I write this as I wing my way home from a most excellent adventure in Washington, DC. I stayed with my friends and wonderful hosts, Andrew and Michelle, for 3 days, then moved to a hotel for 3.
As most of us know, Washington has one weather mode, muggy, with two variants, hot and cool. Lucky for me, this visit was in the muggy and cool variant. It was drizzly rain for most of my visit, which may sound unfortunate at first. However, with an umbrella or light rain jacket, it proved quite comfortable.
One dangerous result of the rain, though, was the extremely slick sidewalks. All the granite and red bricks seem benign when dry, but turn treacherous when wet. Pedestrians beware.
Washington’s public transit agency, WMATA, runs superb bus and rail service throughout the city. It was very convenient, clean, safe and usually on time. Using public transit is way better than driving a rental.
First stop, right off the plane, the National Air & Space Museum at Dulles. Excellent as always, crammed full of planes.
This shuttle is so huge when you get up close. This one spent 365 days in space. I appreciated the way the curators left it looking worn and beat up; it shows that the shuttles were real work horses.This P-40 has a scary shark face to frighten the enemies.Elegant Concorde! Such a shame she no longer flies.Pretty DC-3 all shiny and clean! Even the propellers have a mirror finish. The airline opted for this look to save the weight and cost of paint.
A Note to the Reader: After writing and proofreading this entry, I found that it is mostly a letter to myself. I will find no offense if you pass it by for more interesting matter.
Did you know the “alma mater” can be translated as “nourishing mother?” I was told it could be and so chose to believe it. Since I was in the neighborhood, I visited my alma mater, Louisiana Tech. Interesting how, nearly 40 years later, so much remains the same and so much has changed.
See the flagpole at the top of the driveway? Air Force cadets are responsible for hoisting the flag every weekday and retiring the flag at the end of the day, accompanied by the appropriate music. It has always been thus at Louisiana Tech and remains so to this day.
People don’t often think of Louisiana as cold and I suppose it isn’t, really. But when I was up at 0630 on a blustery 30-degree day in a thin blue uniform, I thought it was really cold. The flag detail marched across the quadrangle early each morning from the white tower in the background, the freshman and sophomores carrying and escorting the flag, with a cadet officer, a junior or senior, marching along to supervise. In the afternoon, the reverse would occur. I don’t remember a single instance when this failed to occur.
The University installed a walkway with every graduate’s name inscribed in a brick, so current students can tread on their predecessors. I found both of my bricks (BS ‘83, MS ‘84).
Many of the buildings have not changed in the nearly 40 years since I left.
This tiled and oh so very institutional hallway is the same as when I attended electrical engineering classes here. Except I think the fire extinguisher sign is new. The precise alignment of the tiles are symbolic of the no-nonsense, get-it-right engineering ethos of Louisiana Tech.This room, Machinery I, housed a PDP-8…or maybe it was a PDP-11. I would come here and play 29 Matches (a silly computer game) and fiddle with it.
I had a great chat with the Professor of Aerospace Studies (that’s the title of the guy in charge of ROTC). It turns out that he recently transferred to Space Force. We had an interesting conversation (I thought, anyway), about the impact of the creation of this new service and the ripple effects from that decision. He was very gracious with his time and showed me the framed displays for each year of Air Force graduates as far back as they could go. I reviewed my year; it was a jolt to see names I had long ago forgotten.
