I spend a lazy day with Candy, getting the car washed and stuff like that. And I even go to aikido. It's odd how comforting the routine of life can be, when you've been away from it for just a little while. I suppose that's because you spend so much time working on it, crafting it to fit you. When you slip back into it, it's like putting on a pair of comfy old shoes.
Later, I go into work. I should never have taken a day off. In addition to the other pile of email that stacked up, I got about a hundred (well, three) email messages from the media office regarding various interviews. D'oh!
One of the potential interviews is with Chopper & Jimmy on WBBB, the Raleigh morning show I did once before, and I decide I'll call them again even though it means getting up in the middle of my night. Because they were nice to me, so what the heck.
It's now midnight and I'm supposed to call them at 7AM. I look up their Web site and try to call to leave a message for them, to let them know that the interview is on, and I speak to the rudest person on the Eastern seaboard, who doesn't want to take a message or give me the secret magic phone number where I can leave them one myself. So I send them email, hope for the best, and go home.
Scott,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great insider view of MER operations. I was in high school when MER landed, and I remember being glued to all the press briefings. This project was a big part of what motivated me to choose aerospace engineering. I'm one semester from my B.S. degree now, and I still love following this mission.
Keep the posts coming!
Dan
@Dan I'm thrilled to hear that! I myself was inspired by JPL's Voyager missions. A few years back, while learning to operate the DSN, I set up a comm pass for Voyager 2. That was a profound experience for me: in a small way, I got to be a part of the mission that had inspired me to go into space exploration in the first place.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you'll get to do the same. We'll try to still have the rovers here for you when you show up. :-)