The Big Green House

Tuesday, August 05, 2003

 
Hi-

I�m writing from home today, as the computer at work was down last night. Well, not �down� so much as �missing�. Apparently someone over the weekend spilt a drink down the back of the CPU and caused a few problems there. IT said they�d have it back to us last night, but such was not the case. I really hope that they can get it back to us as intact as possible, since I have a couple of projects on that particular box which, of course, are not backed up. (They�re work-related but not �official�, so they don�t rate a backup.)

So, where were we? Oh yeah, the Blue Angels. Well, for reasons that I�m not gonna get into here (mainly because I�m not entirely sure what they were), we ended up staying in town all weekend. Here at The Big Green House, we�re far enough away from Lake Washington that the jet noise was only a minor irritation. Things at Science Manor were something else again; Science Girl endured both �performances� flying directly overhead.

I�ve seen various references to the Blue Angels as being thrilling, exciting, etc. Those people obviously don�t live under the flight path. I�d like to add �terrifying�, �unsettling� and �nerve-wracking� to that list.

If you�ve never experienced such a thing, I don�t know that I can really explain what it�s like. Since I do feel a certain obligation to give it a shot, here�s what I came up with; imagine yourself inside a 55-gallon steel barrel. Now imagine that everyone you�ve ever met is simultaneously hitting the barrel with ten-pound sledgehammers. Now, multiply that by a factor of five. This continues, at random intervals, for 45 minutes.

That�s a really weak simile but it�s the best I could do, I�m afraid. My other choice began with �imagine your head being turned inside-out, against your will�. I will add that the one time they buzzed the freeway a few years ago while I was stuck in traffic, I literally wanted to pull off my own ears. I know that I�m occasionally given to hyperbole, but trust me when I say that that is no exaggeration.

Science Girl said that the worst part was hearing this incredible noise coming at directly at her, sounding just exactly like the noise she�d imagine a crashing airplane would make � but because the jets were probably traveling somewhere in the neighborhood of .5 to .75 mach, she couldn�t tell which direction it was coming from. If she�d been able to go outside and see that the planes were not going to hit the house, it might have been bearable; of course, it was too loud to do so.

A friend of SG�s said that at one point it looked as if the planes were going to fly directly into a multi-story nursing home, only to swerve off at the last second. Think about that for a moment. What must that have been like for the folks living there? And while we�re putting ourselves in the shoes of others, let�s not forget the rather sizeable contingent of people who moved here from Southeast Asia. Do you think they might harbor some unhappy memories about their homes being buzzed by a squadron of F-16�s?

Saturday�s Seattle Times almost addressed the problem, but in typical Times fashion they managed to miss the point altogether. People who hate Seafair never mention the hydros. I think that that�s mostly because it�s pretty easy to ignore them if you choose to do so. Five naval jets bearing down on your home and loved ones at an altitude of maybe 500 feet is pretty hard to ignore.

Okay, Mr. Tear Everything Down, how about doing a little building up for a change?

Sure. This is Seafair we�re talking about, not Airfair, right? The obvious answer would be to move the whole shootin� match about twenty miles out to sea. Those interested in watching the proceedings could take their boats out there, and those without boats could catch a ride with one of the numerous cruise ship operators in the area, who, I�m sure, would be glad to separate the rubes from their cash offer their services to the Seafair public. Meanwhile, those of us with no interest in such things would be free to go about our lives unmolested by military aircraft noise and the threat of fiery death.

Win/win, baby.



bmarkey 8/05/2003 12:21:00 PM