Alphabe-Thursday...The Letter O as in OUTAGE, etc.

This week seemed to fly by and already it's time for another Alphabe-Thursday. This week we are studying the letter N. Head on over to our teacher's blog at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" for a list of this week's participants.


The first O world that came to mind was OUTAGE as in the massive power OUTAGE after Hurricane Ike in September 2008. What was very humbling to me is how all the out of state power companies came rushing to our aid. I know they all have agreements with one another to help out in massive OUTAGES, but still they came and stayed for weeks afterwards restoring power in the blistering heat. In our town Pike Electric Company of Mt. Airy, North Carolina came. I will be forever grateful to them for leaving their homes and families and restoring our power. Actually, we can live without lights, but living without A/C here is no fun!

Then I thought of OK and specifically A-OK. I vividly remember Shorty Powers telling us during NASA's Project Mercury Program that "everything was A-OK," instead of just plain OK. It was always reassuring to hear his voice speak that phrase. Lt. Colonel John A "Shorty" Powers was a public affairs OFFICER for NASA and was considered the "Voice of Mission Control." He is credited with ORIGINATING the word A-OK. In doing a little research I discovered different definitions for A-OK, but I tend to agree with the "All is OK" theory. It makes the most sense to me. Sadly, everything apparently wasn't A-OK with Mr. Powers' life when he died of chronic alcoholism in the 1980's.

OVER came to mind too. Like the Caisson Song's words:

OVER hill, OVER dale, we have hit the dusty trail,
and our caissons going rolling along...

(Scroll down here for the rest of the words.)

I've always liked that catchy tune.








Then the kids thought about their OLD, OVERWEIGHT Grandma and what they could do to help her. It was decided that she should immediately begin an exercise program with lots of encouragement from them. "OH boy, let's start moving Granny!"


Class dismissed to visit other student blogs!

ALPHABE THURSDAY - "H" as in the first word spoken on the moon

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are working on the letter H.

Do you know the first word spoken on the moon? The answer is a little controversial, but many believe the word HOUSTON was the first word actually spoken from the moon's surface on July 20, 1969 during the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Mission. Neil Armstrong said, "HOUSTON, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Prior to that there were some exchanges regarding probes making contact with the surface first and the engine being shut down. Some say they were on the moon at that point, but you can decide for yourself by listening to the audio on You Tube. You don't have to listen to the whole thing which is 9 minutes and 39 seconds long. I've made it easy for you. Just pick up the audio at 5 minutes and 09 seconds.




Who can forget the words uttered by Jim Lovell during the ill fated Apollo 13 Mission,"HOUSTON, we have a problem." Another controversy here. It's actually, "HOUSTON we've had a problem," but most people believe it's "HOUSTON we have a problem." Who cares? The important thing is that the first word of the sentence was HOUSTON which begins with the letter "H." Even if you're not old enough to remember the actual event you've probably seen the movie Apollo 13. The actual audio of this event is also on You Tube. Again, you don't have to listen to the entire thing. You can pick up just these words 35 seconds into the audio.




"H" is for HOUSTON home of the Johnson Space Center and Space Center HOUSTON.

"Mrs. Matlock, I'm finished with my report. May I be excused now?"