Strange Noises

9:30 pm in the Abbott household. All was quiet except for the droning of the television. The kiddos were asleep. Or so we thought.

A creaking sound announced the opening of the door to the boys’ room. It was closely followed by the padding of their footsteps on the stairs.

“Mommy and Daddy,” said Timothy, “we heard some funny sounds.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve come across sleep-depriving strange noises. But they’re usually identifiable. Sometimes, it’s the cats. Other times it’s thunder or fireworks. So, our natural response is to roll our eyes, (just a little), and ask, “What did you hear?”

Tonight’s response: “Bruhhhhhh-ackkkkkkk.”

I tried to stifle my laughter. After all, the boys were so serious about this sound.

My wife said, “Sounds like a frog coughing up a hairball.”

I laughed so hard tears rolled down my cheeks.

Kids. Frogs. Hairballs. Hysterical.

Guess you had to be there.

Space: A Dream Delayed?

Much of my childhood was spent with an eye on the stars. I envisioned myself orbiting the earth on a space shuttle or headed beyond earth’s gravitational pull on a mission to Mars. I read everything I could about space travel. I even went to Space Camp as an 8th grader in 1987.

Side note: my mom sent me a link to a Slate.com post about Space Camp complete with pictures from that era. No, I’m not in these pictures. But I do have a picture of the simulator seat I occupied as commander of a simulated shuttle mission. (Did I mention that I was the youngest commander for a shuttle mission during the week I attended Space Camp?) While you laugh at my geekiness, here’s the pic:

Space Camp Shuttle Simulator - 1987

Space travel is a dream that has faded in my adult years, but never entirely disappeared.  A few years ago, my heart ached as I watched television coverage of Columbia’s demise. Most recently, I’ve watched the last missions of the space shuttle program with a bit of sadness.

Earlier today, I think my son recognized my nostalgic look-back for what it was. He said, “Dad, maybe you and I can fly into space someday.”

“Maybe son, maybe,” I said with a smile as I envisioned the possibility of commercial space travel. Could it be a dream delayed?

You never know.

You know you’re up too late when…

It’s another late night of capstone writin’ and research. Not necessarily in that order.

I was taking a brief break, so I turned on the ol’ TV tube. (Yes, it’s actually a tube. We haven’t graduated to one of those flat-screen thingies. Just call me cheap.)

Anyhoo, on comes a commercial that makes me wonder what those folks in Hollywood are smoking. (Maybe my li’l bro, an aspiring, and talented, screen writer can help answer that question.)

Smurfs.

A movie about Smurfs. You know those smurfy (obnoxious) little blue critters who smurf (follow) the bearded dude around. Oh yeah, there’s only one girl in the group. How exactly does that smurf (work)? Maybe the movie will answer that question. Did I mention that you can smurf (experience) it in 3D? Just don’t expect me to smurf (run) on out to the theater for this one.

Seriously, I’m rooting for Gargamel and his cat.

Zzzzzz’s

Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend. We did. It included Friday fireworks, a visit from my folks, pizza and wings, a family trip to the park, and burgers and dogs on the grill. Definitely fun. Definitely a little tiring.

Here’s the evidence:

Now, that’s one exhausted two-year old.

Oh yeah, special thanks go out to my parents for their valuable advice and help in the ongoing living room renovation project.

Now, back to my capstone project…

The Blue Lemon

Big Blue Lemon. That’s what I now call my 2006 GM piece-o-junk… I mean Saturn Relay.

The latest in a long series of frustration is the air conditioning. For the sake of accuracy, it’s the lack of AC that bugs me. Don’t get me wrong, I can live without the AC, but it would be nice to have the capability in at least one of our vehicles. My 1996 Saturn SL2 lost that capability a few years ago, but four windows rolled down provides effective cooling. On the other hand, airflow through the Blue Lemon is rather underwhelming.

When new friends of mine, (Adam and Kelly), offered to take a look at the AC system, I gratefully accepted their offer. We hoped it was just a matter of recharging the system… something Adam is qualified to do. I took the Blue Lemon out for a quick look. (Thanks Adam and Kelly!)

Of course, a system recharge wasn’t the problem. Nah. It’s probably something electrical. Time to setup Blue Lemon with a date with the mechanic.

I know there’s an old saying advising people to make lemonade from life’s lemons. Exactly how can I do so with this vehicle?

Wait… maybe I can donate it to Mythbusters sometime in the future. At this point, I’d love to see it blown to smithereens in super slow-motion!