We live really close to an Air Force Base and it’s not uncommon to have those huge C-130 cargo planes fly over the house. Sometimes they fly so low it rattles our windows and makes the dog start howling. Late last night I was startled awake by a large booming sound. I grumbled a little and rolled over and went back to sleep. I thought it was just another airplane. It wasn’t. It was an EARTHQUAKE!

We heard about it on the news this morning. Our area had an earthquake that measured around 2.5 and 2.7 on the Richter scale. Apparently we had two earthquakes. The first one happened while we were out. It was the second, and biggest, earthquake that woke us up. Everything seems to be OK. No broken pipes or anything. What’s really weird is that Chris and I were just talking about earthquakes occurring in Oklahoma the day before.

Do do do do. Do do do do.

23rd street is my favorite street in OKC. Chris hates this street because its usually crazy busy and the lanes are narrow. I think he’s been rear-ended twice on this street, but I love it. Its dirty and grungy and you’re guaranteed to see at least one crazy crackhead bum walking down the sidewalk talking to himself. One time I saw this skinny crazy-haired guy walking down the street carrying a golf bag with a full set of clubs. It was 6:30 in the morning and 30 degrees out. And trust me, this guy did not look like the golf playing type.

Best of all, Byron’s is on 23rd street. Byron’s is a liquor warehouse. On any given day you can go into Byron’s and see all kinds of people. There’s everything from the rich fur-lined couple from Nichols Hill buying their weekend party booze to the classic hobo styled drunk. Plus they have a great selection of wine.

Friday’s after work is the busiest time for Byron’s. You’re really taking your life into your own hands if you venture there on a Friday, but hey, when you need booze, you need booze. So Chris and I stopped in on the way home yesterday. We traversed the scary parking lot, dodging customers who drove like they had already started their drinking and walked right on in. The moment we walked in the door a smell hit us. Byron’s doesn’t usually smell bad, creepy sometimes yes, but it usually smells OK in there. I said to Chris “Wow, it smells like a really bad drunk in here”. He crinkled his nose and said “Oh yeah”. He knew exactly what I was talking about. You know that smell: all alcohol with a little bit of vomit and body odor mixed in.

We got a little alarmed. Since when did Byron’s start opening a full bar where people could do their drinking and booze shopping at the same time? Luckily the smell didn’t come from a person, but a large bottle of busted vodka. Where the vomit and body odor smell came from, I have no idea. All can say is that had to be one crappy bottle of vodka if it already comes with its own vomit and body odor smell.

Despite having to cancel the launch of the Discovery, this has been a big week for NASA. They found possible evidence of life on Mars and have big plans for building a space station on the moon. Which of these two things scares you more?

I really intended to devote an equal amount of time to both of these topics, but the more I read about the Moon space station the more I thought “this is gonna be goodâ€?. Apparently NASA has plans to build a permanently occupied lunar base, that of course won’t happen any time soon (we’re looking at the year 2020).

The plan is to send robots to the moon to determine where the best landing sites are and what natural resources would be available. Then NASA would start sending four-person crews with lunar exploration vehicles and stuff to build living quarters and power units. They also plan on building a solar-powered base on one of the moon’s poles to use as a launching base for missions to Mars.

So, is all this one big publicity stunt? Most definitely. But NASA is developing a new space capsule called the Orion and new rocket engines (the Ares). If going back to the moon is what it takes to get NASA to build a better boat so be it. I’m just wondering what’s going to happen when the robots attack the astronauts sent to the base for missions.

This has nothing to do with science. It’s a Snow Day! No Friday Science entries on snow days. This is Chirpie. Mom found Chirpie at a garage sale for fifty cents and I love him. He poaches four eggs at a time and lets out this really loud shrilly chirp when they’re done.

THE SCIENCE OF POACHED EGGS, originally uploaded by Elephant Soap.

I’ve had more poached eggs in the last four days then I’ve had in a year. Hooper even likes them. We mix it up with his dry food and he licks the bowl clean. In fact, he eats his food before his treats now. He is so spoiled.

Well, I think we got Shelley’s snow apocalypse. We slid to work this morning so I could feed my cells and take stuff out of the incubator. Basically we spent two hours on the road to do about thirty minutes of work. The Workpace has shut down.

Snow Day!

I can’t remember the last time I had an actual snow day.

blizzard, originally uploaded by Elephant Soap.

Anyway, this is what it looked like outside last night. You know it’s cold when even Hooper doesn’t want to stay outside.