Day 12: I will diverge from my Sacramento Adventure for a second to relate a story from my days in the Navy.
When I got out to the actual submarine, I had to go through a verbal checkout on all of my reactor systems, exactly as I had done at nuclear power prototype, which is like Hogwarts but with more nuclear reactors. When I met my chief, he invited me to my reactor control panel checkout during his next watch. I showed up, asked for permission to enter, and settled down next to him.
And he asked me one question: "What do you need to do if your Reactor Plant Control Panel catches fire at the back of the panel?"
It is, let me tell you, an AMAZING question.
Most every question I had ever been asked involved something breaking inside the reactor ("What happens if one of your reactor pumps wipes a bearing and seizes?") or something breaking outside the reactor ("What happens if you lose one of your steam generators?"). These are normal checkout questions, the kind that you can, through force of will, memorize and recite by rote.
This question, though was something new: "What if you suddenly lose all control of your reactor, and the thing you're seated in front of is ON FIRE?"
I spent more than an hour answering. It had so many repercussions, it actually blew my mind a little bit. It's as if I'd always been asked, "What happens if you throw a pebble in a pond?", which I could answer without much thought, and then suddenly, someone asked me, "What happens if a meteor vaporizes the lake, and flattens the forest, and you're fishing at the time??"
It was an awesome question.
That day, we each garnered an amazing respect for the other. I answered pretty well (he said), and I marveled at the mind that comes up with a question that is designed to separate the wheat from the chaff.
One of my only regrets in life is that I failed to stay in touch with that guy.
I have no point with this story, I just think it's interesting, and I'm pretty sure I've never actually written it down.
---
I did have adventures today. I had brunch at R15, and noticed that I was the only one not drinking a mimosa (it's not really my thing), and wondered about it until I noticed a sign saying, "Bottomless mimosas until 2 p.m." I had a late lunch with R and J9 (after their golf outing; I swear to God, R is going to get me out on the course at some point, and we're all going to have a long talk about that...) at Burgers and Brew, where I enjoyed a delicious lamb burger (complete with feta cheese and Greek yoghurt). R helped me install a shower head extension (see below), so that the shower head is actually ABOVE me, rather than between my shoulder blades. I planted herbs in little pots, now sunning themselves on my balcony (see below... again). I met a grandmotherly woman who lives on my floor who is from Istanbul (who owns the SECOND toy poodle that I know of on this floor...), and a nice Hmong girl named Pamouva helped me find planters at Lowe's.
R and I finished up Jekyll, which, if you haven't bothered to find, is six very good hours of television.
Silverado is now playing on the TV, and I love this movie. The reason is that my friends Jen and Lance gave me a VHS copy years ago because, in their words, "Kevin Costner plays YOU in this movie!!"
I'm still trying to figure out if that's a compliment or not...
---
In closing, I hope you had a wonderful Sunday, and an amazing weekend, gentle reader, and I would say that every day, EVERY SINGLE DAY, is an adventure. Never forget that, and never take any of your days for granted. I woke up today, played with friends, and retired to a safe, happy space. That's pretty awesome, frankly.
I hope to do the same tomorrow.
Loves to all of you, my peeps!!
Tomorrow, as always, for you and me both:
ADVENTURE!!
When I got out to the actual submarine, I had to go through a verbal checkout on all of my reactor systems, exactly as I had done at nuclear power prototype, which is like Hogwarts but with more nuclear reactors. When I met my chief, he invited me to my reactor control panel checkout during his next watch. I showed up, asked for permission to enter, and settled down next to him.
And he asked me one question: "What do you need to do if your Reactor Plant Control Panel catches fire at the back of the panel?"
It is, let me tell you, an AMAZING question.
Most every question I had ever been asked involved something breaking inside the reactor ("What happens if one of your reactor pumps wipes a bearing and seizes?") or something breaking outside the reactor ("What happens if you lose one of your steam generators?"). These are normal checkout questions, the kind that you can, through force of will, memorize and recite by rote.
This question, though was something new: "What if you suddenly lose all control of your reactor, and the thing you're seated in front of is ON FIRE?"
I spent more than an hour answering. It had so many repercussions, it actually blew my mind a little bit. It's as if I'd always been asked, "What happens if you throw a pebble in a pond?", which I could answer without much thought, and then suddenly, someone asked me, "What happens if a meteor vaporizes the lake, and flattens the forest, and you're fishing at the time??"
It was an awesome question.
That day, we each garnered an amazing respect for the other. I answered pretty well (he said), and I marveled at the mind that comes up with a question that is designed to separate the wheat from the chaff.
One of my only regrets in life is that I failed to stay in touch with that guy.
I have no point with this story, I just think it's interesting, and I'm pretty sure I've never actually written it down.
---
I did have adventures today. I had brunch at R15, and noticed that I was the only one not drinking a mimosa (it's not really my thing), and wondered about it until I noticed a sign saying, "Bottomless mimosas until 2 p.m." I had a late lunch with R and J9 (after their golf outing; I swear to God, R is going to get me out on the course at some point, and we're all going to have a long talk about that...) at Burgers and Brew, where I enjoyed a delicious lamb burger (complete with feta cheese and Greek yoghurt). R helped me install a shower head extension (see below), so that the shower head is actually ABOVE me, rather than between my shoulder blades. I planted herbs in little pots, now sunning themselves on my balcony (see below... again). I met a grandmotherly woman who lives on my floor who is from Istanbul (who owns the SECOND toy poodle that I know of on this floor...), and a nice Hmong girl named Pamouva helped me find planters at Lowe's.
R and I finished up Jekyll, which, if you haven't bothered to find, is six very good hours of television.
Silverado is now playing on the TV, and I love this movie. The reason is that my friends Jen and Lance gave me a VHS copy years ago because, in their words, "Kevin Costner plays YOU in this movie!!"
I'm still trying to figure out if that's a compliment or not...
---
In closing, I hope you had a wonderful Sunday, and an amazing weekend, gentle reader, and I would say that every day, EVERY SINGLE DAY, is an adventure. Never forget that, and never take any of your days for granted. I woke up today, played with friends, and retired to a safe, happy space. That's pretty awesome, frankly.
I hope to do the same tomorrow.
Loves to all of you, my peeps!!
Tomorrow, as always, for you and me both:
ADVENTURE!!
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