Happy Birthday, Dad!
Tuesday 04/05/2005 11:16 AM
 Just outside the abandoned graveyard at The Greenway, I saw this and thought of my father. (2005) File Under: Abandoned Graveyard at The Greenway; Cemeteries; Dad; Greenway, The; I Took This Photo! |
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When Sheriff and I were wandering up to where the two of us had found the abandoned graveyard with Grandma, I spied something familiar.
With my dad being a land surveyor most of his professional life, I instantly recognized that pink flagging tape draped over the fence in an almost geometric pattern.
With my dad turning 60-some-odd years old today, let me talk about him a bit.
When I was just a twinkle in his eye, my father worked on the first sateillite-based measurement of the earth. Your Link of the Day (below, NOW UPDATED - old link: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/geodesy/geind1.htm) connects you to a photo gallery of images from that massive project. I'm pretty sure my dad's picture is in there somewhere, but I couldn't find it off-hand (Dad, Shannon, help me out here). I did recognize the name George Cole as someone my dad worked with.
So here's the super-short version of my dad's professional life:
- Learned how to measure stuff.
- Worked on satellite triangulation project and travelled the world (Greenland, Germany, Mexico, etc.).
- Worked in Alaska, out of Point Barrow (one of the northern-most civilized points on Earth).
- Worked in southern Alaska when we lived in Ketchikan.
- Worked in Florida for the Department of Natural Resources and tramped all around the state.
- Worked in Orlando for a private firm.
- Entered semi-retirement for a year or so (his hobo days).
- Took a job at Fermilab (still there).
Here's an article about the Alignment Group at Fermilab — it'll tell you a little bit about what my dad does now. My dad is the third guy from the right in the picture.
I could write all day about my dad (baking bread, hunting, driving in the car singing "Here Deer"), but I'll leave you with this last little story.
This ScienceDaily article explains one of the experiments my dad has been working on for what seems like forever. Basically, they're gonna shoot a beam of neutrinos through the earth at a target in Minnesota about 450 miles away.
Back in February, I got this message from my dad:
Rumor has it we are going to take our first shot at Minnesota today... I guess we will find out if I really do know my astronomy... I directed the field work and then reduced the polaris observations for the final check of the azimuth of the beam line. They are having some problems in the control room getting the beam up. That is the latest update.
Is that cool or what? It's neat having a smart dad.
Love ya, Dad. Have a happy birthday. And I'll get that present out to you real soon.
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