I wish there was something epic; something truly monumental that occurs in my lifetime. We need something positive, perhaps something “bigger than us” to work towards. From where I see it, we’re lacking in that department these days.

I was 6 at the time and my thirst for space exploration has never been quenched. During that time there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do. Now, our Congress can’t figure out how to pay for a pap smear.

I know I am getting long winded here and I apologize.

In 2007, my wife bought me Carl Sagan’s Cosmos on DVD. I watched the whole thing over one weekend. 30 years ago, Sagan had such high hopes and I cried like a child, realizing what we have lost as a country.

I am very bothered by the lack of education these days. The moon hoax crowd have been especially under my skin this week. Such willful ignorance is a symptom of the disrespect for college education these days. I remember when my parents worked their ass off to send me to an “Ivy League” school but they had to settle with Wake Forest (which is really Ivy League, except with kudzu).

But now, people sneer at those from our finest colleges. “Oh he is just an ivy leaguer, what does he know?” Uh, maybe how to remove the tumor from your brain? Keep you out of jail when wrongfully convicted? Design a house to be wildfire resistant?

In the richest country in the world, every child should be able to go to college, healthcare should not be a struggle and there should be a J-3 in every hanger… ok, maybe just one for me?

It is easy to lay all of this at the feet of Congress, but the problem is us, we stopped demanding excellence. In my job, I will not stop until it is perfect. Even though I may have gone over the time allotted and any further work be on my own time, I want it to be perfect because it reflects on me.

When Obama asked the adults of this nation to further our education, I was shocked and dumbfounded. It was a long long time since a leader asked me to do something to better the country.

But would it do any good? This last week, I took the ferry from San Francisco to Vallejo and sat beside a Korean War vet and he told me the story of how the industry of Mare Island disappeared. he just looked at all the abandoned shipyards and said “another example of an idle America.”

Idle America. We need to get cranking.

Seriously, I can relate to your comment about sitting in Gene’s chair. What would give kids that kind of “Wow” moment these days? I wondered what their defining moments will be.

My daughter and said something about meeting a movie star or maybe 9/11, except she only knows of 9/11 what’s she’s heard. She was in 1st grade then.

The list is small. What does that say about us?