Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Soggy Bottom Boy
Greetings again mein freunds. Thanks to all who sent e-missives from the homeland to keep me company here on Sal.
Naturally just after I post about working non-stop we promptly received a Hard-down followed by a No-Fly, which meant two days off in a row. This of course meant that I was heading to the Scuba shop. In total I was able to get 3 dives in on Monday and 2 yesterday.
Since I'm not feeling particularly eloquent this morning and since I don't have much time since we are flying in a few hours I'll sum up what I saw.
Flying Fish, HUGE Puffer fish, HUGE (4-5 long) Trumpet Fish, Several varieties of Moray Eels, a Stingray, several Parrot Fish, a Lobster, many other random Fishes.
I dove with a very pleasant German fellow named Thomas both days. I finally got some nice conversation that wasn't about work at any point and that wasn't with an American! w00t.
Alas that is as much as my brain can process at the moment. Perhaps the flight will be relatively uneventful and I will have time to compose more about the dives then.
Ate Logo!
Naturally just after I post about working non-stop we promptly received a Hard-down followed by a No-Fly, which meant two days off in a row. This of course meant that I was heading to the Scuba shop. In total I was able to get 3 dives in on Monday and 2 yesterday.
Since I'm not feeling particularly eloquent this morning and since I don't have much time since we are flying in a few hours I'll sum up what I saw.
Flying Fish, HUGE Puffer fish, HUGE (4-5 long) Trumpet Fish, Several varieties of Moray Eels, a Stingray, several Parrot Fish, a Lobster, many other random Fishes.
I dove with a very pleasant German fellow named Thomas both days. I finally got some nice conversation that wasn't about work at any point and that wasn't with an American! w00t.
Alas that is as much as my brain can process at the moment. Perhaps the flight will be relatively uneventful and I will have time to compose more about the dives then.
Ate Logo!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Friends, Romans, Cabo Verdeans...
Lend me your fingers!
Send me electronic missives with tales from the homeland! Home-sickness is creeping up as we fly day after day. I'd love to post more impressions and stories of Cape Verde but the sad truth is that for the past few days the only things that I've seen are the Hotel Compound and the airport. No non-work fun has really been had this week. We might get this afternoon off in which case I plan to go snorkeling or diving and so I might have a report in another day or two.
One interesting note from Friday's flight. We flew in close formation with a British jet for about 30 minutes. I have some great pictures of them right off our wing. If and when we get better internet access I'll post some of them for your viewing pleasure.
So seriously folks, send me stories about hockey, football, gaming, or just what you had for breakfast. I feel like a soldier in the trenches waiting for the mail bag to bring me stories about my dog.
-philip
Send me electronic missives with tales from the homeland! Home-sickness is creeping up as we fly day after day. I'd love to post more impressions and stories of Cape Verde but the sad truth is that for the past few days the only things that I've seen are the Hotel Compound and the airport. No non-work fun has really been had this week. We might get this afternoon off in which case I plan to go snorkeling or diving and so I might have a report in another day or two.
One interesting note from Friday's flight. We flew in close formation with a British jet for about 30 minutes. I have some great pictures of them right off our wing. If and when we get better internet access I'll post some of them for your viewing pleasure.
So seriously folks, send me stories about hockey, football, gaming, or just what you had for breakfast. I feel like a soldier in the trenches waiting for the mail bag to bring me stories about my dog.
-philip
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Fly, fly, burn, burn...
Field campaigns are odd beasts. You get sent to a very nice place with plenty of things to see and do and then are expected to put in 12+ hour days full of meetings and long flights on a cold plane THROUGH tropical clouds. Things get bumpy very often and the odd part of it all is that it's on purpose.
And then you get two consecutive days off...
It's an orgy of activity with everyone asking everyone else what their plans are and making suggestions. Snorkling, hiking, surfing, sleeping; everyone is doing something or going somewhere.
As a brief aside, SPF 30 can barely contain the tropical sun. Now back to the main narrative.
I tried to surf for the first time yesterday. The waves weren't really big enough and so the most I could manage was a brief belly ride. I'll definitely try again before I leave. Even that briefest hint of a belly ride was enough to provide an idea of what a real ride would be like, which is to say a huge rush.
The internet connection at our offices is still slow and expensive so I'm not able to get pictures out yet. I will if that changes but I'm not holding my breath waiting.
We fly again today at 11:00 GMT-1, which would be 7:00 CST so those of you who see this should check out the link in the last post to see where we are in the world.
-philip
And then you get two consecutive days off...
It's an orgy of activity with everyone asking everyone else what their plans are and making suggestions. Snorkling, hiking, surfing, sleeping; everyone is doing something or going somewhere.
As a brief aside, SPF 30 can barely contain the tropical sun. Now back to the main narrative.
I tried to surf for the first time yesterday. The waves weren't really big enough and so the most I could manage was a brief belly ride. I'll definitely try again before I leave. Even that briefest hint of a belly ride was enough to provide an idea of what a real ride would be like, which is to say a huge rush.
The internet connection at our offices is still slow and expensive so I'm not able to get pictures out yet. I will if that changes but I'm not holding my breath waiting.
We fly again today at 11:00 GMT-1, which would be 7:00 CST so those of you who see this should check out the link in the last post to see where we are in the world.
-philip
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Oi d' Cabo Verde
Howdy from Caape Verde! I'd love to get some pictures up but I haven't really had a chance to take any since I've been working almost non-stop. We just got the internet working at our airport offices and the upload speed is very slow so even once I take some pictures I might not be able to post many until I return.
I have to keep this brief as we are about to go flying but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am safe and having a pretty good time. I'll report more when I get a day or two off. Hopefully I will have something to talk about then other than work.
For those so inclined you can follow each flight in Google Earth by loading the following link:
http://branch.nsstc.nasa.gov/NAMMA/namma.kml
You'll want to look for the DC-8 flight track and then the 15 minute version.
Enjoy!
I have to keep this brief as we are about to go flying but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am safe and having a pretty good time. I'll report more when I get a day or two off. Hopefully I will have something to talk about then other than work.
For those so inclined you can follow each flight in Google Earth by loading the following link:
http://branch.nsstc.nasa.gov/NAMMA/namma.kml
You'll want to look for the DC-8 flight track and then the 15 minute version.
Enjoy!
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