CanofWorms
15d ago
I finished Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, and man this was a good book. It reminded me a bit of Into Thin Air in how, as doomsday approached, the author got right down to minute-by-minute conversations and events. The Space Shuttle program was fraught with danger throughout the lifespan of the program. There were multiple components in the Space Shuttle that engineers estimated would fail maybe once every thirty flights. And some of these components, if they failed, would lead to immediate death for the crew. Flying in a Space Shuttle was nothing like flying in a plane - there was significant risk that the Space Shuttle launch would fail.
It is also wild how precisely the engineers of Morton-Thiokol nailed the risk of the solid rocket booster o-rings failing in cold weather. They literally predicted it the night before the launch and attempted to cancel the launch. Thiokol had multiple last minute meetings with NASA literally the night before launch arguing against launching the Space Shuttle because of the risk of the o-rings failing. And their predictions came 100% true the next morning. Just a wild story.
If you have any interest in engineering disasters or NASA in general this book is a must-read.
Now I'm onto Interpreter of Maladies. Want to knock out a quick fiction book before diving into The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power.
CanofWorms
15d ago
Got it, that makes a lot more sense.
CanofWorms
16d ago
Are server costs really ~$3750 a month?
CanofWorms
19d ago
King Rat is awesome. I tried reading Shogun and gave up about halfway through. Too long and fluffy.
CanofWorms
22d ago
I finished To Kill a Mockingbird. When I put it down, I thought to myself, this is my favorite book.
I also watched the movie a few days ago, and while the first half is a bit slow, for a movie from 1962, it holds up terrifically well. For those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
Onto Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space. A work trip brought me to the outskirts of Houston a few weeks ago and I drove by the Houston Space Center. That, coupled with my general interest in engineering, problem solving, and a good biographical yarn, led me to this book. A bit slow to start, but some interesting tidbits and trivia so far.
Edit: I also spent some time browsing Wikipedia on Harper Lee and Go Set a Watchman. Others can more eloquently describe the controversy about Go Set a Watchman, but basically, it's Harper Lee's second book release ever, and it was released when she was 85 years old. What I found interesting about the books release is that people close to Lee have speculated that her lawyer and closest confidant (after the death of Lee's sister) pushed Lee to release Go Set a Watchman. Lee was said to have had lost some of her mental faculties at that point, was half deaf and blind, and one person described her as willing to sign anything that was put in front of her. Seems pretty obvious that Go Set a Watchman was released as a cash grab and the ethics of those who allowed it to get published are fairly indefensible.
CanofWorms
29d ago
Treehouse is a great call
CanofWorms
29d ago
As another commenter said, I think painting or wallpaper is going to be your best bet because this is the easiest DIY project and the most easily fixable if your kids make a mess. Other DIY projects are, while satisfying, not exactly fun.
Landscaping is a potentially good option, but I would have found gardening/landscaping as boring as watching paint dry when I was a kid.
Other ideas:
- Wall mounting a TV
- Pillow fort with wall hooks installed
- Putting glow in the dark stars up on the kids ceiling
- Installing new LED lights in the kids room (adhesive strip lighting is really cool even for adults lol)
- Adding dimmers or other custom lighting. Be careful if you're going to do any electrical/outlet work.
- Installing shelves
- Setting up a woodworking/art studio if you now have a dedicated space or garage
Reading this list, I think the custom lighting would be a really fun one for the kids.
Also, you should ask ChatGPT!
CanofWorms
29d ago
WoW Classic is still the most addicting game I have ever played. Sometimes I will randomly think of Stranglehold Vale and get an insane itch to create a new character.
Also, the two Minneapolis lawmakers and their spouses who were targeted back in June.
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