This week NASA and SpaceX came together to finally launch astronauts to space on the first crewed mission as part of the Commercial Crew Program. The United States has not launched its own astronauts to space on its own rockets since the final Shuttle launch in 2011, making this launch not only historic, but marking it as a new era of human spaceflight where private companies are involved.

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken made their way to orbit, and then the International Space Station onboard a Falcon 9 rocket from private space company, SpaceX. Their spacecraft, named Crew Dragon Endeavour by the pair, will be tested and monitored as part of the Demo flight.

SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour at liftoff! Photo Credit: Michael Galindo/ Cosmic Chicago

The first launch attempt was scrubbed due to the weather, the mission lifted off on Saturday, May 30th at 2:22 pm CDT from Kennedy Space Center, NASA’s historic launch site in Florida.

After a positive weather review early in the day, the crew began preparing for flight, repeating the exact same routine they ran through on Wednesday. The launch countdown carried on, through the morning and early afternoon, without any technical issues. Rain and clouds moved through the area, but the improvement of weather conditions and the absence of lightning led to a go for weather conditions and the launch proceeded on schedule. 

Off into the wild blue yonder! SpaceX Crew Dragon is on it’s way to space. Photo Credit: Michael Galindo/ Cosmic Chicago

Both the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Endeavour performed as expected through each stage of launch on its ascent into orbit. Once in orbit the crew coasted for 19 hours to reach the International Space Station.

NASA Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley pilot Crew Dragon Endeavor to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: NASA

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program was created in 2011, just before the final Shuttle Orbiter, Atlantis, launched from from the very same spot- Launch Pad 39A. As part of the program, both SpaceX and Boeing are working with NASA to create vehicles and launch systems capable of launching crew to the International Space Station.

SpaceX beat Boeing to the launchpad with Crew Dragon Endeavour preforming the company’s demonstration flight with a crew and a trip to Station for a yet to be determined amount of time.

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Recently, I experience a major change in my COVID-19/caregiving lifestyle: I was hired for remote work. Job seeking during the pandemic has been challenging, but the transition back into remote working has been much easier than I would expect. My experience freelancing and caregiving helped me develop my skills, but my transition into remote work helped me learn five key lessons:

1. LinkedIn is A Very Powerful Professional Development Tool – Although many people use LinkedIn as a professional networking tool, it has also been a great tool for professional development. By researching companies and organizations, pursuing leads (which led me to my current situation), and catching up on professional news helped me stay current. In talking with other writers on Facebook (I am also a New Pulp author, many of my colleagues wondered why they were still on LinkedIn. I believe that any social media channel works as long as you regularly engage. LinkedIn has always been a powerful tool for me, even now while I’m homebound. Speaking of networking…
2. Networking And Professional Development Still Matters – Much of my time spent in lockdown was not only spend caring for my mother but also networking via a variety of channels. Thanks to Eventbrite’s search, I found many networking events and training via Zoom. Engaging with my peers via Twitter and Facebook helped me stay connected. Taking advantage of free classes and training from organizations like Free Code Camp and General Assembly, provided new skill sets to bring to the table.
3. Doing Small-Scale Work to Keep Your Skills Sharp Is Not a Bad Thing: During the lockdown, even though this blog was minimal except for the occasional story (like this recent post about ChicagoMutualAid.net), I managed to find some small-scale, low-paying digital research/remote work positions. Sites like Remotive.io and We Work Remotely were invaluable in providing some great leads. (It also helped that I had worked as a contractor with Cultivate Now, who consults around remote work issues. However, some remote work situations aren’t that positive, and my next lesson was…
4. Know When To Leave A Situation That Doesn’t Work For You – Perfect example: I had been hired by a company that was looking for “academic writers”. Given my background, I thought it meant either proofing academic papers or research journal articles. Their payment scheme was unusual (you had to wait a period after completing a piece), but I thought it would be fine. It turned out…I was doing other people’s homework. People would submit money to this site and have people write their papers, do other homework assignments, etc. After working for a few weeks and having my pay withheld because my work didn’t mean their standards (although it meant the clients), I realized there was no way to win…but I had some payback with both a strongly worded Glassdoor review and better-paying work from reputable companies from that point forward. And finally…
5. Taking Small Steps Lead to Big Rewards – During my time of inactivity, I made the effort to engage in small, positive changes getting new business cards, renewing domains, turning over some small scale volunteer efforts. Although I don’t think there is a one-to-one-correlation, taking care of smaller, less important tasks allowed me to prepare mentally for remote work. Feeling ready in the short term helped me feel more confident. That confidence helped me through several job interviews which led to my current work situation

Finding any work in current times is challenging; finding and starting new work is an exceptional accomplishment. I refuse to take my new situation for granted, but with more employers relying on remote work and remote workers, I think I managed to hit the curve at the right time.

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For some reason, unbeknownst to me, The Killers’ third single, from their upcoming sixth studio album, was NOT in my Release Radar.

Imploding the Mirage is due out on Island Records in 2020, and both singles they’ve released so far to promote this record have sounded elegant.

As a matter of fact, “Caution” might be one of the best singles released this year, and has had me patiently awaiting the complete release.

In the interim, hit up Spotify for three new remixes of this song to keep you entertained. I especially love this fingerpicked remix by Madism.

“My Own Soul’s Warning” again finds Brandon Flowers singing to the heavens, questioning divine intervention. He’s a great storyteller, and his voice is maturing, sweetly, as he grows. There’s a bit of Springsteen in this aging rocker that he can’t shake and for good reason. It’s classic Killers with all the trimmings.

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Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city

Summertime in Chicago. The lake front. Outdoor concerts. Baseball. Al fresco dining. It’s the reason so many of us still live here. It’s the reason so many of us put up with winter. Three or four great months make up for eight or nine of crap!

But the summer of 2020 has been like the rest of the year…a total shitshow! All the things I mentioned above have been cancelled….like everything else. The coronavirus pandemic doesn’t care that it’s summer. With the weather turning, it’s been hard to keep people inside their homes. Everyone has the itch to get outside. They want to take advantage of the nicer weather. The problem is a lot of them aren’t doing it safely.

Last night I decided to take a walk in my neighborhood. That’s normal behavior for me. I do it two or three times each day. I’m very careful about this. I do everything possible to avoid getting too close to anyone. If I see someone walking towards me, I usually head to the opposite side of the street. Safety first! I’m heading into the home stretch of my walk when I see this line. It goes on for close to two city blocks. It took me only a few seconds to figure out what they were waiting for.

Ice Cream!

There’s an ice cream shop about a half block from my home. It’s not really ice cream, it’s frozen custard…and it’s good….really good! The question is is it good enough to engage in risky behavior during a pandemic?

If you look at closely at the above photo, you’ll notice two things:
The spacing is pretty good. It’s not perfect, but not bad social distancing.
Only half the people are wearing masks.

C’mon!!! If you’re going to take a risk for something like ice cream, at least protect yourself and others by wearing a mask!

I like ice cream as much as the next guy…probably even more. But ice cream will be around next summer and the summers afterwards. If you aren’t careful, you might not be.

And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity
That the days can’t be like the nights
In the summer, in the city
In the summer, in the citycs

* Song lyrics are from “Summer In The City”, by the Lovin’ Spoonful

Related Post: Three months into a coronavirus pandemic and you still aren’t wearing a mask?

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I’m no spring chicken. And I’ve had a pretty nice life up until now. No big complaints. Lots of happy, loving, fun moments with wonderful friends and family, loads of laughs, great meals and some nice successes, including being nominated recently for a Charles Lisagor award for my blog. It felt good to be recognized (like an Oscar nomination) even if I didn’t win.

Bur in the total scheme or things, it didn’t pack as much of a wallop as it would have had at one time. That’s because I was suffering from extreme anxiety.

At one time I dreamt of going  to the Lisagor dinner and hobnobbing with those whom I admire in the field of journalism. But that dinner didn’t happen because of Covid.

Covid has given a lot of people anxiety. No fault of their own. So many aspects of it fill people with fear and uncertainty.

I had been someone who never understood why people took anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medicines. But actually, anti-depressants use soared 65% between 1999 and 2014. And I know a ton of people who take them regularly and do very well on them.  What’s more anti-anxiety meds have jumped 34% since the start of the pandemic. It’s not surprising. I understand now. I understand too well.

Covid has added much to be level of my own anxiety. Seeing all the workers in my local Ace Hardware with their masks below their noses today certainly didn’t help. How will we ever conquer this God-awful thing if people don’t follow the rules?

But, for me,  Covid is is not the main cause of my anxiety although it certainly adds to it. See, things have changed in my life, and out of respect and love for another, I can not discuss it here. At least right now. Sorry about the tease.

For me, my symptoms include: insomnia, heart palpations, worrying about things huge and teeny tiny, overwhelming sadness and all-encompassing fear like I’ve never felt in my life that blocks me from accomplishing things.

I hesitated to write this sort of confession, admitting my own failures. Facebook is a permanent record, after all. But I’m trying to get a hold on this thing through the right channels- therapy and medicine. Hopefully, I will even if I don’t see a path clearly right now. And if I can help one other person, then maybe it’s worth my exposure.

Be kind, folks. Today it’s me. Tomorrow it might be you.  You never know what another person is going though.