Here’s the view from my condo’s balcony last night. The moonlight on the water was pretty.
I’m on my way in a few minutes from Cocoa Beach, Florida to Luxembourg. I’m sorry to leave the campaign and not necessarily looking forward to another transatlantic flight. I’m in first class again, though, so don’t worry about me too much.
Gotta get going. More on Tuesday.
I’m heading back to Luxembourg in three days so, in honor of that, here’s another picture from there. It’s a detail from one of the numerous fountains in Trier. Sadly, the water isn’t running this time of year, so the little guys with pipes in their mouths look a little strange. Still, it’s a cool fountain.
I spent eleven hours at work today and never got to anything on my to-do list. I’m hoping to keep it down to five or so hours the next couple of days, but I have my doubts. On a launch campaign, there are always an infinite number of things that need doing. For example, I fixed a golf cart yesterday. It was broken, we needed it, and all the techs were (or at least should have been) busy testing the spacecraft, so I volunteered. I enjoyed doing it and we now have a working golf cart. I guess I probably should been engineering this or integrating that, but the team needed the cart. Something else is bound to come up tomorrow and every day thereafter. I guess that’s part of the excitement of the campaign.
It was very warm and another beautiful day today. When I spoke with the family, I learned that they’ve been having warm, nice weather today too, so I can’t lord it over them today. Too bad. Maybe it will be great here and terrible there tomorrow. We can only hope not.
Today’s fitcheck went very well, and we’re moving full-steam ahead with spacecraft testing tomorrow morning.
I was able to change my lodging reservations to add a few days at the beginning of my next trip here, so I won’t have to move right in the middle of things next time. I don’t want to come back earlier, but I’m needed, so I’ll come. Sadly, my stay at home between trips will only last ten days. The good news is that it looks like I’ll be able to take a couple of comp days during that time, maximizing my (and even possibly my family’s) enjoyment.
Monk (link warning – sound!) was pretty good tonight, no? There were a few little obvious moments there, and I’m not really crazy about Randy’s band, but I still enjoyed it. However, I’m afraid to go to the dentist now, of course. Right now, I’m watching the end of Pillow Talk, with Rock Hudson and Doris Day on TCM. Very amusing. Interestingly, Doris Day’s character is named Jan Morrow. A long-lost relative!
Had dinner with three co-workers tonight at the Durango Steakhouse, the finest restaurant in Beautiful Titusville, Florida. Roy mentioned that if it was just a little bit better, it would be absolutely average.
It’s late, the movie is over now, my laptop’s battery is nearly dead, and I’m going to bed. Gotta get up early again tomorrow. I continue to wish a speedy recovery to Reader Number One. G’night, mate!
Here’s the view from my balcony window this morning. Nice. It was a gorgeous day today – quite a bit warmer than yesterday, but still dry and pleasant.
The downside was that I worked like a dog and didn’t get to enjoy the beautiful day. It was a twelve-hour day, and we didn’t even really have any integrated activities. I went up to the Atlas Vertical Integration Facility with a few other guys. The rocket looks just fine. We’re scheduled to do our fitcheck bright and early in the morning and then we can get down to testing the spacecraft.
A few of us were planning to go to a restaurant called Thai Thai, which occupies the building where Daniel’s Motorcycle Cafe used to be. I never really like Daniel’s much. Some of the other guys were crazy about it, though, so I went there several times. They sold “gourmet” pizzas, none of which ever appealed to me, and one entree a day, which was sometimes okay. Anyway, Thai Thai was really good. They had sushi, which, strangely, I didn’t have. I had a bowl of miso soup and something called “Thai Thai Chicken.” It’s really hard to describe, so let’s just say it was delicious. I’ll be back, and I’ll be trying the sushi next time.
The only downside of Thai Thai is that it appears to be pretty trendy. That goes against the grain, but at least it’s not pretentious.
Well, I’ve only been home for an hour or so and I already need to go to bed, so it’s time to quit. Maybe I’ll get home before dark tomorrow. Hope springs eternal!
Our spacecraft arrived today! Here’s the tail of the Antonov AN-124 we used to carry it.
Long day. I finally got moved in to the Cape Winds this afternoon. I got a top-floor corner room with a great view of the Atlantic as well as the swimming pool. I like it.
There’s not a lot of work scheduled for tomorrow, so I’m hoping to accomplish some of the tasks that have been piling up.
I haven’t been able to get much reading done on this trip yet, but I’m currently watching Arsenic and Old Lace. What a great movie. This condo has a DVD player in the living room, which is much better than using my computer to watch movies. As mentioned in an earlier post, I have plenty of movies to watch. Better get cracking.
Way past my bedtime. Good night.
As hinted yesterday, here’s a fairly lame picture of this week’s rental car – the old guy’s convertible.
It was a little cooler here today – maybe only up to about 68 degrees, and it’s 57 and windy right now. It was so cool on my way back from work this evening that I had to put the top up! What a waste.
Had Chinese dinner with my colleague Roy this evening. I’ve eaten there several times before, and continue to enjoy it every time I go. I’m pretty full tonight, though.
Work was busy today. I attended two meetings that lasted until about 2:00, ran out and got a hamburger, and then went back to the office to try to get a few things done. Instead, I ended up unpacking and installing four new printers. It needed to be done, but took a lot of time I didn’t have. Still, if I hadn’t done it, somebody even busier would have had to do it. Oh well, I’ll get everything done tomorrow.
Except I probably won’t. The spacecraft arrives tomorrow morning, so it will be another incredibly busy day. This is what happens on launch campaigns – you run from meeting to meeting all day and then spend your evenings doing all your regular work. I need to send out a couple of models and do two expense reports The frustrating thing is that I’m under strict orders to try to not work overtime, so I feel obligated to go home at the end of the day rather than trying to get things done. I’m right back in another situation where pleasing my managers means I have to short-change my customers. Sigh.
I only got one vote on yesterday’s contest. I’m pleased to say, though, that Reader Number One was absolutely correct. It was sushi yesterday, and it was pretty good sushi at that.
I want to get a movie started tonight, but I really need to get to bed. Tomorrow’s moving day, so I’ll have to pack my bags again, and I really ought to get to work pretty early. Maybe I’ll just go to bed right now. Either way, this is done. See you tomorrow.
