A fine day for a launch...
Apr. 19th, 2001 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpFor me, this morning was one of those times when I open my eyes and see by the clock that I've emerged from the arms of Morpheus scant minutes before the alarm is scheduled to go off. It's an interesting phenomenon, but not reliable enough to dump the alarm clock. Nonetheless, it was an auspicious start to the day.
After a brisk, but short walk (about 3/8 of a mile, I'd estimate), I performed the usual morning rituals and got off to work early. The action started almost as soon as I got set up, with several "radiograms" arriving for translation, some in the form of Excel files.
Yech.
I can do Word, I can stomach PowerPoint, and have no problem with HTML, but Excel...well...sucks. As in: "sucks dead bunny rabbits through a soda straw."
Round about 1:40 pm Central Time, time stood still for several minutes as the folks in the Shuttle Flight Control Room monitored the launch of STS-100, a.k.a., ISS Assembly Flight 6A. It turns out this was the first time I've had my headset jacked into the MCC loops during a launch, and it's quite an experience to listen to the terse calls between the various disciplines and the flight director, who in turn informs the vehicle commander of the various mileposts of the ascent. For example, "negative return" tells the commander that should it become necessary to abort the ascent, a return to KSC is no longer possible (emergency landing sites in Spain and North Africa would be used to perform a Transatlantic Abort Landing, or TAL).
Once things got back to normal, I resumed my work, but was not able to finish the Excel spreadsheets (not only are they infinitely boring, but Excel is probably the world's worst environment within which to do translation, but I begin to repeat myself...).
On the way home, I picked up an interesting box called Linux for Windows, published by MandrakeSoft. The idea here is that you can install Linux in a Windows partition without having to repartition the hard drive or do any reformatting. I'm not at all sure I have the time to mess with this product tonight (just spent an hour talking to G and L at the store), but it will be an interesting project one of these nights.
I caught myself getting agitated about half a dozen times today. The first two times were traffic-related during my drive in to work. The last four occurred while talking to G and L. I managed, I think, to realize what was happening before developing a full head of steam, but I need to stop reacting and start to act in a calm, collected manner...or at least catch myself earlier in the process.
I left Pagosa with an old John D. MacDonald novel, The Last One Left, and despite the fact that the book is somewhat dated, it's still a good read (even despite it not being a Travis McGee novel). Talking about MacDonald, I've all but given up on there ever being another, final McGee novel; I figure if there had been such an animal, it would've been published by now. What I would like to find is a paperback I bought many moons ago wherein is set forth a most strange and wonderful correspondence between MacDonald and Dan Rowan (half of the comedy team of Rowan and Martin).
Time to hit the sack.
Cheers...
After a brisk, but short walk (about 3/8 of a mile, I'd estimate), I performed the usual morning rituals and got off to work early. The action started almost as soon as I got set up, with several "radiograms" arriving for translation, some in the form of Excel files.
Yech.
I can do Word, I can stomach PowerPoint, and have no problem with HTML, but Excel...well...sucks. As in: "sucks dead bunny rabbits through a soda straw."
Round about 1:40 pm Central Time, time stood still for several minutes as the folks in the Shuttle Flight Control Room monitored the launch of STS-100, a.k.a., ISS Assembly Flight 6A. It turns out this was the first time I've had my headset jacked into the MCC loops during a launch, and it's quite an experience to listen to the terse calls between the various disciplines and the flight director, who in turn informs the vehicle commander of the various mileposts of the ascent. For example, "negative return" tells the commander that should it become necessary to abort the ascent, a return to KSC is no longer possible (emergency landing sites in Spain and North Africa would be used to perform a Transatlantic Abort Landing, or TAL).
Once things got back to normal, I resumed my work, but was not able to finish the Excel spreadsheets (not only are they infinitely boring, but Excel is probably the world's worst environment within which to do translation, but I begin to repeat myself...).
On the way home, I picked up an interesting box called Linux for Windows, published by MandrakeSoft. The idea here is that you can install Linux in a Windows partition without having to repartition the hard drive or do any reformatting. I'm not at all sure I have the time to mess with this product tonight (just spent an hour talking to G and L at the store), but it will be an interesting project one of these nights.
I caught myself getting agitated about half a dozen times today. The first two times were traffic-related during my drive in to work. The last four occurred while talking to G and L. I managed, I think, to realize what was happening before developing a full head of steam, but I need to stop reacting and start to act in a calm, collected manner...or at least catch myself earlier in the process.
I left Pagosa with an old John D. MacDonald novel, The Last One Left, and despite the fact that the book is somewhat dated, it's still a good read (even despite it not being a Travis McGee novel). Talking about MacDonald, I've all but given up on there ever being another, final McGee novel; I figure if there had been such an animal, it would've been published by now. What I would like to find is a paperback I bought many moons ago wherein is set forth a most strange and wonderful correspondence between MacDonald and Dan Rowan (half of the comedy team of Rowan and Martin).
Time to hit the sack.
Cheers...
