First full day...

[alexpgp]

Today is the first full day at Baikonur for this campaign, and I've just been issued the radio that will be my constant companion until we leave, along with my badge (one of them).

My Beeline credit went from 700 rubles to just under 12 rubles literally overnight (and after consuming only 14 MB of bandwidth, most of which was apparently due to Windows Update doing its thing). Even if the 14 MB didn't count against my monthly total of 20 MB (the account documentation says that until the account charging kicks in, any bandwidth consumed is charged at the per-megabyte rate) that still should only have cost me 50 rubles or so.

Sigh.

It would appear I will get to deal with Beeline customer service, once I figure out (or try to) what happened.

* * *I love to attend launches, and yesterday's liftoff of a Soyuz rocket carrying a Progress resupply vehicle for the ISS was not disappointing in the least, but night launches are notoriously unphotogenic.

I tried to keep my camera out of my hands and failed. I'm not at all sure any of the images are usable, though. Ah, well.

* * *I slept well last night (and even picked up a few winks on the bus to the launch site and back), but not enough. I woke up at 5 am this morning completely alert, so I went for a short walk (it's cold out!) and caught sight of a huge red full moon on my way back to the hotel.

I'm at the office right now, because the passwords for the network at the hotel haven't yet been distributed. The main crowd ought to get here momentarily, so I better get ready to work.

Cheers...

Comments

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Are you dialing into phone system to access the net? And if so, are you dialing a Moscow number? If so, you are probably paying data charges AND inter-city phone charges as well. You'd be better off swapping to a non-city-specific number, if that makes sense...

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

No, I'm trying to use a USB modem, for which I am supposed to be paying a roaming charge on the Beeline network. My problems are twofold: (a) I'm not able to connect while in Kazakhstan, and (b) the money I put into the phone number seems to have vanished.

At any rate, I don't believe the situation you're describing applies in this case. (Thanks for suggesting it, though!)

And hey! Now, you're only 5 hours ahead of me!

Cheers...

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Ouch. My sympathies. I am not terribly surprised that you can't connect while in Kazakhstan - I am having problems getting even dial up speeds out of wireless modem even here, in Toowoomba, and we are in Australia!
Money vanishing sucks. They (Beeline) might have given you a "shared" number, that is someone else uses the same phone number and used it up. Wouldn't put it past them, after the dramas I had with cellular companies in Russia... old cynic that I am :)

How's Kazakhstan treating you? A friend was telling me that the weather in Almaty is lovely now, how is it where you are?

[daphnis.livejournal.com]

A huge red full moon? Red from ash in atmosphere, maybe?

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

No, red from being just above the horizon, actually.

I spent more time than was probably healthy looking at animations of the volcanic ash cloud dispersal into the atmosphere, and the levels were pretty minuscule in the vicinity of Moscow (and here, we're two time zones further away from the source).

Hope all is going well in Colorado!

Cheers...