Hi Folks, I am scheduling this post ahead of time because I am not sure how long it will take me to get an adaptor for my laptop. I should be on a train toward Les Jones’s neighborhood or maybe even be there by the time you read this.
I will have left at 11:40 AM from ABQ to Dallas, rush over to the flight to London in the 45 minute window and arrive in London at about 6:45 this morning London time on the 18th after the 9 hour flight.
I do not sleep well on airplanes and I get very antsy and claustrophobic the last 3-4 hours. I tend to stand up a lot in a corner if I can do it. I have not flown that much over the years, maybe I will get used to it at some point because I intend to fly around a lot more with the workshops Les and I are planning.
I would like to be a bit more of a globe trotter but the fact is, I enjoy staying home and working in the quiet, monastic solitude of my studio. That’s my favorite life. At the same time I have been doing that for long time and I do feel the need to get out to see and hang out with everybody. That is a wonderful thing too. So I am hoping that going on trips will become a habit I can get used to.
I just wish we had star trek style transporters where you can just pop from one place to the other in a few seconds except I would worry about getting all scrambled up.
from Google AI Mode
According to Star Trek canon, there were significant early disasters with transporting people, which led to the technology being viewed with great apprehension. The development of the transporter was a long and difficult process marked by fatal accidents and unintended side effects.
The invention by Emory Erickson
The "Father of the Transporter": Dr. Emory Erickson, a human scientist, is known as the inventor of the matter transporter in the early 22nd century.
The first disaster: Erickson first successfully tested the technology in 2124 but later had a devastating failure during testing of a sub-quantum unit.
The death of Quinn Erickson: In 2139, Erickson's son, Quinn, was lost during an experimental transport. His pattern was trapped in a subspace phenomenon for years, and when Emory finally managed to rematerialize him in 2154, Quinn's pattern was so degraded he died just seconds after appearing.
Initial unease and transporter psychosis
Crew reluctance: The early 22nd-century transporter on the Enterprise (NX-01) was so mistrusted that it was rarely used for biological transport. The crew preferred shuttlepods, and even Captain Archer refused to transport his dog using it.
Physical side effects: Early versions of the technology caused neurological damage to users over time due to molecular-level errors during transport. This could lead to a condition known as "transporter psychosis," which was not fully understood or eliminated until the 24th century.
Early accidents: In 2151, the still-experimental transporter of the NX-01 suffered a phase discriminator malfunction during an emergency transport. Crewman Ethan Novakovich was successfully beamed aboard, but he rematerialized with rocks, leaves, and other debris from the planet embedded in his skin.
Later, more infamous disasters
Even after the technology was considered safe for routine use, accidents still occurred, leaving an underlying mistrust that some characters, like Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, never fully overcame. Notable incidents include:
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (early 2270s): A faulty sensor on the refitted USS Enterprise resulted in a catastrophic malfunction. The patterns of two crew members, including the Vulcan Science Officer Sonak, were corrupted, and they rematerialized as hideously deformed, mangled remains.
"The Enemy Within" (2266): A transporter malfunction caused by a strange ore split Captain Kirk into two distinct versions—one with all his positive traits and one with all his negative ones.
"Tuvix" (2372): An alien orchid interfered with the Voyager's transporter, merging Tuvok and Neelix into a single new being, with its own personality and memories.
So yeah, maybe not.
So if all goes well, maybe you’ll hear more from me from the UK soon.
What if we tested teleportation on folks who've had DUIs and need to use a breathalyzer to start their ignition? If they fail the breath test, they're teleported home, and if they don't make it in one piece, that's the risk they take for getting behind the wheel drunk.
Have a safe and wonderful trip!