Am I the only person on crutches?

 Am I the only person on crutches? In three weeks on crutches I have only seen one other person - in the doctor’s office - on crutches. It’s not fair (whining).

Three weeks ago on 6/10 I fell on my injured hip (more of the history below) with all my 175 lbs. Oh, my. I was a half block from home and had to be picked up by car; I couldn’t walk. An hour plus in urgent care and (my blood pressure was 70/something) 5 1/2 in the ER. “Nothing broken; all the hardware is in the right place. It’s soft tissue damage and will (or should?) heal. My goal was to be mowing the lawn in a week. Ha!

The trip to doctor 10 days later was the one-year check on my knee replacement (pretty good) and I show up on crutches!

Yesterday after 19 days I was starting to go around the house using one crutch, which means 90% weight bearing and occasionally 100%. Two crutches when going places. And I am a semi invalid - long naps. But even with that progress my hip still says “uncomfortable" with every step!!. A few more days to walking. Current goal: mowing the lawn in a week.

History: In 2008 I fell riding my bicycle down a steep hill in the rain a few blocks east of Bill Gates’s office in Redmond (before he retired). I refused help from passersby, but it took me a few minutes to move my butt 3 feet to the curb so I accepted a ride to my car. Next to Evergreen Hospital. But when they saw I had smashed the acetabular (hip socket) they sent me to Harborview Hospital in Seattle. Waited a day in traction. 6-hour surgery. 6 days in the hospital. We hired a cabulance to get me home (“but your insurance won’t pay for it”). Then 7 days without leaving home. I was so weak that they didn’t put me on crutches, but I used a walker as crutches. I have never seen another person doing that. The walker is an amazing combination of light and strong, but it’s not designed to carry one’s weight. (I got excellent care at Harborview.)

Three months off work and 3 months on crutches, non-weight-bearing. When I returned to work I worked in the morning and slept in the afternoon. By Christmas that part-time schedule cost me 200 hours of work at my expense. After 5 months I quit making progress; surgeon didn’t believe me on my next check, but on the one after that he showed my on the X-ray that my injured side was 3/8 inch shorter. After 10 months to Valley General in Renton for full hip replacement. Another month off work and 2 months on crutches again. But this time I was 50% weight-bearing. It’s a big difference to be able to stand with weight evenly divided instead of the strong leg having to do all the work. Using crutches after hip replacement is unusual. It was because they did a bone graft. Another: Why didn’t they tell me before!?

Three months after the second surgery I gave up the cane and walked on my own. Maybe a month after that I realized that no one was noticing how I walked. I had no limp; didn’t expect that. That was a big victory!

I only worked another 6 months until I retired. Did no business trips those 6 months versus several per year. At that point Boeing had moved so much work to California that meetings that used to be a 15-mile drive became a 2-day trip.

For the 14 years since I have kept walking every day. I am slower and go at my own pace but am a little jealous of people who obviously are on longer walks. And I love to walk beaches which always are uneven and require more energy. Bonus: I saw three bald eagles across the street this morning. Two landed in a tree 200 feet away, but I failed to get a pic.

Make everything use electric power. And shut down electric power plants

Gov. Jay Inslee logic: Shut down electric power plants at the same time you require more use of electricity.

He is rejoicing the shut down of the state's last coal-fired power plant in Centralia, WA in 2025. How will Puget Sound Energy cope? It gets 14.5% of its electricty from Centralia. 2025 is not far away. What will they do? They say they are studying options in Seattle Times 5/30/2023. (PSE provides electricity to 1.1 million customers - households and businesses - in Western Washington.)

So in the future we will have less electricity from coal. Less electricity from natural gas. Less from hydroelectric dams. Gov. Jay also wants to tear down four dams on the Snake River that provide hydroelectric power. Less electricity.

You say: solar and wind will provide more than enough. But the sun doesn't shine at night. And the wind? On and off. And the dream of batteries storing energy and  providing it at night is a dream. For all the talk no one has done this at the scale required. Oh, Germany has some batteries... Yes, building toward 1 per cent of the load (and for several days of outage). For all their talk the UK is in the same situation. More on this below.

So we need power plants that can run at any time, not dependent on sunlight or the wind, as back up to solar and wind. 

The next step by Jay Inslee logic is to require stopping use of gasoline, natural gas, biomass and any source that can emit CO2. And replace them by electricity - of which there will be less.

Electric cars required, not gasoline-powered. Cooking by natural gas: make it illegal. Heating by natural gas? No. Must be electric.

Uh... Gov. Jay, how will you keep the lights on and the cars running?

Frances Menton of the Manhattan Contrarian blog did an in-depth study on the energy storage problem - storing power for when solar and wind provide no power. It is the source of data on Germany and UK. See The Energy Storage Conundrum at Global Warming Policy Foundation. 

[https://www.thegwpf.org/publications/lack-of-energy-storage-makes-renewables-only-grids-a-pipedream/]

Drugs remain illegal in Washington, but some really want them legal

 The Washington Legislature finally passed a law to continue that crack, heroin, meth and fentanyl possession and use remain illegal. It was a close call;  if no action was taken by June 1 drugs would have been wide open. Oregon did so two years ago and it's ugly.

The law they passed is cumbersome; an incredibly simple fix was available. But they did something.

But the Seattle Demos are mourning the lost opportunity. They wanted full legalization.

Fentanyl kills - the Demos want its use fully legal.

Heroin kills - the Demos want its use fully legal.

Methamphetamine ruins lives and families - the Demos want its use fully legal.

Danny Westneat leads the mourners at Seattle Times

Another Amazon, Costco, Starbucks, AT&T Cellular or Boeing - Not in Washington

 Another Amazon, Costco, Starbucks, AT&T Cell or Boeing? - Not in Washington

Washington politicians inherited an incubator for successful business start ups. And they are determined to destroy it. What??

WA has no income tax -- one of only six states -- and a good workforce. Entrepreneurs want these conditions, so they come here and succeed - not all, but more than elsewhere - and a few grow up here and return here, like Bill Gates.

Washington politicians want an income tax and want it so badly that they ignore the fact the our constitution does not allow a graduated tax on property and income is property. Oh! They say this is an excise tax, not income tax. But the IRA says it is. And all 49 other states says it is.

Our leaders are determined, but the "State Supreme Court will rule against it next month." Not likely, sadly. They always rule in favor of the Seattle big money. 

Goodbye entrepreneurs; Tennessee is ready for you.

President is hurting student borrowers in several ways - and you

 President S Joe Biden is hurting those he claims to help those w/ student loans. And is hurting you and me.

First, he knows he cannot “forgive” the loans. That is giving away taxpayer funds and only Congress can do that. And saying he will do what he cannot gives the borrowers false hope.

Second, Due to this false hope some students are now borrowing more than they would have. Because it’s “free money.” So they are taking risks with their own futures. Risks they would not have taken without Joe’s false promises.

Third, Many borrowers now say they refuse to pay; false hope again. But that puts them deeper in the hole, another risk.

[First law of holes: When you are in a hole stop digging.]

New York Post

Fourth, In September he proudly declared the pandemic over. CBS News  Later, when he announced this forgiveness he said it was for relief from the pandemic. Not a true statement. (I have heard that Since #4 was shot down in court now he is using a law to give relief to post-9/11 soldiers in war zones. Uhhhh, Joe!? Source uncertain)

Fifth, He got votes with this false promise, knowing the courts should/would kill it. They voted for his candidates!

The scary part is that the students fell for it - American Thinker:

That is the damage to current and future borrowers. How about us? Joe is making you pay for someone else’s loan.  Joe is making truck drivers pay the loans of highly paid medical doctors and attorneys. (At least let me meet the person I am sugar daddy to.)

 

Chinese are outraged seeing maskless crowds at Qatar World Cup

 Chinese are outraged/jealous seeing maskless crowds at Qatar World Cup.  Their government has kept them in the dark, but had to let in some light because it couldn't block showing the World Cup.

Maskless Qatar World Cup Outrages Locked-Down Chinese:

China’s exhausted and terrorized population was outraged by images of massive crowds cavorting maskless at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this week.

Social media users wondered why they must continue living under dungeon conditions while the rest of the world has moved on from the Wuhan coronavirus.

Some Chinese citizens professed shock at getting a peek beyond China’s censorship walls and seeing just how free the rest of the world has become, while more than a quarter of China’s immense population is still suffering through coronavirus lockdowns.

.

Official energy policy is Madness!!

Our energy infrastructure which took a century and huge investment to build (and is reliable and affordable) is being torn down by (what do you call a person who knows nothing) ignoramuses who have no idea how huge the job was to create it. And they have no idea how to make a new system to replace THAT ACTUALLY COULD WORK.  

I leave this to one of my favorite writers/analysts, Francis Menton, a retired NYC attorney at his blog Manhattan Contrarian.

A Comprehensive Roundup Of Official Energy Madness —:

Now comes along a guy named Joseph Toomey, who has published a relatively long piece at RealClearEnergy with the title “Energy Inflation Was By Design.” Toomey is identified as a “career management consultant” in the energy field, and author of a 2014 book with the title “An Unworthy Future,” that critiqued the Obama administration’s energy policies. Other than that, Toomey has not been a regular contributor to the energy policy debates. But he makes up for an extended absence with this comprehensive roundup.

At 35 pages in length, Toomey’s piece is a seemingly endless litany of one intentionally destructive policy after another. Even if you follow this issue regularly, as I do, you can’t help but be astounded when you see the full extent of the destruction organized into one piece. An energy infrastructure built up over a century and more that actually provides reliable and affordable energy to millions of people — a true miracle of human ingenuity! — is being systematically and intentionally attacked and wrecked by ignorant fools who have no idea how difficult the existing system was to create, and equally have no idea how to make something to replace it that might actually work.

Why pay $24 when if you wait it will cost $75? Ask Honorable Sen. Chuckie

 Why pay $24 to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when soon it will cost $75? or more!! Ask Honorable Sen. Chuckie Schumer.

The Democrats' oil folly | Washington Examiner:

Way, way back, in March 2020, then-President Donald Trump proposed to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its maximum capacity with U.S.-produced crude oil. That would have involved the purchase of 77 million barrels of oil. Trump wanted to act because oil was cheap, about $24 a barrel, and the United States could effectively top off the tank for a very good price.

At Trump's behest, Republicans put money for the oil purchase in a big spending bill that was then under consideration on Capitol Hill. That's when their efforts were stopped cold by Democrats, who labeled Trump's plan a "$3 billion bailout for big oil." This is from Roll Call on March 25, 2020: "The Trump administration's plan to top off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ran into a blockade ... after lawmakers excluded $3 billion in funding for oil purchases from the massive stimulus package before Congress. Senate Democrats took credit for stripping out that money from the Senate bill ... calling it a 'bailout' for the oil industry." In particular, then-Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) took personal credit for killing the measure.

Sen. Chuckie "took credit" for the folly. He was in a dangerous situation. If he didn’t kill the deal President Trump might get credit for saving taxpayer money. 

And Pres. S Joe takes the folly even farther:

Biden hates Republicans so much, he would rather give oil money to the dictators in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia than Texas. NY Post

Seattle heavies unfair with Tiffany Smiley

 Three of Seattle’s heavy weights took unfair shots at Tiffany Smiley’s Washington  US Senate campaign this week. A sport team, a coffee company and a newspaper all made unsubstantiated claims against her campaign. An ad showed her husband wearing a shirt with colors that same as a sports team. It didn’t show a logo or their name. But the team is so impressed by Patty Murray that they claimed violation of copy right or something, For what? For nothing.

Smiley showed a coffee shop that closed due to crime. (We all know that is true.) No logo. No identifying marks. But Starbucks claimed a violation. For what? A photo of a building on a public street? For nothing.

And her ad quoted a newspaper and properly identified it and showed their logo. Seattle Times allows other candidates to do the same. Wouldn’t it be worse if she didn’t identify the source? But they are so in love with Senator Patty that they sent a “cease and desist” letter. If their charge is fair then it must apply to all candidates, not just all but the establishment favorite. [I hear Monday morning that a Washington representative puts Seahawks logos on her campaign web page. Will they complain about her?]

Play fair? Not Seattle’s heavies. Are they really impressed by Murray? The only superlative I have seen for her was winning the “Not a rocket scientist” award from Senate staff, also known as the 100th smartest senator. 

To add to the fun. This triple stunt brought national attention to how weak Murray is in her attempt to stay in the Senate until she becomes like Sen. Diane Feinstein now is.

Kimberly Strassel covered this in the Wall Street Journal, but it is for subscribers only. A shorter version at RedState.

Tiffany Smiley for US Senate

Philly Democrat Sentenced to Prison for Election Fraud Scheme

 Have you been told that election tampering never happens? So when Republicans try to clean up the voter roll by removing dead people and those who moved to other states the big Demos say “they are taking away your right to vote.” 

Never? 30 months in prison:

Former Philly Democrat Sentenced to Prison for Election Fraud Scheme:

Former Democratic Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers (PA) was sentenced to 30 months in prison for federal election fraud, the Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

In June, Myers, 79, pleaded guilty to illegally stuffing ballot boxes in Philadelphia by digitally “ringing up” votes from 2014 through 2018, which Katie covered. Myers also bribed a former Philadelphia Judge of Elections, who was indicted in 2020 for rigging several elections.

Seattle teacher strike hurts kids and is illegal

 Seattle teachers closed the schools on September 7, for three days now and counting, on strike. But...

This hurts the kids. They have been hurt by time out of school and away from their friends due to covid. Hurt both in academia and socially. Why choose to hurt them more?

Every teacher who walks out of school on strike is violating Washington law. Why are there no consequences to this violation?

When there is a illegal strike the school district can go to court for an injunction to apply penalties unless the schools open. The district always wins and the strike always ends. But the teachers union leaders say “No injunction to end a strike has ever been upheld on appeal.” That is true because the union has never appealed! Is that a self-fulfilling prophecy? … the equivalent.

Does Gov. Inslee support this strike? He didn’t say he opposes it in his appearance on Thursday 9/8, so it appears he supports this illegal strike.

Logic test: If there are fewer students do you need fewer school employees? Seems obvious. Obvious!! Fewer kids, fewer teachers!! But Seattle teachers demand the district hire more! And are keeping the kids out of class for it.

Educators have found that kids were significantly set back by schools being closed or “on line.” The US Department of Education found that 9-year-olds lost average 5 points, from 220 to 215, on reading tests. That’s the average. They found that it was worse for “virtual” schooling and keeping the kids out of the classroom. It will take years for them to catch up and … tragically some probably never will. And, of course, poorer reading skills affects all other subjects. In Tennessee they are making large, expensive effort to help those kids who need the most help. But in Seattle the teachers closed the classroom doors on the kids. Newstalkers & WSJ

See also Liv Finne of Washington Policy Center writing in the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

 

I want to see the last Boeing 747 be assembled

 Because I saw the first!

When I was in college at University of Washington I worked for Boeing for 3 years. Boeing had a program for engineering and science majors of UW and Seattle U to work part-time and had an office near University Village where we worked. There we did boring, but necessary, drafting work. And Boeing engineers who wanted a sharp student to do some work for them would come the recruit us for a temporary assignment. These were always more interesting than the bread-and-butter work, though much less convenient for travel time.

 It was the best student job. During school we could work 12 or 16 (or more) hours per week. During breaks we could continue part-time, work full-time or take off. And we got a raise every year. Perfect.

In the winter/spring of 1968 I was sent on a temporary assignment at Boeing’s Everett plant and we walked through the huge building where the first 747, RA-01, was being assembled. Wow! So… I would like to see the last one being assembled for Atlas Air in that same giant building.

MSN 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/boeing-is-currently-assembling-the-last-ever-747-jumbo-jet/ar-AA1113t8?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=bee49251896e425394b203a34ebfe7ed

Nuc weapons for Iran???

 Slow Joe’s top priority is to give a mortal enemy of the US hundreds of billions $ and the ability to have nuclear weapons. Irán has said “Death to America” for decades. An Iranian has been indicted for trying to kill US diplomat John Bolton - and kill him in the US! And ex-Sec of State Mike Pompeo is under 24x7 security due to threats from Iran. 

So, Joe, is this the time to REWARD Iran for these crimes? Remember how Iran blatantly violated Pres. Obama’s proud agreement? Uh…Mr. President S Joe, think about it. Joe?

PowerLine Blog

WA schools calls for end to student testing

 (The Center Square) – Is Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal trying to cancel some state assessments of student learning? That's what the Washington Policy Center think tank is alleging in a blog, and what Reykdal's own office is vehemently denying.

In the Monday blog post, Washington Policy Center education director Liv Finne quoted Reykdal as saying, “…Higher Ed has never believed in them. Higher Ed has never accepted that Smarter Balance [state tests] mean anything to them…this experimenting with tests, Smarter Balance, End of Course, the WASL, that keeps coming and going because it [testing] actually means nothing…

“I am trying to figure out if I have the authority to exit us [from testing] on my own, or if that needs something else.”

The quote came from the most recent Washington State Board of Education meeting in Spokane. Reykdal was answering a question from board member Kevin Wang about state testing.

A recording of that meeting is available on the TVW website, with Wang asking Reykdal at 55:49. [end of quote]

But... our whole K-12 education system is built upon testing to prove the kids have accomplished the knowledge and skills of a high-school graduate. But who likes to be held accountable? When kids fail the question is - what did the system do for 13 years? So Reykdal is looking for a way out. And denies it.

Center Square

Serial killings of Muslims was committed by... a Muslim

 Hate crime? On Sunday President S Joe Biden solemnly promised solidarity with the Muslim community of Albequerque, New Mexico, after 4 Muslim men were murdered.

Today S Joe is silent. The murders were committed by a Muslim. And the hatred is between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Joe, who were you accusing of these horrible crimes? Do you owe an apology to every American you implicated in these murders? Joe?

Afghan Suspect Arrested in Killings of Fellow Muslims in New Mexico

Yes. This is a recession

 The US economy is in a recession. As announced today last quarter (Q2) it shrank by 0.9% after shrinking 1.6% in the previous quarter. That is what a recession is - two successive quarters of shrinking.

Everbody knows that is a recession Everybody has always known that. But now the Joe Biden machine people are trying to redefine recession. Uh... No. Can't do that. Just face the facts, Joe, and get moving. 

(And they all know they are lying, except for a young woman whose job it is to defend what can't defended on camera every day.)

Daily Mail UK

You shouldn't be forced to pay my student loan!!!

Senator Cantwell

Senator Murray

3 June 2022

Why should people who didn’t attend college pay for those who did? NO. They shouldn’t. If a person takes out a loan they promise to pay it back. In our world they do what they promised. You are from here - within a mile or two - so you should not be a long way from our world. The world where adults are responsible for their own action.

We paid our ways through college. Our daughters finished college with debts they quickly paid off. We didn’t ask you to pay our way.

Pres. Biden can’t cancel a loan. He just transfers it to truck drivers. If there was fraud in Corinthian Colleges, then they should pay - not me. And even if the fraud was a reason for taxpayers to pay it doesn’t transfer to Biden’s *beloved* White House staff who feel burdened by the $ millions they promised to pay. But… now they don’t want to pay.

Please stop Biden from the irresponsible action which he has no authority to do.

Ron Hebron

Lake Forest Park, WA

747 carrying the Space Shuttle

 Flight from Mississippi to Cape Canaveral

The Boeing 747 "SCA" ... the amazing story of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcI1e4KiDv0 

Read the following "trip report" from the pilot of the 747 who flew the final leg of the flight of shuttle Atlantis back to Florida after the Hubble repair flight in May 2009 – an inside look at what it's like to fly two aircraft at once. Orbiter Atlantis flew its maiden mission in October 1985 and its final 33rd one in July 2011 – which also marked the end of the Space Shuttle Program.

Well, it's been 48 hours since I landed the 747 with the shuttle Atlantis on top and I am still buzzing from the experience. I have to say that my whole mind, body and soul went into the professional mode just before engine start in Mississippi, and stayed there, where it all needed to be, until well after the flight ... in fact, I am not sure if it is all back to normal as I type this email. The experience was surreal. Seeing that "thing" on top of an already overly huge aircraft boggles my mind. The whole mission from takeoff to engine shutdown was unlike anything I had ever done. It was like a dream ... someone else's dream.

We took off from Columbus AFB on their 12,000 foot runway, of which I used 11,999  feet to get the wheels off the ground. We were at 3,500 feet left to go of the runway, throttles full power, nose wheels still hugging the ground, copilot calling out decision speeds, the weight of Atlantis now screaming through my fingers clinched tightly on the controls, tires heating up to their near maximum temperature from the speed and the weight, and not yet at rotation speed, the speed at which I would be pulling on the controls to get the nose to rise. I just could not wait, and I mean I COULD NOT WAIT, and started pulling early. If I had waited until rotation speed, we would not have rotated enough to get airborne by the end of the runway. So I pulled on the controls early and started our rotation to the takeoff attitude. The wheels finally lifted off as we passed over the stripe marking the end of the runway and my next hurdle (physically) was a line of trees 1,000 feet off the departure end of Runway 16. All I knew was we were flying and so I directed the gear to be retracted and the flaps to be moved from Flaps 20 to Flaps 10 as I pulled even harder on the controls.

I must say, those trees were beginning to look a lot like those brushes in the drive through car washes so I pulled even harder yet! I think I saw a bird just fold it's wings and fall out of a tree as if to say "Oh just take me". Okay, we cleared the trees, duh, but it was way too close for my laundry. As we started to actually climb, at only 100 feet per minute, I smelled something that reminded me of touring the Heineken Brewery in Europe ... I said "is that a skunk I smell?" and the veterans of shuttle carrying looked at me and smiled and said "Tires"! I said "TIRES???OURS???" They smiled and shook their heads as if to call their Captain an amateur; okay, at that point I was. The tires were so hot you could smell them in the cockpit. My mind could not get over, from this point on, that this was something I had never experienced.  Where's your mom when you REALLY need her?

The flight down to Florida was an eternity. We cruised at 250 knots indicated, giving us about 315 knots of ground speed at 15,000'. The miles didn't click by like I am used to them clicking by in a fighter jet at MACH .94. We were burning fuel at a rate of 40,000 pounds per hour or 130 pounds per mile, or one gallon every length of the fuselage. The vibration in the cockpit was mild, compared to down below and to the rear of the fuselage where it reminded me of that football game I had as a child where you turned it on and the players vibrated around the board. I felt like if I had plastic clips on my boots I could have vibrated to any spot in the fuselage I wanted to go without moving my legs ... and the noise was deafening. The 747 flies with its nose 5 degrees up in the air to stay level, and when you bank, it feels like the shuttle is trying to say "hey, let's roll completely over on our back"... not a good thing I kept telling myself. So, I limited my bank angle to 15 degrees and even though a 180 degree course change took a full zip code to complete, it was the safe way to turn this monster.

Airliners and even a flight of two F-16s deviated from their flight plans to catch a glimpse of us along the way. We dodged what was in reality very few clouds and storms, despite what everyone thought, and arrived in Florida with 51,000 pounds of fuel too much to land with. We can't land heavier than 600,000 pounds total weight and so we had to do something with that fuel. I had an idea ... let's fly low and slow and show this beast off to all the taxpayers in Florida lucky enough to be outside on that Tuesday afternoon.

So at Ormond Beach we let down to 1,000 feet above the ground/water and flew just east of the beach out over the water Then, once we reached the NASA airspace of the Kennedy Space Center, we cut over to the Banana/Indian Rivers and flew down the middle of them to show the people of Titusville, Port St. Johns and Melbourne just what a 747 with a shuttle on it looked like. We stayed at 1,000 feet and since we were dragging our flaps at "Flaps 5", our speed was down to around 190 to 210 knots. We could see traffic stopping in the middle of roads to take a look. We heard later that a Little League Baseball game stop to look and everyone cheered as we became their 7th inning stretch. Oh say can you see ...

After reaching Vero Beach, we turned north to follow the coast line back up to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). There was not one person laying on the beach ... they were all standing and waving! "What a sight" I thought ... and figured they were thinking the same thing.  All this time I was bugging the engineers, all three of them, to re-compute our fuel and tell me when it was time to land.

They kept saying "Not yet Triple, keep showing this thing off" which was not a bad thing to be doing. However, all this time the thought that the landing, the muscling of this 600,000 pound beast, was getting closer and closer to my reality. I was pumped up! We got back to the SLF and were still 10,000 pounds too heavy to land so I said I was going to do a low approach over the SLF going the opposite direction of landing traffic that day.  So at 300 feet, we flew down the runway, rocking our wings like a whale rolling on its side to say "hello" to the people looking on! One turn out of traffic and back to the runway to land ... still 3,000 pounds over gross weight limit. But the engineers agreed that if the landing were smooth, there would be no problem. "Oh thanks guys, a little extra pressure is just what I needed!" So we landed at 603,000 pounds and very smoothly if I have to say so myself.

The landing was so totally controlled and on speed, that it was fun. There were a few surprises that I dealt with, like the 747 falls like a rock with the orbiter on it if you pull the throttles off at the "normal" point in a landing and secondly, if you thought you could hold the nose off the ground after the mains touch down, think again ... IT IS COMING DOWN!!! So I "flew it down" to the ground and saved what I have seen in videos of a nose slap after landing. Bob's video supports this!

Then I turned on my phone after coming to a full stop only to find 50 bazillion emails and phone messages from all of you who were so super to be watching and cheering us on! What a treat, I can't thank y'all enough. 

For those who watched, you wondered why we sat there so long. Well, the shuttle had very hazardous chemicals on board and we had to be "sniffed" to determine if any had leaked or were leaking. They checked for Monomethylhydrazine (N2H4 for Charlie Hudson) and nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4). Even though we were "clean", it took way too long for them to tow us in to the mate-demate area. Sorry for those who stuck it out and even waited until we exited the jet.

I am sure I will wake up in the middle of the night here soon, screaming and standing straight up dripping wet with sweat from the realization of what had happened. It was a thrill of a lifetime. Again I want to thank everyone for your interest and support. It felt good to bring Atlantis home in one piece after she had worked so hard getting to the Hubble Space Telescope and back.

Space Shuttle Atlantis - Wikipedia

TV Journalist Jonathan Choe enabled to continue reporting

 Jonathan Choe worked for local Seattle TV for 15 years. But he was being constrained by his employer because he put out too much truth for his Seattle bosses. They don’t want a crisis, but on the street life is in crises. “Homeless camps” are not full of working people priced out of their rentals. They are populated by drug addicts who refuse housing that doesn’t allow them to continue their habit and those who sell the drugs. And the mentally ill who are released with inadequate support.

So he quit and found an organization that wants him to keep working and showing what is happening in Seattle. He is enabled by Discovery Institute of Seattle

Jonathan Choe at Discovery Institute:

Fix Homelessness

Free countries can flex; repressed ones break. Russia and China

Bret Stephens in New York Times has excellent insights today.

Putin’s quandary...

… Putin is belatedly discovering that the powers to humiliate, subvert and destroy are weaker forces than the powers to attract, inspire and build — powers free nations possess almost as a birthright. The Kremlin might yet be able to bludgeon its way to something it can call victory. But its reward will mainly be the very rubble it has created. The rest of Ukraine will find ways to flourish, ideally as a member of NATO and the European Union...

And China’s Potemkin economy. The leaders have to lie to themselves...

… For all its undeniable progress over 45 years, China remains a Potemkin regime obsessed with fostering aggrandizing illusions: about domestic harmony (aided by a vast system of surveillance and prison camps); about technological innovation (aided by unprecedented theft of intellectual property); about unstoppable economic growth (aided by manufactured statistics). The illusions may win status for Beijing. But they come with a heavy price: the systematic denial of truth, even to the regime itself.

Rulers who come to believe their own propaganda will inevitably miscalculate, often catastrophically. Look again at Putin, who really believed he had a competent military...

NY Times via a mystery source