Almost Forgot

Some time ago, we decided to try to do something special for Steph's --th birthday. We told her we wanted to take her to Disney World, since she had never been, and with this birthday she is no longer a youngster. In reality, we were secretly planning to see a space shuttle launch. Well, as we all know, Steph started checking out other things to do in Orlando and discovered that there was a launch scheduled for the time we would be there. So much for surprises !

I signed up for email notification for when tickets would go on sale. I got the email on Wednsday that said tickets would go on sale starting at 9:00 AM today, and usually sell out in minutes. Since I would be at work, I emailed the link to myself at my work address. I tried to book the tickets Wednesday night, but they were unavailable. While checking my email at work yesterday, around 10:00 AM, I decided to check the link to make sure it was working. Just for the hell of it, I tried to book the tickets again, even though it was about 24 hours before they were to be available. Much to my surprise, I was able to book three tickets. These are VIP tickets that include bus transportation from Orlando to Kennedy Space Flight Center, and viewing from the Causeway bridge, just six miles from the launch gantry. This is the closest that the "public" is allowed to the launch site. The only people that can get closer are NASA employees and dignitaries. How cool is that? STS-125 here we come. (May 12, 2009).