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3 hours and 45kg later

After all the fun and games today, Peter, Ben, and myself went back to Roche Harbor and lit off quite a few fireworks. It was a great time, save the maniac to our right who couldn’t seem to launch his fireworks in the air. Ergo, we took a short 30-45 minute break while the crazy old dude finished his business, then we went back. Highlights include the 6 simultaneous Saturn Missile Bank launch and the remainder of the 16,000 round firecracker wheel…which probably had somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 firecrackers left. I would estimate that the close to the end, the firecrackers reached at least 180dB, if not more. The group to our left also brought along a handful of sparkler bombs that they lift off. We plan on creating a very large sparkler bomb this year too.

Henry Island

I went up to Friday Harbor with the family for the 4th of July weekend. They stayed at Harry’s family’s cabin and I went over to Roche Harbor and caught a dinghy to Henry Island where I partied with Peter Walchenbach and family; Ben Andersen was also there and we had a excellent time…one of the best every really. We were staying on Henry Island at the Seattle Yacht Club so on Sunday morning we played a bunch of games. Peter and Ben came in second for pickle-ball behind Jaimie and Glenn. We made some new friends, Jaimie and Katie. Jaimie is from Texas and comes up every summer to the Seattle area. Katie and her family just moved up from Texas and now manage the SYC outstation on Henry Island year round…I can’t say that I envy her.

What seems to be the problem officer?

Well, I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. I finally got a speeding ticket. And to be honest, I really wasn’t all that mad or sad or whatever one might normally feel when getting pulled over. I used it as a learning experience and then found some humor in it. I do plan on calling the prosecuting attorney on Wednesday or Thursday, whenever I feel good enough to talk and hopefully getting the charge dropped, as long as I don’t get another speeding ticket within a year. That shouldn’t be a problem as I will be in college without a car.

More pictures of speeding ticket incident

Ugh

Today was the first day of Day Camp. Four more to go. I am completely exhausted. Unlike last week, which went by at sub-snail pace, this week should be over pretty quick. Unfortunately, that brings me one week closer to the end of summer, ergo beginning of school. On the bright side, I have managed to track down everyone from Billings. We should be getting together soon and that should be lots of fun. In other news, Annie Mesaros left for Romania today. Jeff Staples leaves for Russia in a week or so.

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy

Well, I can say that today, Jack wasn’t dull. We woke up at 5:15am so that we, The BS, could head up to Whidbey Island to work at the Palmer’s place. Most of the work was related to painting the stairs or taking out various thorny plants. However, the food was absolutely splendid. I’m going to sleep now.

I really hate thinking about college

I really hate thinking about college. It’s not that I’m not looking forward to college, because I am. I am so pumped. It just requires such a paradigm shift. A shift I haven’t experienced a long time over 4 years. A shift that bring backs so many memories that I don’t want to consider. However, in many ways, this shift will be new. I have closed a chapter in my life that took 18 years, 4 months, and 8 days to write and opening a new chapter that should hopefully be open only for 5 years…maybe 6.

I keep going over specific events in my head from the last 4 years. Odyssey Trip, Spring Days, Sound of Music, Crazy Wayne, Tyler’s class, Track, Vocal Revue, How to Succeed, Canyon Lands. Where I’ve been and where I am now are so far apart…it’s incredibly hard to comprehend. I don’t want to let go. In many way’s, I won’t let go.

Reconnecting with old friends

I spent most of today tracking down people from my 8th grade class at Billings Middle School today. The project was really all Ted Kalmus’s idea. He suggested that I try and find out where everyone is. Well Ted, I did…almost. I tracked down everybody except for two people. It also sounded like everyone I talked to was excited that I was reconnecting with them and would very interested in getting together sometime this summer. I would like that. I wonder what my High School reunion will be like…that’s really scary. This is who I’ve found so far: Status of Billings Alumni.

Big Antenna

I was driving to SAAS to drop of some stuff and saw this tiny little car with this fricking huge antenna and thought it just might be worth writing about. Don’t mind the white blurry part, that’s just a crack in my windshield. Seeing as I was driving, it’s not like I could actually look at the viewfinder to see what I was shooting. I just sort of pointed it in the general direction and took the shoot. So there, I wrote about.

In other news, I stopped by Molly Brown Temps to show them my passport for the W-9 form. That means that I am official employed as a temp worker which means that…well, I’m not quite sure what the means. On the way to school, I saw Britney, a SAAS graduate of the class of ’04 (i.e. my classmate), and said high. Yesterday was her birthday…Happy Birthday Britney. I also say 50 First Dates; it was actually a pretty funny movie.

I got a job…sort of

I interviewed at Molly Brown Temp today. I knew about them becuase they supplied subsitute teachers for SAAS. Anyways, it looks pretty promising. Pay starts at about $10/hour and I have the opportunity to work at several different companies, so I think that will be great. The downside is that they don’t have a lot of work, so we’ll see how many jobs I get, if any.

3D Images using Tachyons

I was watching Bicentennial Man and this one scene comes on where Andrew Martin (Robin Williams) is chatting with Richard Martin (Sam Neill). Andrew, being a robot, is projecting a dancing scene from the wedding. Anyways, I got to thinking how once might actually go about designing a holographic display system. I began to think about photons and how I could make them emit light without actually hitting anything. Then I thought about sound and it all clicked together. When an object accelerates past the speed of sound, it makes a sonic boom. I reasoned that a similar effect would happen if a particle accelerated past the speed of light. Now some of you may be saying, “But Andrew, nothing can go faster then the speed of light!” Well, not necessarily. There is a hypothetical particle called a Tachyon that goes faster then the speed of light. If such a particle actual does exist, it should allow the creation of holograms. Here’s the idea:

Using a system similar to an electron gun, tachyons are emitted towards the target location. Each tachyon particle is transmitted at a different speed that is just slightly faster then the speed of light. After a certain distance, based on the initial speed of the tachyon, the tachyon will pass below the speed of light, thus creating a “light boom.” The initial speed of the tachyon determines how far the tachyon will travel before “booming.” This allows the creation of three dimensional objects. The tachyons color will be dependent on the frequency of the tachyon.

In any event, it’s just an idea based on what I know and it may be completely wrong. However, the idea and the process and anything else related to the display, transmission, and/or creation of holographic images as mentioned above is � copyright 2004 by Andrew Ferguson. All Rights Reserved.