This past week, one of the bigger stories (nationally and locally) concerned the Northwest pilots who said they were using their personal laptops in the cockpit and as a result overshot their destination, Minneapolis, by 150 miles because they were distracted. The FAA revoked the license of the pilots, Captain Timothy B. Cheney and First Officer Richard I. Cole in a letter which stated that they had endangered the public by flying an hour and half without contacting controllers "while you were on a frolic of your own."
I was talking to an acquaintance who is responsible for controlling the airspace over a large Marine Corps Base in Southern California and he reminded me of something I (and a lot of media) overlooked in this story. The errant plane passed over the Minneapolis airport at 37,000 feet, most likely on autopilot. His opinion: they were asleep.
The funny thing is had they said they were asleep, both pilots would probably still have their licenses because they could blame it on overtaxing work schedules. The pilot’s union would have come to their defense and they probably would have been suspended, but not fired. But because they said they were on their computers for an hour and a half on a three hour, 45 minute flight, they were both fired and lost their licenses.
I wonder why, when they were going through the possible excuses they could use, Cheney and Cole thought saying they on the computer was okay when any one who has ever flown knows using the wi-fi on their laptops is not allowed. I guess they thought the rules wouldn’t apply to them. I’m glad the FAA reminded them they do.
The site is at the 99% mark and as the expression goes: “Close enough for Government Work.” I’ve added a FAQ, a fixed home page with an ego satisfying graphic and re-did the links on the sidebar. I’m fairly confident that I will stay with this theme until February. (But don’t be surprised if you come by and I’m testing another format.)
Bottom line is that I’m at a point where I’ll start posting regularly on 1 November. Welcome to my CMS. 
For some time now, I have been unhappy with look and feel of this site and you may have noticed that I seem to be changing the format every week. Well, here’s what behind that:
I want to make this site my CMS portal. However, that means finding and sticking with a theme (format) for this site that allows me to collect in one place the links of my existing web presence. It also means learning more about WordPress code than I had planned. For example, if you look at the site tabs you’ll see: Home, BillA1’s JL Animated Fan Fiction, About Me and Contact. What you don’t know is how difficult it was for me to find the right bit of code to make the fan fiction site appear and send the user to that website without using a html refresh or JavaScript.
Also, I plan to change my web host in February 2010 to someone a little more robust than my current host. I need multiple databases and my current provider can’t do it. Finally, in February, my primary site will be wsash.com instead of the current wsash.net. It’s a minor change, but emblematic of how I will proceed in 2010.
Long story short – there is a method to the constant madness so just bear with me.
****
ETA: On 26 Oct 09, in an attempt to “improve” the site – I broke it. After about two hours of hair pulling I have restored 95% of the site. Yes I know I was supposed to back up the database yesterday and I didn’t. No salt is necessary. But as I was not too gently reminded this evening by a friend, “The price of progress: broken code.” I think today I have figured that part out.
This week another part of my childhood died with the passing of Milton Supman, better known as Soupy Sales. To those kids born during the Korean War, the time we spent in the early days of television with our pals like Soupy Sales, Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Shari Lewis and others made us who we are today.
But not all of our pals were in national syndication, like Soupy. In Baltimore, Maryland, three of the best of the locals were Stu Kerr, Royal Parker and Larry Lewman. These gentlemen created Professor Kool’s Fun Skool, P.W. Doodle and Pete the Pirate (whose SpongeBob’s Patchy the Pirate is modeled after). These men also doubled as the morning newscaster or the weatherman or the host of the local daytime quiz show or whatever else was required to keep the airwaves filled. It was, in fact, Royal Parker who broke the news to us that President Kennedy had been shot.
These men were not just local entertainers. They were the faces you looked forward to seeing at 3:30 PM everyday as much as you looked forward to seeing your family. Thanks to the internet, the memories these men and women created for us children of the 50’s will never be lost. And I, for one, am grateful.
Joyce and Walky! by David Willis.
Any man who has been married for more than one week, soon realizes he will end up doing things in his life solely because he is married. These are things that he would NEVER do if he were single.
That said, I WILL end up seeing the Michael Jackson movie, “This is It!” when it comes out later in the month and the next Twilight movie when it come out next month. Not because I want to, but because I am married to “she who shall not be denied.”
I hope they, at least, offer senior discounts.
This past week, 234 years ago, the Continental Congress authorized the procurement, fitting out, manning, and dispatching of two armed vessels to cruise the seas in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. Thus, on October 13, 1775, the Continental Navy was born.
From these humble beginnings arose the most powerful sea force the world has ever seen. To my U.S. Navy friends and colleagues serving wherever they are required, on shore and at sea, I say: Happy Birthday. Bravo Zulu.
RSS feed
