…for not posting to my very own blog lately. Because of that, you deserve a little update from Wyoming.

Since my last posting in early April, many things have happened. I graduated from Central Wyoming College with another degree. I lost my job running the college radio station because of that (bad timing, that…), which I have been doing for over three years. Sadly, my professor, boss, and good friend Dale Smith, after becoming blind due to complications from chemotherapy, spent the last few weeks of the semester in the hospital, getting out the day of graduation. He also had his job at the college changed from electronic media to humanities by the CWC powers that be. He’s doing better health wise, but I’m concerned for him as a friend, and will check with him regularly to see how he is doing.

The day after graduation, the wife and I and grandson loaded up a 5 by 8 Uhaul trailer for my daughter, and left for a cross country trip from central Wyoming, to Nashville, Tennessee, where she was moving. A nice leisurely trip there, got her unpacked and moved in, and then drove south to Birmingham, Alabama to visit family there that we hadn’t seen since our move to Wyoming in 2000. We spent 3 days there, had a wonderful visit, and still with the Uhaul in tow, headed west to Dallas, Texas…actually Plano, which is the northern boundary of the huge DFW metroplex. In Plano, we visited my mom and sister, and wife’s dad and step mom and brother. Stayed there for about 5 days, and then with the Uhaul loaded with tools from my late dad’s workshop, (which I spent 2 days cleaning out for mom) and a few pieces of furniture, we headed back north, home to Wyoming.

Then things got exciting. This was the day that the huge tornado hit in northeastern rural areas of Denver. We had spent the nite before in Raton, New Mexico, and had just hit Colorado City, and the rest area there for lunch, when I got a call from a good friend, whom we had just visited the day before in Ft. Worth, as we were leaving the DFW area. He was watching the news and weather, and got the news about the Denver twister forwarded to me by cell phone. In Colorado City, I couldn’t find any wifi for a net connection, so we headed north to Colorado Springs, the home of Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base. Got off the highway there, checked the McD to see if it had wifi…nope. Then, having spent several nites in various Super 8 hotels across the country the last two weeks, found one on the west side of the interstate…and yes, wifi.

I got on, hit weather.gov, and then the Denver area radar and Nexrad. Holy crap…the storm cell system I was seeing in real time was the WORST storm system I’d ever seen, as far as having to personally deal with it Real Soon Now, by having to get through it to get home. The super cell that hit Windsor, Colorado, was in an anti-cyclonic rotation, and was moving counter clockwise, and heading towards Laramie, Wyoming, which was our connection from 287 to Interstate 80, and places west. Warnings were posted in the Denver forecast page of the current storm, tornado, damage, direction, and so forth, and it just didn’t look good for us.

We heard on the radio about the storms and damage, and decided to take Highway 287 up through Fort Collins..getting of Interstate 25 asap. That took a while to get to, and just as we got through town, and about to get on the highway itself north of Fort Collins, the highway was shut down due to a bus and semi accident. We got detoured through the little town of Laporte to the east, and hit the highway AGAIN, north of the major accident.

All was going well for about 20 minutes. Then, we started seeing a lot of snow on the sides of the road…LOTS of snow. Next, we started seeing vehicles heading south from the summit on 287, with what looked like snow on their front bumpers and windshields. Weird. The skies to the north and east were astoundingly stormy and dark. Sunset was approaching quickly, and the storm clouds hastened the effect. Just then, I realized that what we were seeing on the sides of the road wasn’t snow…but HAIL….INCHES of it. Totally blew me away.

As we kept heading north on 287, it started raining lightly, and soon quite moderately. Within moments, the medium pouring rain was joined by small snow pellets that exploded quietly on the windshield of our car. As it got heavier and darker, the snow pellets turned to pea sized hail…and then to actual snow…and then to VERY heavy snow. The road conditions were deteriorating the closer we got to the summit, and the rain slick roads become ice slicked and then slushy fairly quickly. A group of cars, trucks, and a couple of semi’s (with us in the middle of the convoy) kept plugging along, at about 20 miles an hour, all of us with flashers blinking into what literally turned into a blizzard.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, we hit the crest, and started down the miles long hill that led down into the south side of Laramie. Strangely, it was dark…where it wasn’t supposed to be. Seems that the supercell from Denver/Windsor, dropped another tornado, which tore up some houses and a couple of farms, and took out a few hundred blocks of power. We stopped at the Flying J truckstop to gas up, cleaned the snow and ice off the front of the car and the trailer, and hit the road on I-80. The snow, sleet, and rain stopped about 20 miles west of town, and from there on home, it was very dark, and very cold. Throughout the last 200 miles of our trip, from Laramie to Riverton, the roadway was clear and safe, but the sides of the road held quite a bit of storm passage…meaning snow as far as the eye could see…all the way to Beaver Rim, and halfway down that 9 degree grade of that steep hill.

We arrived home around 3:30am, dragged ourselves in, and went to bed.

It took us a week to recover from that 3600 mile trip. Holy crap we were tired.

Since returning home on May 23, we’ve been busy working on getting ready to move into a new apartment in town, packing boxes, cleaning our storage unit out, and doing a lot of computer work.

And, oh yes, SUMMER college classes…Society and Self from U. Wyo, History and Statistics from CWC. 10 credit hours during the summer session.

THAT’s what we’ve been doing since April.

More to be added later…including some great news about the SurvivalRing website project.

Rich

Well, it’s been a while since our last visit to this blog to update the worlds on the adventures of Rich in CollegeLand and MeatWorld. Our last posting was over two weeks ago, as you can see below. In the two weeks, we’ve seen the world change greatly.

Saddam is history, having been hanged in what pretty much amounted to a lynching by his adversaries.

Denver has been socked with major snow storms three weekends in a row.

My little hometown of Riverton, Wyoming made the WORLD news with a piece of a Russian Rocket supposedly landing south of town when it re-entered the atmosphere last Thursday (when I was OUT OF TOWN…dang it!) and was captured on video by an airborn TV news chopper live.

One of the local Riverton cops saw it fly overhead as he got the morning paper, and a Wyoming State Trooper found a 3 by 5 foot burned area near the Louis Lake Turnout on South Pass, which I saw a pic of…but no debris was found, even though NORAD has sent pros out to check the story out.

Many other things going on, and the latest is a report in a British Newspaper has reported that Israel has plans to use tactical nukes on the nuke labs of Iran Real Soon Now, although Israel is DENYING it….hmmm.

For me, this is a new year, full of promise, projects, a few classes, and some BIG changes. Future plans include a degree plan change ( to Journalism ), a new college (University Of Montana at Missoula), new business projects (an eBay store, an internet marketing push, adverts in several REAL magazines to sell my two published CD roms), and more.

Another tussel with Windows XP…this time on my laptop. Major errors, blue screen of death, missing XP files, and the XP Recovery Console failed to fix…so, I just removed the drive ( a 2 month old 120 gig sucker), backed everything up to one of my big external drives on the desktop, wiped the drive after backing up all the files, and just finished a FULL FRESH reinstall of Windows. It’ll take me a few weeks to bring it back to full and regular use, after reinstalling all the dozens of programs I use on it, but it should be fine.

At the same time I’ve been installing XP on the laptop, I’ve also been installing Suse Linux on a server I bought at the CWC used computer sale last year. It’s got two 18gig SCSI removable drives, and dual processors, but it’s an older model HP NetServer LPr. I plan on using this rack mounted server as the household media system, with our music and a few movies on it. I’ll add a monster drive (300 gig or more) later this year, after I figure out the media serving systems available for a linux box.

I’m also rebuilding my 75 Jeep Cherokee, with a new full block, new interior, and lots of upgrades. It’s been a few years since I’ve really had some fun doing vehicle work. My last major project was a 1974 Toyota Landcruiser, which I really wish I still had…drats. Before that, it was a 1978 Dodge Van (the cross over year) that I did a full engine and tranny swap on, and before that my original 1974 Ford Van (see a pic here). I spent many years doing work on many vans, and also did conversions and upgrades to cars, trucks, boats, and even an airplane. This year is going to be one that is HANDS ON in many areas.

Many web projects are coming as well. MAJOR upgrade things to SurvivalRing, Civil Defense Now, and more. A few entire NEW projects too, still under wraps. They’ll be announced as they’re ready.

Thanks for checking in. Look for much more frequent updates from me here on Cosmic Echoes!

Rich

I’ve been recovering the past couple of weeks from this past semester, and haven’t been posting as I should.

It’s called “exhaustion”.

Three solid years of 17 to 20 credit hours per semester, climaxing in two solid college degrees, two national recognitions of scholarly work (New Century Scholar for Wyoming 2006, and All-USA Academic Team/2nd team), and finally been voted back into Student Senate and becoming the CWC Student Senate President for the 2006/2007 school year. Did I mention that I’ve been working an average of THREE part time jobs each semester?

What, you might say? Didn’t you just graduate?

Well…yes…BUT, these two college degrees are Associate of Applied Science Degrees. I’m beginning work on my junior and senior college years, online, with Upper Iowa University this fall. Being an accredited online degree, I can stay here at CWC, and continue working on campus as the Student Radio Station Operations Manager at KCWC-FM, 88.1, The Stargate. I can also continue doing local volunteer work with the high school, city, county, and state, as well as freelance work for Wyoming Public Television.

In other words, the continuation of my college education towards a Bachelors of Science in Emergency Management, to be followed by a Masters in Homeland Security (also 100% online), can be done from the very dorm at which I’ve been living here with my family for the past three years.

Some of the classes that I need for my B.S. can also be taken right here on campus, as CWC and UIU have a collabortion agreement (pdf) (which also means I get a tuition cut, among other things).

Because of THESE classes (psychology, sociology, spanish, etc…classes I didn’t need for my applied science degrees), I can continue as a student…and therefore, a student senator…and student senate president.

So, I have a plan…and I’m sticking to it.

At the same time, I’m going to continue doing what I’ve been doing for three years here on campus…helping my fellow students learn how to be more resourceful, better thinking, and happier students, while learning how to help others while they help themselves…

A very cool opportunity.

More later…

Well, it is done. We can rest…at least for a little while.

Another year at college has come to a close. Last night, just a few hours ago, most of my family enjoyed something very special together…my daughter, my wife, and I all walked across the stage of our college, at graduation commencement exercises at Central Wyoming College.

This past year, between all three of us, we earned five degrees. Daughter Laurie earned Associates of Arts degrees in English and Technical Theater. My wife Annie earned Associate of Arts in English and Associates of Arts in Social Science. I finished my Associates of Applied Science in Computer Networking Technology in Web Development with highest honors.

One after another, with Annie in the lead, we strode across the stage, son Kenny pushing Annie in her wheelchair so she could accept her diploma and shake hands…then Laurie…and finally me. Son Robert and daughter in law Candi couldn’t be there, unfortunately. Candi just had our first grandson only 6 days ago, by the name of Hudson James, and a long trip across country after a very long weekend in labor just wouldn’t do. We’ll get them a DVD of the commencement.

MANY of our friends and fellow students here at CWC also earned degrees, awards, certificates and honors, including Ruhiyuh Olsen, Jolyn Zwemer, Jackie Dorothy, my coworkers at the KCWC radio station Lisa Johnson and Justin Dickman, Ryan Jevne, Lydia Dove (the OTHER web development graduate this year), Kim Ogg, several of my fellow student senators, and over 250 other graduates.

It was an amazing night…much more of a wonderful evening than we could have hoped for. I mean, we were all graduating together. That in and of itself was so cool. Before the major work of the evening progressed, we had a musical interlude provided by the CWC Jazz Ensemble, which just happens to feature our son Kenny as the guitar player/stylist/melody guy. Laurie’s best friend Cameron Fehring provided the vocals for the song that played, and it was over all too fast. But then, something even better happened.

I mentioned many weeks ago that I was named to the All-USA Academic Team for community colleges, a couple of weeks after I was named a New Century Scholar for 2006, for the State of Wyoming. Well, as a second team member of the All-USA team, I didn’t make the cut to receive a scholarship. That is reserved for first team members.

Tonight, I found out what second team members receive. After the presentation of the Valedictorians, I was next on stage…by myself with the administration and faculty. President Jo Anne McFarland read a very nice prepared statement about my winning both the New Century Scholar award, and making the 2nd team of the All-USA Academic Team. She then presented me with a beautiful medallian, very heavy and gold plated, on a red, white and blue ribbon. I had to remove my mortarboard hat so she could place it over my head. It was a little snug on my noggin, but she was able to get it on without problems, only knocking my glasses slightly askew, which she very deftly straightened for me. She also presented me with very nice framed parchment certificate from the All-USA Academic Team organization and USA Today.

I found myself with the opportunity to speak to the graduating class, the audience, the faculty, and ALL the rest of the people there watching. Did I mention that Wyoming Public TV was broadcasting the entire commencement on LIVE TV?

I didn’t think I was going to be offered the chance to say something, so I didn’t really prepare. I figured if I did get the chance, I was going to thank my family. S0, I did. I mentioned that without the support of my wife and children, I would not have been able to come back to college to finish the degrees I started over 27 years ago. I also was able to spit out, in the swirling, blinding TV lights, that I wanted to thank the college and faculty for helping make all this possible.

But I didn’t get to the point of getting to mention specific names of those such as Steve Ferwerda and Dale Smith (my two main instructors and advisors while here on campus the last 36 months or so), Terry Svilar (who gave me my first on campus job in the business lab, where Annie has been working for the past two years now), the Student Success Center (where I’ve been tutoring in many subjects almost as soon as I started here), Danielle Hood (one of the first people I saw, when I came to inquire with the college about returning to school after so many years, and How Was I Going To Pay For It…she made it all happen for me and helped me finalize the decision to return)… and on and on for dozens of other folks who have made it all worth while.

Nope, went completely blank after thanking the family and the college..said thank you to Jo Anne, and the administration…and the audience for their support, and turned to head off stage and back to my seat in the front row.

Drats… Maybe Next Time.

After that, the march of students receiving their diplomas, the exit of the students and faculty, and the reception in the Arts Center afterwards, where a couple of thousand folks mingled over cookies and punch….taking pictures and videos, saying farewells, and heading out.

We hung around to the hall was almost empty. Dozens of teachers, fellow students, faculty, friends, and even strangers came over to where we were hugging one of the walls as a family unit, with Terry S. and others hanging out with us, and shook hands, exchanged hugs, said congrats, and spent a few moments just being friends…in other words, it was a wonderful night for the entire family.

Afterwards, Annie and I went out for a burger and shake, drove west of town for a few miles, just past the airport up on the hill, found a nice wide spot off the side of the road overlooking the airport, and the town of Riverton below in the Wind River Basin, and enjoyed some quite time looking at the stars and the full moon, while staving off a bit of hunger.

We both took a lot of deep, satisfying breaths…concerning our completion of this phase of our college careers, talking a little about our summer plans, and a few things we’d like to do together THIS summer, that we have been putting off to get through school.

We’ve going to hit Yellowstone this year, go camping up in the Sinks, and maybe Boysen Resevoir, try do some flyfishing I’ve been wanting to do ever since we moved up here, and finally, put all the work and new skilks I have planned into getting my website ready and working with state of the art technology I just earned a college degree in.

Next fall, a return to the books, with plans for both of us to earn bachelor’s degrees, and then I’ll start on that Masters Degree I want to finish with in Homeland Security soon after.

Now…a summer of fun, some peace and quiet, and some planning for how we’ll spend the REST of our lives after college degrees earned at middle age.

Oh yes…and time will be WELL spent…playing grandma and grandpa to two wonderful, beautiful, and incredible grandkids. It’s going to be a great summer.

Til next time,

Rich