OMG! It’s Day 15! We are now halfway through our build. It’s coming close to the time for us to start planning the completion ceremonies and post-completion parties, but I haven’t got a speech prepared and I don’t have a thing to wear.

Full speed ahead! (Click image to see a larger version — Image source: John Alflat)

John is also obviously aware of the momentousness of the occasion, because his message accompanying today’s photo commenced by saying, “We’re halfway through” (he’s a man of few words, but I can sense his seething excitement reading between the lines — or between the words, in this case).

John continued to say, “We just started Bag 6 of the parts. We tidied up the top of the first engine, including adding a fuel cap. In fact, this fuel cap is number two because I dropped the first one inside the fighter. It rattled around for a while… then nothing. It’s a bit annoying. Fortunately, the folks at LEGO provide spare pieces (the little ones) for just this type of eventuality. We also started work on the other engine but now the weekend is upon us (that came round quick). Have a good weekend!”

I must admit that I hadn’t really given much thought regarding the fueling part of this before, but now that I do come to think about it, from our Day 14 build blog we know that the A-Wing Starfighter employs two Novaldex J-77 Event Horizon engines augmented with Incom GBK-785 Hyperdrive Units. On this basis, considering the raw power involved, having a “fuel cap” seems a little… “prosaic,” shall we say. What sort of fuel do these engines actually use? I shall pose these questions to John and we will see what he has to say for himself.

Also in the Day 14 build blog, I noted how our ~50-pound Maine Coon cat, Drummer, is a huge fan of Shaun the Sheep. I often wonder what he’s thinking when he watches things like this on the television. If you don’t have a word for something, then you can’t conceptualize that thing or put it into context with regard to other things. The problem insofar as Drummer is concerned is that – despite passionate protestations from my wife (Gina the Gorgeous) – even the cleverest of cats simply doesn’t have an extensive vocabulary, and Drummer is not the cleverest of cats.

In turn, this makes me wonder what would happen if we were to come into contact with a truly advanced alien intelligence. Would he/she/it/they have the same problems communicating with us that I have communicating with Drummer because we simply don’t have the words to embrace the concepts that he/she/it/they is/are trying to communicate? Alternatively, would the fact that we understand the difference between triangles, squares, and circles – along with the difference between integers and real numbers – allow us to bluff our way through? As always, I welcome your thoughts on any and all of this.