#tagballoonchallenge

TAG Challenge - Albuquerque International Balloon Festival (OK, haven't written in years. But here I go!) Scott looked at his youngest brother. And once again told him no. Not that his reply could be heard over the racket that the robots and work crew were creating as they we're preparing to remove the wall of glass behind Alen. Manufacturing of the glass had taken much longer than originally planned. The glass that have been shipt for the first phase, had been hurricane glass but did not have the needed reinforcement to withstand the launch of a Thunderbird. The launching of a Thunderbird with something that happened with much more regularity than a typhoon hitting Tracy Island. Causing both the first and second shipments of the needed glass to be returned to the manufacturing plant. Now it was the second week in September and insulation had just begun and needed to be completed before the beginning of November; when typhoon season begins. Scott motion Allen to follow him, has he headed to the rec room where they would be further into the mountains rock bed and away from noise, so they could actually have conversation. Before Scott could begin to speak Allen was already laying out the evidence to support his side of the argument. "Look what the glass coming down we can't launch Thunderbird One from the island. For the next seven weeks. Also, you have scheduled an expedition for us to get some rock climbing practicing and as our last three trips I've been to the Swiss Alps in Midwinter. A change in location would expose us all to different conditions that the Sandia Mountains have. And Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque would be the logical place to to store fuel and fine hanger space for Thunderbird One and Two." "Ok" Scott cut Allen off, when he stopped in mid speech to catch his breath. " I see you put some thought into this." Allen using the momentary pause to connect the points in his mind continued. " and after two weeks of rock climbing exercises. We would be in Albuquerque for the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival! It's nine days of carnival and air balloons, we could learn to fly balloons there. You never know it may come in handy." "Wait! What how did you get from rock climbing training to a balloon festival?" Scott blink trying to follow the logic here. Allen looked at Scott trying very hard to get his thoughts back on track period after he had been cut off. "W ell the train is only going to take 2 weeks and we really can't come back to the island for seven weeks because the house is going to be wide open to the elements. And we won't be able to launch from the island anyway so we have to be somewhere else. And and I really always wanted to go to the Festival. Ever since all those balloons went up and the sky at Jackie Connors birthday party! Virgil even painted a picture of it and he pulled it out just the other day." Allen stopped he knew he had lost the argument with his last statements. He needed to regroup and come up with something better to support his case. And then it cold wet day and a small English town crossed his mind. " Scott, during the English Jubilee we went to Abingdon-on-Thames, where the council got dressed up and full ceremony regalia climbed to the top of the County Hall and threw over 4000 buns down on the people standing in the market place! This is a cultural event that has been going on for 500 years. And we went to it!" Scott rolled his eyes in the remembrance of that day. " Virgil has been complaining every time he picks up a pencil saying he can't think of anything to draw. Well seeing over 500 hot air balloons with a plethora of shapes and colors should spark his muse!" Scott looked at Allen for a moment and thought. Well if it got Virgil out of his grumpy mood might be a good idea. "Ok, you've made some good points. And it gets us out of here and away from this construction zone. Let's do it." Allen stared at Scott and disbelief. "Really?" "Yes, really" Allen reached into the back pocket of his pants and pulled out a small tablet. And handed it to Scott. Scott read the homework assignment on the tablet Alan had handed him. " hey wait a minute I gave you this assignment you were supposed to change a TI board members mind over to your way of thinking." Allen looked at Scott and said. "Yes Mr. Chairman I was. And you just agree to it." " Did Corden have anything to do with this?" "No" Scott shakes his head as he signs off on the homework assignment being complete.