Winter Wonderland

The snow just keeps coming! The ground is covered, however our temperatures are warming slightly. Randy has once again started riding his bike to work.

Rexburg Temple Dedication

On February 10, 2008, we attended the dedication of the Rexburg Temple. We started out with the BYU-ID 8th Stake in the Hinckley building for the 9:00 a.m. session. Then we walked over to the temple, and we were able to go to the 11:30 a.m. session in the temple. President Monson conducted both of these sessions. He remarked this was his first official responsibility as the president of the church. We felt it a real privilege to have been able to attend. The morning started out foggy but ended up sunny with temperatures above freezing. The next day we were able to attend a session. What a beautiful place! We plan to return often.

Christmas is Over and the Decorations Must Go

Today is the day that Lynette says that the tree and decorations are to come down. She asked me to find out who sing the song "I Cry the Day I Take the Tree Down". I found out that it is from the "Forgotten Carols" CD. So I found it (#9 on the CD) and it's playing right now. I think it makes her feel better.

Lynette - Along with the music, I had to make some of my cinnamon citrus potpourri to have on the stove. After all this, I better get in gear!

30 Years

January 24, 2008 was my 30th year with the U.S. Department of Commerce (NOAA). I received the gold 30 year pin to the left. I can retire now anytime that I want as long as Lynette approves and she retires too.

It was actually 36 years ago (1972) that I started working for NOAA . It does not seem like 36 years ago - it has been too much fun most of the time.

Awesome Sniper Rifle

If I were to say that I am not a gun person - this would be a major understatement. When my son-in-law Aaron told me about this rifle, I asked him if I could go with him when he went out to see it demonstrated.

Well I not only saw it and held it (very heavy and very loud), I was allowed to shoot it. What an experience. I will never forget this trip.

I also got to see some beautiful art on the way back home. That was something I will never forget.

Start Your Engines for the Cub-Annapolis

Ken, Gina, Blake, Brandon, Brigham and Emma were here this last weekend. Brigham needed to build a cub scout Cub-Annapolis box race car for their next pack meeting. We rounded up the parts we could find around the house and started hot-gluing them together. The purple plates are the headlights and the silver plates are the wheels. Fairly simple.









Brigham looks like he is ready to race.

Silver Medal Announcement and Picture from NOAA

I just downloaded this picture from the Commerce web site two days ago. Looking at the picture to the left: In the center is the Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, with the Under Secretary Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher (NOAA) on the right, and I, Randy Johnson, am standing on the left. The date of the picture is November 15, 2007.

Here is the text from the NOAA/OAR/ARL/FRD web site about getting a silver medal on November 15, 2007.

NOAA Employee Receives Silver Medal

On November 15th in Silver Spring, Maryland Randall C. Johnson with the National Oceanic & Administrative Agency (NOAA) received the 2007 Silver Medal. The Silver Medal is the Commerce Department's second highest honorary award. The Secretary awards it for exceptional performance characterized by noteworthy or superlative contributions which have a direct and lasting impact within the Department.

Since 1992, Randall Johnson has developed four generations of autonomous Smart Balloons that use state-of-the-art technology to observe air motions and air quality over extended periods of time. Randy Johnson developed the NOAA “Smart Balloon” that has been deployed in seven air quality and hurricane research experiments since 1992. These experiments have led to significant advances in the understanding of marine boundary layers and the chemistry of aerosols and various gaseous constituents of the atmosphere. In 2004, a Smart Balloon carrying a miniature ozone sensor successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Long Island, New York to the African Coast of Morocco. NOAA Smart Balloons have also been used to study atmospheric dynamics within the inflow regions of hurricanes.

The data from the Smart Balloon are now being incorporated in air quality and climate change models. Many peer-reviewed journal articles have been written from the seven field experiments. In some of these experiments the balloon was a key to success, because it allowed U.S. and European research aircraft to locate and repeatedly sample the same marine air mass over several days in the vicinity of the balloons.

The research supports improvement in the National Weather Service air quality forecasting. It also helps the Environmental Protection Agency with its air quality assessment and regulatory functions.

Congratulations Randy!