F-18 Simulator @ NASA Dryden’s Flight Research Center

The walk from Building 4838 to Simulator Alley was quiet, and calm. A beautiful day in the desert, the sun’s tender rays warming the lakebed to a delightful 76 degrees, with a whispering light breeze rustling the leaves in the trees, gently kissing you with welcomed coolness. It was a perfect day for an adventure. The group accompanying me was quiet, reserved, together, and well mannered. I, on the other hand, felt like I was jumping out of my skin. I find it hard to believe, even now, that these other people were not just as excited about the upcoming event, but I was the only one childlike enough in my exuberation to feel the sheer joy that shakes you from within, and makes children run in circles around trees in parking lots waiting for Disneyland to finally open. I truly get to work at my Disneyland Park, and this was my opening hour, and my ticket was at hand. I was going to go play on the F-18 Simulator at NASA Dryden’s Flight Research Center. A long a waited moment of sheer boundless joy. My boys have been, so have some of my friends, but I had not, until now, had the pleasure of going. This is not something you sign up for, it is a “by extended invitation” only event. And the person extending the invitation has to be one with connections. Me, I have no connections, I am the lowest (wo)man on the totem pole of Dryden, and I am thrilled to be on it at all. I know I have told you the people I work for are brilliant, but today was just another piece to the puzzle of just how great they really are. In a trivial information turn of events, I found that most of the big dogs in the IT God Forum have come from Simulator Alley. In fact most of them built it themselves. Yes, I said built it! To fully appreciate this marvel one should really experience it themselves due to the simple fact that there really is no words that can adequately capture it with justice. However, for the sake of simplicity let me just say, the F-18 Sim has a half circle wrap around full view screen. It contains an in depth view of Rodger’s Dry Lakebed, the spaceport, runways, Boron, and even the mine. It is beyond amazing. I had Ken at my side coaching me all the way. He increased speeds, and lowered landing gear, while I tried to fly. All I can say is, it is so much harder then it looks, and it really showed me first hand how much skill and training these pilots really have. The coolest part is that these simulators can really be hooked up to the F-18 down stairs in the hanger. There is a large window that allows you to be in the simulator room and still be able to view the actual F-18 below. When the pilot rolls one way, or moves to another side, the actual plane moves so that the engineers can see first hand how the plane will react BEFORE they send one of our pilots up. The simulators are not just million dollar toys, they are huge educational learning centers, as well as invaluable safety nets. This week we (The Edwards AFB Community) lost a pilot, not from NASA, but from the Air Force side, a Lockheed Martin test pilot in an F-22 raptor. A tragic loss of a gifted and skilled, dedicated, pilot. What these precision trained pilots do with the technology that is out here is truly inspirational. They risk their lives so that we, as a nation, have better, more functional air systems at the ready for so much more then just military applications. In fact technology being tested today for ACAT may have saved the pilot we just lost, by landing the plane safely when the pilot was unconscious or worse, unable to control the plane prior to crashing. It is the entire elite team we call Dryden that is the vast melting pot I call unsung heros. The Engineers who think beyond the possible, the test pilots who make the missions come off without a hitch, even the IT Gods that make solutions that will work with problems not even thought of yet. All to stay atop of a game no one knows were it will lead, that is the amazing mushroom cloud of Dryden. It is the marvel of the machines, the technological advances, the people, the passion, and the path of uncharted mysteries. I got to fly a real piece of Americana history today and I truly loved it! How very grateful I am for the blessings of this place, of these people, and of this time I get to be a part of it. I am living my own American dream.

Pi Day with the NASA I.T. Gods!!!

I knew this entry was coming, and have put so much more thought into it then any before it. I have pondered at length what exactly I wished to convey, any yet it all seems so inadequate. A description which at best is corny, and at worst is down right silly. How on earth could one possibly understand this eccentric woman’s passion which permeates from the sheer glee of scheming, plotting, and executing a totally geeky celebration such as Pi Day? I went under the guise of better to ask forgiveness then to ask permission. I work at the greatest organization in all of the United States of America… within a department of the most brilliant minds, hardest workers, and truly talented individuals, for a Chief Information Officer, and a Deputy CIO that I really admire, like, and respect. And here is the best part, they don’t know their own value!!! In fact for so long I have been alone in my bizarre fascination with the weird techy, nerdy, totally out of the box, brain boys playground, that I began to see myself as unique, and strange. And while this still may be true to some extent, I have found others out there just like me, and I am finally home. Rob literally has a binary welcome mat in front of his door, and obsolete original hand held calculators with the magnetic memory strips in his display cabinets in his office. I love it here, finally I look mild mannered. Living in Boron who could help resist wanting a shower curtain with the periodic table on it? Or cubicle toys such as floating magnetized pens for the desk? I am telling you, if anyone understands me, it is this group of people I work with now.

It all began innocently enough… Rob meanders up to the counter and says “Hey, you know Pi day is coming up. You know Pi, as in 3.14…., Well, March 14th is coming up. We should celebrate with a real pie.” We all laugh, and everyone walks away. But a wheel is turning, a circuit fully connected as if by the flicking of a switch….hummmm Pi day. I bet I could make that happen. This is when the treasure hunt began. It started simple enough… making a simple banner off the computer. My mother is known to many affectionately as the Pie Lady. Of course, I am no Pie Lady, but I mean, if anyone could pull off Pi day it should be the Pie Ladies daughter. Initially I thought of selling out and getting Marie Calendar’s to make a bunch of pies, but since I live in the middle of the Mojave Desert and Marie’s is over an hr away, I took it upon myself to create them myself. I mean, if my mother could make a zillion pies for Thanksgiving each year why couldn’t I do a much smaller scale for my co-workers? Then it became apparent… I am so not my mother. This pie buffet is tougher then this woman has EVER made it look before. So how, am I going to pull this off? I mean what am I thinking? Do I really think I could fill my mother’s shoes? Uh No! So it occurs to me, as Hitch so eloquently taught me, stick to what you are good at. If you are the Pie Lady do pies, if you are me, you go mass cookie production. But how on earth does one make a Pie Cookie, let alone a Pi cookie? Thank Goodness for the World Wide Web… I hit online on a Pi Cookie cutter, oh it is too easy!!! This is going to be soooooo good! The excitement is building; I am giddy with my find. The days prior to its arrival were like a kid waiting at Christmas to open the presents until AFTER breakfast. While the childlike anticipation grew with each moment, floods of ideas came… what if I made us shirts? Would Rob or Ken even wear them if I did? And if I did, and they agreed to wear them what would I say? Memories wash over me of my son, Colton, now 14 years old, but then no more then 6 years old standing in front of me listening to some horrible lecture, in serious trouble, and out of no where he looks me in the eye and says “I like pie.” It dawned on me that to this little tyke I was nothing more then a Charlie Brown adult, and all he was hearing was wa wa,wa wa, wa wa. And I lost it, I began crying with laughter so fierce that is brings tears of joy to my eyes with just the memory. THAT is what I was going to put on the shirts. I like Pi. I created the designs, and took them to a shop to get them done… with one slight modification. My shirt, the space princess herself, in all her glory put Cutie Pi on her shirt. In retrospect I wish I would have put QT Pi, but hey it worked.

Then like so many of us the week went to heck in a hand basket. Rob had the day off so he wasn’t even going to be able to come. Friends were on travel assignments and missing, old boyfriends showed up in town doing drive bys, the church asked me to make lasagna for their relief society birthday dinner. There were just not enough hours in any day to make this come to fruition. And yet, faith precedes the miracle. I knew I could do this, I just did not know how. Friends, Family, and community came together to orchestrate the neatest turn of events for MY Pi Day. The cookie dough batter was made on one day… 6 batches of sugar cookie dough. The next day 200+ Pi Shaped cookies were baked and cooled on my kitchen counter. (Kudos to Mrs. Claus, and her manly man elf!) The next day 6 pies were baked, including my favorite of all time… a cherry one with the Pi Symbol out of the top. Mmmmmmmmmmmm Tons of soda flat boxes were taped and stacked on end to be filled with decorated cookies for transport. The house smelt heavenly, I finally understand those infamous words “slept with the vision of sugar plums danced in their heads”, for as I put my head to my pillow that Pi Day Eve Night, I was excited, and giddy, and full of childhood delight.

Arriving that morning with a smirk, and a smile at the back of Code V the guys were walking in as I pulled up my PT (Cruiser that is). As I opened the door the smell wafted through the air. It stopped one, curious. I began taking flats of goodies to my desk, and the choir rang out,” Do you need some help?”. Several big old IT Gods helped me bring in the goods. People were shocked, excited and happy. For the first time I got to see, first hand, my enthusiasm flow from me to them, passing forward my exuberance. It was contagious. Who would have known? The cost for supplies…$30 tops, The cost of labor… happiness and love. The cost of finally feeling like I am at home? Having Pi Day at NASA??? Eating Pi Shaped Cookies with REAL I.T. Gods? Some people go to Disneyland for magical memories and pixy dust, but to me… this was Absolutely PRICELESS!!! ***Now if ONLY I could write the word priceless in binary code!!! :) ***

Fly Away With Me...

I always knew that someday I would soar. I got to go on my first real plane ride. I was taken by a gentleman from my church, Mr. Swann, who has instilled a love of flying in his whole family. His children all are pilots too. As for me it was awesome and inspirational, but when offered to fly the plane, I respectfully declined. While the ride was exhilarating, I still had the sense of responsibility to my children not to leave them motherless. Mark was able to do some sharp turns with me in the plane and that was the very best! The clouds were so majestic from so high in the sky, and the whole world looked so peaceful and well designed from up there. It struck me while flying that it was the same feeling of awe that I would have years ago sitting on top of Sonora Peak, or some other wonderful spot high up in the Sierra's, but without all of the effort to hike there. I miss those days, and being in the sky if only for a moment in time brought me back there. Back to a place where the world makes sense, and you are rightfully placed within it. Where the beauty of man made and God made come harmoniously together. I wish I could fly away to nowhere when ever I felt like it. The burdens of life left on the ground far below. The journey took me over the windmills (which I have always loved to watch), over Red Rock Canyon, over vacationing quad campers in the desert, over California City, over mountain ranges, and over the Mojave Airport's bone yard, as well as getting to make an early morning touch down at the far end of Lake Isabella. It was wonderful! We had breakfast in a quaint little diner that looked more like some one's living room in an old log cabin, then a real restaurant. It was by far the very best breakfast I have ever eaten. I am not sure if it was the wonderfully rich hot chocolate with whipped cream melting in the top of a common mug, the deliciously spicy Santa Fe omelet, or if it was the atmosphere, and the company that we got to share it with. All of these old pilots were sitting behind us talking shop in front of a wood stove drinking their coffee. It was beyond a dream, the sights, the smells. I felt like I was in my favorite movie "Always"! I half expected "Pete and Dyrinda" to walk in at any moment. Yet, with all of that it was fun to know that I still got to fly back home again, and the trip was not over by a long shot. Upon returning home I could look down on the lake and see men sitting in their boats fishing. I felt like the tanker in the opening scenes ready to scoop up water and fly it to a fire. The whole experience was like getting to meet yourself for the very first time. I really loved it. I love planes, always have, but this place, and this time in my life, has awaken a sleeping giant that I did not even know existed. Will I ever be a pilot someday? No one knows for certain, but what I do know is until then I am going to enjoy the ride. No matter if I am in a plane or not, I will continue to soar to new heights, and meet new challenges. I will continue to delight in going to air shows, seeing fly overs of F-18's, listening to sonic booms, and in the feeling of the rattle of your rib cage with the roar of their engines as they go over my head! I will continue to delight in the love of aviation itself. Today was a great day, but tomorrow is going to be even better! Come Fly Away With Me...

What the heck is Asperger's Syndrome?

Well, if life were not interesting enough George is now being tested for Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Disorder is a milder variant of Autistic Disorder, also know as high functioning autistic. This is by far not a bad thing... Bill Gates has Asperger's. However, anyone who knows George knows he is just unique. He is eight years old, and collects Forbes magazines, and Wall Street Journal Newspapers. He reads them, and stacks them on his only shelf beside the top bunk of his bed. In fact when he sleeps you constantly hear him turn and the crumpling of papers. While this may not be normal, this is George. He is a critical thinker, and does not know what thinking in the box means. It is not uncommon to listen to him and think he is an old man trapped in a little body. He does not have any mannerisms, and speaks in a monotone which is hard for most to understand. He needs calm, quiet, cleanliness, and order to stay content. He strongly relys on his brother Dustin for interpretation skills and friendship. He has a very hard time socially, and is often the brunt of harassment and bullying. He does not like to make eye contact with anyone, and often plays by himself huddled in the front room playing with some minor thing repetitively...thinking. He has always guided himself by his own routines. He brushes his teeth, gets up, and goes to bed all without being told, and always at the same time... no matter if it is the weekend or what the case may be. He just disappears from family time and someone has to go check to see if he made it to bed, and as always he has. He is my hero, grounded, and not ruled by emotions. For so long, I being his mother, seemed so strange. I am an extrovert, who knows no stranger, ruled by emotions, and bubbly, and yet intlligent enough to know happiness comes from within, and not centered around a career, a degree, or a paycheck. George is grounded, centered, and focused. For so long I felt as if he loved me, but did not like me. I have come to realize that he loves me, but on his time table and only to the extent he allows me to. He likes to watch me, enjoys my silliness, and playfulness, but from a distance. He delights in my happiness, my crazy manaerisms, and my horrible singing funny songs from across the room. This is an 8 year dance we have learned together. A functional relationship of ebbs and flows. I have learned to give him his space and observe him from a far, and come in for a sneak attack hug or kiss on ocassions that are fitting him. George will be successful beyond measure. He is truly an amazing kid, smart as all get out in some areas, and dumber then a box of rocks in others. No matter what they find, no matter what the outcome is... he is George Lee Buerer III, he is my hero.

George's Drama

Dealing with Drama. First let me start with saying Little George is doing really well. Now let me give you the rest of the story. In a freak random accident Georgie was attacked by a scooter and he has lost a bit of his right pinkie finger. The hand surgeon thinks he will heal all on his own and make a full recovery in about 8 weeks. He is even hopeful that his nail will make a full recovery as well. Now let me tell you the rest of the story... George was at school and the bell rang to let the kids out of school for the day. As we can all remember this ensues all sorts of children flooding in a mass exodus from the school flowing into the hallways. This is what George was swept up in... With this mayhem someone had left a scooter on the sidewalk and as George walked by caught the side of it with his foot. Thus the handle bars popped up and caught his finger and scraped the bone at the side of the top portion of the finger, ripped off the finger nail, and cut off the top fatty cushion part of the finger tip. The scooter did not have the protective hand guards on them that they come with. This all took about a Milli second, and he ran to the nurses station. Where the school secretary playing Nurse calls me at works and tells me my son's finger is missing. Of course I pack my things my co-workers scoop me up and we fly to the Elementary school where George was as together as ever. I swooped him up and got him in the car, and spent 20 min looking for Dustin who decided since he could not find George he would go home with a friend. After finding Dusty Joe we then went to the Boron Clinic where I told the MD on call that I thought he may have degloved his finger, but it was so mangled I could not tell. He looked at the very calm George and thought I was an over reactive parent, gave me the proper paperwork, and waited for the nurse to take him back. Eventually we made it to the room where it was PRICELESS! The MD comes in and says OK let's see it. George unwraps his finger and the doctor stammers... Oh My... Oh My... He looks at me, he looks at George and he says "Man, that looks like it hurts." George looks and him and blink, blink, nothing. So the doctor says "Doesn't that hurt?" And George plain as day says "Well, Yeah" I about died! The fingernail falls onto the table his finger tip is flopped to one side and this doctor is about to pass out and here is my 8 year old looking at this guy like give me the scalpel and I will take care of it myself. Of course the MD did cut the remainder off, and gave us antibiotics and pain meds for Little George. I went to our Primary the next day as well as the hand surgeon. All is well with Boy wounds, and chicks love scars. He amazes me. We are all good, and his hand will heal... but I am sure I will never forget how truly awesome this little man really is.

New Job Blessings...

Just when you thought it could not get any better then it already was... I got a new job within the NASA bubble. I am going to be the official "Code V Support Specialist at NASA Dryden"! OK, so in English that means basically that I am going to be the new "Secretary for the I.T. Gods of NASA", or for those of you unsure still "The Receptionist of the NASA Computer Geek Squad". I am so happy to get away from numbers and excel sheets. I really love the people here, and the job is not too difficult, but the tasks just don't exactly fit me. This is so much more a better fit. They are doing interviews now for my position, and then I will orient the newbie prior to getting to move on to my new position. The hope is to be there the beginning of February. More then anything this is a career chess game move for me. If I move here and excel in a year or two I might be able to slot into a Civil Servant position. Plus, you can never learn enough about how a computer works, and who else is going to understand my love of Thinkgeek.com? I just know I am so going to love it there! I think in celebration I am going to have to break down and buy the cute pink heart shaped equalizer t-shirt from think geek to wear on Fridays! :)

Who Really Gets to Obtain More Then You Dream?

I Love my life!!! I really am the luckiest woman in the world... I have a deep abiding relationship with my Lord and Savior. I have 3 of the greatest, loving, and most handsome men entrusted to me to raise as my children. I have some of the best friends a woman could ever have in life. (Donny& Sandra, Tony& Evelyn, Travis&Christina, Michelle&Jeremeh, and of course Amy&James) I have an amazing supportive church family. I live under restricted air space so I get to see AMAZING planes, and feel the rattle in my chest from their Sonic Booms every single day! I have open deserts encircled by level upon level of mountain ranges to play in that have the worlds best sunrises and sunsets. I have the best Beagle in the world... Lucy Lou Who! And oh yeah, did I mention that I get to work at NASA???? I mean really, who works at NASA??? Besides the world's biggest and brightest minds in all the wonderful USA! AND ME!!!!! Do you realize that the Space Shuttle is just the tip of the iceberg with these great people? When you think NASA you think of space, of the shuttle, of amazing hard working astronauts... but what most of us don't know is NASA technology is EVERYWHERE!!! From Kidney Dialysis Machines, to inferred ear thermometers, to hip replacement design, to Fire men's protective suits and helmets, to wireless headsets for phone lines and that is just a tiny, tiny, tiny bit. They have developed technology that tracks wild fires in almost real time which has greatly helped the CDF fire fighters. And Fly by wire technology that allows us to fly unmanned planes over hostile territory to obtain vital information. And they have (of course my favorite) SOFIA, which is an amazing bit of wonderment to help research the environment and the effects of global warming. Really, you have no idea just how great NASA is, or how lucky we are as a country to have it, or how privileged we are as citizens of this great country are to reap its benefits. I am a plane enthusiast, but I am a NASA geek. If you could wish your wildest wish, and break not only the glass ceiling, but keep on going, and going, and going... that is where I am. You may on a good day walk on cloud nine, but me... I float above the clouds, and I do it every single day of my life, without actually ever even having to leave my precious earth. Wow, life is good! Heck no, life is GREAT!!!