ROVER! Sit. Stay. Good Rover.

image - JPL

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/jpl-mer20100126vod.html

For a kid who got to stare into the cold, clear skies in the Virginia Appalachians and learn the names of the planets, stars and constellations and then grow up with humanity's first primitive and heroic baby steps into the places nearest our little home planet, NASA has been the source of great images, excitement and amusement.
I have known NASA scientists and relished their stories. Some worked on the pieces and parts of the orbiting capsules. Others worked for Dow Corning and developed the heat shields that made a safe reentry into our atmosphere possible (also inventing Corelle as a byproduct) - a nice way to end a scientific mission. Others worked at the remote listening posts around the globe: Australia and Madagascar.
I have my trusty Pickett slide rule and abacus in my laptop bag - just to quadruple check things - and to show off at times.
It was amazing how the very idea of rockets and space travel was so much more noble than the dark side of ICBMs and hydrogen warheads - same delivery systems, different payload.
Today we celebrate the life of one of NASA's greatest successes: ROVER!
This breadbox on wheels was to be a short-lived mission to learn something about the surface of Mars. In three months it was to travel a bit, poke and look around and give us some more hints about the Martian surface. Then it would die.
That was six years ago.
If you visit the site at the top of this post you can read some incredible stories from the team that had a three-month task that has turned into a career.
Rover is now a stationary lab. It can't limp anymore. It can't drag its broken wheel and leave a furrow in the Martian surface, but Rover is still there.
Sometimes the Martian wind blows and covers its solar panels with dust and reduces its power. Then the wind blows the dust off and Rover comes back to life.
Rover has been stuck for months. The team has asked for help from everyone on this planet for suggestions on how to get Rover moving again. THAT is a team of humble scientists.
I thought that this would be a great way for AAA to get some great press, but they have to pay for their NASCAR sponsorships. But, it would be cool. AAA, giving Rover a push! Come on guys!
Just now I am getting my grandkids to look through a telescope into the heavens. I want them to get excited when they see Saturn's rings with their own eyes and learn to name the stars, planets and constellations.
The digital refit of the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill (http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/) could not have come at a better time. Many blessings on GSK for their support of this project. The Zeiss optical projector had done so much for so many - but its day has passed. But those hand-ground lenses are still the very best ever.
One of these days there will be a human colony on the moon. Baby steps. Then, there will be people on Mars.
I hope they take along a slide rule, just in case their batteries fail and I hope they don't run over Rover, one of the fine tools that helped get them there. tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com

Thou Art Rocky Johnson

At 4:23 this morning we welcomed wittle Wocky Johnson into the world.

Having been in labor with him since last Friday evening I was ready and baby, he was ready..

His little person was caught in a fine strainer and soon he was isolated and celebrated and ready for his first automobile ride. A one-way trip.

His pain in my side and elsewhere days are done and his meteorlike looking self will be tested in a cold, heartless, kidneyless lab.

Then he will be crushed and share in the demise of other similar disgusting objects,

Furnace, fire or flush - I give not a damn what. We have had our moments.

Don't let the Tidy Bowl Man smack you on the way out. Or do. (c)  tim  tim@timjohnsonphoto.com

THIS ... stone ... TOO SHALL PASS

Last Friday evening I was delivered to the Rex Hospital ER and, along with the loss of my command of speech (because I was speaking English and they were not hearing me), was eventually to learn that I had a 4mm kidney stone making its way OUT and 2 more little ones waiting in the wings.
I have been in labor ever since.
Though this pain was theoretically localized in the appropriate urological parts, its influence was and is currently being felt all over.
I keep a list of current medications in my wallet and my picture ID and my insurance cards are not hard to find. 
I should have called the ambulance 5 hours sooner than I did, but thinking this unknown pain would abate on its own was wrong.
It is a guy thing - a stupid guy thing.
I did not have a fever, I was just bent like a failed piece of origami. I had been vomiting and had experienced diarrhea. The little management medications I have on hand for my arthritis and migraines were as effective for this pain episode as sugar sprinkles on a birthday cake.
Something was really wrong and it was time for the blue and orange-light special.
I lived past the speed humps and potholes to see check-in and triage and the fact that I was already in the system from my cancer treatment 5 years ago and the fact I handed them my list of medications helped but the fact that I that I kept repeating, "I need to stretch out." and, "I need to lie down." did not register with the triage technician or keep her from placing me back in a wheelchair that put my body into a series of 90 degree angles and more pain-generating positions.
The seat of the wheelchair was saggy, meaning it also crowded together all of my organs that were already in distress.
They then typed my medication list into their computer using the seek and thee shall find method of typing. She typed at about a 10 letter-a-minute rate.
I was weighed - standing up. I was put back into the wheelchair of renewed agony. I was given a sheet of paper, my flow-sheet, and a wrist bracelet ID with me sweating and holding in my groans and trying to go to a deep place where pain could not bother me (the Zen exercise did not work). 
Then, the nausea came. There was nothing but bile left in my stomach - but that drew no attention.
Finally, "Mr. Johnson" was called.
I was wheeled (still in a wheel-chair) to MY cotton-walled, private (1 handkerchief thin wall of poly-cotton) Healing Holy of Holies. 
I got my standard-issue split-tail gown and, surprisingly, was allowed to keep wearing my Hanes boxer briefs. My BP, heart-rate and identity was confirmed about 5 times, all very good things and comforting if I had died - they would have known the name of the corpse.
BUT I WAS FINALLY LYING DOWN.
Fluids were coming, so my normally too big veins took their cue and played - HIDE from the nurse.
The extra-gifted phlebotomist was called on and found a good vein and I was close to getting some relief.
A cocktail to deal with the nausea and the pain was administered. I was hoping for lights OUT - but I did get relief from the intense pain and nausea.
I had to produce some urine for the lab. Not easy when you are horizontal and you are doing this for a PROJECT.
I needed the assistance of gravity and the nurse reluctantly agreed to lower the side of the bed and let me ease my feet to the floor. Drugs, feet, floor? Whatever?
Now realize something. When your body is doped, so are your kidneys and everything to do with them.
It is hard to perform on command, especially when in a foreign space and when your target and firing mechanism is being held by your own two unsteady hands.
My brain was considering the alternative method of collecting urine and with this motive in my partially functioning mind we had flow. Not the kind of flow that was once used to erode banks of shale or water in pine seedlings, but enough to please my nurse and satisfy the needs of the lab.
My nurse was happy and I got an extra blanket to cover my eyes from the fluorescent lights ... And then ...
Time for a CT scan. This meant MOVING. Moving over hundreds of unevenly laid tiles and in and out of some elevators. Bouncing MY parts that were still in pain.
Need I mention that gurneys do not have shock absorbers? The wheels for my gurney must have been recycled from the rejected wheels at the Piggly-Wiggly, Food Lion, Harris Teeter and the K-Mart. They had been balanced and mounted by the Keystone Kops. 
If we had gone much further to the CT scan lithotripsy would have been a moot point.
My gurney was not the gurney they used in the CT room so I had to move from one bed to the next and back. Joy!
We learned that the kidney stone (4mm) had moved from the kidney (that would make it a Rolling Stone) and was on it's way OUT to the bladder - but not totally committed to its escape.
Tomorrow afternoon I see my urologist - the same prince that helped with my cancer care. He really is the best. I am taking him hand warmers. He has small, knowing hands, as well as a compassionate heart.
If this were a baby, its movements would be celebrated - I am living in anxiety because I can feel every tiny tumble. We are trying to catch the thing.
Come, batta, batta. Come to papa!
My two new constant companions are nausea and pain. They are of a sort I have never had before. A third new friend is my strainer. Just in case the thing passes, we want to catch it and do an analysis of it and stop eating and drinking the things that make them appear the stones appear.
Won't that look cool? A stretchy necklace for my strainer? Plus, a 4mm stone of honor. 
I appreciate the prayers you have said for me for the successful resolution of this issue. 
Something is now taking a tumble. Gotta GO! Maybe something will come of this after all.  "Papa has a rollin stone ..." © tim
tim@timjohnsonphoto.com

Mid-Winter Guest

There is a simple elegance to the family of predator birds. Every part of their form reveals their nature. The talons kill and grip. The beak shreds. The wings  are models of stealth as they glide through the air carrying death to their victims and nourishment to their offspring and their mates.  
This creature came to pay a visit on an early afternoon following a string of ungodly cold days. This fellow was probably looking for the movement of a mouse or squirrel that was daring to venture from their nest or lair. I spied him as he swiveled his head almost 360 degrees atop his stone-still body.

I started taking pictures as soon as I noticed him and stopped only as he swooped away. That covered 14 minutes.
I was happy my batteries were fresh and that my memory card was fast.
I did see him blink and I was concerned that a rare passing truck would frighten him off.
He did not move. Maybe he had hunted this spot before and was making a return trip.
I was wishing him luck.
Times can be lean when the cold keeps the prey inside. Birdsong has been scarce and even the smallest of critters have been hiding from the bite of winter's cold.
In the great scheme of things, what a sudden and quickly passing shock it would be for a varmint to peek out and see a tempting nut or berry hanging on a branch and have the thought - so brief, "That would be a nice little mor..."
Then death comes on silent wings.

© tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com

WINTER CLASSES & A WARM VISIT TO MAKE

Paper art ...
Usually I spend time writing about various tools that put marks ON media. Today the MEDIA is the subject.
Previous posts deal with the history of paper and the uses of vellum, calfskin and modern linen, cotton and rag papers.
Today it is COLD.
I just want to shoot your attention to a delightful sight that will WARM your heart and senses with completed works that are filled with imagination, deftness and careful application of all the skills of the applied book arts.
Enjoy your visit.


http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-extraordinary-examples-of-paper-art/


By the way. Classes start NEXT WEEK through Wake Tech.
Go to the WAKE TECH website and check out the Continuing Education, evening division classes. Mine (Basic Camera+ and Calligraphy) are meeting at Reedy Creek Elementary School, just off of Harrison, near I-40. Photography class is Tuesday night, 6:30-9:30 and calligraphy is Thursday, 6:30-9:30. If you have questions about the classes just call me at 919-345-4615. Great classes - lots of fun - I hope to see you there! 
tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com

RTP Strategy & Tactics For Success

This is the year …


OK - Resolving is one thing and doing and succeeding is another kettle of veggies. 
Everyone goes about moving toward success in their own way simply because we are individuals. Maybe this could be titled “campaign for a happy month” or “making a successful course correction with your life”.
Read on, especially if you are intending on taking up calligraphy or refining your photography OR SOMETHING MUCH MORE.
A little self-understanding might be nice right here. I recommend that you take time to get a general idea of the kind of personality you have on the Meyers-Briggs profile. This will not profile you or create anything except a better understanding of what your tendencies happen to be. A free, quick form of this test can be found doing a quick web search. OK, here it is. I did the HARD WORK for you, but take the test and hang on to the 4 initials that make up your personality TYPE. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Having established your 4 character personality “type”, you can look at famous others with similar traits. You can react or respond – but this little indicator is generally quite on the mark.
I wonder if there are “Meet-Ups” based on these? Maybe it is best that there aren't and not gathered into small rooms.
If you want to dispute or affirm the findings, I recommend the Huntington battery of tests. This is a fairly expensive and time-consuming test. It is usually given to business executives to see if they will fit into the management style of a company or will be the catalyst for change that a company wants. I took it and it certainly helped me to understand ME.
After you have subjectively and objectively established who you are, move along to your goals.
As I have counseled people at the crossroads of their lives, I am still encouraging them to buy a cheap journal that they will work on for a week or so. It needs to be cheap because when they meet with me for a new session, I ask for the journal they have purchased.
In my fine Italian calligraphy I write, “I Am ...”. They are then told to spend a whole week writing out the rest of that sentence with as many true and valuable things as they understand about themselves.
The session gets a bit more dramatic when I turn the brand new journal upside down then cut the book in half.
Now I open the new cover and write the scary words, “I Want ...”.
The instructions are the same. While they are filling in the “I Am” side they will be completing the “I Want” side. This side is important and is to be as inclusive as possible.
Note: If the client does not buy the journal, the counselor/client relationship is ended. Also, if this exercise is not completed, the relationship is ended. I AM the coach and I WANT this simple and necessary task completed so that we can move forward.
After 7 days or so we meet again and they bring the 2 halves of their journal. I ask if they have complied and if they have we move forward. If they have not done so, we part.
We then talk about dreams – the kind revealed in the “I Want” part of the journal. These are the destinations, not the journey. Victory, success and completion – all realized. They must see themselves as having arrived and make clear descriptions that include all of their senses. They must really be in the place they have established as their goal.
In military and corporate terms we then begin a process of defining strategy and creating tactics.
My personal hero and the master of both was Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was the second President of the United States during my lifetime and had been the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied forces during the Second World War. Reading his biography will reveal just how every turn and event and person he met in his continually ascending career prepared him for this pivotal role in world history.
It is sad that he became a US President and had to deal with 8 years of string pushing. He would have lived a happier and longer life if he had remained as president of Columbia University after his retirement from the military.
General Eisenhower was the ultimate strategist. He saw things globally and for the long term. He was also the grand tactician. He managed other multi-starred generals and field marshals as well as admirals and ships' captains. He coordinated the largest air and amphibious invasion in history and, as it began, stated that if it was a failure, it was his sole responsibility.
The invasion was costly, it could have been worse and it did succeed.
Self-understanding, goals, strategy and tactics will create the energy and disciplines that put you in position, on the path that ultimately leads to your goals.
DREAM and refine and define your goals.
Create the STRATEGY that utilizes your nature, abilities, talents and experiences.
Exercise tactics that bring measurable results every day, week and month. Taking care of business that way will ensure that the years and decades take care of themselves. Setbacks may come, but are just opportunities to dust off, shake down and move on.
Oh yes – many people do really well with a coach. If you were getting your body fit, you'd hire a personal trainer. I can make a good recommendation in that arena. (That was a puny pun.)
A life coach may be the ticket to get your MIND, EMOTIONS and LIFEPLAN together. Depending on what you have IN YOUR MIND, I might have a beautiful recommendation there as well. (not punny at all.) © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
Some research resources you might want to land on are:
http://www.molossia.org/milacademy/strategy.html
 http://management.about.com/cs/adminaccounting/a/vst.htm
 http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/tactics-strategy-do-you-know-the-difference.html
 http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/strategy.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_strategy (best)
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tactics (best)