Ryan & Amanda Keefer's Personal Site: Cycling, Family, Tech, Music, Software & Game Reviews, etc.
// September 17th, 2011 // No Comments » // Baby, Family, Holidays, Personal Crap
My not-so-little monkey turns two years old today.
It’s really hard to believe, but at the same time, it’s really not. He’s getting so very big, and developing so much each and every day.
Here’s to hoping he has an awesome birthday party this morning, and throughout the day. And here’s to many many more for our crazy monkey.
Happy birthday, Tyler!
// September 16th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Personal Crap, Space Stuff & NASA
This may end up being one of the longest, if not the longest blog posted I’ve ever composed here on Keefer Madness — partially because the events took place over multiple days, but also because of the unique access, and honestly, the pure thrill I got out of it all.
I’ve been a fan of technology, NASA and space as long as I can remember. I grew up in the era where in elementary school, we still paused, and rolled a television in to watch the space shuttle launches.
I’ve loved going to the Smithsonian Air & Space museum in Washington D.C., watching television documentaries, along with a more recent trip to the Kennedy Space Center prior to getting married.
Technology has been a part of my life as well— BBSes in middle school, and an Internet user since near its earliest inception (Mosaic and HTML in its near earliest forms. Remember SLIP and PPP connections?), along with a gadget freak.
I’ve been a user of Twitter since the early days of the service, but it wasn’t until the last month or so that I really benefitted greatly from it. Sure, there have been great moments of crowd-sourcing, and stumbling across great links I’d have otherwise missed. But nothing like my recent experience.
NASA, as a public relations move started doing Tweetups, giving a group of Twitter-using people unprecedented access to a launch, and an insider’s VIP treatment before and during. NASA describes it as:
…an informal meeting of people who use the social messaging medium Twitter. NASA Tweetups provide @NASA followers with the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at NASA facilities and events and speak with scientists, engineers, astronauts and managers. NASA Tweetups range from two hours to two days in length and include a “meet and greet” session to allow participants to mingle with fellow Tweeps and the people behind NASA’s Twitter feeds.
To me though, that barely scratches the surface of how cool, how awesome and how unique the NASA tweetup program is.
I first heard about the events from a co-worker at Centerline, and applied for multiple of the final space shuttle launches. Sadly, I never was selected, and while I attempted to see a few earlier launches, they got scrubbed every time I had an opportunity to view it from Florida. Such is the nature of launching vehicles into space, as I’d experience multiple times.
With the 30-year space shuttle come to a close, NASA is still far from a dead organization, just yesterday announcing their new heavy lift vehicle. Sure, its exact future, and the future of manned flight are in question, but they’re far from gone with the remaining three shuttles now being processed to be museum exhibit pieces.
The NASA Tweetup series are far from mothballed though. I applied for one of the post-shuttle era launches — this one for an unmanned rocket launch to send two craft to the moon — The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL for short.
Fewer people applied to this Tweetup, with not as much interest as the manned shuttle launches before. This obviously helped me in the selection process. I didn’t consider this when applying, but I’m OK with it regardless.
I got the email August 3rd that I had been selected to attend the events surrounding the GRAIL launch on September 7th and 8th. As it turned out, these dates were almost perfect. We had already booked a flight for the following week to be in Orlando, Florida to celebrate Tyler’s second birthday.
Attending the Tweetup for GRAIL was only going to necessitate going down a few days early. Both Amanda and my work were both completely understanding and gracious to allow us those few extra days, and it literally cost less than $7 to change our tickets.
Fast forward about a month later. After a hectic final day of working from home, last minute packing, and prepping to be away from work for a week and half, we were on our way to Florida, packed with enough Apple tech that would make any Apple Store employee grin.
The Tweetup events included two days of events and activities: the first being an inside look at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station through a morning tour, and then an afternoon of guest speakers at the Kennedy Space Center Vistors Complex’s on-site conference center. The second day was a closer vantage point to see the rocket launch than most of the public gets.
The first day started out early, me getting into my inlaws’ car in Winter Park Florida (outside of Orlando), and heading about an hour east to the KSC Vistors Center complex. I had to show my identification and register to get my badge.
A few hours later, all 150 Tweetup members are filed into the KSC Visitors Center conference center, where we all get introduced to NASA, JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) and others related to social media within the organization. We then pass around a microphone, and all 150 introduce ourselves, where we live, an interesting fact about ourselves and our Twitter handle. That took a bit of time, and put us slightly behind schedule for the morning tour.
We piled onto four of the old-school Kennedy Space Center buses, all hitting several tour destinations in a different order, and the whole tour agenda was freaking awesome. I had done the KSC standard bus tour in the past, and was thoroughly impressed with that. This one was head and shoulders above the standard tour — a true V.I.P. treatment.
Our bus’ first destination was on the the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Pad 41, the current United Launch Alliance location for Atlas V launches. Previously, it had been used by the Air Force for Titan III and Titan IV launches.
The bus ride up to the Launch Pad 41 complex required a bumpy and fairly lengthy bus ride — a common theme for the whole morning’s tour destinations. This first destination sent the bus nort down a road, straddling two set of train tracks. These tracks are what take the assembled rockets from the Vertical Integration Facility all the way down to the launch pad — quite a distance. This is an a near exact parallel to the huge tracked vehicle called the Crawler-Transporter that took the stacked shuttle (orbiter, solid rocket booster and external tank) to its launch pad, though these ones are train based transport.
Two guys from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) met us at the fence line of the 41 complex, their Hummer parked to the side, complete with a bummer sticker that read, “My other truck is an Atlas V.” Too funny.
They did a quick rundown of the complex, explaining the lightning towers around the launchpad, along with the various fuel tanks, buildings and equipment surrounding the launch pad that was used historically for the Titan rockets, and for the last nearly 10 years, the behemoth Atlas V.
On the ride back from Launch Pad 41, and onto our next destination, we got a rare treat, driving by the beach house the astronauts typically spend time at with their families prior to launches.
It’s a very Florida/beach looking building — the only structure around, nestled in the foliage and sand, close to the waves of the beach.
Then, we got a slow roll by on our bus of the historic Launch complex 39A, one of the two pads that supported the space shuttle program throughout, along with
We next got another rare opportunity — one that the normal tours don’t get. We got to walk through the massive Vehicle Assembly Building (or VAB). It’s hard to describe absolutely how huge the building is, both deep, but also the huge height of it. They have special systems in place to keep clouds from forming in the upper levels of the building.
This building has a huge amount of history, from 1968 through 2011, it housed the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program, and subsequently every single shuttle before they’re rolled out to the launch pad.
While our launch and the events leading up to it focused around a Delta II Heavy rocket, the VAB was the highlight for me of the first day.
Walking from the entrance to the back left hand corner, we had another surprise — the Endeavor space shuttle orbiter in all its glory, recently brought over from one of the orbiter processing facilities in preparation for becoming a museum exhibit. The Endeavor is soon destined to go to the west coast at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
We ended up taking a bunch of time in the VAB, getting closer to the orbiter than I would have ever dreamed. There was literally a chain link fence and a few feet of equipment between us and the decommissioned orbiter. The VAB and getting see see an orbiter up, close and personal was so awesome — a one time deal.
Sadly, our extended walk around the VAB and visit with Endeavor, shooting tons of pictures put us fairly far behind schedule, meaning our next stop had to get dropped. Originally, we were going to get a photo opportunity with the large countdown clock — disappointing, but I’d trade some time with Endeavor over the press-area countdown clock any day. Plus, Endeavor is getting ready to no longer be at KSC, while that countdown clock will continue to stay put, though I’m not sure I’ll ever have another opportunity to check that out either.
We all got herded onto the bus, straggling as much as we could in the depths of the VAB, and headed to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s SLC-37B, where GRAIL was sitting atop a Delta II Heavy rocket. The “heavy” part means it has extra power, which the GRAIL mission needed to send it hurtling toward the moon. It has a total of 9 GEM-46 boosters, originally designed for the Delta III.
Pulling up in the bus, we got a good view of both pads, the unused 37A, and 37B, where the Delta II rocket sat. While it was hidden behind its service structure, the blue and white rocket was clearly visible. They setup a flatbed truck at the fence line so we could get a better vantage point to see the soon-to-be launched rocket.
Again, we had two gentlemen to describe the preparation and launch of the rocket.
SLC-37B was our last stop of the packed morning. I haven’t described too much about what the GRAIL mission is all about, but will go more into that in the next post. Stay tuned for that in a few days.
Stay tuned for the post of the first day’s afternoon activities post and then the launch-day post shortly. This already ended up way too long for a single blog post.
View my entire photo gallery of the multi-day GRAIL events below.
// September 11th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Personal Crap, Space Stuff & NASA, Video
While there are better quality videos of the launch, this was my personal vantage point of the launch.
// September 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // Personal Crap, Space Stuff & NASA
So we’ve arrived in Florida — all safe and sound.
We originally were planning to come down to celebrate Tyler’s upcoming second birthday, but then I got selected to do NASA’s Tweetup for the upcoming GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) rocket launch.
Travelling down here this afternoon seemed to take forever, but Tyler really got a kick out of the airplane ride and the whole travelling deal.
Anyway, this post is mainly a bit of forewarning. Feel free to unsubscribe, ignore, etc. my posts, tweets and other noise for the next two days.
I really hope you won’t. But most of my pictures, posts and tweets for the next two days will revolve about my much-anticipated jaunt east to the Kennedy Space Center. Tomorrow, we get a full tour of the whole complex, along with special guest speakers and a bit of a behind-the-scenes type of deal.
Then, if the weather and everything else behave, we’ll be seeing the GRAIL Delta II Heavy liftoff. Can’t wait. Hope you don’t get too annoyed either.
// September 2nd, 2011 // No Comments » // Family, Personal Crap
It’s been a crazy, exhausting and stressful week, and not really in the ways or from the sources I would have expected.
Last weekend, I was supposed to be riding my first double century (200 miles) in a weekend at the Ride Without Limits — a challenge that I was more than a little nervous about, considering my lack of saddle time as of late. Training’s difficult to squeeze in between work, family, household obligations, and the fact that days are getting a minute or two shorter each and every day. I still haven’t fully accepted dwindling ride time — it’s just plain frustrating.
But anyway, a week ago (last Friday), I arrive home to find out our little boy, Tyler had been vomiting — and when he was done vomiting, he did it some more. Amanda took him to the pediatrician, and my mom and I followed behind a few minutes later after a bit of cleanup.
Turns out he had a stomach virus, and a real nasty one at that. Not only was he under the weather, but North Carolina ended up under the weather as well, in the form of a much overhyped hurricane by the name Irene.
Irene’s imminent arrival in North Carolina meant the first day of riding at the Ride Without Limits was cancelled, but the second day was still on. But Tyler wasn’t getting any better. Sleepless nights for all three in the Keefer household, no training, and wanting to help get our little monkey back to healthy meant no riding for me this past week — especially a 100 mile endeavor.
It’s been a week, and he’s still battling fever and getting energy back. Four doctor’s appointments later, and we still don’t have any definitive answers. Somewhere between last Friday, and this one, despite getting tubes put into his ears, Tyler developed double ear infections. We caught that early, and the antibiotics made short work of that. But the fever persists, and a cough remains.
This afternoon, he had blood work done. The preliminary results didn’t find anything of note — but it did rule out some bad stuff. But we still have no real answers. Tomorrow, a visit to Rex Hospital’s radiology may shed some answers, but I fear it will be more question marks and even more bills.
Everyone is perplexed about Ty’s week long bout with fever. There aren’t a whole lot of viruses or bacteria that can stick around in a normally healthy little boy. It’s annoying, worrisome and not fair to Tyler. Approaching his second birthday, this is a really crappy present.
As if all this wasn’t heartbreaking and stressful enough, seeing Tyler suffer and struggle, Amanda and I are both struggling to stay afloat at our jobs, preparing for a vacation, that’s kind of locked in. We’ve both had to work at home, some times at odd hours. Then, I got a taste of Tyler’s sickness, taking me down for a little over a day. Not fun, and I know it didn’t bite me as hard as Ty, making me feel even more for him.
Even as the long weekend is here, I still am feeling overwhelmed, worn out, and not 100% healthy. Plus, I miss the bike a bit too. There’s plenty to do this weekend, but in some ways, all I want to do is veg out with the family and hope we all just miraculously get better.
Vacation can’t come soon enough.
// August 17th, 2011 // No Comments » // Family, Personal Crap
It’s crazy to think that our little baby is 23 months old today— yet at the same time not hard to believe at all! I mean look at him! He’s growing up so freakin’ fast, and has such a sweet and dynamic personality.
As his father, I’m obviously uber-biased, but the guy is just so smart, active and has so many people that absolutely love and adore the dude! I just can’t get enough of anything he does, good or bad.
Our boy is just a month away from being two years old! Crazy! In a month, we leave behind the whole month reference, and he’s just two years old!
He’s just so lovable and so much fun. Here’s to so so much more love and fun.
// August 12th, 2011 // No Comments » // Family, Personal Crap, Video
The new theme here at Keefer Madness has a special area for videos, so wanted to give it a try. What better video to try it with than Tyler enjoying the thrill of a micro coaster.
// August 11th, 2011 // No Comments » // Cycling, Personal Crap
It’s been a long time since I’ve done a charity ride—and it may be even longer since Amanda volunteered at one.
In two short weeks, we’re both going back to our old roles for the 2011 North Carolina Ride Without Limits, helping to raise much needed funds and awareness for United Cerebral Palsy and Easter Seals UCP North Carolina & Virginia, to help provide equal opportunities and access for children and adults with disabilities.
It will also be the first time I’ve done 200 miles in a single weekend— well ever. Please consider making a contribution in the Keefers’ names. You can learn more about this really amazing cause and our story behind why we’re going to be riding/volunteering on April 27-28:
http://www.ridewithoutlimits.org/goto/keefer
By the way, keep an eye on my RunKeeper Elite account on those days. I’m going to set it up so you can track my route in near-realtime.
// August 10th, 2011 // No Comments » // General Posts, Personal Crap
With the recent redesign of Keefer Madness, it’s time to do some house cleaning of the site as a whole. Seeing as our beloved Beagle, Bongo has been deceased for a fair amount of time, I thought it was about time to archive his page from the site. Not wanting to completely destroy the page though, the contents now will reside as a post.
Since putting up this current version of Keefer Madness, I basically have the Blog now. For years, the blog has been the focus of the site, but I was reminded recently that I had lost some other areas of the site. It’s been on my list of things to do, but I was recently inspired to flesh out some of those lost pages, and what better place to start, than with Bongo.
We still miss the little guy to this day, and we are wanting to get another dog, though it hasn’t happened yet. In our search, he’s definitely been in every comparison, and we may not be able to get another Beagle—because of those comparisons. So far the Beagles we’ve met haven’t held up to the personality and cuteness of Bongo.
Regardless, read on to view the contents of what was the page dedicated to Bongo.
Bongo is our old spoiled purebred Beagle. I first adopted Bongo when he was roughly 2 years old. Bongo, then known as “Bo,” was surrendered by a hunter. Bongo’s past inspired Grinning Beagle to write a children’s book story about his past entitled, “That Dog Won’t Hunt.” Following the publishing of the book, our ol’ Beagle has been immortalized as a stuffed animal.
Bongo has had his share of ups and downs in our household. He had real issues when Amanda moved into the house, even cornering
her, teeth showing when I was away at my part time job. Amanda was scared to death of the spoiled Beagle who considered himself higher up in the pecking order than her – a relative newcomer to the pack. She basically gave me an ultimatum – her or the Beagle. In a way, Bongo, was giving the same ultimatum. But, I came up with a compromise, and ultimately, a much better solution for the whole pack – Bark Busters, an in-home dog trainer that helped us in just a few sessions, make Bongo a calmer, more confident Beagle hound.
When our current house was being built, and our old townhome had been sold, we stayed with my parents who have a bloodhound, named Sadie. Bongo was introduced into our home by the Tri Beagle Rescue, warning he was best in a single family home, and Bongo proved it as the bloodhound pupped, well hounded him. Much like his mother, Bongo can tend to get grumpy. He got tired of Sadie quickly and was ready for his new home as much as we were.
The toughest situation was at the current house, when our failing fence.. well failed. In the middle of the night, I let him out to use the restroom, only to after a couple minutes later realize he was gone, through a malfunctioning side gate. We scoured the neighborhood, and I was heartbroken when we couldn’t locate him. Luckily, Amanda came home later the next day early for lunch to post lost dog signs.
Hurt, he had somehow dragged himself back to our backyard and collapsed against the house. After a gutcheck moment of thinking he had collapsed and died in our backyard, the Beagle opened his eyes slightly and whined to Amanda. I don’t think either of us had been so relieved. After a rushed visit to the vet and a few days of recovery, his personality returned and our cuddly beagle was back.
A ton of pictures of Bongo can be found in his photoset in our Flickr account.
// August 9th, 2011 // No Comments » // Family, Personal Crap
Our little boy, Tyler has brought so much fun and joy to out life.
But he has also demonstrated something else about our family. Amanda and I really do make a great team. Sure, we kinda already knew it prior to Ty’s birth, but he’s definitely illustrated it even more.
We’re both extremely busy at work, but we’re both lucky enough to work places that are flexible and understanding about family, but with very few occasions, even with busy work, Amanda and I have really been able to cover each other— switching out of our normal work schedules to shuttle Tyler to daycare, doctor’s appointments etc. With few exceptions, we’ve both been able to cover for the other—which in itself is amazing. With us both being so busy, it’s crazy it almost always works out that the other partner is able to pick up the slack, or at least pick up the monkey.
It’s also been nice at home— when one of us has to (or wants to) get something done, we’re always really flexible, understanding and just desiring the one-on-one time with our little guy.
While all of this isn’t necessarily uncommon in families, we’ve seen plenty of couples who don’t split the child duties or mesh so well. Consider this post just a quick acknowledgement of how lucky we are. We’ve got great immediate and extended families that all have and continue contributing to the healthy relationships we all have.
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