Science!

Today Bill & I visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories at Cal Tech, which are, incidentally, not at Cal Tech.

It looked a lot like the set of Real Genius, but I didn't see Val Kilmer. When we toured various labs and saw things that were more or less like lazers, I kept thinking, gosh, how come all scientific equipment looks just exactly the same as it did in 80's movies. Suffice it to say, some of the exhibits were a bit beyond my Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry comprehension level.

However, we did get a fair amount of free stuff-- namely stickers, bookmarks and even a notebook!

Also, I will note that NASA sprung for the deluxe port-a-potties. Literally, the word "Royale" was emblazoned on the side. I mean, the port-a-potties were larger than high school classroom trailers that fill the playgrounds of the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District, for my non-resident readers). Let it be known that I would prefer my tax dollars go to classrooms, not deluxe lavatories.

Finally, the labs are located in the city of La Cañada Flintridge, a lovely part of Los Angeles I had never visited before and indeed, assumed to be La Canada as many listings omit the tilde. So I'm glad I visited, saw the "Welcome to La Cañada Flintridge: Home of the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory" signs, noted the en-yay (!), and remembered to look up the correct pronunciation (la can-yadda) upon my return home.