Friday, September 28, 2007

Analysis of a potentially disastrous (but hypothetical) situation. Dedicated to James...

Analysis of a potentially disastrous (hypothetical, but realistic in it's potential for occurance) Situation
By: Esther O'Neal, hopeful candidate for employment as Information and Intelligence Analyst for the CIA, FBI, and NSA
Dedicated to James, the Ninja Extraordinairre, Numero Uno, and quasi-big brother who doesn't want to drive long ways-es (plural of ways?)

The situation: A man falls overboard and doesn't know how to swim
Analysis of potential outcome:
If a man can not swim and falls overboard and is not helped, he will likely drown. This puts him at risk of
1. dying
2. Then being eaten by
a. Vicious sharks
b. Killer Attack Tuna
3. Having his clothing and other personal belongings stolen and donned by a squid

At this point, the AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) would need to issue a statement/APB stating the following:
Please be on the lookout for a squid dressed in a sailor's uniform. This squid should be apprehended and brought in forquestioning to the nearest law enforcement office as it may have information regarding the unlawful disposal of a dead body, as well as the theft of personal belongings of the prementioned deceased. However, please be aware that this Squid should be approached handled with much caution. It is a confused, crossdressing, landwalking, schitzophrenic squid having a species crisis. Squid with these particular issues may become violent and maniacal at any time...

If the squid is not found, the AHJ would quite possibly need to consider requesting mobilization of some sort of anti-terror unit, National Gaurd, Reserves, SWAT, and assistance from other agencies in the locale, and the AHJ may need to consider the use of NIMS and ICS.
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I know I know, this analysis proves how absolutely brilliant I am. I'm hoping to be hired with the CIA, FBI, and NSA, simultaneously, drawing large paychecks from all three, earning prestige, and winning the Nobel Peace Prize, a pulitzer, and any other recognition that may come along. I would even be willing to consider serving as a member of the Cabinet (the president's cabinet, not the one in my mother's kitchen) and an advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Military.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Lunar Eclipse as seen from Round Rock, TX. Live blogging as it occurs...

Dad has informed me that there is a total lunar eclipse tonight so I"m going to stay up and watch it, and blog it as it goes. Cool idea huh? i'm a revolutionary I know...

3:35am
Apparently it's supposed to start at 4:30am EST, so in about 20 minutes or so. I'm just biding my time until that and then I will go to bed. i'm going to try to take some pics of it with my phone though. I already looked outside and it's a GREAT night for it! I'm at Mom and Dad's house in RR and there aren't any clouds in the sky and the moon is bright as all get out. Woohoo!

3:35am
I keep running outside to check on it. so far I can't tell if I'm seeing an eclipse or if it's just poor eyesite on my part, since my contacts aren't in.

3:53am
I am definately seeing some eclipseness now, just a little but it's there. I have discovered that binoculars are a great help to me!!! I've tried taking some pictures on my phone but all I get is a round fuzzy blurry white object that looks like nothing really...

4:10am
It's still eclipsing, covering more and more now.

4:15am
I just looked at the chart about the times and according to that I've still got about 30 minutes until the total eclipse starts (it's only going through te patrial eclipse now I guess) and a little more than an hour until mid-eclipse, it's the total eclipse and mid-eclipse I really want to see. I want a nap but I know I won't wake back up if I go to sleep, but i"ve been upsince 2:30 or 3am yesterday morning and it's now 4:15am...
Chart...
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2007Aug28/TLE2007Aug28.html

4:26am
Looks about half covered right now. The covered portion is a dark reddish-brown with the edges of the moon looking a little more orange-ish.

4:37am
I can see a definate difference in the shadows outside and the amount of moonlight visible on the ground.

4:44am
There's only a small sliver left that isn't eclipsed, still in partial eclipse according to the charts referenced above. Total eclipse should be starting in about 10 minutes and Mid-eclipse a little after that. It's pretty much completely dark outside now, kinda eery looking in a way. It's been crazy watching the changes to what you can and can't see in regards to how much moonlight there was before and now.

4:51am
Even tinier sliver of the moon left now. A little more than half of the moon appears a reddish-orange-ish color, about a third of it looks grayish, and that minute piece still looks visible. Total eclipse should be in about 1 minute or so.

4:57am
The moon is now in the total eclipse phase. There is still the barest sliver at the very bottom rim that still appears white, I don't know if this is due to the fact that we are still not to Mid eclipse yet or if it's b/c I'm in Central Texas and we aren't supposed to get the full view. At any rate, I'd say that 99% of it appears covered and it is all a reddish-orangeish color now, no more of the gray stuff. IT will also be interesting to see if the color of the moon will appear darker going towards mid eclipse. And I can't wait to see the eclipse fade, although depending on how long that takes I may fade (to sleep) right along with it...

5:07am
I can't really see much of a difference now in color anymore, does look a TAD darker, and the sliver at the bottom is fading. I feel like I have permanent binocular rings attached to my eye sockets...

5:15am
Definately darker in color now. It's kinda cool seeing how all around the outside edge of the moon is a different color than the inside. Still another 22 minutes until mid-eclipse.

5:26am
Still darker yet. The moon is also going lower in the sky, we've had to move to a different watching spot from where I've been the whole night. Dad found a constellation we've not seen before, labeled it the "Baby Dipper".

5:36am
1 minute to mid-eclipse... still darker and when you look outside, it's not glaringly obvious where the moon is... obviously.

5:37am
Mid-eclipse. It looks incredible!!! It's completely eclipsed now, i myself can't see that any part of it still appears white, and there is no moonlight outside that's noticeable. The whole moon is a dark reddish-orangeish, the darkest it's looked yet (of course) except for a small little piece at the bottom that's not quite as dark as the rest of it.
Now let's see how long I can last coming out of the eclipse. I'm sooo tired. LOL

5:54am
Not too much change, although one part of the edge does appear to be getting lighter in color again. It's been so neat watching all this happen. Wish I could've gotten some good pics though.
I don't think I can stay awaketo keep going outside every few minutes, my eyeballs are burning, but I will sleep in the living room andhopefully wake up every once in a while and see some of the changes. If I do, I'll post a new blog about the fading of the eclipse, or just edit this one appropriately. Anyways, I'm tired! THis has been pretty cool though, and I think I would like very much to go into space and set foot on the Moon myself... guess I inherit that from "Papa's People" as Mom would say... :)

Thursday, August 2, 2007

No regrets?

My first post on this blog. Yay me, I officially welcome myself to the world of Blogspot.

Anyways. I've been thinking quite a bit lately, to put it mildly. Seems like I think all the time. Something is always running through my head. It's been a really long year, and a really rough year. One thing in particular has been on my mind lately and that is the theme of having no regrets. Once upon a time that was my pholosophy. No mattter what happens I won't look back and say "I wish I had done that differently" or "I wish I could change that" or "I wish that hadn't happened". No matter what, no matter how bad things were, there had to be some purpose for it all and who was I to say that everything that happens now isn't to prepare me for something on down the road, who am I to think I know best and to try to change things? Well.. I have a different opinion now. I currently have ONE regret in life... his name is Mathew and he broke my heart 5 1/2 months ago. He gave me two of the happiest months of my life (what life I've lived so far, not that I'm that old), and since then has caused me more pain than I can describe. The two don't balance out, the happiness and the hurt. In a way I think it would be easier if he had just died instead of things turning out how they did. Why? If he had died at least the happy memories could give me joy. They don't though. They just bring me more pain b/c I don't know what was real and what wasn't and the memories of the good stuff is tainted with the betrayal, and every time I think of a "good memory" my heart hurts a little (or a lot, it varies from time to time) because it reminds me of everything that's happened and the fact that I was so deceived and that I am not a part of his life anymore, and he's not a part of mine, when I thought we'd make a life together forever. What he did was wrong on so many levels and I wish it would just go away. If I could go back and change one thing in my life, it would be to erase everything pf him from my past, to never have met him and to never have even known he existed.

This whole ordeal has taught me plenty of lessons though... one of them being that when I make a decision or let someone be part of my life, I need to stop and think about whether or not I will regret that to the extent of wanting to erase them from my past.