Migration

So, I pulled the trigger...on a personal domain with webspace. My blog is going to migrate over there. The website it zacharymccauley.info

NASA Tweetup pt. 1

So, I want to first apologize for not updating my audience on what was going on at the tweetup. If you follow me on Twitter, I'm sure that my tweets flooded your feed. I apologize for the volume, but not for what I was tweeting about.

Now that the apologies are out of the way...it's time to talk about what I wanted to.

I arrived in Florida on Monday the 21st. I flew out of Pittsburgh at about 1:45 PM or so, and I arrived at Orlando International at 6:00 PM that night. My condomate, Christy was there to pick me up. After she picked me up, we went back to Cape Canaveral, FL and ate "dinner" at a local IHOP. I haven't been to one of those in a while, so, I ordered my french toast. It was just as awesome as I remembered. After supper, we headed back to the condo, and it ended up being a normal night.

The next morning was Tuesday, and the other two people, Pat Cooney, and Jeff Harbert were going to show up at some point.

Pat showed up a couple of hours before the pre-tweetup dinner. I got to learn some backround information about him, starting off with what he majored in during college. I was happy to find out that he majored in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue.

After a 'short' time talking to each other, we got in Christy's rental, and headed off to Dixie Crossroads for the pre-tweetup dinner. We were a bit early, which was wonderful. We got to meet Brandon, Rachel, Lincoln (Rachel's hubby), and Keri Bean.

Personally, I was finally happy to meet Keri in person, as I had contact with her through SEDS a few years before. There were many space related things we were talking about, as well as some hilarious things. For example, Brandon was tweeting about the table getting beer (which I can't drink...legally). Keri introduced me to Scott Maxwell, who drives the Mars Exploration Rovers.

Most geeks/nerds like myself aren't very social all the time. I am like that, unless I am put with a group of people that have the same kind of interests as me.

After Tuesday night, everyone went to sleep. We had nothing planned for that day, so we all just took some time out to relax after travel. Wednesday was also the first day to get our bag full of NASA epicness. In it was: A cool color-changing cup, provided by NASA LSP, multiple pins, including pins from the mission, various datasheets on the mission itself, a free ticket to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center, and the NASATweetup badge that gave us all access to the press site and tweetup tent, also known as the Twent. Finally, Thanksgiving came around. My group went out to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center. I will continue my story in another part shortly.

PS: This was supposed to be posted months ago, but school came down on me like a boss.

I GOT IN!!

So, as you can tell by the title, I am a confirmed NASA Tweetup attendee. I will be going to watch the launch of the Curiosity rover, as well as attend some tours and special tweetup related events which will be discussed later. I was so excited when I got my email, that I just can't put it into words. For those going to the tweetup, I will be in FL from the 21st until ....I get a ticket back. :) As always, I will keep you all updated! Have a nice day. :DD

News

So, the second wave of good/bad news comes in tomorrow. With any luck, by this time tomorrow, I will be a NASA Tweetup confirmed attendee. If not this round, hopefully by the next. Either way, I am absolutely excited about the chance to just be on the waitlist for the tweetup, as that means that I could (very likely) be a part of the tweetup anyway. Wish me luck! I will post tomorrow if I get news.

NASA Tweetup??

So, I got an e-mail yesterday saying that I had been wait listed for an upcoming NASA event. Oddly enough, I knew what was. The moment of truth had arrived. Was I selected to go to Florida to attend the NASA Tweetup? Sadly, I was not. I had been wait listed. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be part of the wait list, but I have never been to a tweetup. With any luck, I still shall be able to become part of the tweetup at Kennedy space center in Florida. There are many people there that I'd love to meet. Only time will tell if I will be accepted officially. I'm still patiently waiting for the e-mail from NASA, giving me the good news about the tweetup. In the meantime, I'm still making plans to head down to Florida either way. I'm still very excited about heading down there. This will give me an experience any chance that I couldn't pass up. I've been interested in space and science for a very long time now. This would be the second time that I would be in close contact with like minded people in my life. The first time was during a conference in DC. I would say I made some new friends there, ranging from NASA employees to everyday bloggers. @flyingjenny gave me my lanyard, but I still have my keys on to this day. The educational outreach people at NASA, actually gave me some NASA swag. I thought this was awesome! I'd be grateful to have the experience again, but this time at the NASA tweetup in Florida for the Mars Science Laboratory. Anyways, I'd better check my emails. Maybe the good news has already arrived!

Inspiration

So, I was just listening to my iTunes music library, and I came across one of the few Symphony of Science songs that I have in it. It reminded me why I love science, and where we all came from on an atomic scale. It made me feel all connected to everything around me for a brief second. The paper that I write on, the cans that hold the soda that I drink, all came from a star at some point. Not to mention me, on the atomic level. All the carbon in my body, came from some distant place at some point, which surprises me.

Life so far

So, just an update on my college life to this point. SEDS-PSB is practically created, except for finding an advisor, which I'm not sure I'd be able to do at this point in time, seeing as the guy that handles the astrophysics on campus practically shot me down. He thinks that I should combine SEDS with the astronomy club, which while possible, would mean that SEDS wouldn't be recognized as a club or official organization. In turn, that means no SGA funding. Anyways, other than that, it's been fine so far. I actually have my first calculus test later today, which is just going to be a heap of fun.

In my free time here, I'm either walking around, fixing routers, eating, or holed up in my room to study and do things l
Ike that. Some of it is alright, but sometimes the monotony gets boring and I have to find something else to do.

Behind doesn't have a huge population of women, and those that do live here are usually in some type of relationship, which really sucks for us nerdy guys, who become attracted to them very easily. In the mean time, however, I've been making tons of friends, which is the important part of college.

Anyways, I must leave you all now to get ready for my chemistry class today, so have a good one and be safe out there.