Karin and I were just discussing glide suits this past weekend, their evolution, and when they’ll eventually make the parachute obsolete.
Whelp, it looks like they’re one step closer to making the that a reality. Yesterday, Gary Connery jumped out of a helicopter hovering at nearly one mile up, and managed to land safely without the use of a parachute. Granted, a grip of empty boxes helped facilitate a safe landing, but I guess you have to learn to crawl before you can walk…
Gary’s flying suit doesn’t appear to be the most control worthy (watch how he flutters like a falling leaf), but I’m sure he’ll improve on his design in short order.
At 4pm the power went out. Apparently, from what little news I can gather, huge swaths of power are out from San Diego to LA.
Traffic is gridlocked because the traffic lights are out. Guess I’ll be hanging out at work until 8pm or so to let the traffic die down a bit.
Here’s hoping that the power is restored soon…
UPDATE: It seems that an employee in Arizona removed a piece of monitoring equipment, bring down power to areas in Arizona, Southern California and Mexico. Power was eventually restored at 1:30am. This was an unprecedented occurrence, and one I’m hopeful will never be repeated again.
Last night, Karin and I sat in the backyard and watched the stars. It’s amazing how much space you can see with no light pollution. Makes me long for a camping trip out in the desert!
As a Californian, I found it slightly amusing to see how people on the East Coast reacted to yesterdays 5.8 magnitude earthquake. We Californians will sleep through earthquakes while those on the East Coast run wildly into the streets, clutching their pearls and looking for the nearest fainting couch to collapse upon at the merest hint of tremor.
Apparently CNN thinks that this is a newsworthy photo. You think this is bad? Let me show you my kid's room...
Retreating to the streets, police, fire and coffee dispatched, panic and confusion, dog and cats living together...mass hysteria!
So far this has been a horrible work week for me. I can’t recall a worse time I’ve ever had at my job. I’m hard pressed to even come up with one day in the past twenty years that can eclipse the absolute suck that represents the previous 72 hours of my life.
Now, this blog wasn’t designed for complaining about work, and I’m not about to subject you to that. I mean, we’ve all had bad days at work. In all honesty I’m sure things will improve in short order, and I really don’t like to dwell on the past. And the things rattling about in my brain are best left for a happier time when I can properly reflect on them and use them for personal growth rather than a more immediate bout of personal destruction.
I think I’ll concentrate on more calming aspects of life tonight. I’ll be the Zen master. The meaning between the lines. The nugget of knowledge in a bowl full of coal.
