New threads...

The remaining part of the team arrived last night without incident. I was awakened after midnight by the sound of shuffling out in the hall, and decided to stay in my room and get undressed and under the covers rather than rush downstairs to get my luggage. (I had fallen asleep while watching a Russian-dubbed version of Kindergarten Cop.) When I got up, I found my bag downstairs and greedily hauled it up into my room, and finally began to throw dirty laundry into the hamper instead of the sink.

I worked the late shift yesterday, starting at 1 pm. The effort was supposed to go on until 10 pm, but that time kept slipping forward, to 9 pm and then to 7 pm, until finally the decision was made for pretty much everyone to go back to the Fili around 6 pm. I offered no complaint.

The evening passed quietly. I compared the English and French versions of the safety briefing handout, just as something to do, and in case I am called upon to provide French language support during today's safety briefing for the newly arrived group.

One of the curious aspects of being here in Kazakhstan is finding oneself thrust 12 hours into the "future" with respect to events back home. As I write this, there are some items set to hit "today" (my time) via the automatic BillPay feature at the bank back home, even though those things will hit "tomorrow" (Colorado time). I just have to make sure I coordinate with family members to make sure all bases are covered.

I think I am going to go back into the dining hall and get another cup of coffee to take back to my room. I have more studying to do before going in to work.

Cheers...

Blast from the past...

The recent past, that is.

A photo taken the night the spacecraft was unloaded has surfaced. It shows three pretty cold guys on the tarmac at Yubileinyi airfield.



I am the overstuffed humanoid on the right. The other two hooligans in the image are the project safety engineer and the launch operations manager.

If you look carefully at the image, you can see the Antonov An-134 in the background, and unless you realize just how far away we are from the aircraft, it looks like a lightweight puddle-jumper standing a few feet behind us. In reality, the bottom of the engines hanging off the wings are probably 15 feet from the concrete, and we are standing 30-40 yards from the plane.

* * *I've sent a fax to the store to make sure some money gets transferred into the proper accounts to make various payments "today." If I don't hear something back soon, I may send supplemental emails to Natalie and Galina, who should be back in Houston by now.

Tomorrow, I'm scheduled to go in to the office at 5:15 am, and am looking forward to the experience with a patience borne of having done this kind of stuff for a while. The good news is that I'll be finished for the day relatively early.

Time to go coordinate emails and get ready for bed.

Cheers...