO DAMN DIFFICULT to legally read an ebook?

WHY? I swear to god that you are running yourselves into the ground, and I will cheer when you have done so!

STS-135 Atlantis has a tentative launch date

Its official. Space Shuttle Atlantis has a NET launch date of July 8, 2011 at 11:40 AM EDT. And NASA will be hosting one last space shuttle launch tweetup. Registration for the tweetup opens on June 1 at 12:00PM EDT and ends on June 2 at
12:00PM EDT, provided Endeavor’s landing doesn’t cause a delay. Double check with NASA’s website tweetup page to verify this when as it gets closer to the time.

Its the last shuttle launch. Ever. And until we get a new vehicle made, it’ll be the last launch of people for the USA.

Why Twitter?

That’s a question my mom asked this past weekend.

She knows that I’ve been on twitter for several years now. She’s seen my pictures from the NASA Tweetup, heard about the folks I’ve met and wondered all along about my imaginary internet friends. So she asked again.

This past week I’ve been crazy while on Twitter. With the tornadoes, I’ve been trying to help out however I could. I’ve seen the ability of twitter to make a difference in past disasters and other events. Its able to be a big help to spread the word. Its also can spread rumors and mis-information.

During bad weather, I’ve seen the weather information spread so folks had it. And when tornadoes hit on April 15th, Twitter was a big help in spreading the word about problem weather locations around the state. I’ve passed the word on in previous bad weather occurrences, so I was prepared to do the same on the 27th.

My tweet count prior to April 27th was less than 19,800. In the week since then I have tweeted close to 1,000 times. Most of these tweets have been storm and relief effort related.

So I found a new analogy for my mom. I told her that what I was doing on twitter was similar to what Ham radio operators do during emergencies relaying information on to others. And the Ham radio analogy works on a number of levels. It is identifiable and known.

So why Twitter? Because its a way to connect with people. And because I can help other people with it.