LCROSS Space Probe Crashed into the Moon Just Like it Was Supposed to

I was getting ready for the day when I heard Diane Sawyer from Good Morning America say the probe from the LCROSS spacecraft was about to impact the surface of the moon.

I stopped what I was doing and sat down on the couch to watch this monumental occurance happen. They say the probe is supposed to tell us if there truely is water on the moon or not.

I sat there for several minutes watching the video they had watching the impact site. I have to say, I was sorely disappointed. There wasn’t any kind of explosion. We could not see anything. No explosion, no cloud of dust. I didn’t see anything. That might have been the fault of the camera people, but I never saw anything.

From what they said, the 2 impacts went smoothly, without a problem. Now we just have to wait for the scientists to go through the data.

Can This Resolution on Nuclear Disarmament by the UN Security Council Actually be a Good Thing?

This resolution makes me a bit nervous. Countries who are not very loving towards the US of A right now having nuclear weapons makes me a bit nervous. I don’t think there is going to be a good outcome to any of this right now.

I agree that other countries should not develop nuclear weapons. We as a people do not need to create more ways to destroy ourselves. But I also believe these same countries should have the right to defend themselves. Does that mean they will not use their new found power to attack the US? There is always the possibility.

My strongest worry is a Nuclear Prohibition. Every Prohibition created by the human race has ended badly. If we make it illegal to produce nuclear weapons, then these countries will just develop them underground. This will lead to Dirty Nukes. They will create something quick and easy, and the amount of security on these bombs will be miniscule. That means the possibility of our enemies acquiring a Dirty Nuke will be greater. That means we may be in more danger than ever before.

I am not advocating the UN’s decision. I’m not advocating Iran’s and North Korea’s determination to develop nuclear weapons. I am just stating the fact that we are going to see a lot of scary changes in the near future, and I am afraid there is no way around them.

Homemade Hydro Power

How to Grow Hydroponic Cucumbers – The Wick Method

May 3, 2007 – I set up the following contraption from things I had around the house. The first thing I did was take a cotton work glove and cut it at the finger joints making longer strips that will fit into the hole in the base of the pot.

I pushed each of the strips into a different hole in the bottom of the pot, making sure that each strip would reach the top of the pot.

This is what the inside of the pot should look like.

Next I found a bigger container that was capable of holding a decent amount of water. In this case I found a plastic shoe box. I drilled a one inch hole in the top.

I filled the pot with dirt, making sure that each of the cotton strips made their way to the top of the dirt in several different places. I also filled the shoebox with water and one of my favorite liquid fertilizers. I slid the bottom of the cotton glove through the hole I made in the top of the shoebox. Then placed the top of the shoebox on top of the base of the shoebox. I placed 4 seeds just under the dirt and gave them a small drink from the top.

May 11, 2007 – This is the results as of one week later. The plants are growing well. I did water the plants the first couple of days to help germinate the seeds. Bu now they are growing all on their own with the water in the shoebox.

May 18th, 2007 – I have completely quit supplementing water. It is thriving on the water in the shoebox.

May 26, 2007 – They are so much taller than the rest of the cucumbers that I have been watering daily in clay pots.

 June 2nd, 2007 – Some of the leaves started to aquire brown edges.  I am not sure what that means.  I am going to have to do some research to find out I think.

June 12th, 2007 – I have been told that my water/soil’s PH is off and that is why my leaves have brown edges. I have yet to do anything about it. I figure it is only going to get worse. I will do some research, implement it and report my findings.

Here is the latest Photo taken today. The vines have now over grown the sides of the pot and are growing along the ground. I moved the box off the hot concrete to it would not burn the plant. I hope this was the correct move. I also had to refil the container for the first time.

June 25th, 2007 – You can see the difference between the two plants. On the left is the hyro-cucumber. it is still fighting a PH problem, because I won’t take the time to pick up a PH test. Lazy me. I through a scoop of dirt into the shoebox when I filled it up this week. I don’t know if that will help. On the right is the plant that has been in a pot the entire time. It is catching up and is actually doing much better than the hydro.

July 9th, 2007 – The Hydro-Cucumber is still doing OK. It is a figher. Nope, I still have done nothing about the PH levels. The potted Cuke is doing great. In fact I have a nice sized cucumber growing on it right now. MY camer ran out of juice, so I will have to provide a picture of it at a later date.

July 15th, 2007 – They decided that they want to take over the yard.

I have picked my fist cucumbers this past week. This one makes 3.

I also noticed that the Hydro Cucumber plant has started to grow new leaves at its base. I guess it is trying to shade its roots. The grass around the cucumbers has gone wild. I will not cut it till I pull the plants at the end of the season. Should be interesting how tall it gets.

August 4th, 2007 – I have harvested 4 Cucumbers so far and there are about a half dozen more growing on the vines. I did have one that had one side under grown. That half tasted horrible. I may have picked it too soon.

August 13th, 2007 – The vine is almost a long as the patio. I wonder how big this thing would have gotten if I had taken care of it properly.

Here is a example pf the newest cucumbers. Aren’t they pretty?

September 2nd, 2007 – This plant has created a few really nice cucumbers and a few that didn’t taste all that good. So I went ahead and pulled it early. It took a little while to get the plant out of the grass that had grown up around it. I took it to the front yard and laid it out on the driveway just to see how long it really grew.

This is what the roots looked like inside the container. I think if I want to try this again nect year, I am going to have to use a bigger container to hold the hydro solution.

See You Next Year.