T -1 and Counting

A Little Space Lingo

I was a big space launch buff in the 1960s.  Since my step-father was in the Marine Corps and all of the original 7 astronauts were military pilots the space program was "hallowed ground" in our home.  Alan Shepherd (the first of the Original 7 Astronauts to launch) was in the Navy and John Glenn (the 3rd of the original 7 Astronauts and the first to orbit the earth) was in the Marine Corps.  So every time there was a launch from the first Mercury sub-orbital flight to the landing on the moon - I was allowed to stay home and watch the television coverage.

I remember the countdown: T-2 hours; T-26 minutes and holding; etc.  I didn't know for the longest time what the "T minus" lingo meant.  Finally it dawned on me that "T" meant "Take-off."  So AFTER the Takeoff was Takeoff + 1 minute; 2 minutes; 4 hours, etc.  That only thing left "T minus" to be the time BEFORE the takeoff.  Since time was being counted DOWN to the time of takeoff it was T MINUS 10, 9, 8, 7 etc.

All of that to say that we are at T minus 1 and counting before we leave Florida.  Today I went to the Eye Doctor to see if (MEDICAL ALERT; MEDICAL ALERT) I needed an injection into my eye to reduce the swelling around my retina.  They always give me an eye check first.  This morning I did really well at the eye exam.  I was 20/20 even in my bad eye.  Bottom Line - NO SHOT IN THE EYE!  This means the day was off to a wonderful start and one of the 3 things that still had to be accomplished before heading West was completed.  Thank you, my God.

Next it was a call to Ford to find out if they had sent our Florida Title Application sent to the Florida BMV.  They said they had mailed to yesterday 2nd day UPS and gave us the tracking number.  I checked it expecting it to be there TOMORROW since that would be the 2nd day.  LOOK!!!! IT'S ALREADY DELIVERED (We are on a roll here people!).

Since I had my eyes super-dilated for my testing this morning, Irene went over to the Tax and Tags office but was told we both needed to be there, so she came home and got me.  After about 45 minutes of paperwork, etc. we had a Brand, Spanking New "In God We Trust" Florida License plate in our hand and were headed back to the rig to get it put onto our Ford Flex.  DING - Second of 3 items completed.

So, now we are at "T - 1" and counting.  The only thing we still have to do is head over to St. Brendan's Isle Mail Forwarding Service tomorrow afternoon to pick up our mail on the way out of state.  We will be leaving Saturday or Sunday after church - it just depends on when we have to check out. - Posted by Jim