Project Moonwatch Part II

Earlier, I wrote a blog about my involvement in the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958.  I was part of the civilian Satellite tracking organization known as Project Moonwatch.  If you haven't read it yet, please do by scrolling down in this blog below "Death of Blue" and "Early Apartment White Banished".

This is Part II or rather an update.  I had last Friday and this Monday off and today I received a package in the mail from the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.  If you read my blog, you would know that the accolades I received, the certificate and lapel pin were lost in a terrible flood the following year.  Well, Daughter Shelley contacted NASA and they did the best they could to replace them, fifty-three years later.  It brought tears of joy as I read the cover letter and replacement certificate.  They even gave me the latest lapel pin from the International Heliophysical Year 2007.  Of course they couldn't replace the original "IGY Moonwatch" lapel pin but this is just as great.  I've scanned the cover letter, the certificate and the lapel pin.

I have to stop while writing this and dab a hanky on my cheeks to dry the tears of joy.  And the tears of sadness, remembering Mom and Dad.  I miss them even more today.......  Live Long and Prosper.  A very special "Thanks" to Daughter Shelley for going "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty" as a daughter.  And thanks to Dr. Joseph Davila of the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Here's the 3 scans.  Remember to click on each to see the larger version, then use your browser's "Back" button to return here.

Death of Blue

Any of you that have been out here to visit have seen my little 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup, Blue.  I named it that after the TV show "The Waltons" white mule of the same name - seemed fitting as it was my copier parts "mule".  I started driving it in July of 2000 when the odometer read 178,000 miles.  Coming from the land of Salted Roads in Ohio, I didn't know vehicles lasted that long but this is California and they do.  I've put in several clutches, a rebuilt motor and lots of other things in the past 11 years and it has served me well until the odometer reached 379,000 when the clutch started acting goofy.  Took it to our favorite mechanic place, T.R.'s Automotive on Friday and they said, "Sorry, but it needs a new clutch."  Ug!  That's about $800+ and Charlene and I both agreed it was time to retire the poor thing and start fresh with something newer.  17 years old and 379,000 miles........ yea, it was time.  Spent time on the Internet searching AutoTrader, checked the last few days newspapers and couldn't find anything less than a million dollars plus tax.  Sigh..... So off we went to the AutoMalls.  Like a giant strip mall for auto dealerships.  There's two of them here in Ventura/Oxnard and we hit the Ventura one first.  After several dealerships, we were driving to the next when Charlene saw something and said, "Go back, there's a cute little red thing back there in our price range".  Turned around and into the dealership I had passed.  And there it was, Red.  It was love at first sight for Charlene and I kinda liked it, too.  Simply immaculate, well kept by it's previous one owner (a Lady Chiropractor  who only drove it on Sundays at the racetrack).  Just kidding about the racetrack but CarFax verified it was a local California car, one owner, no accidents/body work and the body was mint!  The dealership put on new tires (over $600 right there) and it was relatively low mileage (97,000).  We took it for a spin and love it even more.  A little 4 cylinder engine, 5 speed manual lots of extra goodies with dials, buttons and lights everywhere.  Blue was getting about 20-25 mpg depending on where I was driving and this was only about 10% better but it was in mint condition.  So, along with a 3 year extended warranty, we got it.  A 2003 Ford Escape mini SUV.  It looks brand new inside and out.  I've taken some photos to share.  Today was cloudy so the sky is bright gray in the photos - sorry to disappoint you "Eastern U.S." people who think the sun always shines out here.

It's a 4 door and has gobs of leg room for the rear seat passengers which surprised me.  I took Nic and Trav to an overnight campout near Malibu this afternoon and the inside rear got a little trashy but it was was totally immaculate.  Here's a couple of photos with the rear seat up and another with the seats down (I took the headrests off so the seat folds totally flat and took the rear compartment retracting cover down as well).

The driver side has tons of electric controls, gadgets and lights including an MP3/CD playing AM/FM radio.

It's loaded with electric thing-eys like windows, door locks, etc.  The downside is that we only have one key and this is an anti-theft ignition which means we can't just have a key made, it has to be one of those programmed transmitter keys - a regular cut key with fit and turn but no electronic signal to the ignition.  Don't know how much they cost but will have to have a spare as I am the clutz that loses things......bummer.

The engine is very clean, all cables, hoses in mind condition and looks brand new.

Here's hoping Red runs as long as Blue did....... Sure is fun to drive.