Drying off...

Yesterday afternoon, a front moved through the area, pushing a couple of thunderstorms along with it. Lightning is not unknown in these parts, as evidenced by the numerous lightning arrestors that dot the landscape. However, one bolt apparently missed the lightning protection and scored a direct hit on the antenna tower at the Polyot hotel, resulting in the loss of a number of power supplies and landline telephone circuits. The Internet went down, too, though this post is proof that all-night efforts to restore services were fruitful, although some landlines appear to still be out of service.

The rain filled all of the low areas around the hotel, filling the dry lake that's located between the Fili and the ICBM site and creating surprises along the usual paths between hotels. I found this out the hard way last night, when I joined the ILS program director for a walk to the Kometa, to welcome a newly arrived Astrium manager. On the way back home, I managed to step into an ankle-deep puddle of rich, brown mud.

It's tough to say if the stagnant water will be around long enough for mosquitos to breed in any higher-than-usual quantity, and the answer may be moot. One of the campaigners went outside early last night in shorts and soon returned with his lower legs mottled with several dozen mosquito bites (prompting both me and the program manager to spray outselves liberally with insect repellant before departing for our walk). The dragonflies must be having a field day, but the overall numbers may favor the little bloodsuckers.

Time to go back to the hotel area for lunch. With the exception of the past few minutes, this has actually been a pretty busy morning.

Cheers...