Last shift for STS-97 (probably)

[alexpgp]

It ain't over 'til it's over.
      - Yogi Berra

And Yogi wasn't blowing any smoke, either, although realistically, the chances of the mission extending by an additional day are pretty slim.

I'm in the "back room" just off the control room for the station. Things are pretty slow right now, reflecting the state of affairs during the previous shift. All the work by the STS-97 crew is pretty much done, and they'll be leaving behind a much better-equipped station when they undock later today. I've seen a lot of "space video" over the years, but the footage from this flight has been pretty impressive, even by my standards.

While thinking of Yogi and of things being "over" and "not over," I note that CNN continues to flash an endless stream of Flori-duh related idiocy at me, leading me to make a prediction. (Actually, a pair of predictions, though only one of them will come true.)

These are:

(a) if Bush wins, he will be dogged by the press regarding the "legitimacy" of his presidency (this, in addition to the minute scrutiny that any Administration must be the subject of);

(b) if Gore wins, no such question will arise (as part of what I fear will be a "free ride" from the mainstream media).

You heard it here first.

In other action, I finally sat down in the time between everything else that's going on and put together the JavaScript-based code and graphics for my freelance-related web site. So, now that the spiffy part is done, I should really sit down and write the words.

But that'll have to wait until after this flight.

Back to work...the PRP is calling on loop 18.

Cheers...