Strange behaviour...

With just a slight twist in the spelling, to underscore the strangeness.

My VAIO keyboard appears to have recovered its functionality, at least for now. Weird.

That fully makes up for my having forgotten my JSC badge at home this morning (fortunately, while only 5 minutes away from the house... things would've been stickier had I realized my faux pas at the security gate, nearly 20 minutes away from home).

The luck of the draw gave interpretation of the weekly planning conference to Mike T., who's sharing the shift with me. It was no big deal, actually... though I probably would've found the initial banter (a joking reference to some 70's-era pop music) a bit hard to translate simultaneously into Russian. Mike - who is probably about the best all-around translator/interpreter I know - handled it all in stride.

I am being exceedingly cautious with the "CPU corner" of the VAIO, placing my hand there every few minutes to assure myself that the temperature is okay. Eventually, I'd like to get a new laptop, of course, but only after my current financial challenges have been met.

I feel I am coming out of the pervasive blue funk I've seemingly been drowning in this past week. I hope it's not a temporary feeling.

Cheers...

Back in the (shadow) again...

Shortly after my previous post, the keyboard went back to its malfunctioning state without a fuss. This makes me think the problem may be heat related, as the machine was not moved or jiggled in any way. (Then again, if the problem has to do with ants - and I can only imagine a problem involving dead ants as I have not seen any of the live variety for a couple-three days - no motion would be necessary.)

The fan continues to work well. Whoo-whoo.

Earlier, the crew decided to spend some time talking with some of the folks down here who don't normally get a chance to talk to the crew (which is most of them, since U.S. policy generally allows for only one person - the capcom - to speak to the crew). It was a great team-building exercise and a worthwhile thing in itself, except that we poor air-to-ground interpreters ended up rendering the whole series of fairly... nontechnical exchanges into Russian. Ah, well... that's what we're paid for: to help each side gain insight into what is going on.

Cheers...