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An active morning...
Oct. 9th, 2006 05:26 pmI was picked up at around 9:10 am at the front gate of the hotel, from where the van went to 92A-50 to meet the truck that was supposed to accompany us halfway across the cosmodrome to pick up a piece of equipment to be used for our campaign. Or, as it turned out, perhaps to find out that the truck would meet us over by where the cargo was waiting, or perhaps back at the Fili hotel, or... you get the idea. After a number of phone and radio exchanges, we finally got on the road at around 10 am.
The trip took about 40 minutes and we ended up at a building owned by an aerospace enterprise called "Progress." I didn't realize it at the time, but the building we were visiting was the same building where, a few years ago, a roof repair job went terribly south, killing the guys who were on the roof when it collapsed and destroying the Buran space shuttle inside.
Anyway, we somehow made it inside without escort (which surprised the folks we were visiting), and found out where to position the truck for loading. Everything went fairly smoothly after that, and one of the Astrium guys remarked that he wished he spoke English as well as I spoke French - which was gracious of him, because it's helping dispel this inferiority complex that I've allowed to fester in this regard, but I digress...
Everything went well until we were about halfway home, when our truck decided to gently veer off the highway to go around a stretch of road that was under reconstruction. When our Toyota van tried the same maneuver, it got stuck in soft sand - sinking the right rear drive wheel into the geography up to its hubcaps - and no amount of huffing or puffing (or pushing) would get the vehicle to budge.
The solution to the problem, naturally, was to throw more people at it. So as I threw chunks of asphalt (from the road repair work) under the right rear wheel to give the tire some purchase, about a dozen people pushed from the front in an attempt to back the van out onto the road. It took a while but the effort eventually paid off, and all the two Astrium guys had to show for their trouble was shoes filled with sand, while I got a few mouthfuls of silicon grit for my trouble. Then again, we didn't have to walk home or wait for a replacement van.
I also took care of a quick translation while in my room this afternoon, and now am waiting for folks to get back from 92A-50 and the mandatory safety briefing. Talk of moving one of the French-speaking interpreters to the Kometa hotel has gained life once again, but frankly, it's not something I'd be averse to doing, if asked to. I just hope a decision is made soon, if there's one to be made.
FWIW, new campaign photos can be found on my Flickr page.
Cheers...
The trip took about 40 minutes and we ended up at a building owned by an aerospace enterprise called "Progress." I didn't realize it at the time, but the building we were visiting was the same building where, a few years ago, a roof repair job went terribly south, killing the guys who were on the roof when it collapsed and destroying the Buran space shuttle inside.
Anyway, we somehow made it inside without escort (which surprised the folks we were visiting), and found out where to position the truck for loading. Everything went fairly smoothly after that, and one of the Astrium guys remarked that he wished he spoke English as well as I spoke French - which was gracious of him, because it's helping dispel this inferiority complex that I've allowed to fester in this regard, but I digress...
Everything went well until we were about halfway home, when our truck decided to gently veer off the highway to go around a stretch of road that was under reconstruction. When our Toyota van tried the same maneuver, it got stuck in soft sand - sinking the right rear drive wheel into the geography up to its hubcaps - and no amount of huffing or puffing (or pushing) would get the vehicle to budge.
The solution to the problem, naturally, was to throw more people at it. So as I threw chunks of asphalt (from the road repair work) under the right rear wheel to give the tire some purchase, about a dozen people pushed from the front in an attempt to back the van out onto the road. It took a while but the effort eventually paid off, and all the two Astrium guys had to show for their trouble was shoes filled with sand, while I got a few mouthfuls of silicon grit for my trouble. Then again, we didn't have to walk home or wait for a replacement van.
I also took care of a quick translation while in my room this afternoon, and now am waiting for folks to get back from 92A-50 and the mandatory safety briefing. Talk of moving one of the French-speaking interpreters to the Kometa hotel has gained life once again, but frankly, it's not something I'd be averse to doing, if asked to. I just hope a decision is made soon, if there's one to be made.
FWIW, new campaign photos can be found on my Flickr page.
Cheers...
