![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Settling into the blocks...
Aug. 17th, 2005 04:52 pmDespite the fact that the launch is just over 3 weeks away (the Soyuz launch the other day was for another campaign, not ours), things are shaping up for us interpreters to be quite busy over the next few days, as preparations are made for spacecraft propellant loading. Me, I'll be supporting the oxidizer loading operation on Saturday (among other activities in the interim), which is not as exciting as it may sound. (At least, I certainly hope it turns out not be be.)
I went over to the Polyot hotel last night to sit in with the Pinkertons at their weekly poker game. Unlike the players at the Fili, who play a fairly aggressive game involving mostly traditional games such as hold 'em, 7-card stud, and 5-card draw (with an occasional odd game of something called "7-card no-peek" thrown in), the Pinkertons play a strange mix of games: low-ball (worst hand wins), Chicago (like 7-card stud, except that the lowest spade card "in the hole" splits the pot with the winner), Follow the Queen (like 7-card stud, with the wrinkle that the denomination of the next card dealt after a Queen is dealt becomes wild), a game called "357" (a crazy game where threes, fives, and sevens are wild on alternating rounds of betting, with a boatload of additional rules), together with the occasional hand of something more traditional. The game broke up relatively early, while I was about $1.30 down (40 rubles).
In the middle of events, one of the Russian security guys stopped by in response to a persistent invitation from the Pinkertons to do so, as he is slated to go off and work on another campaign in a couple of days. He told us that he had just been informed by his daughter that she had - unbeknownst to her parents - signed up for the Russian version of ROTC at her institute in St. Petersburg several years ago, and had just been appointed a lieutenant in the Russian navy. We drank to everyone's health, to the fellow's daughter, and to the hope that there will be no need for her to stand in harm's way in defense of her homeland, took a couple of photos as a remembrance, and soon returned to our game.
Rumor has it that today's activities at the полтинник will end early, as the French team gets ready to have its picture taken in front of the satellite. I shall begin to gather my things in anticipation.
Cheers...
I went over to the Polyot hotel last night to sit in with the Pinkertons at their weekly poker game. Unlike the players at the Fili, who play a fairly aggressive game involving mostly traditional games such as hold 'em, 7-card stud, and 5-card draw (with an occasional odd game of something called "7-card no-peek" thrown in), the Pinkertons play a strange mix of games: low-ball (worst hand wins), Chicago (like 7-card stud, except that the lowest spade card "in the hole" splits the pot with the winner), Follow the Queen (like 7-card stud, with the wrinkle that the denomination of the next card dealt after a Queen is dealt becomes wild), a game called "357" (a crazy game where threes, fives, and sevens are wild on alternating rounds of betting, with a boatload of additional rules), together with the occasional hand of something more traditional. The game broke up relatively early, while I was about $1.30 down (40 rubles).
In the middle of events, one of the Russian security guys stopped by in response to a persistent invitation from the Pinkertons to do so, as he is slated to go off and work on another campaign in a couple of days. He told us that he had just been informed by his daughter that she had - unbeknownst to her parents - signed up for the Russian version of ROTC at her institute in St. Petersburg several years ago, and had just been appointed a lieutenant in the Russian navy. We drank to everyone's health, to the fellow's daughter, and to the hope that there will be no need for her to stand in harm's way in defense of her homeland, took a couple of photos as a remembrance, and soon returned to our game.
Rumor has it that today's activities at the полтинник will end early, as the French team gets ready to have its picture taken in front of the satellite. I shall begin to gather my things in anticipation.
Cheers...
