Sojourner - Traveling with the “Canman”

Snow skiing or scuba? - which to choose for a solo adventure before the traditional family holiday visits? I chose the "red pill" for what I hoped would be a warm respite in an alternate universe.  It was the right decision! Perfect weather, warm water, a "chill" all-inclusive resort (Allegro Cozumel), and accommodating staff combined with a nexus of adventurous sojourners from around the world made for a wonderful getaway.  Natalia I felt rusty with only 12 dives under my belt from my previous two excursions at Cozumel and Okinawa. But my dive leader, Natalia, an adventurous young 20-something spirit from Madrid took me under her wing and put me at ease.  Batting cleanup on my second diving was Lucas, a Brazilian.  What gives them their adventurous spirit? Why wasn't I that way? Perhaps from my baby-boomer attachment to a stability-a common thread in baby boomers.  Would more affluence have changed that? Sometimes I think so. Lucas ...

New life is sooo beautiful and precious!  From newborns to assertive 2 year old prodigies, to whom the world is a wonderful playground,  except for this whole "pooping" thing.  Loving parents to are slaves to their child masters...Traditional Thanksgiving fixins,  (of which I now see in such a different light)... After Thanksgiving,  a memorable Greyhound bus trip, from Nashville to Memphis, to visit Elvis's Graceland.  An amazing experience to learn more about who this iconic man really was (builds nicely in the new 'Elvis' movie.  Who was Elvis? Answer: a kind and polite young man, who stayed authentic,  worked hard with joy for his vocation, followed his dream and wrote a good story.  He also provided another example of the pitfalls of attachment. Did any of that matter in the end?  Still, being the sole white guy sitting in the Memphis greyhound terminal strumming rock and blues on my guitar while travelers li...

Civil War Wilderness 1864 Battle Site Virginia is a mottled landscape surrounding D.C.  Hints of the peaceful woods that enveloped civil war villages beckon, but are drowned out by the expanding suburbs and highways.  Here my daughter and granddaughter can go outside to play (after I've fed them my delectable salmon pasta) surrounded by beautiful hardwood forest, but always within earshot of ubiquitous pulsing highways.  Just north in Gaithersburg hotel friends tied the knot in a simple, but elegant ceremony and danced the night away with friends and family. The minister's message didn't resonate.  All I can say is Buona fortuna... Ninety miles to the south lies Frederiksberg, Virginia. And 18 miles west dense woods with beautiful autumn foliage envelope the Civil War Wilderness battlefield  where trenches and buried bullets still speak silently to the historic battle that occurred 168 years ago.    Not far away, my old friend Dan and his bride have s...

International Test Pilot School  Did you know there is a London Canada?   I certainly didn’t.   Originally a British armory, London is now a quaint city that in some ways reflects its UK namesake.   Downtown Indian food and presence abound with street names that reveal its British heritage.   Being north of the Great Lakes, I was prepared to brave icy cold.   Even though it was late October, I was fortunate to arrive in a warm spell that didn’t even require a jacket...at least until the last day.   I flew into Toronto, which was a 2-hour drive away from London.    Opting to take a large van shuttle to avoid a costly rental I was able to entertain my driver and other passengers with songs playing my guitar from the backseat of a 12-passenger van.   It was fun and I think made the trip go faster for all.  It was a first for me to play in the dark and a litmus test on how well I had mastered some songs.   The Armory Hotel I had ...

FTSW Banquet at RAF Club The  European 2022 SFTE /SETP   Flight Test Safety Workshop was an amazing event with its combination of lessons, networking, elegance and great fun!  My slightly heretical talk on, " The Evolution of Risk Mitigation in Flight Test for Complex Systems "  seem quite well received (at least by those younger than 60).  I finished my talk by highlighting exciting emerging technological developments, but caveated them by emphasizing,  humbleness, culture and meaningful relationships are foundational keys for risk mitigation.  Famed CEO Margaret Heffenan, has a 2019 TED talk, " The Human Skills We Need in an Unpredictable World " puts a nice "point" on this i.e., the essential nature of human interaction being more important than a new technology especially in the Cynefin "complex" domain.  The workshop was held at the Royal Air Force club which is a historic and iconic landmark just across the park from Buckingham Palace....

One of the most generous men I have ever met is the sponsor for an AMAZING STEM venue at the September Reno Air Races.  Thomas Rizza, out his own pocket,  founded GRADD STEM EDUCATION   and has run it for the last 6 years.  Now sponsored by RAR we saw thousands of school children come through the STEM DISCOVERY ZONE tents along the raceway to fly simulators and learn about Flight Test Engineering, AR, and 3D printing.  They run the gamut from brilliant 12 year olds to 18 year olds who can't do long division without a calculator (too many in this category?!) .  The most impressive thing was the amazing student volunteers from both high school and college.  Smart, ambitious and in some ways, wise - way beyond their years.   There is hope for our future! In the evenings I had a blast playing my guitar, singing and dancing in the casino lounges with Gen X STEM, SFTE, and Microsoft volunteers.  Atlantis Ca...