As I type this, Scaled Composites is heading skyward in its attempt to become the first to claim the X-Prize. The X-Prize is a $10 million award given to the first group to lift three passengers into space twice in a month without government support.

Go, SpaceShip One!

[UPDATE]: Here’s a link to the live WMP streaming media.

Halloween is around the corner!
—

God’s Comic
By Elvis Costello
From the album “Spike”

I wish you’d known me when I was alive, I was a funny feller
The crowd would hoot and holler for more
I wore a drunk’s red nose for applause
Oh yes I was a comical priest
“With a joke for the flock and a hand up your fleece”
Drooling the drink and the lipstick and greasepaint
Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar
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A good follow-up message to the recent air traffic control outage in the LA Center was recently posted to the Interesting People mailing list.

Basically, the system needs to be reset about once a month- or more specifically, once every 30 days or so. I heard a rumor that part of the problem in LA was that they’d done the reset at the beginning of August, but had put it off for September… and were planning to do it at the end of the month.

There’s a RISK right there; “once a month” probably means “once every 30 or so days”, not “once in a calendar month” which could leave an interval as long as nearly 60 days in between resets.

The author is a controller in the Seattle center. For a good view of the politics of FAA technology, read his full post here.

Finally, Wade’s campaign gets serious attention. He was profiled in today’s News and Observer. While any ink is good ink, I thought the article gave too much voice to his opponent, Paul Stam.

Stam says he wants less government, except when it serves his purposes. For instance, he finds government useful for discriminating against homosexuals. Guess that fits his definition of “more freedom.” Judging by Stam’s priorities, such as frivolous constitutional amendments and the like, Wade is the only serious candidate for District 37.

You go, Wade!

Tropical Depression Jeanne is circling Hickory this morning. Large rain bands are overspreading eastern North Carolina and the Piedmont. But not a freakin’ drop has fallen here on my newly-seeded lawn.

Zero. Nada. Zip. It’s dry as a bone.

It was like this for Hurricane Ivan, too. At least up until like five days after it was supposed to begin raining.

I’m back to being a sprinkler slave. Gah.

I’d have to say that last night was filled with more than its share of excitement. Right after I put Hallie to bed, I walked by the windows where red flashing light was shining. A fire truck was creeping its way down the street. Needless to say, I stepped outside to see where it was going.

When it stopped a few houses down, I recognized the family of my next door neighbors. My neighbor Jay had collapsed on the sidewalk while out walking the dog with his girls. After making sure their kids were settled, I offered to go with his wife to the hospital, where I waited as she checked up on him. When she told me I could go, she said the doctors thought he had had a mild stroke.

He’s just 36 years old. Scary. A full heart workup was being prepared as I drove home, so more should be known today. I guess we’re lucky to have a fire station less than a half-mile away.

After I got home, my wife and I were pretty wired and couldn’t sleep, so I checked email and webpages once again. While I was out helping my neighbors, my brother was announcing a new arrival. Wow! We spent another hour talking about that; including when they knew, what a crazy time holiday will be, and how close the kid will be to our upcoming son’s age.

Just like that I went from something frightening and sad, to something profoundly happy. Its like I save all of my emotional dessert and eat it all at once. A binge or something.

Now, I wonder what today will bring!

Keep a watch on the weather today. Strong winds from Hurricane Jeanne could spawn tornadoes. And tornadoes are bad, mmmkay?

On a more serious note, my friend and former coworker Jeff deals with the aftermath of these storms on a regular basis. Through his rescue efforts, people whose lives are shattered by disaster are often pulled from the brink. One of his current rescues hit close to home.

Thanks, Jeff, for what you do. I am thankful there are people like you who regularly put their life on the line to save others. If you feel the same way, drop Jeff a note. I’m sure he’d appreciate hearing from you.

I watched the Wolfpack steal a win from Virginia Tech Saturday when Tech missed a last-second field goal. Score was 17-16. I was impressed watching State’s defense smother the Hokies. Our “D” has really improved from the ones of last season and before. It’s been carrying the load as our new quarterbacks struggle a bit to come up to speed.