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What the hell...
Just WTF...
This has been – Interesting, A time of great failure followed by stunning success.
OK, You probably want to know what the hell I'm talking about. Well as I start to wrote this I'm at 39000 on the way from Denver to Washington to well, Eventually Devon Island and FMARS. From there I'll spend two weeks at FMARS doing the best we can with what we have in the harshest conditions imaginable. In other words Same as usual...
So, Whats made this day so strange? Well, it started last week.
I finally got the Hanksville tower up and tensioned. That should have gone fine, but I had a TBM (Transient Blonde Moment) and cut the top lever (the torque arm if you're paying attention) guy lines a bit short, well about 25 feet short, well exactly the same as the third level... (Note to self, when doing mission critical math or cutting have someone else check your work.) That sucked, and I ended up having to haul four cables all the way to the top, all at once, clipped to my harness. Talk about the ultimate dyno move, for 115 feet. It was near my full load capacity, and every step brought another four feet of cable weight I had to carry. Then I had to unload them, one at a time, without dropping any of the important parts. (Another note to self. Do NOT drop a guy line onto another guy line of a tower you are working on if you even pretend to be motion sick or are skittish at heights. Good thing I'm not.) Replace as many of the short ones as I could (four) all by my self, (because I needed Casey and Don to handle the bottoms of the cables.) all the while paying a crane some insane hourly to watch my silly ass play monkey.
Fun.
Let's not do that again. Ever.
So, As I digress I'm on this plane. And, Oh, I forgot (not really) I also had to get a geotechnical survey and analysis done on the Texas Hill site, So, I had Melissa Battler (MSC president and good friend) in to do that. (I'd rather pay someone I know, who I know will do a great job for reasons other than purely financial than just some dude off the street who could just care less.) SO, Here I am, Entertaining Melissa (Read, working our buts off) Preparing for this trip, Helping the guys who came in from UND with a real pressurized surface suit, helping with the current crew, doing my usual duties with the Mars Society, planning the last second details of this trip, and doing my real day job, you know, silly things like putting up a toer and getting one ready to take down and shipped up here...
Just the usual, but with that many, at least one item slipped. Well, You may have noticed that I didn't mention sleep. There was very little of that. In fact, as I started writing this, I am working on literally 2 hours sleep, with an hour and a half the night before, and four the night before that! (uuuummmmaaaahhh What was I saying? What were you saying? Were we talking? Who are you?)
So, Melisa was originally scheduled to leave Saturday so that she could be with her family for Easter. What ended up happening was that, because the very raw engineer assistant for the foundation engineer wanted something more that Melissa normally has to give, she decided to stay over on Saturday and re-dig one of the holes and get even bigger samples. Because of this she ended up staying on until Monday.
This is only slightly weird because I had put in my passport app right as we got the tickets, about six weeks before the trip. The website was claiming four week turn around. They lied, it was more like eight. I wasn't going to get my passport in time. SO, I had to go to Denver to get it, the day before I was to leave. This means that I was going to take Melissa to Grand Junction (If I fly some one in, I do it right.) then keep on driving down to Denver so that I an make my passport appointment (Funny considering that she is flying to Denver, but I still digress...) And as usual, the typical Paul adventures. Wake up an hour earlier than I need, get Casey ready, pack, and
EERRRP, Helm, all stop.
“Paul, Can you come over to the Community center, we need to have a quick meeting to make sure everything is alright with the project before you go.” (My loose paraphrase.) “Uh, OK” Delay.
Bob, The annoying but slightly knowledgeable neighbor comes over, with questions, issues, and general bitches about the project. More delay.
Don has family emergency, needs to leave for a few days. Yet more delay.
Telephone – Mom Insurance. Telephone – James order, Telephone - Customer something meaningless – Good bye, IM - Crew, “We need something (Like water) Can you help us?”, Ridiculous delay.
“DAMNIT PEOPLE, Can't you just leave me alone!” Finally I just throw all of my shit in the Aerostar and full tilt boogie to the airport, via the gas station. (Aerostar likes gas for 2+ hour trips.) and the Pay at the Pump's not working, and the guy inside's new and doesn't know to turn the pump on for me, so I have to go inside, and then he doesn't know how to run the CC machine. Painfuly frustrating delay.
Long story short (I know, Too late) while blazing up to the airport at 95 Mph (The governor speed.) I do the math and decide that we aren't going to make it and start calling the airline. They tell me that for another hundred bucks, I can get her on a flight from Grand Junction in the afternoon the next day, (Screwing her for helping her mom do food prep for the FMARS mission. Did I mention that Melissa is also the FMARS commander, so getting her to help is a real favor!), or I can take her to Denver, and get her on a morning flight for $360...
I am not amused, especially knowing that she is going from GJT to DEN then to Toronto. WTF! No, Just F! After a bit of whining, being frustrated, and general heartburn, I realize that I am no where near the serenity that I so desired. So I stop while on hold with the reservations supervisor, and start to focus on Serenity. (Let it wash over you , none of this matters, reach out, grab it, hug it, make it your own, absorb it and let it pass...) The supervisor starts to tell me how I am just going to have to deal with the situation, and I am preparing to give them the $360 when she tells me that her plane is going to be delayed to the point that she will miss her connection and I get to take her to Denver, and deliver her to the airport at 1000, no charge...
Nice. Sometimes you win.
After a quick stop at the Green River junk yard, I grab the remaining parts for my wipers, (My wipers have been mostly bad for a year, and very bad, like the motor is gone, for a month.) and we blaze with the idea in our heads that we can make Hanging lake before dark. With the prospect of a nice adventure on our minds, and some great Ben and Jerry's (I now love “Half Baked”more than any other...) in our bellies, and a song in our hearts, (OK, it was more like jams from Mel's laptop with her and Casey picking the playlist...) we press on, marveling at the storm that is surrounding us and looking for adventure!
ROAD TRIP!
It was a little scary as we drove nicking the storm, because I only got the parts. I didn't get to install them. And with the drops splattering the windshield, visibility diminished, but never enough to make me stop. After a while it subsides and we are no longer worried, but the idea of getting to Hanging Lake before it gets dark are slowly fading. (Pun intended, Sorry.) We decide that no matter what, we are going to see a waterfall tonight, and will hike up to the lake even after dark.
It was a blast. The hike was hard, but not hugely so, and I was hampered by my sick gut, but we all had a great time. The waterfall was spectacular even by LED headlamp. Taking pictures was tough, but worth it. On the way down, Casey notices a flash, and I think nothing of it, because I could see an airplane's strobe flaring in the clouds. Then we could hear the thunder. “Oh Shit” we all say nearly simultaneously. Down we go, scrambling down the dangerous trail as fast as we can, afraid what might happen if it starts raining and the small stream turns into a storm filled river. Half way down it starts hailing/sleeting . More fun...
“Mel” I call, soaked from the knees down, hair wet, and starting to get cold, “This was really kind of stupid, but I'm really glad we did it.”
And we ran down the trail.
Once we get to the bottom, we change some clothes and continue on to Vail where I stop in the Lionshead parking garage to show off some art work I helped with some 16 years ago (“Clip man “ in case you are wondering.) and we still continue, even though we still don't have wipers, and the passes have the chain laws in effect. This means that the snow/ice is so bad that they won't let commercial vehicles on the pass without chains mounted. It means the roads are a real mess, downright slippery/scary. It means that you are about to have a slow, scary trip. It was hairy, but we make it to our final destination. Gary's place. Gary is cool, and has three separate beds made for us, and after taking turns in the shower, we each retire to our beds. I take the last shower and finally fall into my trundle bed at 0430. we get up at 0600 to get Mel to the airport in time, me dragging ass like sandpaper.
I think I'll stop for now, and continue the rest later. I'm having a real tough time keeping my eyes open, actually nodding as I type....
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