The Atlantis space shuttle took off this morning without a hitch – and I missed it. The last of all our space shuttles. I was so bummed I told Leslie I’m not going to work today. Why did I miss it? Frankly, I thought weather was going to scrub the mission today.

I’ve made 3 dedicated trips to Florida just to see a shuttle launch – and been deprived each time. The last trip was last November and after sitting around a week, the shuttle still was “broken”.

Leslie’s been with me the last 3 trips and we’ve done the “touristy” thing in Florida waiting out the shuttle delays, spending a week each time. But this time I was going solo, and at the last minute, just to make sure things looked good.

Wednesday, the weather forecast looked poor for a Friday launch (70% no-go). Yesterday afternoon had severe lightning strikes and heavy rain, and NASA could only launch this weekend or be delayed until the middle of July, so I held off.  I thought if Sunday’s forecast looked okay, I’d leave today for Florida. But this morning I got up early and it appeared I’d made the wrong call – things were looking okay for a launch, and launch they did! I’ve been bummed out all day…