What an absolutely marvelous weekend.

I got to take a tour of our nation's capital all from the seat of a bicycle!  My friend, Hunter, whom I was primarily visiting and with whom I was staying, let me borrow his second bicycle as we rode around the city, hitting each of the most famous landmarks.

The White House.  The Lincoln Memorial.  The National Mall.  The Museum of Natural History.  Those were just a few of the many sights I got to behold while on our short tour of the city.  While getting to see the big stuff was essential to any first-timer in the city, we also made sure to save time for visiting a few of Hunter's favorite bars in the area.  Topping off the night with a party made the already exciting day even more so.  Some good beer and good company at the end of a long, exhausting day were just what I needed.

Of course, being a huge space nerd, we had to stop at the Museum of Air and Space, where I got to see all of the artifacts of the past space programs:

The interior of the original Apollo 11 Command Module.  It amazes me that this is all we got back from the moon during that mission.

The Mars Viking Lander.  This guy was used as a test lander here on earth while its brothers braved the harsh Martian environment back in 1976.

The LM-2 Lander Module from the Apollo program.  This was used as a test module during the program, so it's an exact replica of the ones that actually went to the Moon.

"You know how many gross, sick little kids touched that piece of Mars?"

On the right: Skylab, the second of two built during the program.  This version was an exact copy of its twin, which spent 6 years in orbit.  They modified it so you could walk inside.
On the left: The Vergeltungswaffe 2 (also known as the German V-2 rocket).  The men that designed this weapon were the same men who helped put man on the moon.  Many view the V-2 as the birth of the modern space age.

I wish I could have stayed longer, but real life called me back.  I made it back alright, in danger of getting caught in a snowstorm while connecting in Newark.  Which, if you've been following the news at all, is definitely causing some trouble.  I wasn't made for snow.  I doubt I'd survive for long.

Blogging in from our nation's capital!

What a fun place!  I've only been here a night and I'm already in love with this city.  Getting a taste of DC's nightlife was awesome, and between that and a long trip to get here, I slept pretty damn well last night.

Today I'm taking a bike tour of the city with my best friend, whom I am lodging with for the duration of my stay.  We're gonna hit all of the touristy places, as well as some of his personal favourite places to visit.

Expect loads of pictures, and countless tweets.

I made a box.

Before...

...and after!

It's not much too look at, but it's a box nonetheless.  We'll be using it to gather recycling in, since we currently use paper bags, which are becoming a commodity in today's world.  Charging for paper bags... outrageous!  But you know what doesn't cost money?  Pallets!

I stopped by my local ACE Hardware to pick up a few things, and asked them about scrap wood.  They had a few pallets that they had just recently broken up (what luck) and were about to throw away.  I asked if I could take the pieces, and they gladly offloaded them to me, and even thanked me for taking them off their hands!  

Isn't DIY fun?

Hm.

Looks like I got spambotted.  Unless 640 people simultaneously viewed my website yesterday, I shouldn't get any of my hopes up.

New content coming tonight!  That is, after my weekly tabletop session.  This time we're revisiting the 'verse and playing some Serenity!  Our first session means character creation... So many possibilities...

I read a captivating article about "zombie galaxies" this morning in bed.  It really gave me some insight into the life of a galaxy.  Check it out if you've got time: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530044.300-galactic-zombies-roam-the-cosmos-and-refuse-to-die.html#.VLlaGUfF9KI

My reading (and curiosity) also took me to the Wikipedia page on the Andromeda-Milky Way collision.  Apparently scheduled to take place in approximately 4 billion years, our galaxy is supposed to bump into our well-known neighbor, Andromeda, resulting in a melding of our two galaxies.  The new galaxy ('shipped as Milkdromeda) would look vastly different than the two before it, though individual solar systems would be relatively undisturbed (that's a relief, provided we're still around in 4 billion years).  What amazes me the most is that - even though the space between stars in each galaxy is so great that, when the galaxies collide, there is such an minuscule chance that any two solar systems will get close enough to have an effect on each other - these two galaxies, which are also an unfathomable distance apart, manage to find each other despite the vast emptiness of the universe.

It's a small universe after all.

Not much going on as of late.  I did wash my car though!  It really needed it.

I'm planning on doing some modifications to some coats that I've owned for a while.  They're pretty simple but require some time to figure out; it's been a while since I've whipped out a needle and thread.

Also, check out our Star Trek fridge!

Our first generated phrase leaves a lot to the imagination.

What a busy weekend.

I went paintballing for the first time on Saturday!  As part of our company party, we took the entire office out to the paintball course.  Now, I've been airsofting plenty of times, and I always considered paintball to be too extreme for me.  Well, that view changed after half a day of getting splattered in paint and covered in welts.  And now my legs hurt more than they have in a long time.

Pain aside, I really enjoyed learning the skill behind paintballing.  Yes, there is skill involved; it's not just a bunch of 10-year-olds running around acting like they're playing real life Call of Duty.  Well, there are a bunch of kids, but at least my co-workers and I had our own private course to shoot each other in.  Oh right, skill.  As you might know, bullets drop when they leave the barrel of a gun.  No matter how fast a bullet is going, it will drop at the same rate due to the effect of gravity.  Paintballs actually travel pretty slowly (from far enough away you can see them flying towards you, and if your reflexes are good enough you can even dodge them).  As a result of their slow speed, they don't travel very far.  In order to hit targets on the other side of the course, I had to arc my shots like artillery, which was pretty fun!

Sunday was full of productivity.  I hit up the hardware store to pick up some supplies to finish a few projects I had started a while ago.  The first was a simple addition of shelves in our bathroom, which provided some much needed storage space.  There wasn't a lot of room to put things in the bathroom (a small overcrowded medicine cabinet was all we had before) so these will really help a lot.

Another project involved a simple modification of hooks that we are using to hang our oven mitts up with.  We had a lot of space on the side of our fridge facing the stove, which I decided would make a good space to hang things from.  I bought some hooks and magnets from the hardware store, fastened them together with super glue, and voilà!  Adjustable hangars!

I'm really tired, so imma go watch some Star Trek.  See you tomorrow!

An entire morning spent reviewing PV plans sure takes its toll... I'm getting all hungry.

I think tonight warrants working on some projects.  A week of staring at a screen is more than enough; my eyes have turned square!

What should I work on...?

What's up everyone?
It's been a while, but I'm back, and with a new mission! I've decided to take my site in a new direction, and use it for all of my creative hobbies, not just the engineering-related ones. I'm going to turn this into my outlet. They say it's healthy to share your thoughts and feelings with the world. I haven't done that very well for the better part of my life, and I wouldn't call myself very healthy right now.

Story time!

When I was a kid (around 5 years old) I decided that I wasn't going to talk to anybody. My parents always said it was because I wasn't getting enough attention from people due to my younger brother taking the spotlight. They were right. My five-year-old mind decided that anyone who put me off was my enemy, and I don't converse with my enemies. So I stopped talking. For a long time. Soon enough, I did what every 5 year old kid does; I got bored. So I started talking again. What happened? Did my parents disown me because I wouldn't give them the time of day? Did my brother stop talking to me in retaliation? No. They were just glad I started talking again.

So now it's time I started talking. It's time the five-year-old part of my brain got over the bad feelings and all the strife I've experienced over the years. It's time I grew up. I may have a job, and an income, and live in a house, but I will never be an adult until I start communicating like one. Not that I'm calling myself inept at life. But there's work to be done. And it can start here, in my domain.
I hope those of you who are reading this aren't scared off by my brashness. If you are, go away. Because I'm not stopping.

I've got a lot of updating to do with the things I've built over the past few years. Additionally, I might start posting things relevant to my job, since it also happens to be something I'm passionate about! I like staying up to date on current issues in the realm of science and sustainability, so I might occasionally post an opinion piece on an article I found.

Also, there's this podcast I'm a part of that will be starting up later this year... so stay tuned!