Musings

A blog? What is that?

That's how I feel since I haven't posted in such an extended time. It's been so long that there is just TOO much to talk about. Let's see...

School has been taking up most of my time. My classes are freakin' awesome, but at the same time they are sure to be very difficult. My teachers are quite possibly the most diverse I have had to date in my college tenure. Let me attempt to paint you a picture:

My Aircraft Structures professor is a cross between Christopher Lloyd and Raul Julia.

My Aerothermodynamics teacher is Mr. Bean, yet he is Italian. His most used phrase: "Duz zis make zense to youz guyz?"

My Vibrations teacher is definitely the coolest teacher I have had yet in college. He's about 38, but he acts like a frat boy. Normally, I'm not a fan of the typical fraternity guy, but my teacher pulls it off. He's also hilarious. And on a daily basis he seems to relate classwork to alcohol somehow. For example, today we were talking about damping vibrations as well as hydraulics and they way fluids move in and out of shafts. He made an analogy(and diagram!) of how beer flows out of a keg. Brilliant.

My Electrical Engineering Systems teacher is Bob Hoskins, but with an Indian accent and complexion.

Finally, my Orbital Mechanics professor is a cross between the woman from Fried Green Tomatoes and the mom from That 70's Show.

As far as the actual classes are going, so far so good. Structures and Aerothermo will definitely be my most difficult courses. I hate circuits, but I can do them with my eyes closed, so EE Systems shouldn't be bad. Vibrations is a completely new subject matter to me, but it fascinates me, and I love the applications, so that should be an A. Orbital Mechanics is already my favorite class. I'm getting to apply stuff I learned at work to course material, bringing me way ahead of everyone else. We even got this software,called Satellite Tool Kit(STK),put onto our computers. Yeh, that baby is $80,000 right there. You read it correctly. It's pretty much Mission Control Houston...but on my laptop.

Speaking of NASA...

Atlantis is heading BACK to the Launch Complex 39B after getting halfway back to the VAB. It seems Ernesto shifted its course just enough to make the big wigs at KSC think it was safe. Hopefully we'll launch within a week(we kinda HAVE to, but that's another story).

Tarik(my mentor back at JSC) has really inspired me to get into drink making. I bought a bar set(shaker, double jigger, fruit peeler, ice tongs, and a wine/bottle opener) last week, and I got right into it. The first thing I made was a classic mojito, but I didn't shake it well enough the first time. The next night, I tried again, but this time shaking thoroughly; the results were much better this time around. My mojitos were a hit with everyone at Dan's. I now have a "signature" drink to make people, haha.

I just returned from the store, and I now have the ingredients to make true Caribbean Rum Punch from Tarik's heavily protected recipe. I had to basically beg and plea to get it out of him last semester, but I got it alright. I had some of the punch at Tarik's last Doorstep Happy Hour at his warehouse, and it was SO good, yet freakin' potent as anything. My advice: sip this stuff slowly, or you will get verrrrrrrry inebriated verrrrrrry fast. With that said(haha), we're making a batch of it tomorrow for the first time, just in time for MSU's first football game here against South Carolina.

I love college football atmosphere, and I can't wait to see the crowds of people here tailgating tonight. There's a pre-game shindig somewhere near campus that I think we are going to attend. The game is on ESPN, so if you are near a television, tune in and you may see me :). Due to the time of the game, classes after 12:30 tomorrow are cancelled. It just so happens that my first class is at 12:30, so that means FREE day for me tomorrow. Definitely looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, on the diamond I'm not as happy. The Sox have had the most serious onslaught of illnesses and injuries that I have ever seen on one team. It's frustrating, for sure, but it was just learned today that Jon Lester(sent back to Boston a few days ago after being put on the DL) is being tested for cancer. A promising young player, no one wants to hear this news about him. Even with all of the on-field shortcomings, this really puts things into perspective. We're all hoping Lester turns out to be fine.

Now, the Sox are by no means out of the playoff race, but with 2/3rds of the lineup gone or injured, it's hard to do anything to be competitive. Things could definitely start to turn once players start coming back this week and next. Some great things to look forward to: Papelbon setting the record for most saves by a rookie, Papi destroying the previous record for HR's in a season by Foxx(50), and the Sox making the fewest errors ever in a baseball season.

I should stop talking about the Sox...it'll only make me more depressed, haha.

The apartment looks great. I've begun putting up all the posters up on my wall, and I am ordering a few more, except they are sports posters. One poster I am hoping to get is the frame-by-frame shot of Carlton Fisk as he is "motioning" his hit ball to stay fair during the final inning of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. It's a SWEET poster, and it will look superb on my wall.

Well it's late, but to be honest, I'm not tired at all. Surely there's a good movie on or something. Anyways, I'm done. The weather forecast is looking great for tomorrow; I'm ready to watch Steve Spurrier once AGAIN not win at Davis-Wade Stadium.

go dawgs. go sox.

The Boston Massacre, 2006 Edition

1770. 1978. And now 2006.

I can barely think about this right now, let alone type about it, but I'm going to try.

The Sox are hurtin'. We just dropped FIVE games in a row to the Yankees, and we now sit 6.5 games behind them in the AL East standings. I watched all the games but the one on Friday night, and I followed that game online. For the first 3 games our starting pitching was way below average, but not completely horrible. Our bullpen is what did us in during those games. Then Schiller took the mound on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, and he was exactly what he paid him to be. Unfortunately, Terry Francona opted NOT to use Papelbon for what was clearly the perfect time for a 2-inning save(Papelbon had 4 days rest, so he was ready to go); instead, he brought in journeyman Mike Timlin and lefty-specialist Javier Vasquez(just recalled), who got the bases loaded with Giambi at the plate. NOW Papelbon came in. *sigh*. Papelbon got through the inning with the lead intact, and he had 2 outs with a man on 2nd in the 9th inning, but Derek Jeter blooped one into right field, bringing the game even. Giambi rocked a 3-run homer off Hansen in the 10th inning, and the rest was history. Today David Wells again went deep into the game, but our offense decided not to show up, and we lost 2-1. Of course, having Ramirez out with a hamstring cramp wasn't going to help, either.

So that's where we stand now. It was announced today that Alex Gonzalez has an oblique strain, which was the same injury that kept Albert Pujols out for a couple of weeks earlier in the season. That sucks. But assuming that his injury isn't that bad as Pujols' was, and considering Manny is only day-to-day, here's what's going to be happening in the coming weeks:

Here's our rotation right now: Schilling, Wells, Beckett, Lester, and _______. Wells has shown resurgence, and he deserves that #2 spot right now. And yes, I left that last one open on purpose, but it's probably Snyder. Wakefield is set to return in about a week, so that places him in that 3/4 spot, meaning we can move Snyder back into bullpen, where we need him.

Speaking of bullpen, ours IS good, but I have to believe their collapse over the past 5 days has been due to the absence of our captain behind the plate, Jason Varitek. Varitek is THE play/pitch caller of the MLB; no one does it better. The pitchers feel confident with him sitting 60 ft, 6 in. away, and it cannot be a coincidence that they look like little league pitchers with Javy Lopez and Mirabelli calling the pitchers. Varitek is a few weeks away from returning, maybe earlier. After Wakefield gets back, and before Varitek returns, Trot Nixon will come back off the disabled list. Now, that might not be a problem, as rosters expand after September 1st. We already have a great bench, and with Nixon back, we can rest guys while also remaining very competitive. And resting will be HUGE the next month or so, as we are not getting many days off.

Offense wise, we're just fine. Like I said earlier, as long as Manny doesn't decline(again, he's only day-to-day, could be worse), we're gonna be golden. We have the Greek God of Walks(Youkilis), the most feared 3-4 combo in the majors(Ortiz and Manny), and some up-and-coming bats of the likes of Wily Mo Pena and Hinske. Pena has been absolutely CRUSHING the ball, and he could very well end up being our #5 hitter down the stretch.

Defensively, there's no question. We're the best in the business. We could very well end up with 2 gold glove winners(Lowell and Gonzalez).

Over the next couple of series, both the Sox and the Yankees have tough road trips to the west coast, while also playing difficult series at home. Then both teams play Kansas City and Baltimore before meeting up again in the Bronx for the final showdown.

It's evident that this AL Wild Card/East is nowhere close to being over. I didn't give up on October 16th two years ago, and I sure as hell am not going to give up this year. We're in a bind, that's for sure, but we're far from the dire circumstances of the ALCS in 2004. We've got great picthers, but they aren't pitching great. We've got the bats. We've got the gloves. If losing 5 games in a row to the Yankees and falling to almost 7 games back lets us fly under the radar, fine by me. Watch out for the Red Sox these last 40 games folks; it'd be a mistake to write them off.

It's Isle Over

Long time, no blog, I know. But I have returned from a successful journey that took me from Houston to Canton to Paris to Atlanta to Charleston to Atlanta to Paris to Starkville. All within about a 10 day span. So I'm slightly tired, but I am here in Starkvegas at last, and I'm trying to get settled.

The week at the Isle of Palms was fantastic. There was so much good food that was eaten, from steaks to shrimp to lamb chops. In the beverage department there was no holding back, as you'd expect from the Horne clan. TONS of great beer and pa-lenty of wine(provided by Caro, of course) were consumed during the 7-day stay. Pretty much every day we went to the beach for the afternoon, where a Bocce game was always going, a projectile of some sort(football, disc, etc.) was flying, and photo opps were abound. The only departure from this routine was Wednesday, when Mallory and I made a journey up to Wilmington, NC. Why did we go? I suggest you go here to find out.

So without further ado, here are some pics!(some of these were taken with a disposable, so forgive the quality)

Mallory was so happy to be at the beach that she just couldn't hide it...

...neither could I.

I thought I was showing Mal how to play Bocce like a pro...

...until she displayed the fact that she was the Bocce Rookie of the Year in 2005.

Mal and I just felt like running......into the ocean.

My attempt at modeling...

...as well as Mallory's.

Finally, a cheesin' in the water.