Revelations and Robotics

It seems that in an era of epic spending, NASA is going to get the axe. As one of the few agencies that is focused on future things, not months or years but decades and centuries out, this will mark a very real turning point in American history. Already, with the shutdown of the Shuttle program, America will cease to have any means of taking humanity beyond the gravity well we call Earth, and will instead be reliant on Russian capsules and private industry for the continued operation of the ISS until its de-orbit sometime between 2014 and the mid 2020’s. Yes, the United States of America, one of the key pioneers in pushing the envelope of humanity’s drive to further “explore strange new worlds” will cease to be space-faring. Instead, the Obama administration will direct the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to focus on terrestrial science. The irony, usually comical, instead leaves me now in a betrodden state of sincere disappointment.

rare

*HONK* “Welcome to the 20th century asshole!”
No, my blog has not been hijacked by hax0rs, that was the pointed shouting of a random 20-something male in a large SUV as he and his friend whizzed by me on my eGo. It made me stop (not really, I kept riding) and ponder why it is that so many people feel it necessary/acceptable to shout things from their car at a random stranger riding an it’s-not-a-car-or-bicycle vehicle. Maybe it’s the perceived safety in that isolated bubble of steel and plastic? Maybe it’s just an “easy” form of aggression? I still find it odd though. In my 1-year jaunt with my eGo as my primary source of transportation, I’ve been honked, yelled, and sworn at at least a couple dozen times. For you naysayers out there, this scoffing isn’t due to rude riding behavior or any law-breaking. Most commonly, it happens when I’m peacefully clipping along in the bike lane at my steady 39KPH (24MPH for those who haven’t converted yet ;-). I’m aware that I stand out. I’m aware that what I’m riding is radically different from what people would consider “normal”. But where is that line in peoples’ minds when “different” becomes acceptable to openly, /publicly/ mock? I can easily see it on teh webs, but IRL…? Maybe I just have a tinted view of reality, but I thought that such taudry bullying got left on the playground in high school.

In any case, I’m glad that I’ve at least caused someone to question their paradigms, even if it’s just on a subconscious level. We’ll never make any progress as a society if we just sit on what we know and don’t expand our mental boxes.

To finish the story out, I continued on my merry way (it /is/ almost Christmas) and continued to ponder humanity and instinct. I didn’t come to any solid conclusions, so I decided to write it out here. I do remember grinning though when they pulled away, knowing that when they floored their SUV, they’d just used more energy than that of my entire trip home. But hey, at least they had 2 people in the vehicle…