The Vice President of the United States has promised that the US will land astronauts on the moon by 2024. To a person of my age, that date seems impossibly distant, but its only five years away. His response to questions about this time frame were interesting. He said, 'We did it in 8 in the 1960's and we knew very little about the process. Now we do, so we do it in 5. And if we can't get NASA contractors to handle it, we'll get other ones that can.' Nice. I am one of those that think this kind of striving can be beneficial to all of us. New technologies, new materials, new careers, new kinds of collaboration and hopefully, new attitudes will come out of it. Get it done.
We did some standardized English language testing this week. Putting aside the question of whether that kind of thing is helpful, the powers that be have allowed the students unlimited time to write these tests, instead of 150 minutes they previously were allowed. And of course, 90% of them took more time than they really needed. And I am not talking about the kids with recognized learning disabilities. Some took the entire day, 6 hours. They got more stressed and they won't achieve at a higher level. What geniuses thought this up? Its not because they are teenagers, adults would have done the same thing, with the same results. Dumb. Somebody complained and the whole thing got turned into a marathon where the winner gets to take as long as they want. Its a new world every day I guess.
Did not pick up a new book this week as I rode my bike on the weekend, overheated as I overdressed (also dumb) and the post concussion headaches returned. Damn. Feeling better now though. Sharpening up the solitaire game again.
If any of you have read Slaughter by Strange Means and liked it I could really use a few reviews on Amazon.com. They help.
Here is a few lines from that novel:
Conor didn’t say anything. Eventually he was offered the reins of a large black horse. He stuck his left foot in the stirrup and swung himself up. He still held the short sword he had been given before the fight. He had nowhere to put it so he just kept it in his hand. Myra led the troop out of the encampment. Conor rode with them, halfway down the column. Her men stared at him, some with fascination, some with fear. He ignored them all. They rode out into the deepening night.
Have a great week!
Have a great week!