Week 5 (July 21 - July 27)
Political 'Encounters' in Nevada
The Ames Astrobiology Academy
Weekly Summary
Week 5
as seen by Melissa Leigh Baker
… and so I continue the tradition of attempting to capture in a few words the many things that occurred during one week of our summer full of dangerous adventures, intriguing encounters, and a bit of learning here and there. Although a belated account, I also have the pressure of living up to the precedent of great writing skills.
Mondry, July 21, 1997
The Monday of our fifth week was to be painfully long. Following the usual 8/9 to 5 workday, all had to find something to occupy two hours of time before our evening lecture. The regular restaurant and food experts headed off to find dinner in Mountain View. The athletes hit the pavement and the sand volleyball courts, while Joe, Kathy, and I worked on our Russian proposal with several treks to the snack machine around the corner.
At last 7:00 came and we gathered in a small conference room to see Ken Souza's interesting, yet slightly "broken" computer presentation. We watched and learned about how space flight affects biological organisms from prokaryotes and single celled organisms right on up the evolutionary ladder to human beings. Immediately following this talk, Kathy took over as we discussed organization for our group project and compromised on positions among departments. Don and Jeff, feeling a new sense of camaraderie in their engineering/hardware division, devised a secret handshake - ending with a little hip-action and the phrase "shake your hardware!"
On the ride home, Hank's van got a little creatively silly (a result of our long day) as we designed a fool-proof safety device for motorcycle riders using NASA technologies (probably a good idea for those of us who ride motorcycles). Incorporating the airbags used with the Pathfinder into a full body suit which inflates upon impact would simply send the rider bouncing away to safety. What do you say we open our own business?
Tuesday, July 22, 1997
"Wake up, buddy," says Joe with a cheerful smile to a groggy, confused expression on Hank's face. These were NOT the words Hank wanted to hear at 2:30 a.m., which Joe thought was the perfect time to head for work. The day continued with the normal breakfast-work-lunch-(sleep)-work schedule that the majority of us have adopted. Heading over to 245 just a little late after work, I saw Kim's van drive by only half a block away full of people and simply expected Hank's van to be there waiting. Feeling a little panicked by the sight of the empty conference room, I gave~ Hank's cell phone a try. All I heard from Hank was laughter as he said "Kim forgot you?" and promised to pick me up later.
Our evening time was filled by some with a trip to the Stanford Shopping Center. Dresses and the like were major targets for those girls who had nothing to wear to the Governor's mansion. After visiting as many of the shops as possible, everyone gathered at the van around 9:30 p.m. and, much to the dismay of those who didn't eat dinner, ended up at the French House still with empty stomachs (sorry Nellymar!).
The standard evening rituals were carried out until bedtime: e-mail checks, phone calls home, surfing the web, and cursing those mischievous NSF people for all the disappearing computer files!
Wednesday, July 23, 1997
The early breakfast group on this day pondered the meaning of Christen's concern for pre-marital interdigitary conjugation. This gave everyone something to consider at work any time they got bored!
Wednesday's work day was cut short at 4:00 p.m. so that everyone could have time at the French House to pack up and prepare for our trip to Reno. The great capitalistic powers of Wal-Mart were calling several of us and, with no weapons against the pull of Sam Walton, our departure was slightly delayed by a photopickup. Setting us back more than an hour, we eventually met up at Doug's and headed for Reno.
Kim's van was designated for the card games and, once again, poor Christen sacrificed her cards without even an invitation to play! Andrea, on the other hand, was privileged enough to get her first lesson in Pitch. Conversation in Hank's van turned to more mushy topics, as we all listened to Jeff recount his most romantic evening with his friend Pat that included a candlelight dinner under the stars (okay, maybe the story included a couple girls).
By 9:30 and just on the verge of starvation, we pulled in to Cattleman's, one of Doug's favorite restaurants. After scarfing down every bit of bread and salad, our meals came and we were once again satisfied. Amid the dinner conversation, Kevin noted, "Melissa, your lipstick matches your shirt." Of course, it's always nice to know that your friends pay close attention to detail, that they care so much to really notice things. It might have been even better if I had actually been wearing lipstick! (I'm sure you meant well Kevin:)
Just after Kathy's most essential trip to the Jack-in-the-box, we arrived at the Hilton hotel at 1:00 a.m. Once Hank straightened out all the usual payment misunderstandings, we all headed to bed to get some rest before our big day.
Thursday, July 24, 1997
In preparation for our lunch at the Governor's mansion, everybody put on their snazziest outfits. Andrea was thrilled to finally wear "the Black Dress", Pat looked as if he just stepped out of GQ, and Eric sported his newly acquired Banana Republic jacket.
At the Desert Research Institute, we met the President and then took a fastpaced tour of the building. After learning the types of environmental research that DRI is involved with, we were treated to a slide presentation with the lights off. Of course, this is all that is required for the Astrobiology Academy RA's to take a quick nap. Christy O'Handley, on the other hand, didn't seem to have trouble sleeping through most of the presentations!
Lunch time, the event for which we were all waiting, took us the Carson City, Nevada. The Governor's mansion was relatively small and nestled right in the midst of the town. We introduced ourselves to the wife of the Governor who amazed us with her knowledge of our experiences from the Academy profile book. After a bit of pleasant conversation, we were directed to the backyard where lunch was set up at tables around a fountain. The weather was perfect and lunch was delicious. Doug must have had an incredible afternoon because he has many times since then stated, "I don't know about you, but my favorite part of the trip was lunch with the Governor's wife!" (Did anybody notice that the Governor wasn't there?)
After fifteen minutes of photographs, we reluctantly headed back to DRI. Remaining lectures were cut short due to our lingering at lunch. Finally, we were able to go back to the hotel for a couple hours of rest. We grabbed some quick dinner and then drove off to the planetarium. While we waited on the shows to begin, some shopped in the gift shop, some went outside for pictures, and some broke the merchandise. "What if there were no moon" and "The Serengeti" were the shows through which some struggled to stay awake (Hank!). Eric and Jeff cheered in agreement with aspects of the lion's life: Eric loved the fact that the lion spends 20 hours a day in regal luxury, while Jeff thought it great that they mate so often.
Next, all but Kim and Don packed into Hank's van for a night out on the town to meet Andrea's friends. At the Brew Brothers micro brewery, Nellymar found her profession: "Hey, I could get a job here. That's what chemical engineers do, run fluid through pipes!" Christen was ready to set out looking for her next fiance to take to the hotel's chapel. Half the group headed for the casinos, Andrea stayed with her friend, and the rest of us checked out the town.
Friday, July 24, 1997
Friday was a short day, consisting only of a trip to the University of Nevada, Reno - Andrea's home away from home. A professor that is involved with the Space Grant Consortium talked with us about Space Grant money and organization, imaging technology, his disgust for the names of rocks on Mars, and much more. We took a quick walk around and ran for the vans to start our weekend in Tahoe.
This trip the girls got to stay at Bob Zimmerman's house. Some of us stayed around the houses for some rest, while others went on a hike. As it turned out, only half the group made it to Sunnyside for dinner.
"Broken arm, broken arm!" those were Pat's prognosis of his arm after slipping on a fallen log just fifteen or so minutes after the hike began. Thank goodness such wilderness gurus as Hank and Kevin were there to save the day. While Kathy and Christen ran down the mountain, sliding all the way down, a splint of bark was placed around Pat's arm. After more than five hours at the hospital, Pat was ready to leave, but not before taking advantage of this "humorous situation". After convincing the doctor to help him out, Pat entered the waiting room where everyone waited sitting in a wheelchair, his head wrapped in bandages, his eyes droopy, and a groggy look on his face. The doctor was saying something about the amnesia only a few minutes before Hank caught on to the jest. Pat seemed to take the whole ordeal quite well. He showed off the x-ray of his dislocated elbow, the two bones a great distance apart. After lying around in Doug's living room watching the Godfather II, everyone trickled off to bed.
Saturday, July 26, 1997
At 9:30 a.m., Eric, Kathy, Andrea, Kevin, Jeff, and I left to meet Eric's friend Kelly for a hike. We stopped by her beautiful house up in the mountains and met her three roommates. We headed for Squaw Valley - place of the 1960 (?) winter Olympics. The trail along which we hiked, wound around an incredible waterfall. However freakish we thought it, fifteen minutes after the trek began, we were hit with a hail storm. All of us decided to have an early lunch to wait it out. Again we started off on our hike (this time without Kelly). Eric, deciding to be a professional photographer for the day kept getting left behind as he found more an more to photograph. At one point Kevin decided it would be neat to climb a peak on the left side of the trail. This route was an unending sleep slope that, at one point, had Kathy clinging to a tree for her life and Eric sending huge boulders towards the heads of those climbing below. Once at the top, we decided it would be a bad idea to go back down the way we came up. So, we agreed to continue our ascent. At this next peak, we stopped on the rocks for some photo ops that included some amazing footwork for timed shots. Now we are so high up, we decide to aim for Squaw Peak and catch a tram ride down. On the last stretch of the climb, some of us enjoyed playing in the cold snow. Finally, after 2200 vertical feet and -5 miles later, we hit civilization. Luckily, Kevin arranged a free trip down on the tram for us all.
Back at Doug's, Christen and Joe cooked a delicious lasagna dinner for everyone. Hank, the pro trainer, spent the evening "stretching" all with sore muscles. "The Birdcage" and Trivial Pursuit kept some busy until they fell asleep. Kevin and Eric (still attempting to be photographers) spent the night by the lake photographing the night sky.
Sunday, July 27, 1997
Many started off the morning with visits to church services, while others slept in. We were packed and left by 2:30 p.m. for home. A stop at the outlet center and dinner at In-and-Out Burger made for a nice break from driving. Back at the French House, we were forced back into reality by our group meeting.
For the benefit of future Academy participants, I'd like to share a few of the perks of being in the Astrobiology Academy:
Top Ten Reasons to Join the
NASA Ames Astrobiologv Academy
10. You get to eat free Ames Cafeteria food.
9. It's great if you don't want to do research.
8. Water skiing at Lake Tahoe. 'Nuff said.
7. You get plenty of practice sleeping while sitting up.
6. The fun of booting up on the highway!
5. You can put those dancing days in Reno behind you.
4. Riding in the vans is only half as dangerous as fighting in a war.
3. Everybody needs to be totally deprived of sleep once in a while.
2. You can build up your physical endurance on those 12 hour car rides.
1. The opportunity to meet Dan Goldin!