He’s Kind of A Big Deal
July 24, 2009 at 10:11 am RootsAndRings 11 comments
Last night Stephen and I had the privilege of attending the Silver Snoopy Presentation Ceremony. If you’ve never heard of the Silver Snoopy, there are two reasonable explanations for that. 1. You don’t live in an area that is saturated with NASA related things. 2. You aren’t cool enough to know someone who has received this award. I’m guessing #2. Before last night, I was also a person that fell into that category. Thankfully, my coolness factor has risen quite significantly after last night. If you are patient, I will enlighten you, and you can also be just a little cooler.
This is the Silver Snoopy:
He’s a pin, not a pen. That’s a tough thing to understand when you’re listening. They are homonyms, you know. So don’t be confused. A pin. This pin has been in space. Naturally. I think Snoopy would look sort of silly with his space suit if he hadn’t just been in space. So my friend, Wes, was awarded the Silver Snoopy. The photo above is actually taken from collectspace.com because I wasn’t allowed to touch Wes’s award. Just kidding. I was. Only in the box though. That’s okay Wes, after all of those astronauts had touched it, you don’t want my civilian hands messing it up.
I knew I’d be attending this ceremony yesterday and I wanted to be educated. So I did what any responsible researcher does, I looked it up on Wikipedia. The Silver Snoopy “is a special honor awarded to NASA employees and contractors for outstanding achievements related to human flight safety or mission success.” That’s big time. Wes is big time. Ladies, this man is single. Here is a conversation with my boss about Wes:
Chelsea – Hey I have to leave at 3 today. A friend of ours is receiving an award from NASA and we were invited to the ceremony.
BossMan – What is he, like a rocket scientist?
Chelsea – Yes.
BossMan – Sweet.
So Stephen told me that Wes may or may not actually be a rocket scientist. All I know is that his job description has the word “reentry” in it. I know that’s related to a rocket, and I’m pretty sure science has something to do with it. So to me, he’s a rocket scientist. Wes, one day you’ll need to explain it to me. Just pretend I’m a 5 year old… you know, so that I will then know how to explain it to children I meet…
Anyways, all joking aside, it was a great accomplishment. Less than 1% of employees receive this honor. And our friend, The Big W-D, did it! I’m sure that my random provisions of lasagna and chicken kabobs have something to do with his success. So in a way, I’m honored to be an extended recipient of this award.
Crap, I had said all joking aside and there I went, making a dumb joke. Sorry Wes. You’re awesome. We’re so proud of you. The only reason we didn’t walk on stage with you to help you accept your award is because we are all certain that one day you’ll realize how many IQ points higher you are and you’ll end our friendship and curse the day that you let your average friends in the one and only Silver Snoopy picture with you. Plus we were sort of scared of the astronauts. But we are still proud of you! And we’re proud of us too. We must be sort of smart if we are able to be friends with a rocket scientist and you allow us to hang out with all of your other rocket scientist friends. I tried my hardest not to mention the words pedicure, Chelsea Handler, or dog vomit. I know astronauts don’t like to discuss those things.
Hope we didn’t let you down.
A big round of applause for our friend Wes!
Entry filed under: Nights Out, Uncategorized. Tags: Astronauts, Awards, NASA, Silver Snoopy.
1.
Jimbo | July 24, 2009 at 11:25 am
(Applause for Wes) I love that the award is a Silver Snoopy. It could have been a star, or a moon, or a planet, or anything space-related. Instead, they chose Snoopy in a space suit. I think it was a wise choice!!!
2.
Caroline | July 24, 2009 at 11:28 am
I have never heard of the silver Snoopy. I guess I am just not that cool. Congrats to your friend!!
3.
Pippy | July 24, 2009 at 11:34 am
How cool! I love snoopy! But snoopy in space…that’s a whole new level of cool.
I think I have to agree with your assumption, anyone who works for NASA & has reentry in their job description is close enough to a rocket scientist for me!
4.
Jill | July 24, 2009 at 12:18 pm
NASA=Rocket Scientist or Astronaut. There are no other jobs. Plain and simple 😉
5.
Lauren From Texas | July 24, 2009 at 12:51 pm
COOL. He’s single?! Maybe Corlene wants to meet him?? lol.
6.
osarah | July 24, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Wow, that’s awesome! Congrats to Wes! He’s now a bit of a hero of mine – I used to aspire to work at NASA. I wanted to be the CAPCOM (back in the day…like the 80s, because as I understand it, the CAPCOM thing is different now). Anyway, I ❤ space and science and math and NASA.
Maybe we need to move to Houston so I can drive by NASA every day and pretend I work there.
7.
Sara | July 24, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Congratulations, Wes! That’s so cool!
Love your blog:)
8.
Mom | July 24, 2009 at 4:43 pm
YEA for our Wes!!!! You are AWESOME – a great award to receive – sooooo proud of you and I GET TO SAY I ACTUALLY KNOW HIM!!! (Don’t think I have fed him but he HAS been to my house and I HAVE sat by him at church!) Way to go and just keep working hard to keep those astronauts safe in “re-entry”! 🙂
9.
The Husband | July 24, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Yay Wes! Dom came up and told me about all that you did out in California.
Congrats, my friend. Keep up the great work!
10.
John Owens | July 25, 2009 at 10:27 am
Wow! Congrats Wes! Thats really cool. And that pin is awesome. I’m not even smart enough to touch it let alone receive it as an award! 🙂
11.
Ashley | August 2, 2009 at 7:19 pm
How exciting! And what a cute pin — wait I mean what an awesome pin (boys don’t like the word cute…)!