Things Done…

Here is a list of things Thad has done so far.

  1. Fall In love.
  2. Touch the moon/make love on the moon.
  3. Work for NASA: (Astrophysicist 2000, Geo-astrophysicist 2001, Flight Lead 2002).
  4. Discover a New dinosaur species: A Ceratopsian & a Hadrosaur with the Utah Museum of Natural History, lead by Scott Sampson Ph.D., near Rincon Colorado, Coahuila State, United States of Mexico.
  5. Raise $10,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, research depart­ment by moun­tain biking from SLC to San Francisco. ~810 miles. (Summer 1999)
  6. Earn pri­vate pilot‘s cer­tifi­cate and high per­for­mance rating (Private on 4-1-2000, at Great Western Aviation, SLIA & HPR at Evanston WY, while exploring Flaming Gorge).
  7. Go on a mining expe­di­tion: Peru, 2 miles deep. I plucked a 2 inch Pyrite crystal from the celing, and the rocks burned a hole in my jeans when I sat down.
  8. Successfully prospect for dinosaur fos­sils: The Kaiparowits Plateau, The Smokey Mountains of Utah’s Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and Coahuila State, Mexico.
  9. Earn three bachelor’s degrees: BS Physics, BS Anthropology, and BS Philosophy (University of Utah).
  10. Explore 100+ beaches: Peru 5, East coast U.S. 14, Gulf of Mexico 21, California 77+, Hawaii 23.
  11. Explore beach caves: Abalone State Park, CA, (swam all the way through), El Matador State Beach, CA, (three caves allowing secret access to hidden beaches).
  12. Touch a cloud with my hand while flying through it.
  13. Become pro­fi­cient in SCUBA diving: Open Water, Advanced, and Rescue Diver SCUBA Certificate, Blue Lake, PADI; NASA NBL Nitrox Certification. [Also dove as a Flight Lead in con­junc­tion with Astronaut training at the Neutral Bouyancy Laboratory (NBL) at JSC, NASA.]
  14. Be a vol­un­teer fire­fighter: Nassau Bay Fire Department, TX (2000-2002).
  15. Explore a sunken ship: Off the famed casino on Santa Catalina Island.
  16. Work at an obser­va­tory: Founded the University of Utah Astronomical Society (UUAS), remained pres­i­dent for sev­eral years, ran star par­ties, pro­cured funding for new tele­scopes, CCD cam­eras, orga­nized and led camping star parties.
  17. Meet Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong: At AIAA meeting in Houston; and at the MBSSS respectively.
  18. Get lost in a forest.
  19. Float around the International Space Station: Training the Astronauts for their Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA’s, “space-walks”).
  20. Experience zero gravity: In a Cessna 172 & 182, 20 min­utes collectively.
  21. Fly the MBS Space Shuttle: 7.1 hours, 14 land­ings, 3 of which achieved a 0.0 decent rate.
  22. Take pic­tures of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
  23. Mine for rare min­erals and gem stones: Bixbyite, Red Beryl, Topaz, Pyrite, Galena, Tourmaline, etc. (Mostly in the Wah Wah Mountains).
  24. Feel the static rise before light­ning: Most impor­tantly on top of the Enchanted Rock batholith in Enchanted Rock State Park, TX. – Kaydee’s wet, 3 foot long, thick, Persian hair was standing straight up!
  25. Wake up to a better dream.
  26. Have a spir­i­tual con­nec­tion with Nature: Best was atop the moun­tain temple of Machu Piccu, Peru, Secret Canyon, Lake Powell, Buckskin Gultch, and Meadow Springs.
  27. See the southern cross: From Arequipa.
  28. Watch a meteor shower from a Hot Spring: Meadow Springs, UT.
  29. See Niagra Falls from the Candian and U.S. sides.
  30. Learn to sail: Taught by Patrick the “Pirate” in the Gulf of Mexico, Clear Lake, TX.
  31. Discover a Tyranasaurid tooth: 5th unearthed in Utah, near Joe’s Valley, now cat­a­logued in the UMNH.
  32. Experience severe dehy­dra­tion in a desert: On Slick Rock Trail, Moab and once between Buckskin Gulch and Lee’s Ferry.
  33. Go off a water­fall: In the San Marcos River, TX.
  34. Hike over 50 dif­ferent trails: From Adams Canyon to Twin Peaks, UT, Mexico, Southern Utah, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Peru.
  35. See a tor­nado: Texas.
  36. See the northern lights: From south of Vegas, SLC, and Yellowstone.
  37. Learn to oil paint: Prefer real­istic (land­scapes and portraits).
  38. Explore Goblin Valley: Played Hide-n-go-seek, explored its secrets with Angela, Marcus, Matt, Steven, and Pam.
  39. Become an Eagle Scout: learned what lin­gerie is.
  40. Explore a black sand beach: Near Hana, Maui.
  41. Watch Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone National Park.
  42. Play with light­ning bugs “fire flies”: best place was out­side the George Observatory, HMNH, in Brazos Bend, TX.
  43. Unearth a raptor’s claw (ungle): From the San Rafael Swell on a dig.
  44. Jump off a bridge: Train bridge passing over the San Marcos River with Tiffany.
  45. Experience cliff diving: Best places = Pedernales River, TX., Flaming Gorge, Lake Powell, & off the south­ern­most tip of the United States, Big Island Hawaii.
  46. Hike from Buckskin Gultch to Lee’s Ferry: The world’s longest Slot Canyon. An amazing trip!!!
  47. Explore Lake Powell and Rainbow Bridge: From Bullfrog to the Glen Canyon Dam.
  48. Find plant fos­sils: Best ones were near the 68 by Utah Lake.
  49. Dig ammonite fos­sils: Lake Whitney, TX.
  50. Mine pyrite crys­tals: Peru, North end of the Fish Springs Range in UT.
  51. Touch a dol­phin in the wild: Huntington Beach, CA.
  52. Excavate a cut­table red beryl gem­stone: Near Topaz Mountain. Less than 20 sam­ples exist of equal or greater weight and quality. (As of 2001.)
  53. Raft the Snake River.
  54. Find dinosaur tracks: Utah, Texas, and Mexico.
  55. Play with a sea turtle in the wild: Molokini Island, and the Big Island, Hawaii.
  56. Spend 3 weeks trav­eling from coast to coast for less than $300.00
  57. Watch a Space Shuttle launch: (STS 105) Cape Canaveral.
  58. Learn to Kayak: First out­door in Santa Catalina Island, best in the Puget Sound of Seattle, with Angela and Jason, under a full moon, com­pletely cloud­less night sky and glass water.
  59. Have my ass kicked by a dinosaur: A T-rex from the Brigham Young Museum of Natural History.
  60. Learn to surf: Southern California.
  61. Spend a whole day laughing: Best one on Newport Beach.
  62. Excavate Utah’s first T-rex fossil near Joe’s Valley.
  63. See a UFO: In the West Desert in Utah along with the rest of the star party from the University of Utah Astronomical Society, Near Dugway.
  64. Make and fly a kite: Lost and found 3 over the U mountain.
  65. View over 100 objects in space through a telescope.
  66. Photograph a nebula: Dumbbell nebula, Ring nebula, the Orion nebula, etc.
  67. Make a green fire: Joe’s Valley.
  68. Squeeze through the Birth Canal near ter­mi­na­tion of the Nutty Puddy Caves, West of Utah Lake. (Now closed)
  69. Find a Native American arrow­head: Mexico.
  70. Build a huge snowman in a Federal Prison Camp, sym­bol­i­cally standing up against oppres­sion. (FPC, Florence)
  71. Watch Apollo 13 inside the old Apollo Mission Control Room at NASA (pro­jected on the wall).
  72. Float in the hot springs of Cuatrocienegas, Coahuila, Mexico.
  73. Watch a vol­cano erupt and col­lect a “new rock.” (Big Island, Hawaii)
  74. Visit Kitty Hawk, Write Brother’s National Monument.
  75. Dig up over 100 fossil shark teeth: In Aurora, North Carolina + a Megladon tooth.
  76. Body surf at a nude beach. – Makena Beach, “little beach,” 2nd cove, Maui.
  77. Overcome a blinding con­vic­tion: Most sig­nif­i­cantly on Valentine’s Day 1999 – stopped being Mormon, stopped judging others and myself, and started wearing real under­wear. :-)
  78. Lose every­thing that wasn’t real: July 20, 2002 – the day I got arrested.
  79. Spend Six months entirely uncon­nected with the modern world: over­shot that a bit with over 6 years in Federal Prison.
  80. Spark a sci­en­tific debate: ongoing, but it has been sparked. Introduced an eleven-dimensional geom­etry that so far appear to have the poten­tial to unify gen­eral rel­a­tivity and quantum mechanics into one com­plete intu­itively acces­sible map.
  81. Complete 50 expres­sive art pieces.
  82. Hike the Seven Sacred Pools in Maui, Hawaii.
  83. Go cave diving: Gandy Warm Springs (beau­tiful expe­ri­ence), and Meadow Hot Springs.
  84. Learn to ski (March 2010) – Shauna taught me at Park City.
  85. Learn to snow­board (April 2010) – Angela taught me at Park City.
  86. Feel an earth­quake (April 15th 2010, 5.0) Was in the CTIHB on the top floor at the University of Utah.
  87. Give a TED talk (TEDxBoulder, August 7th, 2010).
  88. Teach sci­ence and inspire stu­dents to follow their curiosity. (Teaching Assistant with excel­lent stu­dent eval­u­a­tions at the University of Utah for the fol­lowing classes: World of Dinosaurs (GEO 1040), Observational Astronomy (PHYS 4060), General Physics Lab (PHYS 1809), General Physics I and II (PHYS 2010 and 2020), General Physics Lab I and II (PHYS 2015/2025), and Myth, Magic, and Religion (ANTH 4171). Was also an Adult Continuing Education Instructor for 4 con­sec­u­tive years in the Federal Prison Camp at Florence, Colorado for the fol­lowing classes: Astronomy, Basic Science, and Beginning Art.)
  89. Exceed 60 mph on a moun­tain bike: Down the canyons around SLC.
  90. Rock climb: In Joshua Tree National Park.
  91. Ride a switch back train: From Cusco to Machu Piccu.
  92. Swim over ten miles (Swim Team, Clearfield High).
  93. Learn to play the piano.
  94. Ride a horse: Syracuse, UT.
  95. Cut open a coconut with a machetti and drink the milk. Maui, Hawaii.
  96. Write a per­spec­tive changing book (Einstein’s Intuition): wrote it in prison.
  97. Discover the geo­metric ori­gins of the con­stants of Nature (they are all derived from the seven geo­metric para­me­ters that encode quantum space theory).