Zoom with Astronaut Fred Haise

  I was invited as an observer to a Zoom meeting today between Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise by Valley View science teacher Jill Weaver and her class of middle school students. Running an hour, from 10 am to 11 am, it was a fascinating and personal look at the Apollo 13 disaster which happened almost exactly 55 years ago. Haise is now 91.

The meeting was moderated by Logan Jaeren, a collector of space mission patches.

 Valley View Junior High School students met in their gym and were able to ask Haise questions about his life.

 "Apollo 14 and 16 almost did not land," said Haise. But problems were solved and the missions went ahead. Apollo 13 was faced with an explosion of an oxygen tank and Haise knew right away the mission was over.

 Haise also flew the Space Shuttle Enterprise during its "Approach and Landing Tests" in late 1977.

 When the Apollo 13 tank exploded, said Haise, "Lovel and I were in the landing craft. The LM served as a lifeboat to bring them safely home.

Apollo 13 Command Module credit: NASA

 How tight was the LM with three astronauts when it was designed for just two? "We weren't sure cramped," Haise said,  He explained that the earlier Gemini spacecraft provided an even more confined space.

 The return trip home was cold. "I wore three sets of underwear," he said.

 Haise signed off the Zoom meeting by sharing the screen with h is beloved dog. I believe he said the name was Tito.

 Only three (above) attended the meeting by Zoom.

Valley View Science Teacher Jill Weaver

Fred Haise  credit: NASA

 The Apollo 13 crew landed safely on April 17, 1970.

Fred Haise (l-r), Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert

Primatologist Mireya Mayor at Victoria Theater

  Earlier this week my childhood buddy, Steve Simmons, called and asked whether I'd be interested in attending a presentation at the Victoria Theater on Saturday.

 Here's what Google had to say about it:

"Primatologist Mireya Mayor will be speaking at the Victoria Theatre in Dayton, Ohio. The event, part of Dayton Live's Perspectives Speaker Series, will focus on Mayor's experiences as a primatologist, explorer, and National Geographic Channel wildlife correspondent. Mayor will share her journey from an NFL cheerleader to a world-renowned scientist, including her co-discovery of the world's smallest primate in Madagascar."

 His wife usually attends these events with Steve but she had a scheduling conflict on this day. Steve knows I'm interested in nature and science so I was a good fit.

 The presentation was called "Pink Boots and a Machete".

Mireya Mayor took questions after her presentation

Before the event

Meeting the public after the event

 Mayor is known for a number of TV programs including Expedition Africa, Wild Nights, Cuba - A New Island, Mystery Gorillas and currently Expedition Bigfoot.

 The program lasted about an hour and a half. Both Steve and I enjoyed it very much. Mayor works without notes and has a very personal style.

Sandwich Bread

  Sometimes I post things to remind myself what not to do. This is one of them.

 Though this sandwich bread recipe definitely makes bread - and saves time - it is not worth doing. I suppose if you wanted to say you made homemade bread, this is a way with minimal work. But it just isn't the yeasty homemade bread with the beautifully risen and browned top I want.

 The texture is all right ... but that's about the only thing.

 I found the recipe on Facebook. It calls for just five items:

3-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
2-1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (one pack)

 The idea is to proof the yeast in the warm water and sugar. In ten minutes you'll have this foamy result pictured above, I always do this anyway, even if the recipe doesn't call for it. It's a way to make sure the yeast is healthy and it also gives it a head start on producing the carbon dioxide that rises the bread.

Pix after first rise

 

After adding the liquid to the flour and salt I get a very sticky mess. It's too damp to handle. In fact I dumped it into a greased baking pan by scooping it out with a spoon. I think it would be far better to add some more flour and knead it! But  the recipe calls for leaving it in the bowl and letting it rise for an hour (I used 1:15).

 Then t's into the pan but spreading out the top with a spoon is nearly impossible. I did the best I could but I was hardly happy with it. Then this is allowed to rise half an hour.

 After the second rise the dough looks like this. Too much for a single pan but not enough for two.

 This baked at 375° for "30 to 35 minutes. I used the entire 35 minutes.

 I found the bottom damp when it had cooled enough to dump it out of the pan. That steaminess soon dissipated and the loaf was OK to work with when cool.

 The taste is OK but nothing special. I won't make this again.

Making Marzetti Slaw

  Every now and then I get tired of the slaw I buy at the grocery store. And, it seems the containers are getting smaller. A few days ago Tom came home with a beautiful head of cabbage. He wanted to make corned beef. "Can you use half of this cabbage?" he asked. Ah, time to make slaw!

 I wrote about this on a previous blog. I love getting out my Aunt Belle's chopper and Mom's Munising bowl.

 I added the usual veggies: cabbage, onion, carrot and celery. Mom always loved to add a little green bell pepper and I think the splash of color and taste is all but necessary ... but I didn't have one. I added a whole onion. That might be a bit much but the end result was still wonderful.

  Chopping is certainly labor intensive. A food processor would make the job easier but I don't like water added to my slaw (even if strained out later) and I prefer the old-fashioned method that uses elbow grease.

 I had to stop part way through and rest. But what's the hurry?

 Marzetti Slaw Dressing is what makes the slaw perfect. Though a vinegar slaw is nice now and then, it's the taste of Marzetti's that I want.

 A small bowl makes one serving for me. That and homemade veggie chili rounded out my meal. And I have enough slaw for all week.

March 30 2025 Thunderstorm

  A late day thunderstorm on March 30 had been anticipated for days. We knew we'd have severe weather and that turned out to be the case.

 Here's the radar - about 8:10 pm - as the line arrived ...

 I am located at the blue dot, upper center.

 I went into the back yard and took several very short videos. None of them are great but they show the ferocity of the storm.

 The sky still had a little glow from sunset at this point.

 Now, about 8 PM, the storm is almost upon us and the sky is alive with lightning.

 Note: the cell phone has a terrible time with focusing when there's not really an object in view. Why not program the phones  to hold infinitary at times like this? It seems an oversight to  me.

We got 0.68" mostly in half an hour's time, though a light rain continued well into the night.

Southern Pie

  I saw a link on Facebook for "The Best Southern Pie Ever" and saved it until I had time to give it a try, Yesterday I did. I have to say, it's not just the best Southern Pie but the best pie I've ever eaten.

 That said, Tom thinks it's quite sweet. While I'd agree, that's probably what I like most about it.

 From the ingredients I was expecting a custard pie. It's more a cross between that and the filling one would expect in a pecan pie. Whatever it is, it's to die for.

 Besides that wonderful filling, the top gets a little crusty and crisp and it adds a wonderful contrasting texture to what's just beneath.

 I always modify recipes and here's some notes on what I did this time. I never follow directions, usually finding everything can just be blended together in no special order and it doesn't matter. I melted the stick of butter first and then added the sugar. Other than that, pour away!

 I also did not have buttermilk but just used regular milk to which I added a little vinegar. A good buttermilk substitute is to add 1 tablespoon of vinegar per cup of whole mile. Stir the two together and let it stand for a few minutes before use. [For the 1/2 cup of buttermilk in this recipe use 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar]

 I found the pie very "giggly" when I rotated it at the halfway mark (my oven does not heat evenly) but at the 45 minute mark it tested done. It sets even more as it cools so don't overbake it.

 This recipe is a real keeper.

Two Winter Time Lapse Videos

  I'm running really slow but I made two time lapse videos with one of my Wyze cams in January. This cam faces north. In both cases, I though there could be a decent snow and I thought it would be fun to watch it build up. Neither turned out to be much snow but they offer interesting views just the same.

January 5, 2025

 This video shows just two inches of snow falling. That day we had a high/low of 23/14. The video runs from 1:21 to 5:45 pm/

January 11, 2025

 This video shows 3.5" of snow falling. We had a high/low of 32/10 that day. The video runs from 2 pm to 5:55 pm.