Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 20:29:22 -0700
Subject: August 11 - August 18: The Adventure Continues
Hello all. Sorry I haven't gotten the chance to e-mail you lately, but things have been hectic. When I've had some free time, I haven't really felt like e-mailing. I'm on the computer enough as it is so I don't really feel like getting on here and sending out a lengthy message. I am still recording all of my adventures down here. You are just going to have to wait, though, until I get home and I make parts of my journal available.
So any way, here are a FEW of the high points of last week.
SUNDAYS (Both of them):
Hung out around the French House and basically relaxed.
MONDAY August 11:
Another PI day. Got Bob's printer to work properly. Goofed off for half the day. Went out with the crew of STS 90 (Neurolab) that night at a bar/grill and then sat with them while they ate dinner at an indian restaurant in Mountain View (Christian, the restaurant was called the Tide). These are the astronauts who will be taking part in the flight study (aka Neurolab) that we will be piggy backing off of for our group project. They seemed to like our proposal. The academy and the crew got along real well.
TUESDAY August 12:
More goofing off with the PI. Basically worked on typing my notes up. After lunch, one of the astronauts of the crew spoke to us about space medicine and the difficulties in treating and diagnosing people in space. That night, Paul Espinosa, one of the RA's PI, came to the French House and spoke to us on his numerous rock climbing trips, most of which were to Yosemite.
WEDNESDAY August 13:
Another goof off day with the PI. Note: goofing off means doing other work, not PI work; it does not literally mean goofing off. They were moving stuff around in the lab that my office was in so I pretty much hung out in the academy conference room. Gave Bob a demo and show him how to use his laptop. Most of the day and night was spent trying to put together a poster to present on the group project the next day. I was put in charge of that, but others quickly took over.
THURSDAY August 14:
A new format of lectures started - more informal - at around 9 or 10 that morning. We had a lady talk to us about the ethics (laws, ethics of different kinds of life meeting) of space exploration. She was real good and talked to us. Then we went to the poster session, where a bunch of students displayed posters of what they were doing during the summer. The academy contributed a great deal to this session. Four of the RAs did individual posters and we did a group poster on the dream study, which I'm proud to say turned out quite nicely. After lunch, we lectures on planetary systems (by a guy I introduced) and one on a software program dealing with planetary systems (ie discovering new planets). Then we toured Lockheed Martin that night. We basically stuck to the vistor's center. After the little tour, Lockheed had a little snack for us. That night, some went drinking with the astronauts while others relaxed. I sent resumes to Hughes Missile System in Tucson and Boeing.
FRIDAY August 15:
Met with a guy from the States for Space Association (or something like that) - the president and had an informal discussion. This guy was born in Cascade (MT) and currently lives in Denver. Said Lockheed there is really involved in the X33 program. Then we went to SETII for a lecture by Jill Tarter, second in command there, and a professor. Then we headed back to Ames for another exciting lecture. That night, we basically relaxed at the French House. Some went drinking and stayed out late.
SATURDAY August 16:
Five of us went to Paramount's Great America, an amusement park about 20 minutes away from here. I got totally wild here and did some things I never would have alone. I went on every coaster in the park, except for the one that was closed down. This is amazing since the closest thing to a roller coaster that I'd been on before that was space mountain at disneyland. I also did the pirate ship, another one that I never considered before Saturday. The highlight of the day had to be the thirty second ride that I waited two hours to go on. It was called the Drop Zone. This ride straps you to a chair, hauls you up 22 stories and then drops you straight down. YES. I went on it. My first comment when the thing stopped was "Praise the Lord!!".
SUNDAY August 17:
See above Sunday.
MONDAY August 18:
Another busy PI day. I did some more work on the laptop and made it even nicer yet. Then, this evening, I did the unthinkable. I booted up on the freeway. This was not the only time that I have done such an act. I have done so on a few other occassions too. One day, I even did a double boot (two at once). This is becoming an obsession - one almost worse than my obsession with m&ms. I need help. Whenever I get on the freeway, I have that uncotrollable urge to boot up. My reasoning: because I can.
I did discover one neat feature about Linux today: the games. I am a dedicated person to work on Bob's computer on the way home. Hey, somebody has to verify that the pool game works!!!
That's about it for now. Those were a FEW of the highlights. I promise you that I will seek help on my obsessions with booting and m&ms. I'm contacting Mr Gates and Mr Hershey tomorrow!!!
As you can tell, I've gone totally insane. This is what happens when a Montana boy gets trapped in California too long. Isn't that true Christian? Any way, if I can be serious for a moment and I doubt that I can, I'm looking forward to heading home in less than two weeks. I've got a lot of stuff to do here, though, so I can not dwell on it. I don't have much time, but I'd still love to hear from you all.
By the way, any of you Big Sky people ever hear of Three Creeks, MT. Somebody asked Doug about it so he asked me. If you know where one could get information on it or even where it is at, please let me know and I'll pass it on to Doug. Thanks.
Hope the Big Sky is going great and Washington too. Best wished for a nice Big Sky ending a Montana summer that I know little about. Weather's still nice down here. Big surprise. Hope it's nice up there.
Now this is truly the end of the message. I promise. You can expect one more e-mail from me before the academy is over, but I can't promise more than that. So until next time, have an m & m. They will surely cheer you up!!!! Talk to ya later!!!
Don
ps Looking forward to heading home may not totally express my feelings. I'm also dreading being out on the streets with nothing to do. Hopefully something will come along.