The Death Of "Wow!"

One of my first nights after moving to Orlando 7 years ago, I was awakened by a sound not unlike someone slapping the side of the apartment building with a large sheet of plywood. The next day, I learned I had experienced my first sonic boom, caused by the landing of the Space Shuttle. At the time, I thought it was kinda cool.

Last night, I heard another, and once I was awake enough to realize what it had been (and that I only had another hour-and-a-half before my alarm went off), I thought, "OK, no longer cool—annoying, perhaps, but not cool."