A close one...

[alexpgp]

When I entered the lobby here in Building 30 a few minutes ago, I noticed that the old card readers had been replaced. The old readers operated by inserting your badge in a slot and then taking it out; the new ones work on some kind of proximity principle (i.e., you wave your badge in front of the reader).

I never recalled being given a badge that specifically was to work with the new readers, although I had been issued a new badge earlier in the year with a notation saying I was cleared to work at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, which is where crews practice their spacewalks in what's billed as the world's largest swimming pool.

As I looked at the new readers, wondering just how I was going to get to my work station tonight, I thought "I don't need this development right now!"

More out of desperation than anything else, I waved my badge in front of the proximity reader and... it worked!

That's a nice start to the day, let me tell you! (And a nice lesson in not jumping to conclusions.)

Cheers...

Comments

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

Are you sure it isn't just your secret NASA cologne that opens all the doors ;)

[lemur-man.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine used to live in an apartment building with 'prox card' readers for the inner door - he used to keep the card in a pocket on his backpack and turn his back to the reader to open the door.