Preponderance of Ponderances

Jet lag

2010-08-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

So, after a chaotic last 3 weeks, I'm finally starting to get caught up, again.
In that time, I've spent a week in Iowa, 10 days in Romania, and the past 3 slowly getting over jet lag. It'll be a couple more days before I sleep as well as I would like. It's hard when my body wants to wake up at 3 every morning. Soon I'll be able to sleep better. Lord willing, it will be tonight.

Hot and Humid

2010-07-21T14:15:00.002-05:00

I voted early yesterday. I was able to do a bit of research, although not enough. It's hard to do research for a primary when there's not much information out there about some races. The attorney general race is a prime example. There are two candidates for the Republican nomination for attorney general. I have no clue about either one, and there's not much information out there, either. It's hard enough to decide how to vote in this day and age of everyone claiming to be "conservative" to try to earn votes. It's harder when there's no way to check out their claims.

Hot

2010-07-18T13:19:00.001-05:00

The weather here is hot. Really hot. Hot enough that it would probably be possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk. In fact, it's hot like Appalachian State. (Watch the video at this link and make it through the 1st verse to get the joke.)

Really?

2010-07-12T12:49:00.003-05:00

I was reading this article from the Reuters earlier today, and I stared in shock at the start of the 2nd paragraph. It ran as follows: "The two-year-old octopus with possible psychic powers...."
Ok, hold on a minute. Yes, Paul the octopus did happen to "predict" the winner of 8 World Cup games, but that hardly seems to justify the use of the phrase "possible psychic powers." Never mind that the whole concept of psychic powers is absurd (and that the reference to them reveals something about the worldview of the reporter, a New Age and/or pagan worldview). The odds are 1/256 of picking 8 winners completely at random (as Paul obviously did). While unlikely, that certainly is possible. It is no different than flipping a coin 8 times and getting heads 8 times. It can happen because the sample size is so small.
I find it shocking that people are willing to believe that an octopus is somehow "psychic" because he happens to get lucky on 8 separate games, yet they are unwilling to believe in the existence of a Creator God when any study of nature reveals that it is highly, highly improbable that life as we know it could have evolved. The odds of any single system of the human body independently evolving is so much greater than an octopus getting 8 games correct. People are willing to believe that something supernatural allowed the octopus to beat the odds. Why aren't they willing to believe in something supernatural when it comes to life existing?

Election Season Has Begun (yay?)

2010-07-07T20:23:00.002-05:00

With less than a month to go before the primary on August 3rd, election season in Kansas is heating up. The big news is the primary for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Brownback. The two challengers, Moran and Tiahrt, have spent most of the past two months trying to portray themselves as more conservative than the other guy. The amount of effort that they're going to, especially Moran, is a bit sickening. Just show us your record and let it speak for itself. Who is more conservative? Well, I think it depends on what measures you use. I would say that Moran is barely (just barely) more conservative fiscally (if there is such a thing in Washington anymore, which I doubt) but that Tiahrt is more conservative socially. Both, in reality, are probably fiscal moderates and social conservatives of some sort.
The problem, really, is that there simply aren't enough politicians in the entire government who are true fiscal conservatives, which is what this country probably needs more than anything right now. Yes, there are important social & moral issues that need to be dealt with. The current leadership, however, is spending money like they're making it in the cellar. As a registered Republican voter, I need to decide who I'm going to vote for. What I really want to see, of course, is a candidate who is fiscally and socially conservative. They apparently don't exist. I'd settle for someone who is fiscally conservative and won't allow a liberal social agenda. Since I have neither of those options, I'll wait a little while longer before I make my decision, although I'm leaning one way over the other.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T13:35:00.002-05:00

Today is an exciting day in American history! It was on this date in 1776 that we officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, marking our separation from Great Britain as a separate nation. While the Declaration probably wasn't fully signed until August, the Declaration itself lists July 4th as the date of the Declaration. It is a convenient date to use to commemorate the founding of the United States of America.
I have to take a moment to praise and thank God for the blessings I have of living in America. From the resources to the political, economic, and religious freedom with which we as a nation have been blessed, thank you, Lord!
Bashing America has become fashionable. While it is true that as a country, America has never fully lived up to its ideals, it is still not right to focus solely on the mistakes made by us. Yes, as a country, we have done evil. Yet we have also done good. From World War II to humanitarian aid to economic development, the United States has done much good in this world.
So, at least for one day, let's forget about the problems of the country and celebrate what has been done well for 234 years. Tomorrow, the problems will still be there, and we can do our best to solve them then.

A Reprieve from Summer

2010-06-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

A temporary reprieve from the hot summer weather has arrived. After a week plus of temperatures in the middle and upper 90s, temperatures have cooled down into the 80s. With lows in the 60s, it's definitely a night to open the windows and let some fresh air into the house. Unfortunately, I know that the hottest days of summer are still ahead, in July and August. So, I'm planning on enjoying the nicer weather while it lasts.

World Cup -- The U.S. Undone

2010-06-27T13:06:00.002-05:00

Well, the U.S. made it as far as I expected from them at this World Cup. Anything farther would have been a bonus. I'm proud of what they've done and how they showed resiliency to recover from being consistently behind. Unfortunately, that tendency to play from behind, along with an inexplicable habit of giving away goals in the first 5 minutes of games, led to their downfall. If they don't concede that early goal, they game would have been very different. I'm not sure if the U.S. would have won, though. Ghana had so much speed, and we didn't have the central defenders to match. Once the game reached extra time, we looked tired. Having to play from behind constantly will wear a team out, and the team looked tired as they played out the final minutes.
It was a great run by this U.S. team. It will be interesting to see what sort of team we assemble in 4 years. Several of the players on this year's team will be gone, and it will be hard to replace them. The biggest challenges, in my mind, are solidifying the defense and finding a consistently 2nd center midfielder to complement Bradley. We'll see what happens. Either way, this year's team gave us an enjoyable experience.

The Effect of Worldview on News Reporting

2010-06-22T10:02:00.003-05:00

Worldview shapes what events reporters cover, how they cover them, and even which pictures they choose for their stories. To illustrate this effect, read these two articles, one from Fox News and one from CNN.
Can you tell the reporter's opinion of the events that are occurring, even though it's never directly stated? With the CNN article, it is pretty obvious. The picture alone tells the reader that CNN is opposed to the actions taken by Freemont, NE. The article itself views the measure in a negative light, as well. There is hardly any mention of why people this resolution and no interviews with supporters. The Fox News article also shows some evidence of bias. The picture at the start of the article tells the reader the view of the reporter (the opposite of CNN's picture). But Fox News at least tries to balance its coverage, having interviews with both sides of the debate.
In this case, the political worldviews that shape the two networks show up relatively clearly. Fox News, despite being derided as biased by liberals, comes out ahead in this case on being closer to balanced. CNN, which conservatives also deride as being biased, does worse in the neutrality issue. In each case, however, the event is interpreted through the reporter's/network's worldview. There's no way to prevent this. It is how we operate as humans, and it is one reason why we need to be wise in how we interact with the news reports that are out there. Sometimes, it is necessary to read two or three different reports to get the full story because reporters (unintentionally) angle their store as a result of their worldview.

World Cup Refereeing Comments

2010-06-20T20:10:00.002-05:00

Refereeing soccer is not easy. Believe me, I know. I am a referee. I am nowhere near in the league of those men who take the field every 4 years at the World Cup, so I am almost always impressed by the manner in which these guys handle such intense pressure.
That said, the past few days have been full of controversial refereeing decisions, which is sad. It distracts from the beauty of the game. I understand how the referees must feel because I've been there myself. I've had to make difficult calls, issue red cards, and deal with irate parents, coaches, and players. I've had bad games. I've had great games. And, since I am not in a soccer-insane country like Colombia, my life is not in danger after a bad game.
The latest firestorm to hit the World Cup was the 2nd yellow and subsequent sending off of Brazilian star Kaka. While Brazil has taken issue with the red card (of course), and while the replay shows that the Cote d'Ivoire player exaggerated the contact, I still think Kaka's 2nd yellow was justified. Let me explain why. The reason, plain and simple, is that Kaka stepped into his opponent and raised his arm, trying to make the contact look incidental. It was Kaka who created the contact. It was, in my opinion, classic unsporting behavior. Now, should the Cote d'Ivoire player also have received a caution for exaggeration of the foul? Absolutely. The problem, however, is that from the referee's point of view, he could not see the contact and where it occurred. He was in proper position, and as a result, the players had their backs to him. The only way that the simulation on the part of the Cote d'Ivoire player could have been seen is if there were two more Assistant referees on the touch lines, one covering each quadrant. I think that might be unnecessary. Maybe not.
The only thing I've always found out about soccer is that there are 22 players on the field, operating in far more space than American football, and yet there are only 3 referees for the entire field. American football uses 6. Hockey uses 4 (I think). So, maybe it's time FIFA looked at adding some extra referees out on the field at the International level. I'm not sure exactly how it would work. Perhaps some sort of hybrid between the Diagonal System of Control and the 2-man system still used by high schools in the U.S. The system would still utilize 2 assistant referees with flags who are responsible for boundary decisions and offside and 2 referees, each of whom was responsible for one half of the field, looking for fouls and the like. I don't know. Maybe that wouldn't work.
Regardless, I completely agree with the referee's decision to caution and send off Kaka, and I'm sure that puts me in the minority. I don't care. I'm used to having a minority opinion. I am, after all, a referee.

Rain!

2010-06-13T13:02:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a very rainy day, with over 1.75" of rain falling in the capital city. More rain fell to the east, where daytime heating, combined with a slow-moving front, set up cell after cell after cell rolling over the Kansas City metro area. More rain will probably fall today and tomorrow, which will result in more flash flooding in the Topeka area. The rain should also make soccer games tomorrow not possible, which is fine with me, since I'm still suffering from a cold and an injured ankle.

The Death of College Sports

2010-06-09T20:55:00.002-05:00

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit over-the-top with my title, but the whole hoopla surrounding the conference "expansion" (read "destruction") going on in college athletics right now is showing just how out-of-touch major universities' athletic departments are with their institutions' goals. It used to be that athletics were considered a part of the educational experience, a way of helping the student body develop into well-rounded individuals. Sure, winning was nice, but as important was allowing athletics to play a part in molding the young men (and eventually women) into complete human beings. Somewhere along the way (maybe the 1970s?) this emphasis slowly disappeared. Now, major universities' athletics programs became about one thing only: money. The players and their interests no longer matter.
If you doubt my statement, consider what is driving all of this conference realignment nonsense. Does Nebraska really need to become part of the Big 10 (the conference that can't count because it has 11 teams)? Does the entire Big 12 south really need to join with the Pac-10 to form a new superconference? No! There is not one good reason as far as the athletes or their institutions' educational mission are concerned. The only reason is money, which is downright pathetic, short-sighted, and shallow.
I don't know if the NCAA can do anything about this situation, but it would seem to me that it would be appropriate for the NCAA to step in and say, "Nebraska, if you join the Big 10 (read "Big 11") then you are banned from postseason play." Or to say the same thing to the other Big 12 south schools. I don't know if the NCAA has that sort of power. They probably don't. But it is sad that a few schools (Nebraska and Texas, in particular) care only about themselves and more specifically only about money. Greed is vice, and several excellent universities (Kansas, Kansas State, and Iowa State) are going to find themselves relegated to 2nd class status because of the vices of other schools.

Summer Colds. Bah. Humbug.

2010-06-09T17:02:00.003-05:00

I have managed to catch (achoo) a summer cold. And the drainage (achoo) from it was so bad that I couldn't (achoo) sleep last night due to the pain in my (achoo) throat. I'm not going to write any (sniffle) more right now. My thoughts (cough) are too scattered to make any sense. (achoo)

World Cup in Less than One Week

2010-06-07T20:42:00.002-05:00

World Cup 2010 in South Africa starts on Friday, and I am excited! The U.S. is in a group that is favorable for them advancing out of group play. However, to do so, they must not play like many U.S. teams have in most of recent history once they reach the tournament stage. The U.S. tends to play one great game, one average game, and one mediocre game. We need two good games and one average game to get through. Otherwise, we'll be packing our bags and headed home after pool play. With the talent that this team has, there is no question that they should advance into the round of 16. Quite possibly, with a good break, we might even make it to the round of 8. The semi-finals are highly unlikely, and the final is probably out of the question. Then again, sports are notoriously unpredictable, and at this level, just about any team can beat any other on a given day. So, if we play well, we have a chance to progress a ways. If not, it will be like World Cup 2002 all over again.

Memorial Day 2010

2010-05-30T16:12:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day on which Americans stop to commemorate those who lost their lives in defense of our country while in military service. Last year, if I remember correctly, I honored the members of my family who had served in the armed forces during World War II and Korea. They both lived through their combat experiences, however, so I wanted to take a moment to express thanks for the many men and women throughout the past 234 years who have died in order to preserve the political, social, economic, and religious freedom that I enjoy today in 2010. Without the sacrifice of all of these people, we as a nation would not be able to enjoy the prosperity with which God has blessed us. Instead, we would be under the rule of a king or a dictator, possibly speaking German (or Japanese, depending), and unable to assemble peacefully to petition our government for redress of grievances. In so many ways, life as we know it would not be possible. We would not be free.
Yet, sadly, in America, we have misunderstood what true freedom is. Freedom is not the right to do whatever we want. Rather, it is the power to do what we ought. In other words, freedom is not just a state of being, it is a responsibility. In this country, we have lived far too long neglecting the responsibilities inherent in our freedom. And that neglect is, in part, an insult to the sacrifice of those who died to preserve our freedom.
So, on this Memorial Day, you may not be able to go out to a cemetery and decorate the graves of veterans now deceased. You may not attend a parade. But you can still honor these brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice by becoming responsible with your freedom -- for example, engage in the the political process by being cognizant of the issues and by voting intelligently. Our freedom only will last as long as we the people allow it to last. Let's not waste that freedom, and in so doing dishonor those who have died for their country.

The Basic Gospel

2010-05-26T11:13:00.004-05:00

In my post last week, I referenced the concept of the Gospel, which is the foundation of a Christian worldview. In brief, I would like to give an outline of the Gospel, with supporting Bible verses in parentheses.
1. We are all sinners. (Romans 3:23)
2. Our sins bring us under God's righteous judgment and separate us from God. (Romans 2:12)
3. The penalty for our sins is eternal death. (Romans 6:23)
4. Jesus Christ died on the cross to be a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Romans 8:3,4)
5. Through faith in His work on the cross, we can be forgiven our sins and have our relationship with God restored. (Romans 6:23)

Rambling: Gulf Oil Spill & Worldview

2010-05-26T10:57:00.005-05:00

During my blogging hiatus, a horrendous disaster struck in the Gulf of Mexico. An offshore oil rig exploded and sank, causing an oil well to leak huge amounts of oil into the water. Safety measures on the rig and safety measures on the pipeline leading to the rig both failed to prevent the oil from spewing out.
The owners of the well, BP, have tried for nearly a month, now, to close off the well, with no success. Various techniques that traditionally work in these situations have failed, and now BP is getting set to try a radical approach that, if successful will plug the well. This attempt has about a 60% chance of succeeding, according to their estimates.
The mainstream media, of course, immediately spend hours and hours lambasting the executives of BP and generally making all sorts of noise about the "horrendous damage" caused to the environment by the oil spill. What's sad is that in the midst of all of this "green" reporting, the ultimate tragedy of the lost lives of the workers on the rig is being ignored or minimized. Who cares if several people lost their lives? There are herons, cranes, and storks who are covered in oil!
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's a good thing to have those birds covered in oil. It's not. But the underlying worldview of the media is a secular, humanist, evolutionist midst that all life on this world is equally valuable and should be treated exactly the same way. In other words, this worldview says, "Animals are people, too."
The only problem with this, though, is that animals are not that. They are not people. From a Biblical point of view, they are something less than humans. They are creations of God, yes, and we should be doing what we can to treat them well, given that we humans are supposed to be stewards of the Earth. But they are not the same as people, created in the image of God. There is something unique about us humans. We think. We create. We build. Even a secular humanist has to admit that there is something special about this "animal" called "man." That something unique is what the Bible clearly identifies as the imago Dei in us. Too often, though, we dismiss it or ignore it, at our own peril.
For if God made us in His image, doubtless He also expects us to give account for how we treat that image. Given how nasty, rude, disrespectful, and terrible we are to ourselves and each other, I'd say that none of us can claim that we have rightly seen His image as we ought. We all justly deserve God's judgment. And that's where the Gospel begins. The bad news is that we deserve to be judged for not mistreating what God has made. The good news is that through trusting in Jesus Christ's work on the cross, we can be forgiven of such mistreatment (sin) and be restored to a right relationship with God. But now I wander too far from my point. I'll save that for another post.

Hiatus Over; Summer Weather

2010-05-23T16:33:00.002-05:00

The school year is officially over, with graduation occurring yesterday. Just in time, summer-like weather has descended upon the Topeka area with a vengeance. It is hot and humid outside, with strong, south winds. Ah, yes, summer is here. And with it comes the return of blogging for me. The Sunday/Wednesday schedule will be back, with only a couple of interruptions, throughout the summer.
For now, I'll content myself to end on that note and save any other comments for the next post.

Commentary: VAT? No!

2010-04-21T19:48:00.001-05:00

President Obama has started to say that a European-style VAT (Value-Added Tax) might be an option for the U.S. in order to address the deficit that his party's Congress and the monstrosity of a health-care bill created. In case you doubt me, here is the story.
My immediate reaction to this idea is an overwhelming "NO!" I generally oppose increasing taxes as a matter of principal. It is generally better for the economy to have low tax rates. Business seek those areas that have low tax rates (among other things) and tend to function better in those environments. So, a VAT, which would impose multiple levels of taxation on every level of the economy (and be hidden, since it would already be included in the price), would effectively hurt business while also stifling the spending power of the American consumer.
This suggestion to me shows how out of touch this Administration is with the American people. The majority did not want a debt-ballooning social medicine program. But the Democrats arrogantly said, "Too bad, we know better than you, so there." Now, on top of passing a bill we don't want, the Democrats are floating the idea of a tax that we don't want to pay for a social medicine program that we don't want.
And the Democrats wonder why there is such voter backlash....

Blogging Hiatus

2010-04-14T17:48:00.002-05:00

Because of the busyness of my schedule, I've been on a hiatus from blogging for the past two weeks. I'll probably be on hiatus for the rest of this school year, posting only sporadically, until I have some time to think of things worth saying. That means that I will try to resume my regular posting schedule in June.

The Oddities of English

2010-03-28T15:05:00.002-05:00

I was pondering the strangeness of the English language two days ago, especially how prefixes don't always work according to the expected rule.
For example, the prefix "in-" (meaning not) behaves quite strangely. "Edible" and "inedible" obey the rule and are antonyms. But "flammable" and "inflammable" are not opposites. "Flammable" means able to be set on fire, and "inflammable" means able to be inflamed (i.e. set of fire). Likewise, "habit" and "inhabit" are not opposites the way the rule would suggest. In fact, the relationship is quite complex, considering that "habit" is a noun and "inhabit" is a verb. The relationship between "tense" and "intense" is also not an antonym relationship.
As near as I can tell, the reason for this unusual behavior stems from the etymology of words. Sometimes, the "in-" as a prefix is the result of the Latin "intensifier prefix" (i.e. a prefix meaning "very"). In other words, "inflammable" results from taking "flammable" and adding "very" to the front of it.
This explanation, of course, is limited, and there are no doubt plenty of good etymologists out there who would take me to task for my incomplete ("not complete" :-) ) description of the issue. Still, it is one of the more difficult aspects of English for many speakers, native and non-native. The only aspect that I can think of that is more challenging is the use of the word "up," but that it is a discussion for another day.

Why, It Must Be Spring!

2010-03-24T21:36:00.001-05:00

The weather's warmer. It rains about every other day, and I'm very tired because of the combined load of soccer and teaching. Yup, it must be Spring!

NCAA Tournament

2010-03-21T13:05:00.002-05:00

There's something fascinating about the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament that seems to compel me to watch it more than regular season NCAA basketball. Perhaps it's the schools that I've never heard of beating the "power" programs. Perhaps it's the fact that any team could beat any other on a given day. Perhaps it's the variety of offenses, tactics, and strategies. Whatever it is, I've enjoyed watching the games, even though some of the results have not been what I anticipated.
Hopefully, the teams that I am the most interested in will make deep runs. If not, hopefully at least one low seed would make it in. Otherwise, the tournament will not be as fun to watch.
Regardless, with basketball almost over, it's time for baseball to kick into gear. The Royals don't look to be very good this year, but then again, you never know....

Snow on the First Day of Spring?

2010-03-18T08:33:00.003-05:00

As the first day of Spring, March 20, draws closer, I've been watching the weather forecast (and forecast models) closely to see what the first day of Spring will be like. Right now, it appears that the weather will be winter weather. Snow is possible, and the wind chill will be in the low 20s or upper 10s. Not exactly a great start to Spring.
March 20, however, is astronomically the first day of Spring. It is the day of the vernal equinox. There will be 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness everywhere in the world. This event was chosen by scientists years ago to be the "official" start of Spring. The reality, however, depends on a myriad of local and climatological factors that the amount of daylight cannot affect. So, while the "official" first day of Spring may be on March 20, the true first day of Spring is going to be recognized only in hindsight: whatever day is the first of a sequence of days with "Spring-like" weather, define that how you will. (I suggest Spring be defined as a week in which 5 out of the 7 days have temperatures over 60 and whether the temperature never falls below 32.)
So, enjoy the nice the weather today (and possibly tomorrow), because winter is going to make one last gasp before bowing out to Spring.

Spring Break Project

2010-03-14T14:40:00.002-05:00

Every Spring Break for the past two years, I've tried to work on some major home improvement project that I don't have time to do during the school year. This year, I thought I'd take on the task of removing the old, ugly, peeling wallpaper that currently haunts my kitchen.
I plan on starting tomorrow, but the process just became a bit more difficult because I have discovered that underneath two layers of wallpaper there is wood paneling. Particleboard paneling would be more accurate, or so it appears to me.
The problem with this paneling, however, is that it has been both glued and nailed to the wall. I know this because in on one edge of one wall, the glue has failed completely, and the paneling was pulled away from the wall, allowing me to see what's behind it.
So, in addition to having to strip wallpaper, I'm going to have to remove the particleboard paneling, trying not to do damage to the plaster walls that are underneath. Then, once the panels are off, I'm going to have to clean and sand the walls to allow them to be painted. If that sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. I'm not looking forward to this challenge. If it had just been wallpaper, that is one thing, but wood paneling adds an extra level of difficulty (and potential expense) to this project. It's a good thing I have most of the week to devote to it.
The end result will be worth it, of course, but it could make for a couple of hard days work to get the enjoyable part: painting.

Spring Break

2010-03-12T19:52:00.001-06:00

I forgot to post on Wednesday. The stress of pre-Spring-Break drove the thought of posting from my mind. Spring Break is here, though, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing week of getting my kitchen looking better, instead of having peeling, old wallpaper.
That is about all I want to say. Thank you; good night.

Spring Is Here in an Instant

2010-03-07T13:47:00.001-06:00

There's something about Kansas that seems to make the appearance of Spring-like weather a predictable, sudden phenomenon. Last week, it was in the 40s, cloudy, and very wintry. Then, by Tuesday of this past week, temperatures had suddenly jumped up to near 60 as the sun shone. It seemed like it was going to be winter for a couple more weeks, and that Spring Break would be cool and decidedly un-Spring-like. Instead, the weather has (almost instantaneously) changed. It is a wonderful change, although it is quite unexpected. I expected there to be more of a transition, with a few sunny days in the 40s. However, I guess that is not the case. We are getting sufficient sunlight, now, that the weather can become far more enjoyable than it has been. It came not a moment too soon, either, since soccer has started again, and nothing is more miserable than cold soccer practices and frigid soccer games. Hopefully, this great weather will continue to be in place over Spring Break. I would love to have the chance to get outside some during my week off.

Dawn Treader After All!

2010-03-03T17:48:00.002-06:00

I just found out earlier today that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a project that I had assumed to be shelved indefinitely, is indeed coming to theaters. According to this article in Christianity Today, the movie is scheduled for a December 10, 2010, release. I'm excited to see this book make it to the big screen. I'm also excited that the film makers learned (at least partially) their lesson from the disaster of an adaptation that was Prince Caspian. It sounds like they have done a better job of remaining faithful to Lewis's original work. Since they have done so, I'm excited to see the final product. It's been since the summer that I set foot in a movie theater (May of last year, if my memory is correct), but I'm planning on hitting the theaters to see this one. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Soccer Starts Again

2010-02-28T17:17:00.003-06:00

As hard as it is to believe, considering the snow on the ground and near-freezing temperatures, soccer seasons starts tomorrow. Practice will more than likely be indoors for the first day or two, and that should make it interesting. Touch and other ball skills are hard to develop on a hardwood surface. Still, it's what we have to do.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XXVII

2010-02-25T17:36:00.001-06:00

Two days later, the engineering team had met with great success. The Lethe was mostly ready to land. The landing thrusters were primed and the auxiliary landing systems checked out in case of a failure of a landing thrust. As soon as the Hyperion, the Lethe in tow, settled into a standard orbit, the Hyperion released the older ship from its tractor beam. At that point, the Lethe’s autopilot engaged a landing sequence and slowly descended to the surface of Elysion in a bright fire of re-entry.
As soon as the Lethe had landed on Elysion, Dobbins and Skylar took a shuttle down to the planet to pick up the engineering team that had stayed on board to surpervise the landing.
Dobbins took the opportunity to pay one final visit to Captain Loman. He found Loman helping a group of about 20 colonists haul building materials out of one of the outer cargo bays and onto the soil of their new home.
“Captain Dobbins,” Loman said upon seeing the younger man approach. “It’s good to see you, again. I can’t begin to say how grateful we are for your work to get us here. Without you, I don’t think we would have made it here.”
“You’re quite welcome, Captain,” Dobbins responded. “How go the preparations to start the colony?”
Loman sighed. “They’d be going better if we could get more people to help us. At this point, there are only about 500 people who’ve decided that they’re going to leave the ship for this new world. I can’t understand why they would want to stay, but I guess if you tell yourself a lie enough times, you eventually come to believe it.”
He paused and looked around at the environment around him. Lush, green grass covered the ground as far as the eye could see. In the distance, a large forest loomed on the horizon. Overhead, a yellow sun that looked similar to Earth’s, only smaller, hung in the center of the sky. On the far horizon opposite, the planet of 47 Ursae Majoris B loomed, its violent, swirling storms visible.
“It’s a bit hard to believe that anyone would want to live in that sort of imitation of reality when there’s one right here to experience,” he said after taking a deep breath. “Of course, unless they’re willing to believe that there’s something better than the inside of the ship, why should they want to give up on what they already know?”
Dobbins nodded. “Do you think that most will come around?” he asked.
“More than likely, once they see their old world collapsing around them. We’re going to have to disassemble the Lethe piece-by-piece to build our first settlement. It’ll take a few years to get that done, but by that time, I expect that most of the people we brought along will join us. We’ll leave anyone who doesn’t want to join us, of course, for as long as we can. Eventually, though, we’ll have to disassemble the main deck. At that point, I think we may have some people who may discover this new, better world only through the loss of everything that they held dear.”
“What a shame it would be,” Dobbins observed, “if some of the people died on the Lethe and never got to see this new world that they traveled 13 years to inhabit.”
“Quite true,” Loman answered, “but I can’t do much about that, now, nor can those who are here with me. All we can do is try to convince as many as possible to leave willing in order to spare themselves that unfortunate reality.”
A voice called from the cargo hold, “Captain Loman, we need your help with some of these crates back here!”
“I’ll be right there,” Loman called back. He addressed Dobbins again, “Captain, once again, thank you. I have to be going, but you and your crew will be welcome here on Elysion whenever you wish.”
Dobbins bid him goodbye and shook his hand. Leaving Loman to his work, Dobbins walked back to the shuttle, walking pensively through the soft grass and staring at the beautiful, blue sky.
He arrived at the shuttle a couple of minutes later. Skylar and the engineering team were already there.
“We’re ready to go, sir,” reported the helmsman.
“Excellent, Mr. Skylar,” Dobbins said. “Let’s go. We have quite a bit to report to Fleet Com once we return to Earth.”
He took one last look at Elyson, and then boarded the shuttle, which roared off into space in a dazzling rush of fire and wind.

The End

Snow!

2010-02-23T18:31:00.002-06:00

With the snow that fell on Saturday and Sunday, Topeka has now had another snowy winter. While two winters ago saw a major snowfall, this year has seen several snowfalls, some of them quite significant. The result is that this winter (so far) ranks somewhere in the top 10 for snowfall. Admittedly, that is only a little over 100 years, but still significant. Whether there will be more snow remains to be seen.
Soccer season starts soon, and I would really rather not be refereeing and coaching in sub-40-degree weather and having practices indoors due to the cold.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XXVI

2010-02-19T17:51:00.001-06:00

They arrived at the Assembly Hall to find an agitated crowd jammed into the rows of long benches. People were talking to each other, practically shouting to be heard over each other. The tension in the room was palpable.
Micah led Dobbins and Ella up to an elevated platform at the front of the Hall. The crowd began to shout different things at them as they mounted the stage, the cries mixing together to create a muddled, indistinct noise.
Micah motioned for the crowd to be quiet, and once they had finally quieted down, he said, “Citizens of Larson, I know that you are all very concerned at what’s been happening today. I am, too, and I am convinced that Captain Dobbins here can answer all of your concerns if you will allow him to speak.”
Several pockets of murmuring broke out as Dobbins stepped forward. As he began to speak, the crowd fell silent. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “I know that today has been shocked and unsettling for many of you. I realize that it’s not easy to have your calm, familiar life change on you suddenly.
“Right now, the biggest concern that many of you have is the brief blackouts that you are all experiencing.” Some agitation broke out in the crowd, but it quieted quickly as Dobbins continued. “I know all about the blackouts,” he continued, “because I have experienced them, as well, and I’m just getting used to them. They are the result of my ship towing your ship towards the moon of Elysion, where, as I said, you all were initially destined to go to establish a colony world.”
“How can towing cause us to black out?” demanded a voice from the crowd.
“We use a new technology called ‘jump drive,’ ” Dobbins explained. “Its workings are quite complex, more complex than I could explain, but it is doubtless familiar to some of you, at least in theory. When we make the jump from one location to another, there is a temporary sense of ‘nothingness’ that results from us skipping across a small gap in space-time. It does tend to leave you disoriented at first, but you will get used to it.”
At just that moment, another jump occurred. Everything blinked out for the briefest second before returning to normal.
A wave of panic swept over the crowd. Cries of disbelief began to be heard. “He’s lying,” someone shouted. “It’s some sort of new brainwashing. They’re trying to take us over just like he says the androids did. Let’s get rid of all of these newcomers and run town ourselves!” Things were not going well.
“Quiet!” Micah bellowed. “Listen to yourselves! You sound like maniacs! Captain Dobbins is offering a reasonable explanation. Let him finish first, and then you can decide for yourself what is going on.”
Dobbins spoke up, again. “Thank you, Micah,” he said. “That was one of the last jumps that we will experience. There should only be a couple more. Then, it will be about a day until we arrive at Elysion via normal Ion Drive. Now, I don’t expect you to believe me solely by the jumps. You’re right; it could all be a trick. There may not be a ship. We might be Radioactives sent to take over your town. However, we are not. Allow me to prove it to you this way. My Chief Engineer is in the Control Center right now. I’m going to call him and ask him to override the sky and set it to night. That will show that we are all on board a ship and not on Earth.”
He pulled out his hyperwave and called Zhang. “Mr. Zhang, we’re ready for your demonstration.”
“Aye, sir,” Zhang said.
Within seconds, the bright sunlight that had streamed through the large windows at the back of the Hall vanished, replaced with a delicate glow of moonlight. The sky outside was black, with various stars peaking through. Darkness filled the Hall for a brief second before the artificial lights activated, filling the room with an indirect, white glow.
Widespread cries broke out in the crowd, some of fear, some of shock, some of disdain.
“It’s a trick,” shouted the same voice that had doubted Dobbins earlier. “It’s some sort of holographic projection that makes it look like night. They’re going to try to take over. Don’t trust them!”
“No,” Dobbins shouted back, “it’s no trick. The sky is holographic, but it’s all controlled by computer. You’re on board a ship…”
His arguments went unheard. The crowd began all talking to each other at once, some arguing one way, some another. A few got up to leave. Dobbins and Micah had to spend a couple of minutes this time quieting the raucous crowd.
When everyone had calmed down, again, Dobbins spoke, “We have given you the best evidence that we could provide of the true nature of your situation. I can’t make you believe it, but I would urge you to. In about 2 days, this ship will be landing on Elysion. At that point, all of you will need to disembark this ship because it will be disassembled for materials.”
The majority of the crowd seemed ready to walk out, obviously in disagreement with Dobbins. Ella stood by, shocked, unable to believe that so many people would refuse to believe such obvious evidence.
Dobbins’s hyperwave beeped. With a quick, fluent motion, he pulled it out and activated it. “Dobbins,” he said.
“Captain, this is Lieutenant Congdon. We’ve been exploring the lower levels of the Brig, sir, and we found someone who claims to be Captain Loman. We verified his identity with a quick retinal scan. He is Captain Loman. How should we proceed.”
“Bring him here, as soon as possible,” Dobbins ordered.
“Aye, sir, Congdon out.”
Dobbins raised his voice over the din. “Citizens of Larson, listen to me! We have found your original Mayor, William Loman. I have people bringing him here, now, so do not leave just yet. He will be able to explain this situation more thoroughly.”
For the general reaction of the crowd, Dobbins knew that he had bought a few minutes, but not many more. Given how hostile the majority of the people here were to what he was telling them, he was not sure what Loman could possible do to bring people around.
Within five minutes of Congdon’s message, Captain Loman arrived at the doors to the Assembly Hall, escorted by Condgon and two other security team members. Loman looked in many ways like a man who had spent the past ten years in confinement. He had long, curly, brown hair that ran down below his waist, along with a long, bushy beard that seemed just as unkempt. At the sight of him, many in the crowd gasped in shock. He certainly did not look like the Mayor that they remembered.
Loman walked towards the front of the Hall, his gait slow, yet strong. Whatever horrors he had endured while incarcerated had not broken his spirit. He projected an air of authority as only someone used to commanding a starship could project. He climbed the stairs up to the main platform and walked straight up to Dobbins.
Extending his hand, he said, “Captain Dobbins, I presume?”
“At your service, Captain Loman,” Dobbins replied, grabbing the other man’s hand and shaking it firmly.
“It appears that you and your crew have done some fine work here,” Loman commented, “getting us free from the control of Desmond and his androids. I’ve got a lot of questions for you, and you doubtless have several for me, but I think it might be good if you and your teams got out of sight for a while. I think your presence is going to cause more agitation than anything else.”
“I think you’re right there, Captain,” Dobbins responded. “We’ll head outside and wait for you there.”
“That sounds good, Dobbins. And while you’re at it, could you get the sky set back to day? It’s just a little disconcerting to me to see it look like midnight at 4 p.m.”
Dobbins nodded, smiling. He motioned to Ella and the other members of the medical team, and they left the Assembly Hall.
Once outside, Dobbins called Zhang and had him set the sky back to the appropriate appearance. Within an instant, the starry, black sky switched again to deep azure. The sun shone again, and for the first time, Dobbins noticed that although it shone, it did not seem to radiate any heat.
From inside the Assembly Hall, they could barely hear Loman’s voice speaking to the people. They could not make out any words, but from his tone, it was clear that he was speaking with great passion and fluency, as if delivering a long-rehearsed speech.
Several minutes passed. Then, the passengers began to leave the Assembly Hall, some in groups, some individuals. A few walked up to the team and shook hands with Dobbins, Ella, or Samuelson. Most, however, walked right by the team, lost in thought or talking agitatedly among themselves.
Mayor Loman and Micah left last, the final two out of the Hall. As they came down the short flight of stairs to the team, Micah bade farewell to the Mayor and headed off towards his house. Loman approached the team.
“Well,” he said,” that was certainly less effective than I had hoped. It seems that I still have quite a bit of work to do. For now, though, everyone is at least thinking. Let’s head back to my office. I have a feeling you have quite a bit to tell me.”
They walked back to the Town Hall in silence. When they reached the atrium, they met Zhang, Leon, and the engineering team. In a heartfelt reunion, Loman greeted his Chief Engineer, marveling that to see the old man still alive and functioning.
Dobbins asked everyone except the original team and Leon to remain in the atrium. Led by Loman, they then ascended the stairs to the top floor and the Mayor’s office. The late afternoon sun shone through the windows. Several security androids still lay crumbled on the floor.
Loman took a look around at everything, slowly taking in the sight again of an office that had once been his. Noticing the disabled androids, he said, “Could we get these mechanical monstrosities out of my office?” Samuelson, Dobbins, and Loman all got to work and within minutes, they had removed the last of the androids from the room.
Taking a seat in the chair behind the desk, Loman motioned for the Hyperion team to find seats, as well. Once everyone was settled, he said, “Captain Dobbins, it seems to me that you have quite a story to tell me. We have some time, so please explain everything to me. What’s happened to my ship in the last 10 years since I’ve been locked away?”
Dobbins launched into the history of all that happened on board the Lethe, aided by Leon during the early part of the story. He progressed through the arrival of the Hyperion team on the Lethe and the conflict with Desmond and finally finished with the assembly called by Micah to which the security team had brought Loman.
“That Micah is a good man,” Loman observed. “I could tell in our few interactions that there was something special about him. It looks like he’s proven it with his ability to avoid the android’s brainwashing.”
“I’m curious,” Dobbins asked, “about how an android wound up taking over like this. I thought androids were supposed to put the well-being of humans ahead of themselves.”
“They were supposed to, Captain,” Loman replied. “I’ve thought about what happened for the past ten years, and I’m afraid I might have had something to do with what happened. I tried to give Desmond a little more autonomy in its decision-making process. It was my hope that if Desmond would take charge of all of the androids, then I could allow it to handle the mundane details of maintenance and security while I dealt only with the major issues. It looks like the autonomy I gave it caused Desmond to take control of everything.”
Dobbins shook his head slightly. “There’s not much we can do about it now, Loman, so no need to blame yourself. What’s the plan from here on out?”
“You say that we have two days until we arrive on Elysion. In that time, I’ve got to continue to work on the passengers. Only a handful are ready to start a new life. Most still are stuck in the lie from Desmond that this ship is all there is and that anything else outside of it is dangerous. On top of that, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to prepare the Lethe for a landing. The engineering androids were supposed to start making preparations a few days in advance, but I don’t think they’re going to help us much, now.”
“We’ll be glad to offer you any help you might need, Captain,” Dobbins offered.
“I figured so,” replied the captain. “I’d love to have your engineering team stay. There’s a lot of work to be done.” He walked over to a mirror and looked at himself before adding, “And if you happen to know a barber, I could do with a haircut and shave, too.”
Dobbins smiled, “I think we can arrange that, as well. For now, though, we’ll leave you to your task, and we’ll get back to our ship. Please don’t hesitate to call the Hyperion if you need anything.”
“I won’t need much more, now, Captain Dobbins,” replied Loman, “but if something comes up, I’ll be sure to let you know. Thank you.” He extended his hand to Dobbins.
Dobbins grabbed it and shook it firmly, smiling broadly.
Within two hours, all of the Hyperion away teams had returned to their ship, except for the engineering team. Once on board the Hyperion, Dobbins briefly greeted Commander Brackers, left him in charge, and promptly head to his quarters for a good night’s sleep.

Quick Thought

2010-02-14T16:29:00.001-06:00

Better to be contentedly single than unhappily married.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XXV

2010-02-13T08:03:00.000-06:00

Everyone left the control station and climbed the stairs again to the main level. Within five minutes, the other teams from the Hyperion had joined them in the atrium. Most of the personnel were security, although there were also medical and engineering teams.
A tall, broad shoulder man approached Dobbins as the final team entered. “Lieutenant Congdon, security, reporting for duty, sir,” he said.
“Very good, Lieutenant. Are all the teams here?”
“Yes, sir.”
Dobbins looked over the teams that had arrived. “Engineering team,” he ordered, “you will head with Lieutenant Zhang and Chief Engineer Sapens back to the Control Center to fix any more damage that might be there. After the Control Center is ready, make sure that the ship’s systems are prepared for landing. I want this ship ready to land as soon as possible.
“Security team, I want you to go with Mr. Samuelson back to the Security building and search it thoroughly. If there are any prisoners locked up in there, I want to know who they are and why. Make sure that you use the Lethe’s security database to help you. I’m sure that Mr. Sapens or Mr. Zhang can get you access to it.
“Medical team, you will work with Commander Ella and me as we try to figure out exactly how we’re going to explain to these passengers where they are and what’s going on. My sense is that most have been pretty severely brainwashed and think that they are still on Earth. We need to find ways to convince them otherwise. You have orders. Let’s get to work.”
A massive jumble broke out as people crisscrossed each others’ paths, heading for their respective destinations. Eventually, only the medical team, a group of two doctors and three nurses, remained. Dobbins and Ella set to work with them, trying to come up with something that would work effectively.
They had only been discussing the matter for five minutes when Dobbins suddenly felt the usual side-effects caused by the Jump Drive. For one brief second, he felt everything stop, as if he had gone unconscious for the briefest period of time. Then, the familiar disorientation kicked in as the room seemed to spin of its own accord. He stayed in his seated position on one of the couches in the atrium, waiting for the feeling to pass.
No sooner had the feeling passed, though, than the entire experience repeated itself again. Ella and the others did not seem to be bothered by the jumps and continued to discussing the best way to explain things to the colonists.
“Perhaps we ought to say something about the jumps,” Dobbins suggested. “If they are experiencing the same disorientation that I am, then they’re going to be very concerned.”
The others agreed, and they all continued their discussions until ten minutes before the meeting was to start. Four more jumps occurred in that interval.
Micah exploded through the doors of the Town Hall. “Captain!” he exclaimed. “You need to come with me quickly. The whole town’s already gathered in the Assembly Hall, and quite a few are very disturbed about the blackouts that we’ve all been experiencing.”
Before Dobbins could respond, another jump occurred, and once again, the disorientation lingered afterwards, although it disappeared within a few seconds this time. Micah, on the other hand, tried to head out the door, and stumbled into it, instead.
“It’s a side effect of the Jump Drive,” Dobbins explained. “The disorientation becomes shorter in duration with each jump that you experience. Believe me, I know.”
“I hope you’re right, Captain,” Micah said, “but it’s got a lot of the town worried. Some are saying that it’s some sort of fallout from the nuclear war they think happened 10 years ago, or worse, that it’s some sort of weapon that you all are using on us to try to take us over.”
“Well, lead us on to the Assembly Hall, and we’ll try to explain everything to them.”
“I hope they believe you, Captain.”
“So do I, Micah, so do I.”

Snow?

2010-02-07T12:46:00.002-06:00

A great buzz filled the air at school on Friday: the NWS was looking at the possibility of 6-10 inches of snow falling in Topeka. If that forecast verified, it would mean that there would be no school on Monday, something that the students were, of course, all in favor of.
On Friday, I took a quick look at a forecast model, and I didn't see the major snowfall. Of course, I admittedly look at a limited amount of data. So, I took a "wait and see" attitude to the forecast, given that the NWS-Topeka tends to over-forecast snowfall events.
It appears that my caution was unnecessary. The official forecast has gone from 6-8 inches in Topeka to 4-6 to 2-4. It is looking less and less likely that a significant snowfall will occur tonight into tomorrow. In fact, the models are disagreeing about whether snow will even fall. One model has no snow falling, just cold rain and/or sleet. The other model has Topeka getting 2-4 inches. Clearly, the NWS is following the latter model. At this point, based on what little data I've looked at, I'll go out on a limb and forecast 1-3 inches in Topeka, although I'm leaning more and more towards the lower end of that spectrum.
That means, of course, there will be school tomorrow. Kids, do your homework. [grin]

Story: The Lethe, pt. XXIV

2010-02-07T12:37:00.001-06:00

Dobbins watched him go for a while before saying, “Let’s head down to the Control Center to meet with Mr. Zhang and Mr. Sapens. We need to come up with something good, and the time is short.”
They re-entered the building and headed down the stairs to the Control Center.
When the arrived in the Control Center, they found Zhang and Leon had opened up one of the stations and were attempting to repair it. Zhang had crawled far underneath the station. Only his legs were visible outside of the station. Leon stared intently at the station, a bag of engineering tools in his hand. Both were so involved in their work that they did not notice the arrival of the others. The sound of a welder could be heard coming from inside the station. On occasion, sparks flew out from the innards of the station, and the smell of acrid smoke filled the room.
“Report, Mr. Zhang,” Dobbins ordered.
After one more burst of the welder, Zhang slowly worked his way out from inside the station. Handing the mini-welder to Leon, he said, “We were able to get in touch with the Hyperion, sir, and the shuttles are on their way. We also made sure that there were three slots available for the shuttles in the Docking Bay. While we were waiting, we noticed that the Navigation station appeared to be malfunctioning, so we took on the task of repairing it. I think I’ll have it up and running in a few minutes.”
“Very good, Lieutenant,” replied Dobbins. “Do you have any idea of when the shuttles will arrive?”
“Probably about 15 minutes, sir. I told them to come to the Town Hall, come in through lower-decks entrance, and assemble in the atrium on the main floor.”
“Good,” Dobbins said. “Resume your repairs, Lieutenant.” Zhang crawled back underneath the station and resumed his welding.
“Mr. Samuelson,” Dobbins ordered, “use the Communications station to open a channel to the Hyperion. I need to talk with Commander Brackers.”
“Aye, sir,” Samuelson replied as he walked over to Communications. After about thirty seconds of work, he had established a channel to the Hyperion and the ship’s First Officer.
“How did your meeting with the crowd go, sir?” Brackers inquired.
“Not as well as I would have hoped,” Dobbins answered. “We have an uphill battle ahead of us. Commander, would it be possible for the Hyperion to jump to Elysion with the Lethe in tow?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Brackers said. “Mr. Zhang would know, though. Ask him.”
Dobbins called to the Hyperion’s Chief Engineer, still buried deep within the Navigation station. After a pause, Zhang’s voice came from the large box, “Yes, Captain, I think it would be possible, but the Hyperion would have to close to within a few meters of the Lethe in order for both ships to be within the perimeter of the jump field. And it might take an extra jump or two to make the entire trip. Still, I think it is possible.”
“Did you hear that Commander?” Dobbins asked once Zhang had finished.
“Barely, sir. Where is Mr. Zhang?”
“Inside the Navigation Console,” Dobbins responded. “He is trying to bring it back online.”
“Of course,” Brackers said, a smile in his voice. “We’ll need you to slow down the Lethe some, sir, if we’re going to pull closer. We’re already moving at our maximum speed right now, and we’re barely keeping pace. Once we’re close enough, and once the shuttles have docked, we’ll do the remaining jumps to get as close to Elysion as we can. That may still put us a day or two out, though.”
“That’s fine, Commander. Make preparations. We’ll work on getting the Lethe slowed down a little for you. Dobbins out.” Dobbins closed the channel to the Hyperion.
Dobbins turned to Lieutenant Skylar. “Mr. Skylar, lower the Lethe’s speed to 0.85c.”
Skylar walked over to Helm Control. After trying for a minute, he reported to Dobbins, “Captain, the controls seem frozen. They’re not responding to my instructions.”
Leon spoke up. “That’s what we were seeing when we looked at the Navigation Station, too, Captain. I think that Desmond messed with the Navigation and Helm controls for some reason. I think I know what needs to be done to bypass the problem, but I’m not really capable of crawling around inside consoles the way I used to be.”
Suddenly, the Navigation console sprang to life. On the screen, the course of the Lethe was mapped out in its entirety.
Zhang crawled out of the station and stood up. “Well, Captain,” he said, “the Navigation system’s repaired. I had to bypass the primary controls, but with Navigation control restored, we should be able to plot an orbit for the ship, now, once we reach Elysion.”
“As always, Mr. Zhang, good work. Now, could you please see what’s wrong with the helm?”
“Oh, I know what’s wrong, Captain,” Leon said. “The same thing that was wrong with Navigation. Someone destroyed the main control circuit. We’re having to jerry-rig a solution to the problem by patching the auxiliary control override directly into the station’s main controls. Whoever did this didn’t want it to be easy to repair, but I think Mr. Zhang can get it fixed for you in about fifteen minutes.”
“Very well,” Dobbins replied.
Zhang opened the Helm’s access panel, grabbed his mini-welder, and again crawled inside the station. The station’s screen quickly went blank as Zhang cut and spliced various connections inside the device. After several minutes of work, the console came back to life as he slid back out. “I think it’s ready, sir,” he reported. “Have Mr. Skylar try it.”
Skylar ran his hands over the controls. “The helm is now responding, sir. I’ll slow us down once the shuttles are on board.”
Just then, Dobbins’ hyperwave sounded. Opening the device, he spoke into it. “Dobbins here.”
“Captain,” a confident male voice from the other side said. “This is Lieutenant Congdon. All teams are on board the Lethe, and we’re making our way to the Town Hall. We should be there in a few minutes”
“Very good, Lieutenant,” replied Dobbins. “Be sure to take the below-decks route to the auxiliary staircase. That will allow you to avoid being seen by the passengers. I think your presence right now might cause them to panic and think it was an invasion.”
“Aye, sir,” Congdon said. “We’re on our way. See you soon. Congdon out.”
Dobbins closed his hyperwave and spoke to Skylar. “Mr. Skylar…” he began.
“Already slowing down, sir,” the helmsman responded. “Speed now at 0.93c and falling. We should be at 0.85c in about twenty minutes.”
“Excellent. Let’s head up to the atrium,” Dobbins said. “We need to come up with a plan for convincing the passengers of their situation, and we’re down to about forty minutes to do so.”

With apologies to CS Lewis

2010-01-31T15:10:00.004-06:00

Every college in America has its traditions. And many of them make very little sense at all. Like my alma mater being the Cyclones and having a Cardinal as its mascot. Or KSU being the Wildcats and yet the band plays "The Wabash Cannonball," which is about a train. Now, yes, there are explanations for these. On the surface, however, these traditions are easy to pick fun at, especially when people take them too seriously, as too many people do.
So, in that spirit, (and after growing up in Lawrence and having to listen to the "Rock Chalk" chant innumerable times), I simply can't resist taking a jab at this chant that has always to me seemed as bizarre as Wabash at KSU.
(Paraphrasing from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis)
"I'm thinking of a limmerick," said Eustace, "that goes something like this:
"Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU."
"Well chalk and Jayhawk don't rhyme, to begin with," said Lucy.
"It's an assonance," said Eustace.
"Don't ask him what an assy-thingummy is," said Edmund. "He's only longing to be asked. Say nothing and perhaps he'll go away."

Story: The Lethe, pt. XXIII

2010-01-28T07:14:00.000-06:00

“You’re right, Commander,” Dobbins said. “Our mission is nowhere near over. We’re going to need some help.” He activated his hyperwave. “Dobbins to Hyperion.”
“Hyperion. Brackers here, sir. How did it work?”
“Quite well, Commander. All of the androids are neutralized, including the Mayor.”
“Sir?” Brackers’s voice betrayed total confusion.
“I’ll fill you in later, Commander. For now, get three shuttles ready for launch. We’re going to head to the control room to make docking a little easier for them, and then we’ll see if we can get the Lethe’s passengers and human crew together to fill them in on the situation.”
“I think we have already partially completed that second part of our mission, sir,” Skylar called from the far side of the room.
He had gone to stand by the large windows that overlooked the town square. Down below, a vast crowd had gathered, all roaming around and looking confused. They stayed away from the steps of the Town Hall, as if they expected someone to come out of the doors at any minute.
Dobbins walked over to look. “Well, that changes our plans a little.”
He spoke again into the hyperwave. “Mr. Brackers, launch those shuttles as soon as they are ready. We’ll have docking ports ready. Perhaps we’ll be able to have some good news to report by the time you get here. Dobbins out.
“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Sapens, go to the Control Center and get the docking bay doors open and three docking ports free. The rest of you, come with me. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
They exited the Mayor’s office and descended to the main level. Zhang and Sapens continued down to the Control Center, while the rest of the team moved to the main doors of the Town Hall.
Dobbins paused before going through the doors. Outside, he could hear the murmuring crowd as it congregated. The tone of their voices indicated confusion and worry. He pushed the doors open. The crowd outside quickly became deathly quiet in anticipation. The silence lasted exactly three seconds before a great outcry of panic and confusion erupted. People shouted over other people, some asking questions of each other, some yelling questions at Dobbins, and everyone creating such a cacophony of voices that he could not understand anything being said.
The crowd of well over 1000 people consisted of men and women of just about every age from teenagers upward. Most were dressed in the simple clothing of farmers. All, however, seemed genuinely distressed at Dobbins’s appearance on the Town Hall steps.
Dobbins motioned with his hands to try to silence the crowd, but his effort initially met with little success. Finally, a middle-aged man climbed up four or five steps and with much effort managed to quiet the crowd.
“Citizens of Larson,” the man said, “I have no idea why this man is standing here instead of our Mayor, nor why old Leon the Watchmaker is here with him, but I am sure that there is a good reason if we will only allow him to explain himself.”
“Is he going to explain what happened to all of our security personnel, Micah?” demanded a man near the front of the throng.
“I don’t know what he knows,” responded Micah, “but give him a chance to explain himself. Perhaps the Mayor sent him here.”
The crowd began to shout approval and disapproval of the suggestion at the same time. With some effort Micah quieted them all again. “Let him speak, I said,” he ordered strongly. “After that, if his answers aren’t to your satisfaction, you’ll all be welcome to ask as many questions as you wish, provided that we do it in some sort of order to give the poor man a chance to hear you. As it is, I’d be surprised if he’s understood a thing you’ve been shouting at him. So, everyone calm down, stop shouting, and listen.”
He turned to face Dobbins, looking at the captain with a look of confused interest.
Dobbins began to speak, “I am Captain Christopher Dobbins of the Earth Hyper Ship Hyperion. We have been sent here to escort you the rest of the way to Elysion…”
The crowd began to erupt again into a wave of noise. “He’s nuts!” some shouted. “He’s a Radioactive!” others screamed. “Let him speak,” a third group clammered, “there’s got to be an explanation for his presence here.”
Micah again motioned for the crowd to quiet down, which they eventually did, allowing Dobbins to continue.
“Apparently,” Dobbins said, “your Mayor, Dante, took over many years ago and has been lying to you. You are not on Earth at all. You are on a generational starship, the Lethe, bound for an inhabitable moon named Elysion.” Some in the crowd began to grumble again. “Listen to me!” Dobbins shouted over the noise, stifling the dissent. “Your Mayor, as you call him, has deceived you into thinking that you are the sole remnants of nuclear holocaust. That was not true. Like I said, you are passengers aboard a starship, colonists for a new world. We were sent here to help you complete your journey to this new world.”
“And why should we believe you?” demanded the same man who had challenged Micah earlier. “For all we know, you’re some group of survivors from a different town that managed to cross the radioactive waste to get here. Maybe you’ve killed the Mayor or thrown him in prison, and know you’re here to try to take over with this absurd story of a starship. As far as I’m concerned, you’re whole story is too convenient. A starship? Really? If we are on a starship, why is it that I can clearly see blue sky above me with the sun rising and setting? Why is it that this world is all that there is and that it is impossible to leave this valley without dying?” Many in the crowd muttered their approval.
“We could be lying,” Dobbins answered, “but we’re not. We can prove to you that your Mayor, Desmond, was not who he claimed to be. As far as the appearances around you, you should know about holography. The sky you see is just a holographic projection. And of course you can’t leave this ‘valley.’ To do so would require you to leave the ship.”
Cries of protest broke out again. This time, Micah spoke up over them, “Captain, you say that you have proof that Desmond was lying?”
“We do, Micah,” answered Dobbins. “If you will give me a couple of minutes, we can bring the proof down to you.”
Micah addressed the crowd. “People of Larson, I say that we give this Dobbins the chance to prove his claims. He needs a couple of minutes to bring us this proof…”
“More like manufacture it,” shouted a cynical voice from the middle of the crowd, drawing scattered laughter.
“To bring us his proof,” Micah repeated, “that the Mayor has been lying to us. At that point, you all will be able to see and judge for yourselves.”
“Hey, Micah, remember that we still don’t know why every member of our security force is unconscious. Perhaps this Dobbins can explain that,” another voice called, to the approval of many.
“Yes, I can.” Dobbins responded, “if you will give me one second to send some of my team to retrieve the proof of Desmond’s lies.
He spoke to his team in a quiet voice, “Skylar, Samuelson, go up to Desmond’s office and get Desmond down here as fast as you can. Bring all of the pieces that you can carry.”
They quickly went back through the doors, running for the stairwell.
Dobbins raised his voice to the crowd. “Your security personnel are all androids. We had to disable them because they were preventing us from contacting you and because they posed a threat to us and to you. They are the ones who have been enforcing Desmond’s will upon you.”
Again, disbelief ran through portions of the crowd. “Androids? How can that be?” someone asked.
“Androids! Of course,” another said in response, “it makes perfect sense. Think about the odd color of their eyes!”
A debate broke out within the crowd, some agreed with Dobbins and others vehemently objecting to the idea.
As before, Micah exerted much effort to quiet the crowd, finally succeeding. By the time he had done so, however, Skylar and Samuelson had returned, each carrying various pieces of Desmond.
“Here,” Dobbins said, motioning to the pieces of the android, “is our proof of Desmond’s lies: Desmond himself. He was an android.”
The crowd stared at the pieces of their former mayor in shock. Finally, a woman in the crowd found her voice. “If he’s an android,” she said, “then you can reassemble and activate him, again. Show us that this is truly him and not just a clever forgery.”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Dobbins responded. “Desmond overloaded its neural network about fifteen minutes ago. The physical pieces are here, but even if we were to activate it, nothing would happen. This android is in need of a major overall before it will ever function again.”
At this statement, yet another argument broke out among the crowd. This time, Micah was unable to quiet the multitude despite his best efforts. As the arguing raged, Dobbins’s hyperwave chirped.
Activating it, he spoke, “Dobbins here.”
“Captain,” Brackers’s voice said, “Brackers. We have those shuttles ready, and Mr. Zhang reports that the docking bay is now ready to accept them.”
“Excellent, Commander. Send them over at once. It looks like we’re going to need a lot of help.”
“Aye, sir,” replied the first officer. “Hyperion out.”
Someone in the crowd noticed Dobbins talking on the hyperwave. “Hey, Dobbins, who are you talking to?” she shouted.
“My ship,” Dobbins answered her. At this, even more noise broke out, voices shouting about invading armies and the destruction of Larson.
As the chaos mounted, Dobbins grabbed his blaster, set it to maximum, and blew the light post on the right-hand side of the stairs into pieces. As the debris cloud cleared, the crowd stared at him in shock.
“My apologies,” Dobbins said, “but I needed you attention. Please, listen to me. We will gladly answer any and all concerns that you have, but we need to do it in an orderly fashion.”
“Captain Dobbins is right,” Micah added before Dobbins could continue. “And I propose that we do it this way: as a crowd, we’re never going to accomplish anything except a riot. Why don’t we hold a town meeting, in one hour, in the main assembly hall?”
Despite minor protests, this plan appeared acceptable to almost all of the passengers. They slowly made their way out of the town square, some heading directly for the assembly hall on the far side of the square, others down various side streets to attend to whatever business they need to handle before coming to the meeting.
“Thank you, Micah,” Dobbins said.
“My pleasure, Captain,” replied Micah. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for someone else to come to free us from the tyranny of Desmond’s rule. I thought I was going to be found out for sure.”
“You weren’t brainwashed like the rest of the passengers?” asked Ella.
“No, ma’am,” answered Micah. “Let’s just say that I found creative ways to avoid being taken in.”
“Sounds like Leon,” Skylar observed.
“You mean that there’s someone else?” Micah asked.
“Yes,” Dobbins answered. “Leon Sapens, the chief engineer.”
“Well, I’ll be…” Micah said in surprise. “I thought for sure I was the only one left.”
He paused for a second, as if pondering the reality that he was not alone, and then added, “Captain, I suggest you prepare for the meeting coming up. It is not going to be easy to convince these people that what they’ve been told for the past 10 years is all lies.”
“We will,” Dobbins said, “but who are you? What was your original role on the Lethe?”
“My first name you already know,” Micah replied. “My last name is Packard, and I was one of the colonists headed to the new world, primarily intending to be a member of the medical clinic’s staff.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, Captain, I need to head to the Assembly Hall to make sure that it is set up properly for this meeting.” He descended the steps at a moderate pace and strode off purposefully, not showing any signs of hurry

Commentary/Editorial: Voter Backlash

2010-01-24T13:08:00.003-06:00

Voter backlash against the majority party is a common phenomenon in American politics. It happened in 1980. It happened in 1992. It happened in 2008 and 2010, at least in the Massachusetts special election. Numerous commentators have dissected voter backlash, but I think they're missing a key component: voters presume that the government can (and will) fix the problems the country is facing.
In some cases, this presumption is correct. In the case of foreign policy decisions, financial decisions (spending, taxes), or moral decisions (e.g. the Watergate or Lewinsky Scandals), the government has the ability to fix the problems and failure to do so is rightly seen by the voters as a failure on the part of elected officials.
On the other hand, there are other times when the government faces voter backlash because the voters have unrealistic expectations of their government. In 2008, voters blamed the government for the state of the economy (and expected them to fix it immediately), even though the government was only partially to blame (and thus only partially could fix it, and even then not immediately).
Now, the backlash seen in the 2010 special election is probably a mix of both. On the one hand, voters rightfully recognized that the Democrats in Congress were not doing a good job listening to their constituents and addressing the issues that government could fix. On the other hand, voters also expected too much from the government. They are looking to government to fix all of society's ills.
This trend, that Americans in general are becoming too dependent on their government, concerns me. If we are looking to government to solve our problems, then we are going to be sorely disappointed because the most significant problems facing this country are not governmental; they are moral. And the government cannot fix a moral problem like this, only God can.
I know that many will probably object that we as Americans have "been there, done that" with Christianity. If by Christianity, they mean the social religion where people put on their Christianity along with their church clothes, only to drop it just as fast, then, yes, America has already tried it and failed. I am not saying we need to return to a society where we are Christian on the outside but non-Christian on the inside. America's moral problems, from fraudulent accounting to teenagers making self-destructive choices, cannot be fixed by a veneer of Christianity. (After all, we had those same problems even we had the appearance of being a "Christian society.") Instead, we as Americans need to turn to Jesus Christ in a way that we never have as a society: wholeheartedly and deeply. Unless many Americans surrender their hearts to Christ and allow Him to change them from the inside out, I think we will continue to face the same challenges and continually find ourselves disappointed when the circumstances do not improve as we would like.
So, as the 2010 election cycle swings into gear, I hope that the voting public tempers its expectations of what government can and cannot do. Government cannot fix many of the problems of America. It certainly can make many things worse. (That is why I would like to see a more balanced power structure in Congress. Having one party in control has not worked well in our country's history.) Ultimately, the problems at the core of American society can be fixed only at the altar, not at the voting booth.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XXII

2010-01-22T07:19:00.001-06:00

Commander Ella retrieved her scanner from where it had fallen from the guard’s hand. After a quick scan, she exclaimed, “Captain, you’re not going to believe this! Desmond is an android!”
“What?” Skylar exclaimed. “That can’t be. He doesn’t have purple eyes!”
“True,” Dobbins answered thoughtfully, “but some other aspects of this situation make sense. Who better to lead a group of androids in a rebellion than an android? I didn’t realize that Fleet Com had put an android in the first officer position. Mr. Sapens, why didn’t you know that?”
The old man shrugged. “I didn’t know myself, Captain. And I never really thought to ask. He seemed a bit cold, a bit distant, but I guess I figured it was his way of being in charge, you know, of separating himself from those underneath him. Since he didn’t look like those other walking machines we had roaming around, I figured that he was another human like us.”
“The question remains,” Zhang said, “how an android programmed to assist the Lethe wound up taking over the ship entirely.”
“A good question, Mr. Zhang,” Dobbins answered. “Perhaps we should ask him. Mr. Sapens, can you re-activate Desmond?”
“Are you sure that’s the wise thing to do, Captain?” Leon asked. “After all, he was just about ready to have us all sent off to be brainwashed.”
“Yes, I’m sure. He can’t hurt us without his security androids to help. And they’re permanently disabled now, unless they receive the activation code.”
“That’s just my point. He’ll be logging into the computer system the second we turn him back on. He wouldn’t need but a few milliseconds to figure out he to re-activate the other androids. I’m not sure it’s safe to activate him, again.”
“We could take off his arms and legs,” Zhang said. “Without those, he wouldn’t be able to get to a computer terminal.”
“That’s a good idea, there, sonny,” Leon responded, “except that, being an android, Desmond also has a wireless link to the computer. He could get into that system faster than we could turn him off again.”
“Could you disable his wireless receiver?” Samuelson asked.
“I suppose I could, although it’d take me a few minutes to find where it is. I haven’t had to work on any androids in quite a while.”
“I could help,” Zhang offered. “Together, I’m sure we can disable that function and still have Desmond be fully functioning.”
“Do it.” Dobbins ordered.
Leon and Zhang set to work detaching Desmond’s appendages. First, they straightened Desmond into an upright, seated position. Then, they began the task of removing his arms and legs. Within a couple of minutes, only his torso and head remained. The rest of him sat against one wall, useless without their connection to the main body. With Desmond now without extremities, Leon and Dobbins began the delicate task of tracking down and deactivating the wireless receiver that usually linked Desmond to the central computer. After twenty minutes of searching and scanning, they found the receiver behind Desmond’s left ear and removed it from his head. After closing the access panel behind the ear, Leon opened Desmond’s central chest cavity and touched a sequence of control buttons, re-activating the android.
Desmond’s head, which had been slumped backwards without the support of artificial muscles, snapped into a normal position. His eyes searched around the room, and he appeared to be trying to move his arms and legs. When he did not move, he quickly looked at himself before speaking. “Very clever, Captain,” he said to Dobbins. “It appears that you have me exactly where you want me. Why did you re-activate me? Do you wish now to gloat?”
“I want answers, Desmond,” Dobbins replied. “Where is Captain Loman? Why did you take over? Will you help us undo the damage you’ve caused by deceiving all these passengers?”
Desmond smiled a cold smile. “Captain, what makes you think that I am going to answer any of your questions now when I did not before? You can take me apart until only my power cells and head remain. I will not tell you anything. Besides, since you are so clever, I am sure that you will figure everything out relatively quickly. And I think you will also find that it will not be so easy convincing all of the passengers that they have been deceived.
“Now, Captain, since I obviously am not going to help you at all, I think I shall be going. Good bye, Captain.”
Desmond’s eyes rolled back into his head, which began twitching left and right fitfully.
“He’s re-formatting his neural network, destroying himself!” Zhang exclaimed as he rushed to try to power off the android before the process could be completed. He quickly opened Desmond’s main panel and began frantically working inside the cavity. He was too late. Within seconds, Desmond’s eyes rolled back forward, appearing empty, unfocused, and vacant. His head slumped forward and sank down to his chest.
Zhang grabbed a scanner and waved it over Desmond a couple of times. “It’s no good, sir,” he reported. “This android is gone. The neural network is fried beyond belief. How he managed to accomplish such a task is beyond me. There are so many directives in his programming that should have prevented him from willfully setting up a cascading neural overload like that.”
“He did quite a few things that went against normal android directives,” Samuelson observed. “He must have malfunctioned in some way. I wonder if we’ll ever find out how.”
Zhang shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe if we took him back to the Cybernetics Lab in North America, they might be able to find a cause. I’m pretty sure, though, that this overload has fried all of his—I mean “its”—memory, processing, and relays. It will never function again.”
“Regardless of the cause,” Ella said, “we have another task ahead of us: getting the Lethe to Elysion and helping the colonists get themselves established. I have a feeling that it won’t be easy after all these years of manipulation.”

The Mysteries of Friction

2010-01-17T17:34:00.002-06:00

While on the way to a Scholars' Bowl tournament in Riley, KS, yesterday, the suburban I was driving hit a patch of black ice and slid off of I-70 and into the median. Praise God, no one was hurt, and the only damage to the suburban was a flat tire. The odd part about the whole situation was that I was not driving that fast, certainly not as fast as people who were passing me moments before I slid off. While we were stuck in the median waiting on a tow truck, innumerable vehicles passed along the same spot on the road, and none of them slid off the road. It's as if the black ice that we hit was no longer even there. For whatever reason, a combination of factors caused us to lose traction and slide off of the road. Friction, thou art a fickle naive.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XXI

2010-01-13T20:56:00.001-06:00

The team left the shuttle and proceed carefully through the hallways towards the town hall. Dobbins explained his plan to the team as they headed forward. Their goal was to get into the Mayor’s office, where they expected to find Desmond. Based on Leon’s knowledge of the Town Hall, this office was on the upper floor of the building, unless Desmond had moved it. They would sneak back in through the auxiliary entrance and work their way upward to Desmond’s office, hopefully encountering minimal resistance along the way. The only other option was a frontal assault on the Town Hall, something that would draw every security android on the ship.
They arrived at the Control Center door and had little trouble bypassing its lock. Inside, the same two androids they stunned previously fell again, disabled with a shot from Samuelson’s blaster. “Rough day for those two guys,” Skylar commented.
The team moved through the Control Center itself and found the staircase that led up to the upper levels of the Town Hall. With Ella constantly scanning ahead for androids, they crept up the stairs, ready for a fight at any minute. When they reached the top floor, they paused while Ella scanned for guards on the floor. She could detect two in front of the mayor’s doors and one inside the mayor’s office.
On Dobbins’s signal, Samuelson and Skylar burst through the stairwell door and disabled both android guards with one shot each. The team quickly stormed into the Mayor’s office.
Inside, they found themselves in a vast, open, airy room. Along the far wall stood a vast bank of windows that overlooked the town square. Doors on either side led off to other rooms. A bank of computers stood along one wall and seemed to be a miniature control center. Lavish couches and opulent tables were placed all around the room, giving the room the appearance of the lobby of a five-star hotel instead of an executive office. In the middle of the room was a vast desk, piled in papers. Beside the desk stood a woman, presumably the mayor’s secretary, a middle-aged woman who started at the newcomers in shock. Seated behind the desk was the Mayor himself, who looked up as the team entered. His face showed no indication of shock.
Smiling slightly, he said, “Captain Dobbins! So nice of you to drop in. I just had received word that you and your team had not arrived as expected at the security facility. How nice of you to save me the trouble of having to track you down. You will, of course, surrender right now.”
Dobbins ignored the other man’s arrogance. “We need to talk, Desmond. Your mutiny of this ship is unacceptable. I expect you to relinquish command to Chief Engineer Sapens right away and assign yourself to the brig. That’s an order.”
“I am afraid that I cannot do that, Captain,” replied Desmond. “You see, on this ship, I give the orders; I do not take them. Momentarily, I think you will find that twenty guards will be coming through that door. I summoned them here via a silent alarm as you came in.” The sound of the stairwell door opening and closing came from the hallway outside the room. “Ah,” continued Desmond, “here they are now.”
Twenty guards entered the room, all of them the same height and build, some with brown hair, some with blond, but all with unnatural golden eyes. They pointed their blasters at the team. “Surrender your equipment, now,” ordered one of the androids.
Dobbins and the team had no choice but to comply. As they began to hand everything over to the guards, Dobbins hyperwave communicator began to chirp.
“You may answer it, Captain,” Desmond said smugly, “but no tricks.”
Dobbins grabbed the device and activated it. “Dobbins.”
“Captain,” responded Brackers’s voice, “Brackers here. Lieutenant Sawyer did not find anything on her search, sir. But she contacted Fleet Com, who sent us back the necessary program. We’re ready to run it when you are, sir.”
Desmond looked at Dobbins in a threatening manner.
“Hang on, Commander.” Dobbins ordered. “I’m not quite ready for it, yet.”
“Is everything all right, sir?” Brackers asked.
“Yes, everything’s Code Blue,” Dobbins answered. “Get everything set-up, but wait for my order to execute.”
“Understood sir,” Brackers said. “We’ll wait on your order. Hyperion out.”
“Excellent job, Captain,” Desmond said condescendingly as Dobbins handed the hyperwave over the guards. “Anything more foolish would have cost you dearly during the re-programming. We have ways of making it, shall I say, less comfortable, if we need to.”
Dobbins did not respond at all.
“Are you not going to say, ‘You will never get away with this, Desmond?’ ” asked the Mayor, mockingly.
“Do you really think that I’m going to say something that cliché?” countered Dobbins.
“No,” responded Desmond, “but you do have an entire ship out there, and you could send more of your crew over here and take over my town. I cannot allow that to happen. Call your ship again, Captain, and order them to…”
The beeping from the computer bank interrupted Desmond’s orders. One of the android guards spoke up without even looking at the computer screen. “Mayor,” he said, “someone is accessing our computer system without authorization.”
“Who?” demanded the Mayor.
“I do not know, sir. It appears to be coming from outside the ship.”
Desmond glared at Dobbins. “Very clever, Captain. I did not realize that Fleet Com had changed the code for personnel in distress over the last 30 years. I am afraid, however, that your little plan, whatever it is, is going to fail miserably.
“Jam all external and internal communications,” he ordered the guard.
The guard attempted to comply, but before it could complete the procedure, the computer sounded a different warning tone and began to display a ten-second countdown.
“Sir,” the android said flatly, “someone has activated the android shutdown proto….” It collapsed to the floor, unable to complete its report. The other nineteen guards likewise shut down and fell to the floor.
To the team’s complete astonishment, Desmond, too, slumped forward in his chair, apparently unconscious.

The Thaw Is Coming

2010-01-10T18:22:00.002-06:00

When the numbers of snow on the ground (8) is greater than the high temperature (2), it must be a cold winter day. That was the story for the 2nd half of last week. It has been well below freezing for multiple days, now. Some relief from the bitter cold came today, with a high in the 20s. Forecast highs for later this week are above freezing. Finally, the numerous inches of snow can melt. I'm ready for warmer weather, even if it's only slightly warmer.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XX

2010-01-06T19:26:00.000-06:00

They turned to face the speaker. He was just over 6 feet tall, had brown hair and brown eyes. Four security androids flanked him, two on a side.
“Well, Captain Dobbins,” Desmond continued in a flat voice, “I give you and your team full credit for getting this far. When I saw the reports that you had escaped from the brig, I figured it was only a matter of minutes before we re-captured you. I underestimated your ingenuity. Congratulations.
“And, now, your blasters, please.” One of the security androids stepped forward and relieved Samuelson of his weapon.
“How did you find us?” asked Samuelson.
“Quite simple, really,” replied Desmond. “I knew that once you had escaped from us initially that you would eventually come here and try to shut down my androids. All I had to do was watch for unexpected computer access and then bring four of my best guards down.
“Enough answering on my part. Now, you will answer my questions. Where are the other members of your team? How many other people have you contacted besides the Watchmaker?”
No one answered.
“No one wishes to answer?” Desmond said menacingly. “Very well. You leave me with little choice. Take them back to the security center by the underground route, and prepare them for interrogation, level 5. No tactic is off limits.”
The android guards moved around the team and began to prod them towards the auxiliary entrance. “Come on, human,” ordered one, “get moving.”
Suddenly, Samuelson grabbed one of the guards by the hand and executed a perfect judo throw, tossing the android against a wall. The other androids responded immediately, opening fire on Samuelson, who collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath but otherwise unhurt. The blasters had been set to stun.
“As you can see,” Desmond said, “we value your lives, at least, right now. Any more tricks, and that attitude could change. Take them away!” He spun around and left the Control Center.
One of the guards dragged Samuelson back to his feet, while another helped the fallen android to its feet. It was unharmed by the attack. The guards positioned themselves behind and to the side of the prisoners, giving them no options for escape.
They walked out to the hallway and turned right. They continued on in silence for about a minute when the sound of a blaster echoed off of the walls. The two guards on the prisoners’ left collapsed to the ground. The other two guards looked around, desperately searching for the source of the blaster fire. A second blaster shot resounded, and the remaining two guards also fell over, disabled.
A ventilation panel in the wall just slightly ahead of them opened up, and from out of the duct crawled Skylar, blaster in hand.
“Nice work, Mr. Skylar,” commended Dobbins, “but why are you here? I ordered you and Commander Ella to stay board the shuttle.”
“I know, sir,” replied the young helmsman, “but we thought it would be wise…” he paused to sneeze. “…to use the shuttle’s sensors to keep track of your progress, just in case you got into any trouble. It sure looks like it’s a good thing we did, too. When we saw that there were…” again, a sneeze, “…androids confronting you in the Control Center and that they were escorting you back towards the Security Station, we quickly hatched a plan to rescue you.”
“A plan that involved you crawling into an air duct,” added Ella as she came around the corner from her hiding place. “Better you than me.”
“Ah, come on,” Skylar responded. “It was kind of fun, like those games I used to play as a kid. Although,” he paused yet again to sneeze, “it was a bit dusty.”
“Did you contact the Hyperion?” Dobbins asked.
“Yes,” answered Ella, “but we didn’t get to explain the situation very well before we had to come rescue you.”
“Well, then, let’s head back to the shuttle. I’m sure Commander Brackers would like an update on what’s going on. Then, I want to pay our dear friend the Mayor a little unannounced visit.”
Before they headed down the hallway, Leon and Zhang quickly pulled out the power module from each of the androids. There was no sense in allowing them to recover from being stunned and reporting the escape to Desmond or one of his minions.
They soon arrived at the shuttle and went in. As Samuelson and Skylar worked on assembling the necessary equipment—scanners, blasters, portable hyperwave radios—Dobbins contacted the Hyperion and filled Brackers in on their adventures to that point.
“It sounds like it’s quite a mess over there, sir,” said the First Officer when Dobbins had finished. “We have the teams you requested, sir, but it sounds to me like you need some back-up. I could have two security teams over there in twenty minutes.”
“No, Mr. Brackers, not yet,” answered Dobbins. “I don’t want to start an all-out battle over here with androids. I’m worried that the passengers might get hurt. Instead, have Lieutenant Sawyer search the Hyperion’s computer to see if she can find a program that we could put into the Lethe’s computer that would disable all of the androids at once. Contact me once you’ve found something. While you’re doing that, we’re going to go pay a visit to Mayor Desmond Loman.”
“Aye, sir,” replied Brackers, “good luck.”

Snow

2010-01-03T16:00:00.003-06:00

I haven't seen this much snow in Topeka in my seven years hear. I haven't yet measured the total amount of snow on the ground, but I did measure the new snowfall: 2 inches. I would guess that there are probably 6-7 inches of snow on the ground right now. It's not going away anytime soon, either. The cold weather is forecast to continue throughout the week, and more snow, combined with high winds and bitter cold, is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. Ah, winter indeed has returned to Topeka after an absence of several years.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XIX

2009-12-30T23:20:00.001-06:00

Leon and Zhang worked together on the nearby computer node that was hidden behind one of the walls in the basement. With a bit of tweaking and some creativity use of Commander Ella’s scanner, they were able to convince the Lethe’s sensors to set up in a false echo loop that showed no humans anywhere except where the androids expected them to be: inside the town on the main deck.
The team, led by Leon, cautiously left the building, which contained Leon’s watchmaking business on the first and second floors and his home on the third. The nearest stairway to the area “below decks” was on the edge of town, about 350 meters from Leon’s home. As the team moved quickly and quietly through the narrow streets to the outskirts of town, they continued to be impressed with how realistic everything seemed. They could hear birds singing in the distance, and bees buzzed by them on their way to and from their hives. If they had not known better, they would have been fully convinced that this town, this environment was all that there was.
As they neared the entrance to the lower decks, the team stopped and took cover behind some bushes. Two sentinels, dressed in security uniforms, stood on either side of the entrance to the stairs, which was disguised as a cave. Although the two sentinels stood at too great a distance for Dobbins to see their eyes, Ella’s scanner told him that the sentinels were androids.
“Mr. Zhang,” Dobbins whispered, “what is the effective range of the EMP this blaster emits?”
“I don’t know for sure, sir,” Zhang whispered back. “I would guess it to be 20, maybe 25 meters.”
“Well,” Dobbins whispered, “I guess we’re about to find out.” He pulled out his blaster and fired on the two guards. Other than a slight whine from the blaster, nothing else indicated that he had fired. The android guards still stood upright at their post.
“Make that 15 meters,” Zhang amended quietly.
“We can’t get any closer without being spotted. There’s simply no cover. We’re going to need to distract them somehow in order to get in range,” Dobbins said.
“I’ve got an idea,” Samuleson said. “Give me a minute, and I’ll draw them closer.”
He rose to his feet and walked straight through the bushes towards the androids. “Hey, you, there! Security guys!” he yelled. “Are you looking for Radioactives? Well, there’s one right here. Come get me! Come on, get me!”
Both guards drew their blasters and fired at Samuelson, who jumped out the way just in time. The location where he had been standing erupted into a small volcano of dirt. Once the dust settled, the androids left their posts and moved towards the spot where Samuelson had been standing.
Once they got within ten meters of Dobbins’s location, he fired. This time, both androids crumpled to the ground, knocked offline by the electromagnetic pulse. .
They all quickly moved up to the androids. Samuelson joined them from somewhere off to their left. He was covered in dust. “Okay,” he said sheepishly, “so maybe that didn’t quite go the way I had planned it. It still worked.
“Captain,” he added, “I don’t think that those blasters were set to stun.”
“I agree, Mr. Samuelson. That’s quite odd, since androids are supposed to be programmed not to injure humans. Something clearly has gone wrong.”
“Desmond’s work, no doubt,” observed Leon. “He needs some way to keep the population in line. Fear of death is a powerful weapon.” As he was speaking, he opened up the android’s chest cavities, and disconnected their main power packs. “Two less of the enemy to worry about,” he explained.
The team moved onward and into the cave. At the back of the cave stood a doorway that refused to open for them. Leon opened a panel to the left of the door, switched a couple of wires in a circuit panel, and the door slid open. The entire team walked through the door and down the steps to the levels below.
After taking the stairs down three levels, they exited the stairwell and found themselves in a hallway that looked identical to the one in which they had first stood after exiting the shuttle.
“Which way?” Dobbins asked Leon.
“The shuttle bay is to the right,” Leon responded. “The lower-decks entrance to the control center is to the left, and it’s quite a ways. We’d better get a move on before security realizes what’s happened to those two sentries.”
Ella and Skyler turned to the right and jogged off towards the shuttle, while the remainder of the team—Dobbins, Samuelson, Zhang, and Leon—headed left on the long walk towards the Control Center.
They moved quickly and quietly along the corridor, at least, as quickly as Leon could move. No sound could be heard ahead of them; if there were any androids below decks, they were far away. Within five minutes, they reached the doorway to the Control Center. The door refused to open for them initially, but Leon quickly removed a panel beside the door, switched a couple of wires, and the doors opened.
On the other side of the door were two human-looking figures which rose as the door opened. They drew their blasters, turning to face the door. As they turned to face the team, Dobbins could clearly see their purple eyes. Samuelson fired his blaster, and the androids crumpled to the ground.
Without delay, Zhang and Leon headed for the main computer terminal. Leon tried to log in to the system, which promptly refused his access.
“Desmond has disabled my access codes,” Leon said. “I can’t get in to the system.”
“Let me give it a try,” Zhang said. His hands flew over the controls with a fluency that came from much practice. Within two minutes, he had logged into the main computer system and was ready to search for the android shut down protocol.
“Do I want to know how you are so good at breaking into computer systems?” asked Dobbins.
“No, sir,” answered Zhang, “you don’t.”
He began his search for the necessary protocol, with Leon guiding him. Within seconds, the results screen appeared. It was blank.
“Captain!” Zhang exclaimed. “The android shutdown protocol is gone!”
“Gone?” asked Dobbins. “What do you mean gone?”
“It’s not there. Someone must have deleted it.”
“That’s not possible,” Leon said. “The only people who knew about the protocol were Captain Loman and me.”
“And Desmond,” an unfamiliar voice said from the main door.

Christmas Storm

2009-12-27T16:11:00.003-06:00

The predicted Christmas storm turned out to be a record-setting event. Topeka set a record for snowfall on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I had about 8" at my house in Topeka, with 12" drifts. Other places had it worse, with drifts as deep as 2 and 3 feet. Lawrence received about the same: 8" on average, with drifts of about 12". The strong winds, however, made the entire situation awful. Roads that were initially clear were blown closed, again. The main roads in the Lawrence and KC areas were barely passable on Christmas Day, and the side streets in Topeka were in horrible shape even on Saturday. This is one situation in which the forecast was correct. Now, we'll be spending the rest of this week trying to thaw out and dig out. It should be an interesting, cold week.

Christmas Storm (Updated 6:50 pm)

2009-12-23T09:12:00.003-06:00

Over the past three or four days, I have been watching the weather forecast, reading the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast discussions, and looking at a bit of model data, trying to get a feel for the strong winter storm that is closing in on NE Kansas. To make things challenging, the forecast models are generally not the most reliable at predicting these types of storms. If the forecast model miscalculates the storm track by even 40 miles (which is only a few percent error), then a heavy snow event turns into a rain/freezing rain event. And it's that sort of challenge that confronts forecasters, both the official ones at the NWS and T.V. stations and amateurs like myself. Given that tomorrow is Christmas Eve, this storm threatens to put the kibosh on many Christmas Eve services. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to be certain of what the storm does.
I'll try to post updates over the next day or so with my own thoughts, as well as the NWS's. Right now, the big story from the NWS is the location of the heavy snow axis. According to the latest forecast discussion, the forecasted location of the heavy snow axis has moved farther to the east. This shift has occurred due to the forecast models shifting the low pressure center farther to the east, putting the Topeka and Lawrence areas under the gun for heavier snow. If this forecast verifies, NE Kansas will definitely see a white Christmas. Whether we can get anywhere on this white Christmas to celebrate it with our families is another story.
For my part, I glanced at one forecast model, and I do see some cause for concern. If the model forecast I examined verifies, Topeka is looking at 2 inches of snow by noon on Thursday, with an additional 4 inches possible through Christmas Day. That means a total of 6 inches of snow in and around the Capital City. Whether we indeed get this much snow remains to be seen. The last winter storm that plowed through here looked like it was going to dump on Topeka, only to shift farther west and leave us in rain for most of the day.
So, I'm going to take a "wait and see" attitude on this one, although I also am going to be ready to adjust my travel plans should this particular forecast verify.
Regardless of the weather, merry Christmas to you. May you enjoy a blessed time of celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

UPDATE (6:50 pm) -- The latest model runs, along with the latest official NWS forecast, seem to indicate that there will be 5-6" of snow in and around Topeka by the end of the storm on Friday. It doesn't appear that the snow will start in NE Kansas until after noon. Freezing rain/sleet should hit for a while before that. Still, it looks like the storm will be a bit delayed compared to the last run. We'll see what happens when the 00Z models (models based on 00Z or 6:00 pm Central Time observations) come out in a couple of hours.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XVIII

2009-12-23T09:11:00.000-06:00

Before Dobbins could say anything, the old man motioned for them to follow him. He led them through a door into a large room with a low-ceiling. The room seemed cold and damp, lit dimly by LEDs recessed in the ceiling. The room felt old, indeed ancient, as if it had been there forever. It almost seemed to Dobbins like the room smelled moldy, like the basement of an ancient house. Surely that was his imagination, though. The designers of the Lethe had not gone so far as to add actual mold to basements just to make them seem old, did they?
The old man, Leon the Watchmaker, nodded to himself and spoke. “It’s safe, now. We can talk here. It’s a good thing for you that I happened to see you turn down that alley from upstairs. It’s obvious to me that you are from an Earth ship. Perhaps my distress call has indeed been answered! Who are you? What ship are you from? How long have you been traveling to catch us?”
“I am Captain Christopher Dobbins of the Earth Ship Hyperion,” Dobbins replied. “We were sent here by Fleet Com to assist you all on your trip to Elysion. We caught up with your ship a day or so ago and have been trying to figure out what has happened since. We tried to talk to Captain Loman, but we couldn’t. And when we came on board, we were detained by security androids who called themselves Enforcers. Do you know where Captain Loman is? And who are you?”
“One question at a time, young man,” replied Leon. “I’ve been around quite a few years now, and my memory’s not what it used to be.
“To answer your second question, I’m Leon Sapens, and I’m the Chief Engineer of the Lethe, or at least I was until the mutiny ten years ago. I can see from the look on your face that I need to explain more. Let me see, where to start. Oh, yes. The first part of our journey was quite enjoyable. Everything was running fine and most days, we forgot that we were on board a starship. It felt like we were in a small town. We even decided to name it ‘Larson,’ just to give it a more homey feel, you know.
“But about ten years ago, this man named Desmond, the first officer, decided that he wanted to take over. He commandeered the Control Center, took control of all of the androids somehow, and then proceeded to take us all in for a ‘health check,’ which was really a way to brainwash all of us into believing that we were the only town that had survived a worldwide nuclear holocaust. Everywhere outside of this ship (or valley, as they called it) was said to be so radioactive as to make a person crazy within minutes. And anytime anyone started to cause trouble or agitate, they were said to be ‘Radioactive,’ and taken to the Security Center for ‘detoxification.’
“Well, as you can imagine, the end result is that this Desmond, who claims to be the son of Captain Loman, even though Loman had no son, is in charge, now. Everyone who resists his authority is quickly and swiftly dealt with.”
“How did you manage to escape ‘reprogramming?’ ” asked Commander Ella.
“Just by being clever, missy,” replied the old engineer. “When they started taking people in for this ‘health check,’ it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize what was going on. Several people tried to resist, but they were all taken in, one-by-one. I was one of the last, whether it was because of my age or just random, I don’t know. All I know is that I got to hear enough of the official line from those who had been brainwashed to know what to say, and I did a little quick re-programming of their database to make sure that I was listed as already having been taken in.
“After a few weeks, once the takeover was complete, I tried to gain access to the hyperwave array. Unfortunately, one of the androids working in the Control Center must have detected my access attempts, because before I could do anything, the array was disabled, turned off from inside the Control Center. I did manage, though, to gain access to internal communications and use it to send a radio message back to Earth. I assume that you came in response to my radio message.”
“We never received any radio message,” replied Dobbins. “We must have jumped passed the radio wave’s location in space, because we never detected it.”
“So, jump drive has been adapted to serve on ships, huh?” said Leon. “It’s about time! It would’ve been nice to have had that form of propulsion 13 years ago.”
“It’s been a little more than 13,” Skylar broke in.
“Oh, right,” responded Leon. “I forgot about time dilation. Anyway, however long it’s been, the important thing is that you’re here. Now, maybe, we can get free of the control of Desmond and get everyone to Elysion.”
“How do you propose we do that?” asked Dobbins.
“Well, now, let me think,” answered the old man. “As long as those androids are out looking for you, we can’t do much because you’ll be arrested on sight. So, we’ve got to find a way to shut down all of the security androids. As far as I know, the only way to do that is from the Control Center. There’s an emergency shutoff sequence that we can initiate from there that will disable all of the androids. Of course, only Captain Loman could do that, and as far as I know, he’s either locked away or dead. The androids took him away, and he never returned. Desmond told everyone that he died as the result of an ambush by Radioactives.”
Dobbins thought for a second before asking, “Mr. Sapens, do you think that you could override the security codes and initiate that deactivation routine?”
“I don’t quite know, Captain, if I could anymore or not. I’m pretty good at cracking systems, but I haven’t done anything like that in several years.”
“I could, sir,” Zhang’s voice interrupted. “If this computer system is the same type as the one we trained on at the Academy, I should be able to trick it into thinking that one of us is Cleopatra, if necessary.”
Dobbins smiled. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Mr. Zhang. We’ll settle for getting the androids shut down.
He took a deep breath. “All right, then, here’s the plan: Mr. Skylar, Commander Ella—you two will try to sneak back to the shuttle and send a hyperwave message back to the Hyperion. Advise Commander Brackers of our situation. And have him prepare another away team of psychologists and engineers. We’re going to need some help if we’re going to convince these people that what they’ve been told for the past 13 years is a lie. Once you’re on board the shuttle, do not leave it for any reason until you hear from us.
“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Samuelson, and Mr. Sapens, you’re with me. We’re going to try to get into that Control Center and deactivate those androids. Once that’s done, we’re going to go have a talk with Desmond. Mr. Sapens, do you know of a way to sneak into the Control Center without being detected?”
“I think I could set the sensors throughout the ship to give false echoes for a couple of hours,” replied Leon. “That should give us time to get everything done that we need to get done. And there is an entrance from the lower decks. Our only challenge will be getting to the nearest stairway down. And I think that could be a bigger challenge than resetting the sensors. The androids guard the entrances to the lower decks vigilantly.”
“We can handle a couple of androids,” Dobbins said. “If you can keep them from tracking us, then we should be fine. Questions or comments?”
After a pause, Dobbins continued, “Excellent. As soon as Mr. Sapens has made the necessary preparations, we’re going to see if we can make some progress in getting the Lethe and its passengers to Elysion.”

American Society Is Falling Apart

2009-12-20T12:50:00.002-06:00

I fear for American society. The moral core of our society, and its sense of decency, has withered after 50+ years of atheism/moral relativism in the schools, our movies, our television shows, and our music.
This article from the Associated Press demonstrates how much morality, common sense, and decency have disappeared from the American social mindset.
At a co-ed dorm at a college in Vermont, a female student is suing the school because there are problems being caused with co-ed bathrooms in the dorms. The sad part is more than that the suit is necessary. It is that the college didn't think that there would be any problem with complete strangers sharing a unisex bathroom. Talk about an awkward situation, not to mention a situation for all sorts of sexual impropriety.
We've spent so many years trying to provide "equal rights" for women that we forget that men are not women and that women are not men. We've taught our kids that men and women are the same except for social conditioning. As a result, the concepts of modesty (in language and in dress), propriety, and decency seem to have vanished from American society.
To save American society, the best solution is to turn around. We need to find a way to restore the moral base that undermined society in the past. Admittedly, many did not follow it perfectly, but that moral base was better than nothing. That will only happen if as a society, we turn back (perhaps turn to would be a better phrase) to Jesus Christ and trust Him. Nothing short of that will solve the problems that face our society.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XVII

2009-12-16T19:45:00.001-06:00

“They went for it, sir,” Samuelson said once they had reached the edge of town with no sign of pursuit. “Your guess that the androids would all take the most direct line to the explosion was correct. Because they all moved straight for it, we found ourselves outside of their line. Now where?”
“We find the Control Center and try to meet with the Mayor,” replied Dobbins.
After a couple of minutes, they found themselves in a bustling main square of the town. On one side stood the main market where the town’s farmers brought their produce. On two others stood various businesses, and on the fourth stood the town hall, an impressive structure, five stories tall, that looked like it was well over three hundred years old.
“Wow,” exclaimed Skylar. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that I was back on Earth in some small town.”
Dobbins smiled. “The effort that the designers of this ship went to in order to create the illusion of being on Earth is amazing. Look at sky, for instance. There are clouds, the sun is in the right place, and even the shade of blue changes depending on the position of the sun. The holography to pull that illusion off is impressive. Let’s pay a call on the mayor, shall we?”
Before the team could move a step closer to the town hall, however, a voice proclaimed loudly over unseen, tinny loudspeakers, “Attention citizens of Larson, be on the lookout for five Radioactives who have blasted their way into town. They are dressed in strange uniforms and should be considered armed and dangerous! Anyone who spots them should report their location to a nearby Enforcer.”
Just as the announcement finished, someone shouted, “Look, over there! It’s them! Enforcers! Enforcers!”
“Run!” Dobbins ordered as the sidewalk beneath his feet exploded from a blaster shot. An Enforcer had been nearby to answer the call.
The team quickly turned down a street that led away from the square and began to take a series of turns to try to shake off their pursuers. With every turn, however, they could still hear the footsteps of several Enforcers behind them, plodding along. They chase seemed to go on forever. Finally, as they rounded a corner into a narrow alley, they came face-to-face with a wall. The footsteps of the Enforcers drew nearer. The team was trapped.
“Now what?” Skylar asked in a whisper as they all ducked down behind trash cans at the end of the alley and turned to face its entrance.
Dobbins drew his blaster. “We fight,” he answered.
Suddenly, a door in the building on his right opened. A man with gray, disheveled hair stuck his out through the opening. “Quickly! In here,” he said in a loud whisper. When the team hesitated briefly, the man added, “If you want to escape the Enforcers, you need to come with me, now. I know that you’re from an Earth ship.”
That unexpected statement caught their attention and earned their trust. Quickly, they slipped through the door and into a dark, narrow hallway that had two staircases, one leading up and the other down. The old man motioned for them to take the downward staircase. As they did so, they could hear footsteps approach the door that they just came in.
At the bottom of the stairs, they turned out of sight of the doorway and listened as a strong knock echoed on the metal door. After a brief pause, the sound of the creaking sound of the door on its hinges filled the stairwell.
“Yes, Enforcer,” came the old man’s voice, “what is it?”
“We are searching for Radioactives, citizen,” replied the Enforcer. “We have reason to believe that they turned down this alley. Have you seen them?”
“I haven’t seen any Radioactives here at all, Enforcer,” the old man said feebily, “but if I do see any, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Are you sure?” asked the Enforcer (or was it another? Their voices all sounded alike). “I am sure that I saw them turn down this alley.”
“Well, your eyes must have fooled you, Enforcer,” replied the old man. “I’m afraid that other than a few of my employees, there isn’t anyone else in this shop besides myself, Leon the Watchmaker.”
“Very well,” replied an Enforcer. “But if you see anything suspicious, be sure to report it to an Enforcer at once.”
“Oh, I will, Enforcer, I will. Anything that has anything to do with Radioactives, don’t you worry.”
The Enforcers’ footsteps started to move away, and the door slowly creaked closed. Then, the team could hear the old man as he slowly worked his way down the stairs. Eventually, he came into view, taking the last couple of steps with care.

Cold Weather's Coming

2009-12-13T18:27:00.000-06:00

Brace yourself, NE Kansas! A cold front is forecast to push through late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Temperatures are supposed to fall all day, and it will be bitter on Monday and Tuesday. Winter weather is here, and it's not going anywhere.

Short Comment

2009-12-13T14:56:00.001-06:00

The new way to spell "fail:" C-H-I-E-F-S

Story: The Lethe, pt. XVI

2009-12-09T12:33:00.001-06:00

The team quietly and rapidly moved out into the hallway. Samuelson and Dobbins took the lead. Skylar took the rear, with Ella and Zhang in between. The met no resistance until they reached the main hallway. As they rounded the corner, they ran into two more purple-eyed guards.
Before they could pull their blasters, Samuelson fired, dropping both androids. They moved rapidly down the hall. Just as they neared the door, an alarm began to sound. Their escape had been discovered. They quickly fled out the door and into the wooded area.
They traveled for several minutes, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the security station. Once they had covered sufficient distance, Dobbins ordered a halt and handed his blaster to Zhang. “Reprogram it, Lieutenant. Then do the same to Mr. Skylar’s. We’ll need all the firepower we can get. Once that’s done, we’re going to find the Control Center. We need to contact the Hyperion and have a ‘talk’ with the Mayor.”
Zhang took the blasters and Ella’s scanner, and quickly reprogrammed the other two blasters. Just as he had finished, the scanner began quietly but insistently beeping.
“That’s a proximity alarm,” Ella said. “There are androids drawing near.” She grabbed the scanner and swung in a semi-circle to help the scanner get better readings. “Captain, there are androids approaching us from every direction we could go, all within 200 meters! We’re trapped.”
“Trapped? How could they know where we are?” asked Skylar.
“They must have used the Lethe’s sensors to locate us,” Samuleson surmised.
“How many androids, Commander?” asked Dobbins.
“Ten, maybe fifteen,” replied the psychiatrist.
“We can take them, sir,” said Samuelson. “Let’s blast them.”
“At ease, Mr. Samuelson,” Dobbins ordered. “We’re not in a good position tactically, and there will be more coming. We need to get somewhere that will cause them to lose track of us for a while. That means getting around other humans for a while so that we’re not easy targets for the ship’s sensors.”
“They’ve got us pinned in, though,” observed Skylar. “How do we get through their line and into town?”
“We could overload one of our blasters and cause it to explode,” suggested Samuleson. “That would create a large hole in their line.”
“And draw every android to that spot,” countered Skylar.
“Yes,” said Dobbins thoughtfully, “which would be exactly what we want.”
“Captain?” Ella asked, confused.
“I think you have a plan, don’t you, sir?” added Samuelson.
“I do,” Dobbins replied, smiling.

Five minutes later, as the android line solely closed in on the team, an explosion tore through the forest near one side of the android lines. As the trees crashed to the ground and dirt sprayed upwards, the androids all left their slowly-closing circle to make for the location of the explosion. As they arrived at the location of the explosion, they found a two-meter-deep crater, the scattered pieces of some destroyed security androids, and no sign anywhere of the away team. If, however, the androids had looked behind them, they would have seen five shadowy figures quietly and swiftly making their way through the forest and into town.

Let It Snow?

2009-12-06T14:38:00.003-06:00

With cold air having descended on NE Kansas in the past few days, many people's thoughts are turning to snow. And snow may be coming. There is a slight chance of snow falling in Topeka tonight into tomorrow. A better chance of snow appears to be coming Tuesday. The exact timing and location of the snow is still uncertain. Right now, the NWS thinks the better snowfall amounts will be north of Topeka, with only a couple of inches in Topeka. A slight shift in the storm track, however, could result in 5-6 inches in Topeka. Exactly how the system plays out will remain to be seen. A more accurate snowfall forecast won't be possible until about 24 hours beforehand, and even then, snowfall prediction is very tricky because so many factors can affect snow accumulation. Personally, I'm ready for a snow. Hopefully, we'll see some.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XV

2009-12-03T06:50:00.001-06:00

“Now what?” demanded Skylar.
Dobbins shrugged. “We wait. And devise a strategy. I don’t know about you all, but I noticed something quite interesting about our two ‘Enforcers.’ ”
“As did I,” added Ella, smiling faintly.
“The eyes?” Dobbins questioned.
Ella nodded. “The eyes.”
“Okay, okay, I give,” Skylar said in frustration. “What about the eyes?”
“They were purple,” Ella said.
“So?”
“Weren’t you paying attention, Skylar?” Zhang said strongly. “Captain Dobbins mentioned that the androids that were supposed to help the Lethe crew run the ship had purple eyes.”
“So, what does that mean?” asked Skylar.
“It means,” Dobbins replied, “that something a bit strange is going on here, if the androids think that they are the police of a town instead of security on a spaceship. If only we had some equipment, we could get out of here and investigate.”
“Would this help?” asked Samuelson, pulling a blaster out of pocket hidden in the side of his uniform.
“Where did you get that from?” said a surprised Skylar.
“You don’t work in security as long as I have without learning a trick or two,” Samuleson replied enigmatically.
“Excellent,” Dobbins said. “Now, if only we had a portable scanner, we could find a way out of this cell.”
“I think I can help you there,” Commander Ella said, pulling a small, rectangular device out of one of her pockets. “You don’t work in psychiatry for as long as I have without learning a trick or two,” she added with a bit of a teasing smile towards Samuelson.
“Okay,” Dobbins said. “Here’s the plan…”
Suddenly, they heard the bolt on the door being thrown. Samuelson and Ella quickly hid their contraband equipment. Enforcer Madden and his counterpart stood in the doorway, both brandishing blasters.
“You will come with us, immediately,” Madden ordered.
The team reluctantly obeyed. Madden led them back to the hallway the first saw and into a room in that hallway.
“You will wait here,” Madden commanded as he closed and locked the door.
The room that they found themselves in looked like an interrogation room. The walls were a plain, sanitary white. A small, white table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by eight, unpadded chairs.
The entire team sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Time crawled as they waited for something to happen, someone to come through the door. Samuelson slowly tapped his fingers on the table. Dobbins sat staring at the one-way mirror. Eventually, the door opened, and a man the same height as the two Enforcers. He had brown hair and disconcertingly purple eyes. Enforcer Madden followed him in.
After seating himself in a chair across from the table from the team, he pulled out a small, old handheld, and looked over it briefly before speaking. “You say you found them below ground, Enforcer?”
“Yes, Chief,” replied Madden. “They were well below ground, close to the Chasm.”
“So, who are you?” asked the Chief. “You must be citizens, yet we cannot find anyone who looks like you in the town files.”
“I am Captain Dobbins,” replied Dobbins, “we are from the Earth Ship Hyperion and here to help you get to Elysion. We are not citizens.”
“You have to be,” the Chief countered. “You are not Enforcers. You are not Maintenance Workers. You are not part of the Mayor’s Office, and you are not Radioactives. Therefore, you must be citizens.”
“Do citizens dress as we do?” Ella asked, joining in the argument.
“No, but doubtless you made these clothes yourselves in a crude attempt to imitate the Civil Service uniforms in order to successfully sneak past the guards at the passage underground.”
“Town?” asked Skylar. “You mean the ship?”
“No,” replied the Chief. “The town of Larson. The town that all citizens are from. The only town.”
“What do you mean ‘the only town?’ ” asked Dobbins.
“Do not play dumb with me, citizen,” replied the Chief. “I know that you know what has happened to this world in the past thirteen years.”
“Pretend that I don’t and tell me the story,” Dobbins said flatly.
The Chief stared at Dobbins for a minute before countering, “I do not have time to waste on foolishness such as this. You will tell us what we want to know, or we will extract it from you in one of several unpleasant ways. After that, you will be reconditioned and put back to work.”
“I already told you,” Dobbins said, sounding frustrated. “We’re from the Hyperion, and we’re here to help you get to Elysion. Let me talk with Captain Loman.”
“Captain Loman? Do you mean Mayor Loman?”
“Whatever you call him, yes, we need to speak to Mayor William Loman.”
The Chief spoke flatly, without blinking. “William Loman is dead. He was killed by Radioactives thirteen years ago. His son, Desmond, is the Mayor, now. He does not talk with rebellious citizens.”
“Dead?” Dobbins said. “And what are Radioactives?”
“Enough stalling,” the Chief’s voice was matter-of-fact, betraying no emotion. “You obviously will have to have the information extracted. Enforcer Madden, take these rebels back to their cell. Have Enforcer Zetwig prepare the extraction chamber. We will question the woman first.” He rose and left the room.
Madden drew his blaster. “You heard the Chief,” he said forcefully. “Move!” He kept his blaster trained on them as they walked out of the room.
The team slowly rose to their feet and walked towards the door. They filed out quietly and walked in silence back to the same cell as before. As they entered the small room, they noticed that the equipment that they had left outside of the door had disappeared. After they all were inside, the door slammed shut with a clang.
Skylar spoke first. “I hope you have a plan, Captain! Whatever ‘extraction’ is, it doesn’t sound pleasant, and I want no part of it.”
“At ease, Mr. Skylar,” Dobbins said forcefully. “Yes, I have a plan. Clearly, something is quite wrong on board this ship. It sounds like this Desmond has taken over the ship and reprogrammed the androids to perpetuate this myth of a town called Larson. We need to get out of here, contact the Hyperion, and see if we can ‘arrange’ a meeting with the Mayor.”
“And just how are we going to get out of here?” Skylar asked, still showing emotion.
“Mr. Samuelson,” Dobbins said, ignoring the question. “Do you still have your blaster?” Samuelson pulled it back out of the hidden compartment in his uniform. “Excellent. Mr. Zhang, could you re-work this so that it will disable androids?”
Zhang took the blaster from Samuelson. “It shouldn’t be hard, sir. Using Commander Ella’s scanner, I can set it up to emit a broad electromagnetic pulse. That should overload the android’s artificial neural network and force it to reboot.”
“Do it. Quickly,” ordered Dobbins.
Zhang took the blaster and the scanner and began to work quickly. In less than two minutes, he gave the devices back to Ella and Samuelson. “All done, sir. This should take care of any androids that get too close. It’s a broad-spread pulse. It will take out multiple androids with one shot.”
Ella had activated her scanner and exclaimed, “Commander, there are two androids approaching our location!” She quickly hid the small device in her pocket. Samuelson did likewise with his blaster.
The banging of the door bolt being thrown echoed in the room. Into the cell walked Madden and his unnamed associate. Both had their blasters drawn. Madden pointed his blaster at Ella. “You will come with us,” he ordered. “Now.”
Ella stood and walked towards the door. As she walked through the doorway, both androids turned their back on the cell. At that moment, Samuelson drew his blaster and fired in one, smooth motion. Both androids crumpled to the ground instantaneously.
“Good work, Samuelson!” exclaimed Dobbins, grabbing their blasters and giving them to Zhang. “Can you reprogram these?” he asked the engineer.
“It will take a few minutes, sir,” replied Zhang. “It would perhaps be better for us to get out of here first to somewhere safe.”
“You’re right,” Dobbins responded. He gave one of the blasters to Skylar and kept the other for himself. He set his for maximum. “Commander Ella, does your scanner have a map of the area?”
“Yes, sir,” she said as she examined the map she had already pulled up. “Our best bet is to go back to the main hallway, turn left, and walk about 20 m to the exit. There appears to be a wooded area immediately behind this building. It should provide us with some cover for when the pursuit begins.”
“Excellent. Let’s go.”

Moving Screens

2009-11-30T18:35:00.002-06:00

A day late on this one...sorry.
I went to the KSU-IUPUI game on Saturday, and one thing I noticed, as I have in the last couple of years while watching college basketball, is the number of moving screens that are not called. And I'm not talking the borderline ones, either, where I guy is just barely stopped before a player runs into him. I'm talking about an offensive player "posting up" on a defender at the top of the key. In the KSU-IUPUI game, for example, I saw at least 3 blatant moving screens.
It's amazing that referees aren't cracking down on some of these blatant violations of the rules. Players are practically blocking like in football at times, and nothing is being called. I realize that every year the NCAA has points of emphasis that it wants referees to focus on, in order to improve the quality of the game. Given the prevalence of times it occurs in a game, I would think that the NCAA would ask its officials to keep an eye out for it. Hopefully, the NCAA will do just that, and if the NCAA doesn't, perhaps the referees will watch out for it of their own accord.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XIV

2009-11-27T07:46:00.001-06:00

After about 5 minutes of travel time, the Lucy approached the Lethe’s shuttle doors, which were on the starboard side of the base section of the ship. As the Lucy neared the doors, Samuelson transmitted an override code to open the doors. Nothing happened. Samuelson tried again, with the same result. As the Lucy drew close to the doors, Skylar brought the shuttle to halt relative to the doors to prevent an unfortunate encounter with the Lethe.
“Suggestions?” Dobbins asked.
“Aside from the override code, about our only other option is to blast the doors open,” Samuelson said, “and this shuttle doesn’t have that kind of firepower.”
“Isn’t there some other way we could get the doors open?” Skylar asked.
Silence followed as everyone thought. Finally, Zhang spoke, “What about trying to trick the Lethe’s computer into opening the doors?”
“How do you propose we do that, Lieutenant?” Dobbins asked.
“If we can convince the computer that one of the shuttles inside the bay is about to explode, it would push the shuttle off and open the doors to minimize the damage.”
“Can you do it?” Dobbins demanded.
“I think so, sir. Give me a couple of minutes.” Zhang’s hands flew over the control panel as he worked to access the Lethe’s shuttle bay systems. After two minutes, he announced, “I think I’ve got it, sir. Here it goes.” He pushed a button on the console.
For a few seconds that seemed go on forever, nothing happened. Then, the Lethe’s shuttle bay door began to open.
“Good work, Mr.Zhang!” Dobbins exclaimed. “Can you make sure that the Lethe will let us dock?”
“Shouldn’t be hard, sir.” Zhang responded. “It’s pushed away a shuttle. We should be able to dock at that port by tricking the Lethe into thinking that we’re that shuttle.”
The Lucy flew to the docking port, and, thanks to a little bit more computer magic from Lieutenant Zhang, successfully docked with the Lethe. The team grabbed all of its gear and headed to the exit.
As they left the shuttle, Captain Dobbins activated a security code that prevented anyone, except for one of the Hyperion’s team, from boarding the shuttle or releasing it from its docking port, even in an emergency.
They emerged from the docking port into a hallway that looked very similar to the Hyperion’s, only smaller and less brightly lit. No sign of anyone could be seen.

Dobbins pulled out his small, portable hyperwave radio and called back to the ship. “Hyperion,” he said, “we’ve safely made it on board the Lethe. We’re going to try to find our way to the main level and see if we can work out a meeting with Captain Loman.”
“Very good, sir,” replied Commander Brackers. “Be careful. Hyperion out.”
The team began to work their way towards the stairway that led to the main level where the giant dome-covered passenger quarters lay. As they neared the main stairwell, they could hear footsteps coming at them from farther down the hallway, blocking their route to the stairs.
“Retreat? Or meet them?” asked Samuelson quietly, hand on his blaster.
“Let’s find out who else might be down here.” Dobbins replied. “If it’s some of the crew, then perhaps they can fill us in on what’s going on. We’ll wait here for them.”
The team stood in the hallway and waited as the footsteps drew nearer. Soon, from around a bend in the hallway, two men of identical height and build appeared, each wearing an old version of the security duty uniform. One had brown hair and the other blond; otherwise, they looked like identical twins. Upon seeing the Hyperion team, they stopped in their tracks and drew their blasters.
“Hold, citizens!” the brown-haired one said. “What are you doing below ground? You are supposed to stay on the surface! It is dangerous down here!”
“I am Captain Dobbins of the Earth Ship Hyperion. We are here to assist you on your journey to Elysion. We tried to contact Captain Loman, but we were unable to reach him. We’ve come to meet with him.”
“Cover them” said the guard to his blond compatriot. He walked over to an intercom panel. “Police Station; Enforcer Madden.”
“Police station,” came the reply. “What is it Enforcer? What is the status of the shuttle that the computer reported as exploding?”
“Sir, we have not yet reached the shuttle. We are 10 m from the main surface access point Delta, and we have encountered five citizens dressed in strange clothing and carrying strange equipment.”
“Bring them in, immediately, Enforcer,” ordered the voice. “Use Station Access Point Two.”
“Yes, sir.” Madden replied stiffly. Turning to the team, he ordered, “You heard the Chief. Move!” He pointed his blaster at the team to emphasize his point.
Dobbins nodded at the others to tell them that they should comply. As they began to walk, he glanced at each of the Enforcer’s faces and nearly did a double take.
“What are you looking at?” demanded the blond Enforcer.
“Nothing.” Dobbins said. “Where are you taking us?”
“As if you did not already know,” replied the Enforcer. “You are going to the Police Station, where we will find out why you ventured below ground and how it is you obtained this unusual equipment.”
“I’ve already told you,” Dobbins countered. “We’re from the Hyperion, and we’re here to help. You have nothing to fear from us. The weapons are unnecessary. Just take us to Captain Loman. He will know what’s going on and can tell you.”
“You know too much, Citizen Dobbins,” said Madden from the back of the group. “We will have to make sure that your knowledge does not endanger the town. Now, no more talking!”
They walked on in silence, Madden at the rear, the other Enforcer in the lead. Soon, they came to a small elevator. As they crowded in to the elevator, the Enforcers relived Samuleson and Dobbins of their weapons.
“There will be no tricks in the elevator,” Madden said.
They elevator slowly ascended. After about a minute, it stopped and the doors opened. Bright light that looked just like sunlight exploded into the elevator. The Enforcers escorted the team out into a broad hallway that was covered with doorways. Above the doorways stood numerous large windows that let in the bright light that bathed the hallway.
The Enforcers had the team turn left after exiting the elevator and into a different hallway. This one was lit by artificial lights that seemed pale in comparison to the bright light outside. They stopped in front of a large, heavy-looking door that the blond Enforcer opened.
“Leave your equipment here in the hall,” ordered Madden, “and then get into the cell. We will come for you when it is time for you to be questioned.”
Reluctantly, the team laid all of its equipment on the floor outside of the door and then entered the cell. Once they were all inside, the door closed behind them with a loud, ominous clang.

Health Care "Reform"

2009-11-22T16:31:00.002-06:00

I'm disappointed in the health care "reform" proposal that the Democrats have (somewhat deviously) brought to debate on the Senate floor. Not only does the bill cost far too much money and increase the federal deficit, but the way in which the Democrats gained the 60th vote needed for cloture (putting money for one & only 1 Senator's state into the bill) strikes me as dirty pool. Not that I'm totally surprised by this. Both parties have shown the knack for playing political games when they should be working together to craft a solution to the problems facing our country. Instead of crafting a truly bipartisan bill that would address both the cost of health insurance and malpractice insurance, the Democrats have brought forth a Frankenstein's monster of a bill that will balloon the deficit and may not be effective in solving the problems facing health care in this country.
Granted, I am a layman, and I don't have all the answers. But I do know that the political game-playing is only going to accomplish the further deterioration of this country.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XIII

2009-11-19T17:42:00.002-06:00

Commander Ella walked over to Dobbins. “Most interesting, Captain,” she said. “That woman sounded as if she did not realize that she was on board a ship.”
“Yes,” Dobbins concurred, “it was interesting–and frustrating. What was all of this about a mayor and Captain Loman being dead?”
“I don’t know. It seems a little odd for Captain Loman to be dead, given that he was only in his early 40s. Still, an accident could have happened. It’s the part about the son and the mayor that bother me. Loman had no children when the Lethe left, and there was no role of mayor in the ship’s society.”
“It’s been 30 years,” observed Skylar. “Isn’t that enough time for things to change on board and for Loman to have children?”
“You’re forgetting, Mr. Skylar,” Dobbins said, “that the Lethe has been traveling at close to the speed of light. Time has passed more slowly for the people on board than it has for us. I’m not sure exactly what the difference is, but it must be less.”
Lieutenant Sawyer briefly joined the discussion. “About 13 years have passed, sir.” She promptly returned to work.
“So,” Dobbins continued, “obviously not enough time. Something clearly is wrong, but what? And how do we figure out what is wrong?”
“Captain,” Brackers said, “let me take a team over to the Lethe. We can meet with this ‘Mayor’ and see what else might have happened.”
“Hang on, Commander,” Dobbins responded. “Let’s see if we can talk to the ‘Mayor’ first.
“Lieutenant Marquél, patch us back into the Lethe’s internal communications again.”
After Marquél worked to regain access to the Lethe, Ella offered a suggestion to Dobbins. “Captain, it might be better if I spoke this time, given that the woman on the Lethe already considers you a troublemaker.”
“Very well, Commander Ella, give it a try.”
After a brief click, the same female voice came from the speakers. “Mayor’s Office. This is Marlene. How may I help you?”
“May I speak with the Mayor, please?” Ella asked.
“I’m sorry,” Marlene answered, “but the Mayor is unavailable today. May I take a message for him?”
“No, Marlene, that’s fine.” Ella responded. “I’ll try again later. Thank you.”
Marlene closed the connection again.
“Well, Commander Brackers,” Dobbins said. “it looks like we are about out of options. I’m going to lead a team over there to see if we can meet with this mayor personally. If something’s wrong psychologically with the passengers of the Lethe, I don’t want this to look like an invasion, and I don’t expect there to be much danger. Mr. Skylar, you’re our pilot. Commander Ella, Mr. Chang, and Mr. Samuelson, grab your gear and meet me at Shuttle One’s docking port in 20 minutes.”
As he left the bridge, Dobbins wondered exactly what happened to the Lethe.

Twenty minutes later, the entire team had assembled in front of Shuttle One’s docking port. Docking ports were the ship designer’s answer to the pesky problem of losing atmosphere to space during shuttle exits and entries. Instead of having the ship land in a pressurized shuttle bay that had to be evacuated every time a shuttle exited or entered, the shuttles flew into a shuttle bay that was a vacuum. Each ship then connected to a docking port, a small tube wide enough for two people to walk comfortably through side-by-side. Each shuttle then could push off from the docking port, come about, and fly away from the ship into space without any loss of the ship’s atmospheric supplies.
Shuttle One, nicknamed “Lucy” by Skylar, had the best engines of any of the Hyperion’s three shuttles. Capable of traveling at 0.95c, Lucy was the only shuttle that had any hope of matching speed with the Lethe. Lucy had the capacity for up to 15 people. Indeed, it was almost a small starship in itself, not much smaller than the early interplanetary shuttles that Hegemony had used to colonize Mars. Now, such a ship served merely to transport people between ships.
The team entered through the docking port. Skylar immediately walked to the shuttle’s helm controls and activated the ship’s power. As the ship powered up, the remainder of the team found seats and sat down. Zhang sat at the shuttle’s engineering controls, while Samuelson settled at the communications/operations panel. Dobbins, dressed in tan away mission fatigues, took the central command chair, a station that duplicated the command station on the bridge in miniature. Commander Ella found herself a seat a little behind the main control area in the passenger section.
“Ready to push off, Mr. Skylar?” asked Dobbins.
“Ready, sir.”
“Push off,” Dobbins ordered.
The shuttle Lucy separated from its docking port slowly. As soon as it had cleared enough room to turn, it spun around to fly out of the shuttle docking area. Gradually, it moved passed the other three shuttles that were settled at their own docking ports, moving out towards the main shuttle bay doors. The doors opened as the Lucy drew near, allowing the ship to enter space. As the doors fully opened, Skylar activated the shuttle’s main thrusters, and the Lucy accelerated away from the main ship and on towards the Lethe.

Colder Weather Attacks!

2009-11-15T14:02:00.005-06:00

After temperatures in the 60s and 70s for much of last week, cold and rainy weather has arrived in NE Kansas. Snow is possible in central Kansas, while the temperatures here are barely in the 40s, with a moderate wind and rain showers. While this weather is more seasonal than the spring-like pattern we saw last week, it is still a bit of a shock to need long sleeves and a heavy coat.
It will take me a couple of days to get used to the cooler weather. I know that I have not felt warm at all any time today. Right now, I've dressed warmly, have a computer and a cat on my lap, not to mention a blanket and a space heater, and I still feel cool. Now, in another couple of weeks, this won't be a problem; I'll have acclimated to the cold weather. For now, though, it is cold, rainy, and dreary here, more like central Iowa in November rather than Kansas in November.

EDIT (4:30 pm): The latest forecast now shifts the snowfall farther east than before. Less than half an inch is predicted for Topeka at this point, but any shift in the motion of the storm could turn that half inch into several inches. It is definitely going to be an interesting weather day tomorrow.

EDIT #2 (5:25 pm): I misread the official forecast. It appears that 1-2" of snow are now forecast for the Topeka area. I know, however, that last year, the NWS tended to over-predict snow accumulations. So, I'm not convinced that we'll see that much snow. At the same time, I understand the NWS wanting to err on the high side. So, I stand by my initial (unscientific) guess of a 0.5" of snow by Tuesday morning.

Story: The Lethe, pt. XII

2009-11-11T20:09:00.001-06:00

“Put it on visual, Lieutenant,” Dobbins ordered.
The three-dimensional visual changed from a field of stars to that of a starship, one that Dobbins remembered seeing in the history books as a child: a large dome-like structure sitting atop seven or eight decks of a rectangular base. An intense blue glow steadily emerged from the ship’s main engines.
“Mr. Skylar, bring us to within shuttle range of the Lethe and match her speed and course. Lieutenant Sawyer, thoroughly scan that ship. I want to know exactly what the status is on every one of her systems. Lieutenant Marquél, open a channel to the Lethe.”
The crew sprang into action. Dobbins punched the intercom button on his command console. “Commander Ella to the bridge, please.”
“Channel to the Lethe open, Captain,” Marquél announced.
“EGS Lethe,” Dobbins said, trying to sound calm in spite of his excitement, “this is Captain Christopher Dobbins of the Earth ship Hyperion. We’ve come to offer you assistance on your journey to Elysion.”
He waited for what seemed to be an interminable time. Only silence answered him. “Lethe,” Dobbins began again, “this is the Hyperion, are you receiving us?”Again, silence alone answered him.
“Sawyer, what’s the status of the Lethe’s communication systems?”
“Almost have it, sir. Give me a second….” A few random beeps came from Sawyer’s console as she made took some final readings and analyzed the results. “I have it, sir. The hyperwave transmitter and receiver are both off-line.”
“Damaged?”
“No, sir. They appear to be physically intact, just off-line.”
“Why would someone disable the hyperwave?” asked Marquél.
“Because they don’t want to talk to anyone, obviously, sheesh,” Skylar said sarcastically.
“Not on the bridge, Mr. Skylar,” Dobbins snapped at Skylar, “not even in jest. There will be decorum on this bridge.”
“Aye, sir. Sorry, sir,” Skylar said, sounding as if he was only halfway repentant.
“The system may not have been intentionally disabled, Captain,” said Brackers, the first officer. “Perhaps there was an internal power grid malfunction, or a computer system glitch.”
“Good point, Mr. Brackers,” Dobbins responded. “Let’s not jump to conclusions until we’re sure that there’s a problem. I’d like to talk with the Lethe’s captain before I try to send a team over. Lieutenant Marquél, is there any way other than hyperwave that we could contact the Lethe?”
Marquél thought for a minute. “Once we get close enough, I could cut into the Lethe’s internal communication system and connect you to the ship’s control center that way.”
“Do it.” Dobbins ordered.
Marquél got to work. Within two minutes, the Hyperion was close enough, and Maruél was ready to patch into the Lethe’s internal communications system. Just as she completed the connection, Commander Ella arrived on the bridge.
After a brief pause, there came a click, followed by a female voice. “Mayor’s Office. This is Marlene, how can I help you?”
Dobbins glanced at Marquél with surprise before answering, “This is Captain Christopher Dobbins of the Earth Ship Hyperion. We’re here to offer you any assistance that you may require. Could I speak with Captain Loman?”
“Earth Ship Hyperion? Captain Loman?” asked Marlene. “Is this some sort of joke? Billy, is that you, again? How many times have I told you not to make prank calls on the comm system?”
“No, ma’am,” Dobbins replied, “this is Captain Dobbins. We’ve been sent from Fleet Com to help you reach your destination in any way possible. That’s really why I need to speak with Captain William Loman as soon as possible.”
“Billy, this isn’t funny,” Marlene persisted. “You know that Mayor Loman’s father has been gone for several years. Now, get off this line right away, young man. If you don’t, I’m going to disconnect you and report you to your parents.”
Dobbins made one last attempt. “Marlene, let me be clear. I need to speak to Captain Loman immediately. It’s an urgent matter.”
“All right, Billy, I’ve heard enough. I have work to do, and I can’t have your shenanigans keeping me from the Mayor’s business.”
“Wait, you’re not listening to me, Marlene,” Dobbins began, only to be interrupted by a click. Marlene had closed the channel.

Weather, yet again

2009-11-08T13:21:00.003-06:00

The weather is the story around here, lately. It's been warmer than average. I've been able to have the windows open and sit outside on some of these days. Meanwhile, an unusual late-season hurricane is rolling into the Gulf of Mexico and headed for the U.S. Gulf Coast. How much power it has by the time it gets to the U.S. remains to be seen. The NHC expects the Hurricane (Ida) to be extratropical by the time it gets to the Gulf Coast, so the strength of the storm might be less than a typical hurricane. It makes for an interesting story, though, and one far less controversial than the events at Ft. Hood, TX.

Story: The Lethe, Pt. XI

2009-11-04T17:56:00.001-06:00

“Anything, Marquél?” asked Dobbins.
“No, sir,” replied the young woman. “I’ve been trying to contact the Lethe on every frequency. If their communications systems are working, they should be receiving it instantly. Either they’re not receiving us, or they’re not responding.”
Before Dobbins could thank Marquél and walk away, the entire room seemed to spin in one giant circle. Dobbins grabbed the console to brace himself.
“Captain,” Marquél’s voice sounded distance, hollow, concerned, “are you okay?”
“What happened?” the dazed Dobbins asked. “For a second, it felt like the whole room was spinning.”
Marquél smiled slightly in relief. “That’s a normal side effect of jump drive travel, sir, for those who aren’t used to it. It took me a few jumps to adjust to it, but now, it doesn’t bother me at all.”
“Very well. Thank you, Lieutenant.” Dobbins carefully walked back to his command station and sat down, waiting for Sawyer to finish her scanning of space ahead of the Hyperion.
One hour passed, and Sawyer’s scans all showed no sign of the Lethe itself, only faint traces of the ship’s ion trail. Based on the dissipation rate, Sawyer estimated that the Lethe had passed through this area about 25 years ago.
Dobbins ordered another jump. Again, Dobbins found himself watching the control panel as the jump field built. Then, it felt as if he had blacked out for the briefest of instants, and when he had regained consciousness, the instruments indicated that the jump field again was dropping. Attempting to stand and then thinking better of it when the room once again started to play merry-go-round, Dobbins sat in his chair and watching the sensor reports as Sawyer began to scan anew for the Lethe. Once again, the sensors turned up nothing except the Lethe’s ion trail.
Another jump occurred, putting the Hyperion 15 light years from Earth. The tedious scan process began again. Once again, nothing except the Lethe’s trail. Another jump followed, then a fourth, and fifth. Each time the sensors came up empty. Just as Dobbins began to think that he would have to brace himself for a sixth jump, Sawyer exclaimed, “Captain, I’ve found something!”
Slowly, Dobbins stood up and walked over to her station. “What is it? The Lethe?”
Sawyer frowned. “I can’t tell, sir. It’s something, but it’s near the far edge of sensor range, about 4 light years away. It’s clearly metallic, but other than that, I can’t tell. It could be the Lethe. It could also be one of our early jump-drive probes. We sent a few out this direction. We’re too far away for a visual to be meaningful. If we could jump closer, I could tell you for sure.”
“Lieutenant Skylar,” Dobbins said, spinning around gradually to avoid a repeat of his earlier vertigo, “how close can you get us to that object using the jump drive?”
“As close as you want me to, sir,” came the reply from the confident young helmsman.
“Very well. Get us to within five hundred kilometers of that object. I want to be close enough to get a good visual on the object, but far enough away that we don’t run the risk of getting it caught in our jump field.”
“Aye, sir,” Skylar replied as he began the calculations for making the new jump. Within thirty seconds, he had completed his calculations and initiated the jump sequence.
As the sequence began, Dobbins suddenly wished that he had sat down. After the brief blackout that indicated the jump had taken place, the room seemed to spin for a second before returning to normal. Maybe I’ll get used to this one of these days, Dobbins thought.
“Captain!” Sawyer said, exuding excitement. “We’re close to have a visual, and there’s no question about it, sir. I can’t believe it. It’s the Lethe!”

VoIP

2009-11-01T17:46:00.004-06:00

I had the chance to experience first-hand the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology that underlies services such as Skype. It is truly amazing technology. I was talking with a friend of mine in Romania via the Internet, and the sound quality was the same as if we were talking on the phone. Indeed, I would say that the sound quality exceeded that of my cell phone. It is impressive what a group of dedicated computer scientists were able to figure out how to do. To be able to take my voice, convert it into packets, send the packets through the Internet and then get them arrive at the same time in the right order is truly amazing. I may have to do a little research into how it works, because I'm very curious about it, now.

Story: The Lethe, pt. X

2009-10-28T17:17:00.001-05:00

The most tedious part of the mission had begun: getting far enough away from the large gravity well of Mars in order for the jump drive to be engaged. Two days of travel later, and the Hyperion successfully reached a point at which the gravity of Mars would not interfere with the jump drive’s bending of space. Preparations began for the Hyperion’s first jump as official starship.
Skylar, Sawyer, and Chang spent the hours preceding their arrival at the safe point in order to calculate the exact settings needed to make the jump 5 light years ahead. Normally, the calculations would only take a few minutes, but this jump required extra precision because Sawyer had to scan ahead to see if the Lethe happened to be in the ship’s path. If so, then the Hyperion would want to jump a shorter distance in order to arrive exactly next to the Lethe.
Finally, Skylar announced, “We’re ready to jump, Captain.”
Dobbins looked up from the status monitors that he had been studying casually. “Excellent. Lieutenant Sawyer, any sign of the Lethe in the region ahead of us?”
“No, sir,” Sawyer replied quietly. “Nothing out there at all of any size, sir.”
Dobbins nodded. “That’s to be expected. If the Lethe were this close, someone would have spotted her. Mr. Skylar, whenever you’re prepared, let’s make the first jump.”
Skylar smiled. “Aye, sir.” His hands once again danced over the control panel and the Hyperion initiated a jump.
An observer outside the ship would have seen a unique sight. First, the clear striping around the middle of the ship suddenly began to glow orange. That orange glow grew in intensity until several meters on each side of the ship reflected the aura. Then, suddenly, without any flash from the engines or change, the Hyperion vanished, reappearing just as suddenly in a new location without any signals to indicate its arrival.
On board the Hyperion, the change was as sudden. One minute, Dobbins sat looking at his control panel, watching the jump field grow up to full strength. For the briefest microsecond, he felt like he blacked out, and then he noticed that the jump field indicators on his panel were dropping. The distant star patterns on the holographic display had changed dramatically. The Hyperion had just jumped 5 light years from Earth and sat alone in vast darkness of interstellar space.
“Jump complete, Captain,” reported Skylar.
“No sign of the Lethe in the immediate vicinity,” Sawyer said. “I’m expanding scans outward to 5 light years ahead.”
Dobbins nodded, still a little shocked by the suddenness of the jump. He knew what had happened—even if he did not totally understand it—but even knowing what had happened did not settle the slight sense of disorientation he felt. To try to get his sense of equilibrium back, he walked over to the communications station, where Lieutenant Marquél sat, transmitting on all hyperwave frequencies in an attempt to contact the Lethe.

Blank

2009-10-25T19:32:00.001-05:00

Writer's block and too many tasks to do result in nothing to say. I wish I had something inspirational or witty to write, but I have many things demanding my attention that I need to take care of. Don't get wrong. Life is good. God has blessed me with a good set of circumstances, and He is my comfort and my guide. But I just can't seem to put together anything interesting or coherent right now. End of post.

Story: The Lethe, pt. IX

2009-10-24T19:53:00.001-05:00

Sorry, this was supposed to be on Wednesday. Had a crazy week. Here it is.

“Message from the dockmaster, Captain,” Lieutenant Marquél announced, “he wishes us good luck and Godspeed.”
“Signal our thanks, Lieutenant.”
“Aye, sir.”
The Hyperion continued maneuvering for a couple of minutes before settling into orbit around the planet Mars. At that point, the visitors rose from their chairs and began to make their way to the exit from the bridge. A few felt the need to stop and say something to Dobbins. Most simply spoke the usual words of congratulations and well-wishing. Yentzen gave Dobbins a caution, “I don’t know what happened to the Lethe, Captain, but knowing the Generational ship designs the way I do, be prepared for something unusual, something slightly bizarre. I hope I’m wrong, but I have a sense of foreboding that the lack of communication from the Lethe is far more serious than simply a malfunctioning hyperwave array.”
Dobbins shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Yentzen. I hope you’re wrong, too, but one way or the other, hopefully we’ll find out soon.”

Over an hour past before all of the visitors finally departed. By that point, Dobbins was about ready to throw the stragglers out of the airlock himself. He normally was not an impatient man, but the dour arrogance of the European Prime Minister taxed him greatly. She had almost left the bridge when she decided that she wanted a tour, even though she had already received one earlier in the day. This time, she expected another, conducted by the captain himself. Upon hearing of her request, Dobbins did his best to get out of the unpleasant task of showing her around.
Dobbins nearly lost his patience when the head of the Hegemony spoke up. “Madam Minister,” the Head said graciously and gently, “you’ll have to permit the captain to conduct the tour on a different day. He has a critical mission that he must embark on without delay. I’m sure that he will gladly show you all the corners of this ship upon their return from successfully completing the mission.”
The Prime Minister seemed satisfied with those assurances, although she still slowly made her way to the docking port where her shuttle waited.
When the final shuttle had cleared the Hyperion, Dobbins gave the order to break orbit. The Hyperion’s sublight Ion Drive engaged, emitting a bright blue glow from the rear of the ship. The Hyperion slowly slid away from Mars and began to follow the Lethe’s course.

Tired

2009-10-18T18:37:00.002-05:00

I don't know what it was about this past week, but I still feel tired now, even after sleeping 8 hours each of the past two nights as well as an extra hour or so today. I wonder if some of it is just because I was on surrounded by people nearly 24/7 for the past 3 days. Although it is hard for some people to understand, being around people incessantly is draining for me. It's not that I don't like people, but that I am tired by relating. The teachers' conference I went to on Thursday and Friday this week drained me far enough down that I'm still not rested. In a few hours, it's going to be time to sleep, and I know that I won't have enough rest. I'll just have to trust in God's grace.

Story: The lethe, pt. VIII

2009-10-14T16:13:00.000-05:00

By 1200 hours, the number of people on the bridge exceeded the capacity specified by the designers. In addition to the usual crew of the 2nd shift, there were a number of dignitaries from the “United Earth Hegemony” government. The governor of the Martian colonies sat next to the commander of the Lunar outposts, the two men quietly laughing at some private joke. Next to them, looking bored as always was the Prime Minister of the European Union. Dobbins could not remember ever seeing the woman smile. If she was enjoying being on the Hyperion, she showed no sign of it. The Emperor of South America and the President of the United States of North America stood next to their chairs, listening to the slow, sonorous voice of the head of the Hegemony. By no means did all of the inhabitants of Earth live under the rule of the Hegemony, but far fewer lived outside than inside. The other dignitaries included the Prime Minister of the East Asian Republic, the commander of the Martian shipyards, and the Hyperion’s primary designer, Albert Yuntzen.
The bridge itself held all of the extra personnel with difficulty. Aside from the touch-sensitive panels that ringed the outside of the room for various secondary systems, and most of the dignitaries found themselves stuffed in between these outer stations and the inner area of the bridge. The captain’s station, which included readouts for every major system and basic controls that he could use, if necessary, stood at the very center of the bridge, a large, almost complete circle of touch-sensitive panels. Behind the captain’s station were the communications and tactical stations, facing forward. To the captain’s left was the vast, intricate control panels for the chief science officer, and to the right was the executive officer’s station. It looked like a smaller version of the captain’s station, a semicircle of panels facing forward. In front of everyone sat the helm and navigation controls, a vast set of panels operated by the helmsman. The remaining dignitaries who could not fit around the edge of the bridge found themselves stuffed into whatever space could be found within the inner bridge.
“All systems report ready, sir,” Brackers reported.
“Excellent, Commander, thank you,” Dobbins responded. “Mr. Skylar, when you’re ready, clear moorings at take us out of dry dock, full thrusters.”
Skylar’s hands flew over the panel with the fluidity that came from years of familiarity. “Aye, sir. Moorings cleared. Aft thrusters to 100%.”
On the holovision at the front of the bridge, the three-dimensional view of the dry dock ahead of the ship began to slide backwards as the Hyperion accelerated out of dry dock and began initiating orbit around Mars.

It's Cold

2009-10-11T19:46:00.002-05:00

It may be October, but it feels like November, or even December. An arctic air mass has plunged into NE Kansas, bringing unseasonably-cold temperatures. I endured this cold snap first-hand, refereeing three soccer games on Saturday out in the cold. I can't remember ever refereeing games that were that cold. It was not fun to referee the games, although it was interesting to see a kid commit a blatant hand ball. He reached out and spiked it to the ground, drawing a yellow card, a rarity in recreational soccer.
Today was equally cold. Thankfully, I was able to spend the day inside.
This coming week will be warmer, but still cooler than normal. This cool Fall is fitting with the trend of a cool summer. If the weather continues to be this cool, it could be a cold winter.

Story: The Lethe, pt. VII

2009-10-07T17:49:00.000-05:00

“Our mission is to find out what became of the Lethe, taking advantage of this new jump drive technology to follow the Lethe’s course, assuming she’s still on it, overtake her, and find out what happened. If the Lethe still is function and if people are still on board, we are to take them—and the ship, if possible—to Elysion and help them establish the colony. Hopefully, they’ve just had a communications system malfunction but are otherwise fine. Any questions?”
Brackers spoke up, “Sir, exactly how are we supposed to track the Lethe? I know that we can use the jump drive to jump instantaneously to any point within 5 light-years of our present position, but that still leaves a lot of territory to cover. It’s 46 light-years to 47 Ursae Major. It could take a year or so to explore all of that distance, even if we jump frequently.”
“The Lethe used a very powerful Ion Drive,” Dobbins replied, “and would have left a trail that we should be able to pick up once we’re outside the Solar System. Lt. Commander Sawyer, I am correct in thinking that this ship has the sensors to scan 3-5 light years ahead of its current position, am I not.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Sawyer quietly.
“Then, this is the plan: we head out of the Solar System along the Lethe’s original path, pick up her trail, and then jump outward in 5 light-year increments, scanning ahead of us each time until we either find the Lethe or reach 47 Ursae Major. Comments?”
“What if we don’t find any sign of the Lethe and we reach Ursae?” asked Skylar.
“Let’s hope, Mr. Skylar,” Dobbins responded, “that it doesn’t come to that. This search is already going to be difficult enough if the Lethe is where she’s supposed to be. Other questions?
“Good. That’s it for now. We depart dry dock at 1300 hours sharp. Be to the bridge by 1200 hours for your shift. Dismissed.”
The senior staff rose almost as one to leave from the briefing room. They exited as they entered, talking in pairs or threes, only this time the conversation focused on the Lethe, even the conversation between Marquél and Skylar, who seemed to be arguing about the origin of the name Lethe. Dobbins just shook his head at those two as he turned off the briefing room lights and left for his quarters.

Rambling Ruminations about Endurance

2009-10-04T16:28:00.003-05:00

Endurance can be a paradox. In order to develop more, you must exhaust what you have. That is certainly true in running. You don't gain better endurance by resting too much.
I wonder: is the same true with life in general? Is the only way that God can helps us learn to persevere by taking us to the end of ourselves? I realize that our endurance and perseverance are ultimately the result of His grace at work in us, but at the same time, unless we are at the end of ourselves, we humans have a notorious habit of trying to rely on our strength. Perhaps, then, this need to learn perseverance is part of why God allows difficulty and hardship in the life of believers.
"In this world, you will have trouble..." (John 16:33) says Jesus in the midst of His final discourse with the disciples before His crucifixion. This world is fallen, crises happen. Relationships fail, emotions cloud rational judgment, and decisions that should result in good unintentionally cause evil. We constantly find ourselves tested by the circumstances of life. We need endurance to push through the hardship and honor God in the process. We can only do that in one way: through Jesus. This fact is why Jesus precedes, "In this world you will have trouble," with "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace." In other words, for Christians, the source of our peace in trial and our strength to keep going in hardship comes not out of ourselves but from He who dwells within us.
The challenge that we face, that I face, is to rely on the grace of the indwelling Spirit instead of on my own strength. It is in that grace that I hope to trust this week.

Story: The Lethe, pt. VI

2009-09-30T17:26:00.002-05:00

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Fleet Com has given us a mission as unique as our ship’s abilities. We have been given the task of finding out what happened to the EGS Lethe.”
A holographic image appeared on the display of an extremely large, domed vessel, gray in color. It had a square base that was 4-5 kilometer on a side, and a dome that arched up to a maximum height of over 500 meters. It looked not dissimilar to the ancient snow globe baubles that Dobbins remembered his grandmother being so found of, only on a scale more massive than anyone had ever seen. A look of amazement erupted from the faces of the entire staff, except Skylar, who nodded in the way that people nod when they want to look like they understand, even though they don’t.
“For those of you who didn’t pay attention in History class at the academy, let me give you some details about the Lethe,” Dobbins continued. Marquél gave Skylar a sharp elbow to the ribs, prompting a quiet protestation from Skylar.
“Problem, Mr. Skylar?” Dobbins demanded, looking at the young man the way a teacher looks at miscreant student.
“No, sir.” Skylar said, attempting to talk smoothly out of the situation and failing, “I merely couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The Lethe? We lost contact with her about 15 years ago, and now we get the chance to find out what happened to her.”
“Actually, it’s been closer to 30, Mr. Skylar. The Lethe was one of the last generational colony ships to be sent out. Its destination, the third moon in orbit around the planet 47 Ursae Majoris b.” A schematic of the system of 47 Ursae Majoris appeared on the visual display and after a flyby, zoomed in on the planet and its moon. “As you know, this star system is 14.1 parsecs from our own system, so using Ion Drive, the trip would require about 70 years. To make such a long trip, the ship was designed to allow the second generation of those on board to become the first settlers on the new moon, which was to be re-designated Elysion upon establishment of the colony.
“The Lethe, then, like most generational ships carried about 500 people, even though it had room for nearly 2000. The remainder of the space was left for supplies and for room for the next generation to be able to live. Because of the vast distances that the Lethe would have to cover, the designers of the ship used the best holographic and construction technology available to create a ship that would seem to its inhabitants like it was Earth instead of a spaceship. The idea was that, if the passengers felt as much as possible like they still were on Earth instead of many light years from home, then they could avoid some of the deep-space psychoses that afflicted the other generational ships.”
Commander Ella spoke up, “The Lethe wasn’t the only ship to use such an approach, Captain. It had already been successfully used on a couple of other generational ships.”
“True, Commander,” Dobbins replied, “but the Lethe took the approach and refined it further. Not only was each individual’s quarters designed in such a way as to simulate an Earth-like home, the entire ship was built to be a giant Earth simulator. Only in the decks below the main level and in the Town Hall (the Control Center, really) could any hint be found that the ship was indeed a ship. The holographic technology, the climate control, and the unique design of the ship all contributed to making the illusion nearly perfect, at least from what I’ve been able to read of contemporary accounts. And since only the crew who ran the ship, all 20 of them, ever needed to access either of those areas, I have to imagine that illusion would function pretty well, as long as you wanted it to.”
“Twenty people couldn’t manage a starship of that size!” Zhang exclaimed in amazement.
“You’re correct, Mr. Zhang,” Dobbins said, “but if you remember your history, you’ll remember that the designers equipped the ship with a staff of nearly 200 androids to handle the majority of the tasks and serve the passengers needs. The androids were the ones who did the majority of the spaceship work. In this way, the passengers did not have to give up the illusion of idyllic, small town life on Earth. In fact, the ship’s designers even went so far in creating the illusion that they made the androids entirely human in appearance and mannerisms, with one exception: all the androids had unusually-colored purple eyes in order to help the humans recognize them as automatons.
“The ship set out 30 years ago from this very dry dock to a tremendous fanfare. Plans to build a second one just like her were already underway, with another, even more-distant star system to the target. The funds and personnel took a while to get approved, but construction on the second Lethe-class vessel had just barely gotten underway when hyperwave communication with the Lethe suddenly was lost. No indications of the exact cause of the loss of communication could ever be determined. Fleet Comm attempted several times over the course of the first year or two to re-establish contact and gain remote access to the ship, but no signal ever received a response. The Lethe simply had vanished into the depths of space, and to this day, no one knows what became of her or her passengers.”

From 85 to 66 in just a few hours

2009-09-27T21:10:00.001-05:00

A cold front has definitely pushed through. It was hot (in the upper 80s) around 2:00. By the time I went out for a short run at 5:30, the temperature was at 81, and right now, it has plummeted to 66. That is the classic temperature profile of a cold front. The cold air mass has taken hold here in Topeka, returning us to seasonal temperatures. It looks like it will be a beautiful day tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the great weather!

Story: The Lethe, pt. V

2009-09-23T21:11:00.000-05:00

Dobbins walked up to the podium at the front of the room, amazed at how real the synthetic mahogany exterior felt. The boys at fabrication had outdone themselves on this one. Like the conference table, it had touch-sensitive controls and the ability to automatically interface with handhelds. Dobbins had just enabled the main controls and initiated the interface between the main computer and his handheld when Commander Brackers and Lieutenant Samuleson walked into the room, discussing the latest developments in weaponry.
Their conversation continued as the remainder of the senior staff filtered in. Marquél, Ella, and Sawyer all came in together, discussing something about the finer points of living in space with family members. Zhang entered alone, head down, reading something off of his handheld. Finally, at 0959, everyone arrived at the conference room, with the exception of Skylar, the helmsman. Right as the chronometer on the wall read 1000, he sprinted in, a half-eaten doughnut in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and the top two buttons on his gray uniform still unbuttoned. He hurriedly shoved the rest of the pastry in his mouth while almost simultaneously gulping the drink. Hurriedly discarding the cup in a reprocessing bin, he dropped into the seat next to Marquél with enough force to cause it to rock backwards.
Marquél rolled her eyes at Skylar’s finish. She appeared to be about to make a comment when Dobbins beat her to it. “Nice of you to join us, Mr. Skylar. You made it in time, I see. Is it normal for you to make such a dramatic entrance?”
“Uh, no, sir,” Skylar replied in a voice that sounded far too contrite to be entirely sincere. “I was just up a little late after the party last night; I couldn’t sleep,sir. Too excited about our first mission, I guess.”
To Dobbins eye, Marquél appeared to suppress another wisecrack, instead settling for a slight sigh of irritation.
With his staff assembled and the almost-tardy Skylar sufficiently chastised, Dobbins began the briefing. He called up on the holographic display the image of an old starship.

Strange Coin Toss

2009-09-20T17:48:00.002-05:00

Because I hurt my back last weekend at a tournament, I was working an under-9 (7 & 8 year old) girls' recreational soccer game. I was prepared for some things to be a bit weird compared to the under-12 & under-13 club games that I normally do. But I wasn't prepared for what happened at the pre-game coin toss.
Two girls from each team, pink and blue, arrive at the center circle for the coin toss. Here is a rough transcript of what happened next.

Me (to one of blue's captains): Call it in the air
Captain: Okay

[I toss the coin in the air. She waits for the coin to hit the ground and looks at coin, which shows tails.]

Captain: Tails
Me (smiling): Cheater. Let's do that, again. Call it in the air.

[I again toss the coin in the air. She again waits for the coin to hit the ground and looks at the coin, which shows heads.]

Captain: Heads

At this point, I stare at her, dumbfounded. I couldn't decide if she was being serious. Did she not understand English? Did I say something unclear? Was she suffering from a cognitive impairment? Thankfully, her co-captain bailed me out and said, "I'll call it." We proceeded with the coin toss correctly, but I have to file this under the "Now I've Seen Everything" category.

Story: The Lethe, pt. IV

2009-09-16T16:48:00.001-05:00

Dobbins arrived first in the briefing room. Because the Hyperion was brand new, the briefing room felt more Spartan than Dobbins was used to. At one end of the room sat a holographic projection area. Looking like a cross between a small stage and an ancient projection television, this system allowed the crew to bring up three-dimensional representations of objects and manipulate them in real time. The system also tied into the communications system, allowing for three-dimensional communication to be conducted with ease. The bare, tan walls softly reflected the glow emitted by the LED lights that were subtly embedded throughout the ceiling. A person entering the room who was unused to this form of lighting would find it unusual at first that there was no single source of light. Rather, every direction seemed to be equally bright, and shadows were non-existent. This omni-directional lighting gave the entire conference room an otherworldly feel.
In the center of the room stood a massive conference table. A computer embedded in the table received and sent data to handhelds with high efficiency, and the table surface itself had touch-sensitive control areas on it. Dobbins still remembered the first time he saw an inexperienced officer forget about the control areas. The man had grown tired of sitting during a particular long, boring report, and decide to stand up and sit on the edge of the table. Unfortunately for him, he sat on the light control and plunged the room into a few seconds of total darkness while also bringing up a copy of the movie shown the night before at the ship’s weekly movie night. By the time he frantically succeeded in restoring the lights and shutting off the movie, his face had turned a deep shade of red. That officer never sat on a table again.

College Football: The Battle for Last?

2009-09-13T20:52:00.000-05:00

K-State and Iowa State both played ugly games yesterday. Each team played well for 1 quarter, and then took the rest of the game off. Both lost, and I'm not sure which loss was worse. ISU lost to Iowa 35-3. ISU played well in the 1st quarter, and then folded after that. KSU, on the other hand, played atrociously through the first 3 quarters of their 17-15 loss to Lousiana-Lafayette. They missed 3 field goals. They went 0-12 on third down. They basically did nothing on offense. Their only points through 3 quarters was a safety on a botched snap. When they finally were able to score a touchdown, they missed an extra point. Then, once they had the lead, the defense finally wore down a little, allowing a late field goal.
Both teams were less than impressive in their first-week wins. ISU beat one of the worst team in Division I football (FCS team North Dakota State). KSU unimpressively beat Massachusetts, also an FCS team. Both teams had trouble with FBS teams this week.
So, with "Farmaggedon," the battle between KSU-ISU still several weeks away, the question remains: will it be a battle for last in the Big XII North? Based on what I've seen from these two teams so far, I'd be tempted to say yes, except that there's a team that looks even less skilled than either KSU or ISU: Colorado. Colorado has lost twice, including getting blown out on Friday night against Toledo. KSU and ISU may be saved from the cellar of the North not because of their own skill but by Colorado's ineptitude. Exactly how things play out, of course, remain to be seen. Few things are less predictable than college football. Perhaps that's why it can be so fun to watch.

Story: The Lethe, pt. III

2009-09-09T18:55:00.000-05:00

At the change-of-command party afterwards, Dobbins finally got the chance to meet all of his senior staff. With the exception of Samuelson, the remainder of the senior officers had served on the Hyperion during her shake-down cruise. Fleet Command felt that the best crew for the ship was the one that already knew her, and Dobbins agreed wholeheartedly. He knew that a unique ship like the Hyperion required a crew with unique skills to function properly. Still, working with a new group of people always presented a challenge. He knew that it would take time before they would adjust to his style of command.
Samuelson and Dobbins walked in together, Samuelson explaining to Dobbins the details of the Hyperion’s weaponry. In the somewhat-crowded mess hall, at a table near the far end of the room, sat the remainder of the ship’s senior officers. Samuelson, who had been on board for several weeks, led Dobbins over to the table and began to introduce everyone.
First was a smiling younger man with short, curly, dark hair and dark skin. This was Lieutenant Myles Skylar, the helmsman. He rose and greeted the captain with a salute, speaking with a faint African accent. Next to him sat Lieutenant Commander Katie Sawyer, science officer. She demurely greeted the captain with a nod of her brown-haired head. Facts, not people, were her specialty.
Beside her was a calm, collected blonde woman with striking blue eyes that seemed almost like they could read your mind. “Captain,” Samuelson said, “This is Commander Ingrit Ella, our ship’s doctor and psychiatrist. She’s spent the past two years studying the effects of jump drive travel on humans. If anything strange is going to happen to anyone, she’ll be prepared for it.”
The Oriental man to Ella’s left chuckled briefly. “The only strange thing that will happen on this trip is going to be if someone decides to play a joke and reprograms the food replicators to make wax fruit. Jump drive travel hasn’t done me any harm in my nearly three years of experimenting with it. I’m Lieutenant Commander Chiang Zhang, chief engineer, sir. We’re ready to launch as soon as you’re ready.”
Dobbins laughed. “As you were, Commander. We’ll have plenty of time to put your engines and the jump drive to the test. For now, let’s enjoy ourselves.”
“Well said, Captain!” chimed in the deep female voice of Lieutenant Ana Marquél, communications officer. She introduced herself to Dobbins, standing to salute as Skylar had.
“And finally, sir,” Samuelson said once Marquél had returned to her seat,” this is your Executive Officer…”
“Commander Neal Brackers,” interrupted Brackers, rising to give Dobbins a sharp salute. “Let me say that is an honor to serve under you, sir. I’ve heard about your heroism during the Charon Crisis. Your quick decision-making saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives on that starbase.”
“Thank you, Commander. Your record is equally as impressive. I look forward to having your help at keeping this ship running at peak efficiency.”
“Won’t you join us, sir?” asked Ella. “We were just discussing what our first mission might be.”
“Personally, I’d like to head out there a ways,” said Skylar. “All of those trial runs to Alpha Centauri got old after a while. I want to see what this ship can really do. Maybe get to the other side of the galaxy, or beyond.”
“The other side of the galaxy might take us a tad far out of communications range, Skylar, even with hyperwave,” chimed in Marquél. “I think something a little closer to home might be better.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Skylar demanded. “Come on, Ana, where’s your sense of aventura?”
“We’ll talk about our mission tomorrow during the briefing,” Dobbins said quickly before Marquél could respond. “For now, relax, have fun. The real work begins tomorrow. If you’ll excuse me, I want to meet some of the rest of the crew. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning at 1000 hours sharp.”
As he and Samuelson walked away from the table, Dobbins asked, “Are those two always like that?”
“Who, Skylar and Marquél?” Samuelson answered. “Yes, sir, they are. They went through the academy together and served on their first deep-space posting together, so they know each other really well. And Skylar seems to like to stir the pot. He’ll give anyone a hard time if he thinks he can get away with it. It’s never affected his performance, but the crew tell me that it kept things interesting on some of the early test voyages.”
Dobbins smiled. “Well, if we’re gone for as many months as I expect us to be gone, Commander, we’re going to need a little entertainment now and then to keep us from getting too bored. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to introduce me to some of the other members of the crew.”

Football, American Style

2009-09-06T21:37:00.002-05:00

The last two days have seen me at high school and college football games, with others on television in the background wherever I go. Autumn must be here; it's time for football.
In some ways, I'm glad that it is this time of year. There's some exciting, even festive, about a game of American football. Each game is an event, and the fans in attendance get excited (sometimes too excited) about what happens on the field. The atmosphere at the K-State/UMass game yesterday, for instance, was so electric at the start that it reminded of the times I would attend the KSU/ISU game with my family. Ah, the happy, care-free days of college. At the same time, I do find it odd that people (myself included) sometimes get so worked up about a game. In reality, it doesn't matter even from year-to-year who won what game when. Certainly in 50 or 100 years, it's not going to matter at all. The challenge, of course, is keeping games in proper perspective. For me, knowing that there is an eternity with Christ ahead, I at least have some hope of keeping a football game (or a soccer game) in perspective. That's not to say that I don't forget myself or get caught up in the moment. Such reactions, however, are not the kind I desire. What I want is to be in the middle ground: not so indifferent to the game that I can't enjoy it, yet not so caught up in it that I behave in a way that dishonors the Lord. It's a long season, and I'll have plenty of chances to practice between high school soccer and football, KSU football, and Iowa State football. (The Chiefs don't count. We know that they're going to lose most of their games this year.) Hopefully, I can find the middle ground, and enjoy a few games in the process. May God grant me (and all of us) the mercy to do just that, keeping these temporary pastimes in perspective.

Story: The Lethe, pt. II

2009-09-02T21:46:00.002-05:00

On the other side of the door stood a tall, gaunt man, nearly seven feet in height but seemingly underweight. His close-cropped brown hair and taciturn expression gave him the imposing look of a stern disciplinarian. Anyone, though, who had the fortitude to maintain eye contact with the man could see a playful flicker in his eyes, hidden underneath a well-practiced veneer of emotional discipline. This man, Lieutenant Robert Samuelson, had been chosen by Dobbins himself to be the ship’s chief of security and chief weapons officer. His reputation in all forms of combat only added to the mystique created by his formidable appearance.
“Captain on board!” he proclaimed in a strong, tenor voice. From somewhere out of Dobbins’s field of view, a boson blew a whistle, a tradition dating all the way back to sea-faring ships on ancient Earth.
As the last tones of the whistle faded, Dobbins stepped out of the shuttle and onto the ship—his ship. He looked around at the assembled crew. Two hundred officers, the best men and women in the fleet, and another three hundred enlisted personnel. All stood at attention, eyes staring straight ahead.
One figure, an elderly gentleman with innumerable medals attached to the front of his uniform, stepped forward. Reading from the handheld in front of him, he went through the history of the Hyperion’s development, describing the ship’s history and shakedown cruise in detail. Finally he said, “As of this date—July 11, 2137, I, Captain Luther Travest of the Ship Development Division, relinquish command of the EHS Hyperion, first in the class of hyperlight-capable ships built at the Lasalle Shipyards orbiting Mars.” He crisply raised his hand in a salute towards Dobbins.
Dobbins returned the salute. “I relieve you, sir.”
“I stand relieved,” Travest replied. He stepped forward to shake Dobbins’s hand while simultaneously giving him the handheld. “Captain, welcome on board. Your specific orders are contained here. Without a doubt, you have the finest ship and the finest crew in the Fleet. I leave her in your hands, take good care of her.”
Dobbins shook the older man’s hand and took the device containing his orders. As the other captain stepped back to his spot in formation, Dobbins surveyed the crew, took a deep breath, and began his welcome speech.

I Forgot (Again)

2009-09-01T20:49:00.001-05:00

So, I forgot to post on Sunday. Sorry. I got distracted by other things. I will do my best to post tomorrow and try to get back on my regular Wednesday/Sunday schedule. For now, this in-between post will have to suffice, because I'm tired and just want to rest.

Story: The Lethe, pt. I

2009-08-26T18:26:00.004-05:00

With the school year getting underway, my time to ponder and plan interesting things to post has dwindled substantially. So, each Wednesday, I'm probably going to post pieces of a story that wrote earlier this year. (I'll try to post random thoughts & comments on Sunday, still, for those of you who don't care about the story.) I will be the first to admit that I did not necessarily write this story for anyone else. My main motivation was that I have a master's thesis to write next year, and I wanted some practice in writing something that was longer than a 5-page graduate school essay. This story definitely is longer than 5 pages. So, if you're curious (or want to see what happens when a math teacher tries to engage in creative writing), read on. (As always, all content of this blog is copyrighted.)

The Lethe
Captain Christopher Dobbins of the Earth Space Fleet sat anxiously in his seat as his shuttle climbed away from the surface of Mars towards Dry Dock Four. His blue eyes darted quickly from the controls to the handheld computer containing his orders. He had read the orders many times in the thirty minutes since liftoff, and he fought the urge to read through them again. He tugged at the tight collar on his dress uniform. He hated dress uniforms. They never seemed to fit him right, despite the assurances from every technical expert that the scanners on clothing fabricators always got the fit exactly right. It seemed to him that the collars always came out just a bit on the small side, constricting his throat just enough to be annoying but not enough to cause any problems. After one more futile yank on his collar, he stared out the window of his shuttle as it neared the newest ship in the fleet, the ship that was about to become his: the Hyperion.
The Hyperion’s opalescent appearance stunned him. He had seen the schematics, of course, even pictures on the holovision. To see the ship in person, however, made it seem more real, somehow. Perhaps, the realization that he would soon be walking her decks and get to experience first-hand her unique abilities worked to create this heightened awareness of reality.
The Hyperion was no ordinary ship. Unlike its predecessors, which relied on an Ion Drive to propel themselves at speeds approaching the speed of light, the Hyperion had a new form of propulsion—jump drive—that allowed the ship to avoid the speed limitations imposed by special relativity. In a process that Dobbins really did not understand, the jump drive allowed the Hyperion to bend space in such a way that the ship could, in essence, move to a different location instantaneously.
Fleet Command had told Dobbins of the plans to build the Hyperion three years ago, naming him as commander-in-waiting. Those three years passed slowly, as Dobbins slowly bided his time on the Constellation, continuing an interesting (but dry) research mission in the solar system’s Kuiper Belt. Despite his love for exploring, he found the concept of getting to explore other star systems firsthand too fascinating to escape his thoughts. More than once, he had dreamed that he was onboard the Hyperion, giving the orders for the first jump out into the great unknown.
As the shuttle neared the Dry Dock, it began a series of complex maneuvers in order to align itself properly for docking with the Hyperion. Slowly, the shuttle neared the main shuttle docking bay on the starboard side of the ship. As the two vessels drew near, the automated controls of the shuttle took over, guiding the small transport flawlessly into the port. With a dull clang, the two ships joined together, and the doors at the right side of the shuttle slid open.

Round 7

2009-08-23T13:04:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, I begin my 7th full year as a teacher at Cair Paravel. It's a bit hard for me to believe that I have had the blessing and privilege of serving the Lord in this way for as long as I have. It has not always been an easy road; teaching, although it becomes easier with time, never reaches the point of being dull. Every year, I have a different group of students in each class, with their own strengths, weaknesses, failures, and fears. The challenge is to help them learn about mathematics and a bit about God, too. It is a task that I am not sufficient for, at least, not in my own strength. Only by God's grace can I have any hope of being effective at this challenging task.
So, as the 2009-2010 school year looms, I look ahead with excitement, yet also with a bit of fear and trembling. This year is going to hold many joys and trials, many highs and lows, and above all, innumerable little opportunities that will require me to have to trust in His grace alone. To paraphrase a cliche, I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future. And I know that they'll be exciting times coming.

Zounds! Summer Hasn't Happened!

2009-08-19T19:17:00.002-05:00

So, now that I've completely by pointless goal of using all of the letters in post titles, I can get on to the important aspects of blogging.
And the weather once again is the story of the day. Well, that and the fact the Topeka City Council (thankfully) realized that they simply did not have enough money for a police helicopter unit. Unfortunately, they still wound up raising the property taxes to fund the Metropolitan Transit Authority (or whatever its official name is). Still, it's better to have a smaller increase than a huge one, which is what would have happened if the helicopter unit had stayed.
And I digress. Back to the weather. I can't remember the last time (because there hasn't been one in my 7 years in Topeka) where the weather was nice enough that we could have had soccer practice at 4 in the afternoon without worrying about the heat. Usually, it's already closing in on 80 degrees by 9 a.m. So far, it's been cool, cloudy, and rainy far more often than it has been hot and sunny. This unusually cool pattern is a welcome break from several years of hotter weather. I'm hoping that this cooler-than-average trend continues for the rest of the summer. I would love to be able to sit outside on some of these evenings and read and relax a little.
(Only 4 days left until school starts....)

Yes, I forgot about the Letters

2009-08-16T17:24:00.002-05:00

I just remembered that I was trying to use every letter in the alphabet in my post titles. So, today, I knock out another letter. Whether I remember to use the last remaining letter is another story.
I worked 5 soccer games yesterday over in Kansas City. This was the second time that I've gone to a tournament outside of Topeka. It was a good experience to work with different referees in a different city. Interestingly, of the 5 games I did, two of the games involved a team from Topeka. It was a bit strange to drive 1 1/2 hours only to referee teams from my hometown. I'd write more about it, but I'm so tired that I'm not going to write any more.

The "Enemy"

2009-08-12T16:09:00.003-05:00

News today out of Somalia, a lawless country, that four Somali Christians working at a Christian orphanage have been beheaded by radical Muslims. These Christians were killed for refusing to deny their faith in Jesus Christ.
This callous disregard for human life and the "convert-or-die" attitude are two hallmarks of the radical, militant Islam that underlies Islamic terrorism worldwide. Too many Westerners still think that we can negotiate with these terrorists or come to some sort of "life and let live" agreement with the radicals. The unfortunate reality is that such accords are probably not possible. Islamists, such as these radicals in Somalia, are literally following the Koran's command to make war on the infidels and to kill those who renounce Islam. They will not stop until the entire world is "Muslim" (with all the "infidels" dead) or until they are dead.
This sort of evil has been around for hundreds of years; it is part and parcel with much of Islam's history. These radicals are not going away, but we need to be aware of their motives if we are going to develop an effective response. Our current approach is to try to create win-win scenarios. That doesn't work well when the other side's only interested in "I win-you lose" and will not settle for anything less.
One part of the solution is highly active missions efforts on the part of Churches worldwide. If the Gospel can take root in this Islamic cultures, there will be fewer Muslims from which the radical sects can draw their resources and personnel. Another part of the solution is developing another energy source besides oil. If the Middle East, the source of oil and the money for most Islamic terrorism, no longer had billions of dollars at its disposal, many of these terrorists would cease to be a threat. There are other pieces to the puzzle, including the use of military force. But I won't discuss those here. One last thought, on the difference between radical Islam and radical Christianity: "The radical Muslim kills you when you refuse to believe; the radical Christian prays for you when you refuse to believe."

American Football Starts Tonight

2009-08-09T18:33:00.001-05:00

Although the game is basically inconsequential, being an NFL preseason game, tonight is the first football (American football) game of the season. It's a harbinger of the end of summer. Soon, school will be in session, the weather will start to cool off, and MLB will be crowning another champion. Meanwhile, American soccer will be dwindling, European soccer begin, and American football will be in full swing.
I'm not sure I'm ready for summer to be over, yet. I feel like this summer has been the busiest I can remember in 10 years. I know that I've had plenty of slow days and plenty of goofing off, but I sort of wish I could have a week at home with nothing to do. Of course, the last time I thought I wanted that, I wound up with the flu over Spring Break and was miserable. So, I guess I need to be grateful to God for the times of rest He has given me. And I need to try to be more efficient with the time I have left so I can work and play.

X Has Not Been Used

2009-08-05T17:50:00.002-05:00

As I ran through the list of post titles that I have used over the years in blogging, I've noticed that I've never used three letters. Today, I use up one of the three: X. Now, I realize that this is trivial and pointless, but I had to start the post some way. On to the point of this post!
There are a couple of national-level hot-button issues that are currently affecting Kansas. One is the placement of a new national biological and agricultural defense laboratory in Manhattan. The building of the lab in Kansas stirred controversy, and even though the government has already chosen a site, the hubbub still has not died down. A report (some speculate leaked by politicians from Texas) claims that the Kansas site was chosen incorrectly. A few Kansans are still concerned about what would happen if a tornado hit the facility. I personally don't care a lot about this issue. I trust the selection process to work correctly (most of the time). In this case, because of the choice (Kansas over some rich, influential states like Texas), I think that the decision was legitimate. I'm sure that the building's designers will be sure to set up the lab in such a way as to withstand a tornado. It can be done, for the right price, and if there's one thing that the federal government has shown over the years it's that it knows how to spend citizens' money quite well.
The other major issue is the suggestion that the terrorists currently held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be housed instead at Fort Leavenworth. This idea has evoked strong negative reactions from people on both sides of the political spectrum. Kansan Democrats who favor closing Gitmo still oppose bring the prisoners to Leavenworth. And the case they make is compelling: Leavenworth simply is not equipped to handle such prisoners. At the same time, there is a maximum-security prison in Michigan that is about to shut down, and it seems like the people in that city want to have the prisoners housed there. It seems logically to me to put the terrorists there if we have to move them. I still don't understand why Democrats are so big on moving everyone out of Gitmo in the first place. Do they think that we'll "Gitmo" respect for foreign countries by shutting down the prison in Cuba? There's one problem with that: most countries already dislike us for some of the abuses (or imagined abuses) that have occurred there. Shutting it down isn't going to do much to improve our standing in the world. Our allies already like us. Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, and any other country run by an egomaniac already dislike us. And France was just starting to like us (not anymore), but that's another story. So, really, to me, ignorant of the details that I am, it seems that the best option is to leave the Cuban prison open. The second-best option is to put the prisoners in Michigan. Leavenworth seems like a bad idea from the start. And given that Congress has not authorized any funding for moving the prisoners or opening a new facility in the U.S., all of this speculation could be just that.
To re-cap, X now has been used as a title for a post. I'll try to knock out the other two letters in the next couple of posts.

Selling Something Nobody Wants

2009-08-03T12:59:00.003-05:00

American car companies have almost failed in recent years because they make cars that nobody wants to buy. It looks like the government is trying to take the same approach with health care reform. This article summarizes the negative response. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Arlen Specter, Democrat Senator from Pennsylvania, received a very poor reception from Specter's constituents. There seems to be strong opposition to this legislation in Philly. I have a feeling that this resistance is not isolated, but I could be wrong. We shall see. In this instance, it sure looked like the government was selling something that nobody wanted.

Two Weeks Left

2009-08-02T13:04:00.002-05:00

In two weeks, my summer will be over. While the first day of classes is still three weeks away, all teachers have to be back in two weeks. So, as summer draws to an end, I can't help but find myself wishing for another week. Normally, I'd be very much ready to get to the business of teaching, but this summer has been so busy--and this school year seems so daunting--that I would love to have a week of "boredom" before the craziness of school starts.
Since I won't have that extra week, I need to remember--and live by--Jesus's words in Matthew 6:34 -- "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I should probably make that verse my theme verse for the year. I can't change what is coming my way. I can--and have--prepared for it. Soon, it is time to take everything day by day. For now, I'm going to try to focus less on what's coming and more on enjoying what God has put before me. Doing so makes life more enjoyable, anyway.

Summer? What summer?

2009-07-30T14:59:00.002-05:00

I am amazed at how cool this summer has been. Usually by now, it's sunny for days on end, with temperatures in the upper 90s and heat indices topping 110. It's felt more like late Spring than late Summer in the past two weeks since I've returned from Romania. It's quite nice, actually. I've enjoyed being able to have the windows open in the middle of the day, to be able to paint at any time of day, and to be able to get exercise without having to worry about the heat. I know that the hot weather is probably coming eventually. It's still too early in the summer for another heat wave not to show up. Until it does, though, I'm going to be thankful to God for the great weather, and enjoy it as best I can.

Concerning Returning

2009-07-26T15:23:00.002-05:00

The past week has been an intense week of getting caught up from being gone for two weeks. It hasn't always been easy. It's always a challenge to recover from jet lag, whether going east or west. It's also a challenge to return slowly back to "normal" after the "high" of a short-term mission trip. I've certainly ridden the emotional roller coaster a little for most of the week. It's only by God's grace that I was able to function in spite of the ups and downs. It was not the most fun week of my life, but I've had worse.
It was not a pleasant shock to return to the cynicism and pessimism that pervade American culture. The whole Harvard-professor-getting-arrested fiasco exploded into the headlines right when I got back. That story, coupled with the usual doom-and-gloom that seems to pass for news lately, worked mostly to make me wish I was back at camp and isolated from all of the negativity. I realize that such is the world, such is life. Upon Christ's return, all will be set right and all of these hardships will be but distant memories. Until then, I will just have to rely on His grace to live each day well.

Painting and More Painting

2009-07-22T15:31:00.001-05:00

The house painting project continues, but the end is in sight. Accent work is going on right now. Once it's complete, all that's left is the front porch and back deck. Then, it will finally be finished. I'm looking forward to having it done!

Back from Romania

2009-07-19T18:26:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Romania. Still process everything and trying to get caught up with life and graduate school from being gone for nearly two weeks. No time to post anything else right now.

Another Bad Idea Floating around Washington, DC

2009-07-06T08:17:00.002-05:00

In the midst of concern that Congress was going to do something detrimental to our nation, like passing Cap & Trade or creating government-run health care, I hadn't noticed another provision slipped into the health care "reform" bill. It would require all businesses with 25 or more employees to carry health insurance for their employers. Such a requirement is an unbearable financial burden for many companies and not possible for others. For example, I work at a company that has more than 25 employees. The company does not provide health insurance because the majority of our employees are insured through their spouse's insurance. As a result, our pool of people who would be covered by a plan is so small that no insurance company wants to cover us. Even if they did, the cost of such a policy is about twice what I currently pay in the "self-enrolled" pool. Requiring our company to provide health insurance for all of its employees is not only unnecessary, but it is also costly, as any policy that its available will be more expensive, not less.
This bill working through Congress is just another in a long line of ideas that our legislators are putting forward that show how out-of-touch many of them are with what life is like in normal America. I wonder how much longer the U.S. can last with this sort of disconnect between reality and what its leaders perceive to reality? Fifty years? Thirty years? I don't know. It's not good, though, and I fear that in thirty years I'll be looking back at my life today and reminiscing about them being the "good old days."

The Royals' Season in a Microcosm

2009-07-01T17:52:00.001-05:00

From today's game:
1 run, 12 hits, 9 left on base

Weather

2009-06-28T17:00:00.001-05:00

The weather is the news here, again. In this case, the news is good news: it's going to be "cool" here for the next few days. Cool, in this case, means about 90 degrees, which feels wonderful when compared to the near-100 temperatures that we saw last week. Aside from just having enjoyable weather, the best part of this cooler weather is that I can finally get my house painted! It's hard to get much done when you have to stop at noon because it's too hot. So, here's to a couple days of hard work to getting my house looking like new!

More Random Thoughts

2009-06-24T12:25:00.002-05:00

A couple more random comments on news items.

1. The benefits (at least for teachers) of a union can be seen in this story from the AP and reprinted on Fox News. To summarize, hundreds of New York City teachers who are under suspension for one reason or another (each teacher has his own story, and all claim to be innocent, of course) are required to report to a "rubber room," where they have basically nothing to do. Some teachers are there for years. They still get full pay, however, because the union rules require them to be paid even while they are suspend. Moreover, the rules require that these suspended teachers continue working at tasks that do not directly involve teaching. The estimated yearly cost for this situation is $65 million. (Comment: We spend $65 million for basically nothing, and we wonder why our average per-pupil expenditure is so high!) Of course, a big part of the problem is that every tenured teacher (who are the ones who get reassigned to this "rubber room") has the right (again, thanks to the union contract) to have a disciplinary hearing with an arbiter. There are 23 arbiters in New York City. They work 5 days a month. (Comment: What?! So, we have teachers who, legitimately or not, are trapped in a sort of limbo and can't get out because the arbiters who are supposed to adjudicate their cases are only available 1 day a week? What sort of nonsense is this? Oh, wait, a union's involved. Never mind. I'm not shocked anymore. I have to wonder if unions have perhaps outlived their usefulness...)

2. The scary (and foolish) cap-and-trade legislation is headed to the floor of the House. This poorly-conceived, scientifically-flawed legislation is exactly what we don't need in this struggling economy. According to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the average annual cost of this legislation per household is $175. Big deal, most of you probably are saying. But consider those who are not rich, such as myself. I'm a teacher, and unlike my counterparts in New York, I don't make huge amounts of money. The only way I'm going to get an extra $175 a year out of my budget is to cut about $15 a month out of my budget, meaning that I am going to have live on the bare-bones necessities if this legislation passes. And to make matters worse, this bill, which purportedly will help combat global warming, will do nothing of the sort, since global warming is a naturally-occurring phenomenon that we have absolutely no control over. So, we're going to spend a ton of money to enact a program that won't solve anything. All it will do is bankrupt more Americans who are already struggling in this faltering economy. I hope that this legislation fails miserably. This is the sort of "change" I feared would happen if the Democrats got control of both Congress and the White House. Get used to bad ideas coming out of Washington for a while. Socialized medicine is next. Get ready to wait in line. :-(