Boeing might just make it

I found an article here describing how Boeing looks to be expanding their interests in non-government contracts. This is heartening news for me, as I would like to both work for Boeing someday and do work in the private sector.

I've heard a lot of scuttlebutt since the election about how Obama is going to gut the space program and how my chosen profession will go the way of the slide rule. Yet everything I have read about aerospace and aeronautical engineering tends to make me believe that my profession will not only survive but thrive amid these more difficult and less ambitious financial times.

I really think that there are many interesting problems to solve below orbital altitude. I can't wait to get started.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Silent Eagle

...sounds like a bad action movie title. What it is captivates me. Take your standard everyday F-15 strike eagle, put the missiles in the FAST packs, add a radar absorbing coating, and blammo - stealthy fourth-gen air supremacy aircraft. What's so cool about this bird for me is the fact that its mere existence signals a need for people with my schooling. Story is here.

We're going out of town for a few days. I have a bunch of trig homework to get done. Additionally, I have three kids. Hilarity shall ensue.

The downside to going out of town is that I have to delay my garden another week. I can't start seeds and then leave them to die. I don't have room in the car to take the seeds and their support equipment with me. The ground is too wet to plant. Oh well - at least the lawn is mowed (mown?)

I'm out of time. See y'all Sunday.

Cheers.

p.s. The F-15 is awesome :-)

Birthday and other

So Thursday was my thirty-second birthday! Yay, me!

The week upcoming is Spring Break, both for me and for my school-aged daughter. My to-do list for next week is tremendous:

• Get the house more in order. Clutter sucks the life out of me.
• Get back on my exercising routine. I haven't managed to string two runs together in a week since before the baby came.
• Dig two more beds for the garden. One will be a 4x4 for veggies, and the other will be 3x12 for squash and zucchini.
• Start seeds. I plan on using egg cartons for my seedlings and transplanting relatively quickly. The weather should cooperate.
• Get good at trig. Really good.

I also want to try to post three times next week. We'll see how it goes.

-- Namaste

p.s. Scribefire is awesome.

Conucopia of updates

So. I've recently become a father three times over. The new baby is big, perfect, and sleepy. This is my excuse for my abysmal update schedule.

I'm working on a post about the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron. It should be done soon-ish.

I have recently learned turbofan compressor blades (and fan blades too) go supersonic at the tips. This is interesting, because the sound deadening techniques result in a decidedly non-Thunderscreech sound profile. I suppose my next move is to research dissipation characteristics of supersonic shock waves.

Also on the agenda is gardening. I'll make a recurring feature about my garden and her trials and tribulations. Mostly because Oregon sugar snap peas are nummy.

Finally, I should really write about school, since I devote so much time and effort to it.

I'm out of time for today. Until next time...