Life and stuff

Desert duty reduced to half-time starting next month, and completely out in ‘09. And if I’m lucky, some flight testing in New Mexico just to have a different aircraft and desert to look at.

On another note, I’m quite impressed by the video streams on the NBC Olympics site. Hours and hours of events with minimal bullshit commentary and no athlete profiles; its like a sudden outbreak of good sense. It’d be even better if they showed the primetime events too, but being able to see obscure sports is a start.

Per the official prohibited items list:
“… Sports equipment, suitcases, large bags, and professional camera equipment will not be allowed into the Olympic Green.”

First off, “professional camera equipment” is pretty darn vague — are all SLRs considered as professional? Or is it based off body or lens size? Brand? My lenses aren’t white, so maybe that’ll help me out…

And while it looks like there might be cause for hope, all this uncertainty is annoying the heck out of me — Beijing really is trying to take the fun out of these games.

Note to self: build out Hackint0sh and upgrade a few boxes to quad core after China. Processing panoramas and raw files eats CPU time and memory like no tomorrow =\

Anyhow, I’ve been back from Montana and Alberta for about a week, and am just beginning to rein in the number of pics. So rather than attempt to describe the scenery with words, here are some panoramas:

(Click on the picture for the full res version, click on the link for the geotag and photo info)

Waterton Marina Sunrise

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12650578

Chief Mountain and Surroundings

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12584313

Hidden Lake Trail (looking South-East)

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12649908

Grinnell Glacier Overlook (Second Saddle)

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12584074

One of the flight test crew decided today was the day to quit.  He had it all planned out — got a job outside the country, sent out a “two weeks notice” on Monday, and a blunt “I resign!” email just seconds before he walked out the door just after 0900.

The disturbing thing isn’t that he built a huge bonfire out of his bridges, but the way he left.  He’s a quiet kind of guy, and nobody really knew what was going on until he was gone: his coffee cup was half full, there were a few personal things on his desk, and his computer was still logged in.  He just signed out of the building and walked out, as if he intended to return.

We joked nervously about him going postal.

No, none of us really thinks it’ll happen.  Still, I think I’ll feel better on Sunday, just after he flies off for good.  Until then, I’ll have the mental image of a gangster shooting fish in a barrel.  And I’m one of the fish.

I’ve actually had a variant of this happen to me a few times:

And yes, corporate accounting being run by trolls seems to be true as well.