Getting along on impulse power...
Aug. 10th, 2008 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpTown trips do not appeal to me, much. On the few of them I've participated in, I've played the role of, well, the fellow who's along in case something happens. The one notable exception was a trip, arranged to take a customer's representative to the (presently closed) Luna Club, which actually turned out to be a good time - even though I was there in my role as interpreter - because a table had been reserved in the back room of the joint, so our group was away from the hurly-burly and the noise on the dance floor.
Originally, I had not planned on going into town at all last night, both because of my aforementioned lack of interest and the fact that I had been assigned the early shift for today, but when Victor called at very nearly 8 pm to ask how things had gone with the transfer of the ascent unit to the hall where it will be integrated with the launch vehicle, he then asked if I was planning going into town.
I reminded him I was on the schedule as this morning's interpreter, whereupon he tells me it was going to be pretty quiet in the office today, so if I wanted to go to town, I should feel free to go. It was very nearly time for the van to swing by and pick up folks at the Fili, so I figured I'd go along if the van hadn't left yet, за компанию, as the Russians say (for company). The van hadn't even arrived, so after a quick trip up to the room to freshen up, I joined the group as it headed out.
We arranged for our small band of revelers (all five of us) to be dropped off at the Palermo, where we ended up at the same table as a couple of fellows I didn't know who are working the Boeing campaign that's going on over on the other side of the base. One of these gents was a gangly fellow who has been working campaigns since about 1997 and whose Russian was rough, but ready.
Soon, llike two big raindrops on a window, we and a group of four Russian engineers at the next table over inevitably merged, and the Russians - hammered as they were - bought us Americans a bottle of cognac, which we used to toast to the usual suspects: the friendship of nations, our joint efforts, and the lady in our midst.
After a while, this one rather large and thoroughly wasted Russian kept coming over to our table - first to me, and then to R.- with some wild idea that we arm-wrestle, or something. I was able to get rid of him after one approach, but R. - who stands out in the crowd here because he's black - was pestered again and again, because (a) R. is a naturally affable guy (he ended up trying to teach a couple of thoroughly plastered Russians a 'brother" handshake) and (b) the Russian either wouldn't take "no" for an answer or had forgotten what the answer was between orbits to and from our table.
Our party eventually ended up at a place called the "Vostok," where the music was cranked up to a sound level that fell just short of the threshold of physical pain. Fortunately, I had come prepeared with earplugs (a tactic I had learned back in the day when I carried a press pass at COMDEX in Las Vegas). A fine time - more or less - was had by all, and we were delivered back at the hotel in the wee hours of the morning.
I have been told the Pleiades meteor shower is on and will peak over the next couple of days. If I hadn't been so tired, I would have been tempted to sit outside for a while and gaze at the sky. As it was, after the van let us off, I turned and paused for a few moments to gaze up at the sky, and it was positively alive with stars.
Cheers...
Originally, I had not planned on going into town at all last night, both because of my aforementioned lack of interest and the fact that I had been assigned the early shift for today, but when Victor called at very nearly 8 pm to ask how things had gone with the transfer of the ascent unit to the hall where it will be integrated with the launch vehicle, he then asked if I was planning going into town.
I reminded him I was on the schedule as this morning's interpreter, whereupon he tells me it was going to be pretty quiet in the office today, so if I wanted to go to town, I should feel free to go. It was very nearly time for the van to swing by and pick up folks at the Fili, so I figured I'd go along if the van hadn't left yet, за компанию, as the Russians say (for company). The van hadn't even arrived, so after a quick trip up to the room to freshen up, I joined the group as it headed out.
We arranged for our small band of revelers (all five of us) to be dropped off at the Palermo, where we ended up at the same table as a couple of fellows I didn't know who are working the Boeing campaign that's going on over on the other side of the base. One of these gents was a gangly fellow who has been working campaigns since about 1997 and whose Russian was rough, but ready.
Soon, llike two big raindrops on a window, we and a group of four Russian engineers at the next table over inevitably merged, and the Russians - hammered as they were - bought us Americans a bottle of cognac, which we used to toast to the usual suspects: the friendship of nations, our joint efforts, and the lady in our midst.
After a while, this one rather large and thoroughly wasted Russian kept coming over to our table - first to me, and then to R.- with some wild idea that we arm-wrestle, or something. I was able to get rid of him after one approach, but R. - who stands out in the crowd here because he's black - was pestered again and again, because (a) R. is a naturally affable guy (he ended up trying to teach a couple of thoroughly plastered Russians a 'brother" handshake) and (b) the Russian either wouldn't take "no" for an answer or had forgotten what the answer was between orbits to and from our table.
Our party eventually ended up at a place called the "Vostok," where the music was cranked up to a sound level that fell just short of the threshold of physical pain. Fortunately, I had come prepeared with earplugs (a tactic I had learned back in the day when I carried a press pass at COMDEX in Las Vegas). A fine time - more or less - was had by all, and we were delivered back at the hotel in the wee hours of the morning.
I have been told the Pleiades meteor shower is on and will peak over the next couple of days. If I hadn't been so tired, I would have been tempted to sit outside for a while and gaze at the sky. As it was, after the van let us off, I turned and paused for a few moments to gaze up at the sky, and it was positively alive with stars.
Cheers...
