Echo

Food porn.

I’m a lavender junkie. There’s a theory that I moved to Seattle because it’s the only city where lavender ice cream is readily available. When I was driving to La Push last week, I drove through this area known for lavender farms. They have an annual festival in July, when the lavender is in bloom. I don’t know if I’ll still be in Seattle in July, but I would definitely be up for a trip to the festival, especially when a woman in a store devoted to lavender told me the farms all offer lavender-themed foods during the festival, including various versions of lavender ice cream. Various versions??? I’d never felt so girly. I messaged Rie and she’s up for taking a trip to the festival in July. It would probably only be a day trip, but we would be able to hang out in Seattle the rest of the time.

Last year, when Rie and Eric were still living in a house in Lodi, Eric had grown some lavender in his garden and said there was so much they didn’t know what to do with it. I asked them if I could have some because I wanted to experiment with making lavender ice cream, but I never went to pick any up before they moved. I would love to get some ideas. In the meantime, when I get back to California and can work out of a more equipped kitchen, I want to make lavender-lemon cupcakes.

Missile Silo Research Synopsis

In the 1960’s, the US government constructed the largest and most complex weapon system to date for the purpose of intercontinental missile defense. The project, the WS-107A-2, also called the Titan I Weapon System for development surrounding the Titan I missile, involved over 2200 defense and civil contractors, and employed thousands of people to maintain. Concurrently, the government developed a second weapons system, the Atlas ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), for the Atlas series of missiles, to allow for a backup system should one system fail.

Located in various key and strategic areas around the US (ie Washington, California, South Dakota, Idaho, and Colorado), the missile complexes, or missile silos, were practically underground cities, built to support crew and operations necessary to provide a pre-emptive or retaliatory strike in the face of a nuclear war.

It was with the fourth version of the Atlas ICBM (Atlas-F) and the Titan I that the missiles were stored vertically in underground silos. With this basing system, weapons could not be launched from within the silo; they had to be fueled in the silo then raised for the surface for launch. Later, with the introduction of the Soviet UR-100 and the Titan II missiles series, fuel was stored within the missiles allowing them to be launched from the silos.

Launch Facility (LF) configurations varied by missile system, with the Titan II’s based in a launch facility connected through tunnels to the launch control center (LCC). The launch control center was where the missile combat crew could monitor the complex, launch the missile or rest in the living quarters. They were underground structures constructed of reinforced concrete and steel sufficient to withstand a weapons attack. The Titan II launch control centers were housed in three-story domes. The first level contained the crew’s living quarters with kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. The second level contained the main launch console, as well as an alternate launch console and the control monitor group which monitored the missile. The lowest level contained the communications equipment, battery backups, motor generator and other key equipment. The more updated blast-proof Minuteman facilities were cylindrical shaped with hemispherical ends and walls approximately 4.5 ft thick, suspended like a pendulum by four shock isolators. A vertical access shaft led into a tunnel juncture, and the LCC could be accessed through a blast door. In the event of an attack that damaged the vertical shaft, a 3-ft in diameter escape hatch was built into the far end of the LCC leading to an escape tunnel.

The missile combat crews were supplied by the US Air Force, and Strategic Air Command mandated a “two-man rule” designed to prevent accidental or malicious launch of weapons by a single individual. In the Titan II system, the LCC generally had four crew members—the Missile Combat Crew Commander (MCCC), the Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander (DMCCC), the Ballistic Missile Analyst Technician (BMAT), and the Missile Facilities Technician (MFT).

In the case of the Minuteman missile, the only currently ICBM active in the US, several things must be in place in order to launch the missiles. First, the missile must be at full alert status, with no safing devices installed, have a correctly programmed computer, and the on board launch code verification devices must be correctly coded. Any one of several commands, from any of the networked launch control centers in the same squadron of 50 missiles, can change one of these factors, and make a launch impossible. The President, or his surviving replacement, must release the launch codes, also known as the Universal Unlock Code. They must then be transmitted by the NCA in an Emergency War Order (EWO) message, and authenticated by the launch crews. Both operators must agree that the launch order is valid by comparing the authorization code in the launch order against the code from the Sealed Authenticator, contained in a sealed envelope stored in a safe with two separate locks positioned in such a way that no single crew member can simultaneously turn the keys and open the safe alone.

Once authenticated, these codes must be manually entered into the proper devices at the LCC by the crew, and then they each must insert a key into a sealed switch unit, and turn the keys simultaneously to transmit a “launch vote”. For additional protection, the missile crew in another launch control center in the missile network must carry out the same authorization procedure and send out launch votes in order for the missiles to be launched. There is also a procedure for the “Single Survivor” situation in the event only one control center is available, though other conditions must be fulfilled for a successful launch. And again, any of the other LCC’s could stop the launch. For a conspiracy to take over control of a Minuteman launch, it would require several people in key military and government positions, all working in a concerted effort.

Sources:

http://www.chromehooves.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_control_center_%28ICBM%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_silo
http://www.afmissileers.org/

Lost the bid for the place on SF which is fine because there will be problems anyway with the retrograde. So still looking. Meanwhile, the retrograde takes its first casualty today. Broken water heater in my place in LA, floods downstairs neighbor. Can’t wait to get the bill.
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This is something that’s hard to write about.

To start off 2009, in the middle of a heated argument, I punched through a door. Bruce-Lee’d a 12×4 inch panel out into the hall with my fist. While my strength surprised me, it was not one of my prouder moments in life. I don’t know if I’ve ever admitted this incident before. It has been something that has quietly weighed on me, making me question my emotional decision-making, making me more cautious about letting people get close to me.

I don’t think I’m a violent person by nature. But it scares me that the potential of violence is in all of us. I am high-strung, high-energy, and underneath everything I’m very intense, but I’m also very conscious about not wanting to hurt others. One of my greatest problems has always been hurting myself, taking things out on myself when I don’t have an outlet. When my parents used to fight and my dad would take out his frustration on us, I would lock myself in a dark closet and bang my head against the wall, or sit out in the rain, because it made me angry that I wasn’t strong enough, that I could be so easily afraid. It was like people who self-mutilate. When you can control the pain, there’s a relief. But it’s not healthy.

I thought I had resolved so many childhood issues over the years, achieved wisdom and more emotional balance, learned how to recognize situations and circumstances where I could put myself to have the best chance of success, until last year, when I’d felt so utterly backed into a corner, I lost it. The action was a reflection of my insides. It was probably a giant cry for help.

After it happened, I went and took a cold shower to cool down. I was so angry and disappointed in myself for losing my cool. He came in and said if I wanted him to leave he would, and I said fine because his effect on me terrified me. He got mad that I was kicking him out. It happened at my parents house, and I’d called my dad crying, so he sent my mom home, who was a goddess that day. She talked us down with the diplomacy of someone trying to defuse a bomb, while my dad waited in the driveway outside, in case he became violent. She and I both had to listen while he told her how hard he tries to put up with me because of how much he loved me, and I sat there and agreed about how wrong I was, but was so angry that he thought this was a forum to trash talk me to my own mother. Who the fuck does that? But she and I had agreed; his flight was the next day and it was about calming the situation so we could get him on a plane the next morning without an ugly incident (ie being axe murdered in our sleep. My mom told me the next day that no one slept well because everyone was nervous about him freaking out, knowing I didn’t want to be with him). To be honest, my dad wanted him out of the house. My mom sent me to Rie’s house 2 and a half hours away, while he stayed at our house. When I got there, Rie gave me ice for my hand, and I broke down and cried.

It happens, she said. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. I threw a laptop once, and I kicked a hole in the wall when I was so furious at Eric.

It was nice of her to say, but it didn’t make what I did any less appalling. How could things have come to a place where I could lose control that way? What made me so unable to walk away, when the situation, the entire relationship, had no way of coming out successfully, that it could push me to such an act of frustration and self-destruction? I’m a very intelligent person. But my emotions, my belief in people that with enough effort, with enough desire, things can always turn out, had clouded my judgment. In hindsight, I can see it very clearly. Something between us was toxic.

His flight was the next day anyway, so things were patched by then, as they always are, but it was over. When I came back from dropping him off at the airport, my dad called me into his office at work.

“I understand you were the one who put a hole through the door,” he said. He wasn’t angry; he was almost whimsical. I think he knew how bad I’d felt. I think what’d happened had made him sad, too. I said that was correct, it was me, and he told me that it’s not like me to do things like that. That it’s not who I am. And that before things get to that point, I have to walk away. I started crying again, I was so ashamed, and he told me it was okay. But that at some point, I have to start making decisions in my life that consider the long-term, and considering that no guy I’ve ever brought home has worked out, that maybe I should consider people more seriously before I get serious, and that I have to learn better to judge whether or not a situation is good for me by how it makes me feel.

I don’t know how the hell I had justified it in my own head, that a relationship with someone who consistently lied about his past and whose idea of a warm and fuzzy marriage talk was, “Even though you’re a nightmare, I still want to marry you.” That makes me look like an idiot. The only thing I can think of is that I can be single-minded about not letting people down. It’s important to me to fulfill my promises. And I had promised him up front, that I would accept him unconditionally. I think there’s a point where you’re not judging, and then a point where you’ve just straight up lost the plot and are being irrational. With my good intentions, I’d delved into this relationship, wanting to see my intentions through until it became an irrational existence.

When I’d first moved to Seattle, I’d met an engineer and we got into a long, interesting conversation about life paths, etc. He asked me what happened in my last relationship, and I told him that it didn’t end well. That I’d met a guy who knew I believed in destiny, etc., and he worked really hard to make me believe that we were meant to be together, but even from the beginning I had my doubts. But it was flattering for a guy to want so badly to be with me, and I thought, why not explore, until it got so complicated and I felt so responsible for his happiness that it became very difficult to extricate myself. It ended disastrously.

“You know what this means, right?” he asked. “Next time, if you don’t want someone trying to fake being the one you want, don’t tell him up front what you’re looking for. Let him show you who he is and then you can decide if he fits.” It was sage advice from a stranger.

It took me a long time to get over everything. It took me a long time to trust myself again, that who I’d become in that relationship, all those things I’d felt near the end aren’t really me, even though there’s always the potential for it to be brought out. Human beings are not pretty under duress, but it’s a matter of never letting yourself get to that point, never letting yourself get trapped into a corner where it feels like life or death. I had to learn to discern situations and people beforehand, to trust my instincts regarding whether or not something was safe. If anything doesn’t feel right, I have to let it go, tread carefully.  This is probably why I don’t want to deal with dating anymore. I would rather get to know people under situations where intense emotions aren’t involved–as friends, as coworkers, as neighbors–for a good long time before I get involved with them in any way. My protectiveness of my freedom is heightened, my tolerance for anything that feels like manipulation or a trap is a hair trigger. I can feel good about myself again and navigate life confidently as long as my boundaries are strong and on my terms. But I would rather miss opportunities than allow me to lose myself that way again.

April is going to be a very busy month. Can I afford any surprises? Tonight I was at the store buying a jalapeno, an onion, and some half & half. This is my 3rd time buying half & half this week. The first time it went bad well before the expiration date, the 2nd time, it fell out of the bag and I left it in the car overnight. This time, I babied it and made sure it made it into the fridge, so now I can make coffee at home instead of making an excuse to go all the way to Capitol Hill. But this is a tangent.

I was standing in line when I saw the US Weekly cover. There was a picture of Ricky Martin and in bold all caps, “I’M GAY!”

I must have been giggling to myself because the guy behind me said, “Did you just laugh because of one of the magazines?” I turned around and it was this tall guy with brown hair wearing a baseball cap. He had a warm, brilliant smile. I felt the shyness closing in but I did keep enough composure to say, “Yeah, that Ricky Martin’s gay.”

He laughed. “Who would have ever guessed?”

“I know. I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I said.

I checked out, and as I was leaving, I turned and told him to have a good night. I smiled, putting enough juice into it to power up a third world country. I can not let these men with their big, beautiful smiles constantly turn me into a 6 year old inside. I have to brave through it, be an adult.

I suppressed the desire to run away. Walked calmly. Fumbled trying to stick the onion into my coat pocket. Dropped my keys. I’m a wreck.