Here are a couple arial view photos of Baghdad and one of a palace in Iraq.
Arial View of Baghdad, Iraq
Here are a couple arial view photos of Baghdad and one of a palace in Iraq.
This is a pamphlet I picked up at the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) museum when I was in Okinawa, Japan. This pamphlet is about the Communications and Broadcasting Engineering Test Satellite (COMET) satellite.
Click here to download PDF file of the NASDA H-IIA Launch Vehicle
So this is actually really cool. Around 1999 or 2000 I was in Okinawa, Japan and between Okinawa City and Nago there is a National Space Development Agency of Japan site that has some huge antenna dishes. I stopped to check them out and there is a small museum that has some information pamphlets like this one. The site tracks 13 weather satellites that are in orbit. I picked up this pamphlet and kept it all these years, but I didn’t realize I had it until I was cleaning out a box in the garage and I found the pamphlet still in great condition after all this time. The last I heard this agency is no longer called NASDA and now they have changed their name to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), but the experience was very cool and it is awesome that I found this information after 19 years.

Please say some stupid things and a Washington D.C. Ticket Agent shares some of the things they have heard.
1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)
2. I got a call from a Kansas Congressman’s (Moore) staffer (Howard Bauleke), who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me with, ”I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts ….”
Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ”Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Capetown is in Africa ”
his response — click.
3. A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that’s not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.
He replied, ‘don’t lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!” (OMG)
4. I got a call from a lawmaker’s wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ”Is it possible to see England from Canada ?”
I said, ”No.”
She said, ”But they look so close on the map.” (OMG, again!)
5. An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas . I pulled up the reservation and noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas . When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ”I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.” (Aghhhh)
6. An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.
I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn’t understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.
7. A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ”Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?” I said, ‘No, why do you ask?’
He replied, ”Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I’m overweight. I think that’s very rude!”
After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , Ca. is (FAT – Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on his luggage.
8. A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info, she asked, ”Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii ?”
9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright from Ala who asked, ”How do I know which plane to get on?”
I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ”I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have that number on them.”
10. Senator Dianne Feinstein called and said, ”I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola , Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?”
I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola , FL on a commuter plane.
She said, ”Yeah, whatever, smarty!”
11. Mary Landrieu , La. Senator called and had a question about the documents she needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa. ‘Oh, no I don’t. I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.”
I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told her this she said, ”Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!”
12. A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations, ”I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .”
I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ”Are you sure that’s the name of the town?”
‘Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the man.
After some searching, I came back with, ”I’m sorry, sir, I’ve looked up every airport code in the country and can’t find a rhino anywhere.”
”The man retorted, ”Oh, don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!”
So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ”You don’t mean Buffalo , do you?”
The reply? ”Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.”

Some people say that California is a beautiful state. Apparently they haven’t been anywhere else. Southern California is dry desert that has been sun baked. If you think desert is beautiful, then this is the right place for you. Things don’t really start getting green until you are near San Francisco heading north. If you see green anywhere else it is because it has been watered, most likely with sewage water.

California is full of interesting people. Here is one instance of a person who was walking down the beach and then for no apparent reason stopped and started doing a headstand. He stayed in that position for at least 15 minutes. Then he took a paddle board out into the ocean and started doing a headstand on the paddle board. Maybe this is some new kind of fitness program.

While in Las Vegas, Nevada I went to check out the Pawn Stars shop and right across the street were some pretty nice murals. The paintings showed Las Vegas Route 66, The Beatles, the Sands, The Dunes and the Flamingo. I thought it looked pretty cool and since someone went through all the trouble to pain it I took a photo.