So I'm feeling much better today. The muscle soreness continues, and I have some minor unsteadiness from the meds they gave me last night. However, I was able to get to Church this morning.
Our church is very wonderful: not only did the Fathers come by last night to help and give us rides, but everyone seems to know and asked kindly about me. Moreover, our head priest and 3 or 4 other members of the church have epilepsy, and are familiar with the challenges, as are their families in helping those who have had a seizure.
Looking back in my history, it appears my last seizure was May 18, 2006. I really am well off if these things are going to be that spread out. We speculate it may have been set off by my cold/flu last week as well.
In any event, I'm feeling much better and am thankful for your thoughts and prayers.
I shan't go into detail here, but I had a similar seizure to a few years ago. I'm fine, I was able to know it was coming and get down on the floor, but it shook myself and Sharon up a good bit.
Our priests came by the hospital and gave us a ride home too. All in all, things went smoothly after the episode. Now I get to take pills indefinitely!
Have you ever wondered how much damage an asteroid could cause? Wonder no more! The Impact Effects Calculator from our good friends at the University of Arizona can take all the guesswork out of your doomsday theories.
How much damage can we get out of a VW Golf hurtling from space? Let's find out!
Its 1080 kg, and roughly a 2 meter diameter (compressed). That gives it roughly 45 kg per cubic meter of density. We'll bring it in at 90 degrees into sedimentary rock. Let's see what sort of damage we can cause with an 11 km/s speed (the minimum impact velocity).
The projectile bursts into a cloud of fragments at an altitude of 82500 meters = 270000 ft
Ok, that's too slow. Let's speed it up to 17 km/s.
The projectile bursts into a cloud of fragments at an altitude of 84200 meters = 276000 ft
We did worse! I'm guessing we're just too light. Let's make it entirely iron. New density: 8000 kg per cubic meter.
The projectile bursts into a cloud of fragments at an altitude of 9630 meters = 31600 ft.
Large fragments strike the surface and may create a crater strewn field.
That's better, but if we are going to bean the earth with a VW, we want a real impact. Let's try adding some antimatter and moving up to the max speed for something orbiting the sun. New density: 100,000 kg/m^3. New speed: 72 km/s.
The projectile lands intact, with a velocity 67.8 km/s = 42.1 miles/s.
That's more like it! Isn't astronomical physics fun?
After a tumultuous September and October, I have safely landed in November.
The craziness began with a fine wedding in Iowa, where I witnessed Ardith fulfill the promise of last year's bouquet catch. It was a great time filled with the joy of seeing old friends and the happiness of sharing in her special day. High points included SC hangouts at the Scholl's, seeing the awesome Scott twins rumbling around, and enjoying some very excellent cake.
The very next weekend I was off to southern California for another happy event: Ziggy's wedding. I had never been to California before, and really enjoyed not only the main event, but also the weather and scenery. I particularly enjoyed getting to know Ziggy's family better, and seeing this amazing woman who had captured (I dare not say tamed) my old room-mate's heart. High points included morning pictures on the beach, swords in the ceremony, and late nights talking with his brothers and friends.
After one weekend 'off', the next event rolled around: birthday season at the Amelio's. I had a wonderful time seeing Sharon's brothers, one of whom is now in college. They have grown in wisdom and accomplishment each time I see them. As always, the hospitality (and particularly food) was exceptional.
One more week of downtime followed, and then we were off to see my own parents. The blue VW Golf many of you may remember had been my companion here in Milwaukee for a year or so, but due to its classic age (1985 model year) and lack of garage or tools, I had trouble keeping it running. We decided to take it home where my brothers would obtain more use and maintain it more easily. Of course, that entailed getting it on a U-Haul trailer when it wouldn't start. Let's just say this is something I would rather not ever do again. In the end, we had a safe trip down, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing many brothers and nieces.
November looks to be a stay-home month, and other then some manner of Thanksgiving expedition, we plan to be home until Christmas. We're hoping to see the Iowa crew again then if all goes well.
Pictures to follow (unless I'm a slacker) below the break.
Not here yet... keep waiting.