With that said, perhaps I’m sad about my age–I was 6 when Columbia lifted off for the first time, and I remember it.  The program has now ended after 30 years.  I’m now 36 – I’m good at math, ain’t I?’

I’m also sad about the job losses.  Thousands now at NASA are without work.

Lastly, I’m most sad that we do not have an immediate replacement ready to take over where the Shuttle left off.  It’ll be a few years – at best – and in the meantime, we’re relying on our permanent enemies/temporary friends – Russia, China – to handle all of the space-stuff.  I think this is a less-wise decision than cancelling the Shuttle program.

I hope American space progress is not ending.  I hope it’s paused.  And to end, I leave you with a photo of a never-before-seen sight; Shuttles Endeavour and Discovery nose-to-nose, each in a different state of decommissioning.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/08/11/two-shuttles-nose-to-nose/

I’m sitting outside in my backyard now, and I’ve been farting loudly while consuming a few beers. Real loud, so the neighbors an acre away have to hear it.

They say it’s supposed to rain later, but it doesn’t seem quite like it.

Other than that, the economy sucks, there’s nothing on TV, and I’m addicted to Twitter.

I’ll post some useful stuff here soon, but today isn’t the day for it. I’ve spent the day cleaning, food shopping,. and getting my windshield replaced, so no more thinking for today.

I’m sorry for leaving, but I’m happy to be back. The Mets still suck. I’m now married with a kid on the way in Oct 2011. I’m fatter, but wiser. My alcohol tolerance is increased, but my tolerance for stupid people has decreased.

Thank you for reading. Cutting through all the bullshit, I’m a nice guy. My passion in life is efficiencies – I like to make things work better. I work in a place now where I’m not allowed to do that. I work there because it’s a paycheck. I am always looking for a better opportunity. I love anyone that has a positive attitude, and who wants something better out of life. I’m passionate about returning this country to a major world power, not just militarily, but through education, production, and again, efficiency.

It’s nice to be back.
-Jeff

If someone were to tell me in June of 2008 that on the very last day of the season, the Mets could possibly be in the playoffs, I would have laughed and taken that bet. And, I would have lost.

In 2007, the Mets had a good team. They had a spectacular collapse under what now appears to be a manager that couldn’t rally the troops. This year, they worked very hard to get from 8 games back in July to tied for the wild card before the start of the final game. This year was not a loss—this year was growth. If nothing else, it showed who shined brightly under different management and different direction. In 2007, the Mets gave away the division. In 2008, the Mets simply did not reach the opportunity. In 2007, Tom Glavine didn’t make it through 1 inning. This year, a solid Mets starter gave 6 excellent innings. A loss is a loss, but in no way does this loss hurt as bad as last year. At least not for me.

So, that leaves this year finished with 2009 soon approaching. Pitches and Catchers report in mid March, which is only 5 short months away. Some changes will need to be made for next year. Some individual, some team-wide. Here’s my short list of necessities:

The Mets, in my opinion, must sign Jerry Manuel to a contract of no less than 3 years. The team – key word being team – seemed to respond much better to Manuel than to Randolph. With all due respect to Randolph, and I was very critical of the Mets firing Randolph earlier this year, the team simply performed remarkably better under Manuel compared to Randolph. Similary, Warthen (Mets pitching coach), should as well be signed to no less than a 3 year deal as he transformed Pelfrey and Perez into quality starters.

So, where are the problems. Here we go:

Offense: Too inconsistent. Consider replacing HoJo as hitting coach. He was a fantastic player, but perhaps he is not the best teacher. Nothing against the man, but sometimes – in any profession – this is the case.

Relief Pitching: Second half, when the offense took off, the bullpen was terribly inconsistent. I don’t believe this is Warthen’s fault. It’s just simply the fact that relief pitching in baseball is tough to come by. Hopefully, Wagner can come back and be a quality closer. If not, decide early to acquire another high-quality closer. Find a middle relief that can hold a game.

Injuries: None can be prevented, but always expected. As much as I like Alou, he’ll be gone. Keep Ryan Church–he’ll be back to true form of good offense and excellent defense.

Free Agents: Pickup Delgado’s year. Sign Oliver Perez. No questions here. Mets don’t do either, they will make a big mistake. Martinez? Ehh, that’s iffy. Can he be put in the bullpen?

Miscellaneous: Dump Castillo. He doesn’t fit with this team. Get what you can for him. Get a second basemen, either from the farm or from a trade. Do not give up Reyes or Wright. Get a left-fielder—I cringe at the idea of Nick Evans and Murphy platooning. Somehow acquire a quality starter. Not a Santana – as I don’t think anything of that caliber will be available, but defintely a “second” starter. Lastly, if Easely wants to play, let him play. He says he does, so please sign him. Two years, $5 million.

This season was not a let down!! This was a remarkable turn around from a team that was destined for last place in June. Some of the older, more seasoned Mets players (like Easley) may disagree with me, but that’s how I feel. Fix a few of the core problems, and 2009 will be an excellent year.

For now, I tip my hat to Milwaukee and Philadelphia for a season well-played. Good luck to all teams, but I’ll be rooting for Milwaukee in their series vs Philly, and for Los Angeles in their series vs. the Cubbies. No offense Cubbies–I want you to get a ring, but I love Joe Torre. The way Joe Torre was flushed down the toilet by the Yankees was innapropriate, so I have a special place in my heart for him.

A post like this would not be completely without a prediction, so here we go:

National League Division Series:
Milwaukee vs. Philadelphia: Philadelphia in 4 games.
Los Angeles vs. Chicago: Los Angeles in 5 games.

NLDS:
Philadelphia Vs. Los Angeles: Los Angeles in 7.

American League Division Series:
Minnesota vs. Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay in 3 games.
Boston vs. Los Angeles: Los Angeles in 5 games.

ALDS:
Tampa Bay vs. Los Angeles: Los Angeles in 7.

World Series:
Los Angeles Angels in 6.

Here’s to exciting baseball times. Good luck!

On October 10th 2008, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is due to launch for a final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. On this mission, the astronauts will make necessary repairs and upgrades to the 18 year old station, in order to get 7 or so more years of life from the invaluable telescope.

What makes this flight interesting, is that since the Columbia disaster, this is the first Shuttle flight where the destination is not the International Space Station (ISS). After Columbia, one of the main tasks of all flights is to look for Shuttle damage while it’s docked at the ISS. If there is sufficient damage to the Shuttle, they could abandon the Shuttle and leave it at the ISS, the crew returning to Earth in one of the Russian cargo modules.

With this Hubble mission, the astronauts will have no ability to get to the ISS due to the differences in the orbits of the ISS and the Hubble. If there is sufficient damage to Atlantis whereby it would present a problem upon re-entry, NASA is taking the unprecidented step of reading the Shuttle Endeavor for a “rescue” mission to the Atlantis. Here, the Endeavor would launch with a skeleton crew of 4, and would be “docked” with Atlantis at the Hubble, transferring the 7 Atlantis crew members to the Endeavor. Endeavor would transport everyone home, and Atlantis would be allowed to disintegrate into the Earth’s atmosphere. Leaving only Endeavor and Discovery as workable Shuttles, this would effectively end the Shuttle program 2 years early, as they are scheduled to be retired in 2010.

This marks the first time since 2001 that two Shuttles were ready on their respective launch pads.

Clearly, the need to send Shuttles to the ISS after 2010 is needed. Given the current political climate between the US and Russia, leaving all missions for the ISS to the Russians – for people and cargo – is something that I don’t think should be tolerated. While we have had some problems with the Shuttle over the last 20 years, we appear to be in a time of “high confidence” and safety measures with the Shuttle program. Dozens of cameras capture all angles of a Shuttle launch, and all efforts are made while in orbit to view any possible damage either in real time via space-walks, or via recorded footage from launch. I see no reason why there should be a rush to retire the [aging] Shuttle program.

Apparently, NASA administrator Griffin feels the same. Let’s hope that there is a way to keep the Shuttle program active – even on a limited basis – until the ISS and the next future vehicle by NASA is completed. I don’t think it’s appropriate to rely on the Russians given the current political climate.

Click here, for some rare photos from the upcoming Atlantis launch:

And in a slightly related story, here are some photos and information about the Russian Space Shuttle, called the “Buran” which was disbanded in 2003 or so.

There are no “ifs”, “ands” or “buts” about it. Russia invaded a neighboring state, who is a democratically-elected government. They’re currently occupying it, and even as a cease-fire has been signed, there are conflicting reports of exactly how far the Ruissians have removed themsleves from Georgian territory, and how far they plan to go. From some reports, it appears that they will be staying in Ossetia in similar fashion how the US is staying in Iraq. This is unacceptible.

I am not a fan of the current United States administration, but comparing our invasion of Iraq to Russian’s invasion of Georgia is not an accurate similarity.

So, what is there to do? As Defense Secretary Gates said recently, the United States has worked hard for 45 years is ensure that there is no military confrontation between the United States and Russia [the USSR]. In our best efforts, we should continue to keep this a valid line of reasoning. However, the USSR is no more. Georgia, a former Soviet republic, is now fighting a former republic for independence. The United States promotes democracy, and always steps in when efforts of democracy are being extinguished, so let’s hope the that the US has a better response to Russia than they have had so far.

Militarily speaking, there isn’t much that the US can do without endangering the lives of millions of people and setting the word back to 1984. However, combined with European backing and various NATO alliances, there are several moves that can be made to pressure Russia to remove itself from Georgian territory, which include, but are not limited to:

• suspending NATO military excercises with Russia
• boycott the 2014 Olympic games in Russia
• Dissolve the G-8, and the instantly reform the G-7 without Russia

I read these fine suggestions in an Op-Ed piece from a journalist from the Washington Post, and at the current time, I can’t find the original article.

Something needs to be done. The US was asleep at the wheel watching the Olympics for the first week. We’re now in the third week—let’s all hope this works out. If not, looks like it’s time to break out the Cold War history books.