Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

photo / Tuesday — Comments Off
27
Aug 19

Here’s a thing

You’ve got your mirrors. And you’ve got your planes. And, in retrospect, putting the two together was a big idea. Maybe no one figured on putting one on the side of the fuselage. I suppose it was an aero thing. And there’s not a rearview mirror because you can’t see out of the back of the plane.

Why, yes, we’re still nursing our way through pictures from last week. Why not? There’s good stuff here! How often do you get to see the lights on the landing gear of a 757?

I like the access panels. I don’t know why. They’re not really any different than an electrical outlet cover, or the gas door on my car. Maybe it is the writing:

How do they move the cargo off the planes? With the help of a lot of tiny, tiny wheels. Rust optional:

The next time I get a squished box, I’ll have to keep this in mind. They really do put a lot into these cargo containers:

They look like this, those containers. Their exterior shape is dependent upon where it is designed to go inside the plane. No space is wasted.

It’s interesting. You think your package is late or lost and wonder how that could be. How could they get this wrong? Why not do this one thing this other way, which corresponds with the idea I just came up with? And then you go to a distribution node, see a tiny slice of the operations working on one plane for a few minutes at one of the dozen or so hubs around the world and you realize: you really don’t know anything about this. It’s a modern miracle that it works so frequently. It’s amazing your things can cover such great distances in such a short time. We live in amazing, squished box times.

adventures / Monday / photo — Comments Off
26
Aug 19

The new photo game

As I mentioned last week, The Yankee and I invented a new game. We take photos of nonsensical things for arcane reasons. The game is made up and the points don’t matter, but we had a good time with it. She won this first round, but only barely. Here are a few of my efforts. Remember, friends, I am a professional.

Cream and cream:

I was accused of staging this photograph, but that was before we had rules about staging our shots. (I totally staged that shot.)

I think this one speaks for itself:

From the utilitarian nihilism of the postal system and boxes in general, to the practicality of asphalt paint:

And then of course there’s Max, the standee. I thought this was a great submission in the game at the time, but this game can change on you in a hurry. That’s what Max taught me:

Wouldn’t it be a shame if I lost this game on the Max shot? This game needs rules. That’s what I’ve learned today. Give me rules and a camera and I can put out a good effort. Without that, though, these pictures are just going to get interesting eventually. I am a professional.

adventures / Friday / music / video — Comments Off
23
Aug 19

Rockin’ on

Today was a delightful and light day. We drove down to one of the family haunts yesterday for the weekend’s festivities. My sister-friend, my friend-sister Elisabeth — we need a term for someone you meet under the oddest of circumstances who decides to keep you for so many years, and who wants you to them around too — and her husband flew in the other day. People have come in from all over, really.

I had a phone call and a teleconference, which isn’t too bad for a day you take off from work, I guess. They happened at virtually the same time, so, really, you could call it multitasking, which is pretty great for an off day.

I did get to sleep in, which is excellent. And there was a late breakfast, a brunch, really, if we need to be specific. And we should be as specific as possible in as many places as possible. We had dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. I hear it is merely OK, but I enjoyed my fajita enchilada. Probably it was the cheese.

We went to listen to some music after dinner. Dueling pianos don’t get enough credit for their easy entertainment potential.

The personality and the enthusiasm was more important than the soaring solos. There were, I counted, six different performers, and they all just cycled through the full array of instruments they had on stage: two pianos, a handful of different guitar set ups, a small drum kit. And they were a pretty talented bunch. It was nice because two or three of them would play, and the others went … elsewhere … and then they would one at a time rotate off. They didn’t take any set breaks. There wasn’t a lot of inane chatter. They just played covers and everyone there enjoyed themselves pretty well. The lady singing at the beginning of the clip might have been the best performer of the bunch. Sadly the audio of her singing didn’t carry over as well as it should. They were taking requests, as they do in a dueling piano setup, and I tried thinking up the most ridiculous songs I could challenge them with, figuring, They must get bored playing the same tunes every show.

They played four of them: Country Roads, Enter Sandman and the like. It was a nice evening, which is especially great for a day off.

adventures / family / Thursday / video — Comments Off
22
Aug 19

The silver eagle has landed

We had a little family thing today. My stepfather ended his career as a commercial pilot, these last 31 years flying with UPS. They let his family and friends come onto the tarmac on one of their terminals to watch his last landing. Here’s a bit of video:

He flew in from Seattle. His son, who is also a pilot and presently in training to join the UPS fleet, was able to ride the jump seat with his dad. How neat and unique an experience for the both of them. He taught his son to fly and one day he’ll perhaps be covering the same sky routes. The rest of us had a great view for the touch down and the ceremonial fire truck action. Rick walked down the steps from the cockpit, did his last ever inspection and saw his many friends and family who had gathered to celebrate with him. He had family who flew in from Texas. Retired former colleagues came from all over. There was a professional photographer to capture the wonderful little moment. Meanwhile, UPS was trying to get the plane ready for its next flight. They don’t sit still for very long.

Some of us got to go up and take a quick picture with him in the cockpit. This is a quick one, though I’m promised a few more.

It was a wonderful treat, one of those moments that you instantly know will become a keepsake.

There was also a little ceremony in the UPS offices, where the management folks and his many professional friends were able to say a few lovely things. Rick got to speak last, of course. There were many kind memories and laughter and tears and even a song or two shared. All of the people that had gathered to see him off were saying happy and wonderful things about the man. He was humbled and proud of the turnout and the sentiment. He kept thanking people for coming and they kept saying “Of course we’d be here.” I always think, in moments like that, “Where else would I be? It is a privilege to be a part of this,” which is no kind of answer to people who are pleased to see you in their moment. But that’s the emotion of the moment.

And it is a big moment for him, of course. He’d still fly if they let him, but federal laws are things big companies sometimes follow. He will still fly, but now only privately.

In between elements of the day’s festivities The Yankee and I invented a new game. We’re now taking photos of the most arcane things possible. The game is made up and the points don’t matter, but we had a good time with it. She won, but only barely. I’ll share a few of mine in a few days.

friends / IU / journalism / memories / photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
21
Aug 19

Dateline Springs Valley

Classes start on Monday, but I’m out of the office for the rest of the week. So it was fortuitous that a former student stopped by just before quitting time this afternoon. And I was so pleased he thought to do so. He’s a newspaper man, now, and he wanted to give me his first edition.

The paperwork hasn’t even cleared and he’s already got seven bylines and a handful of photographs in his first paper.

Auston started in television, became an anchor and a talk show guest and worked his way up to being the sports director for the campus station. He was simultaneously driving up to Indianapolis and interning at one of the stations while working on his senior year classes. Somewhere along the way he decided he’d like to try his hand at print. Maybe it was one he was podcasting, or writing for one of the local sports websites. (Students can do so much these days, and the smart ones, like Auston, do all they can.

Anyway, now he’s a freshly graduated student and will become the new sports editor of one of the nearby weekly newspapers and cover two schools in a way that they deserve to be covered, a way that only dedicated weeklies can cover them. It’s going to be a great job for him, a fair launching pad to a promising young career. I couldn’t be more excited for him.

Not too long ago I learned that another former student, Sydney, who has run about five newspapers and won more awards than she can hang on an office wall, is moving up in her career into the world of book publishing.

It is wonderful when former students keep in touch and let you know how things are progressing for them. Some time back I created a map to chart everyone’s moves. Students, when they leave campus, can become mysteries or colleagues, but when you are lucky they come to think of you as a friend. I prefer that idea. Classes begin Monday, and they’ll end whenever the calendar tells us to wrap it up, but the friendships can be lasting.