I have a very talented friend who made this for me.
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This week some very good friends of ours from California decided they’re probably moving to Washington. The husband got a job offer at the same company Mr. Bells is at, but he’s also interviewed at Amazon’s California offices so he’s waiting to see if he gets a better offer there. I officiated their wedding and I have missed them very much. Also she’s got one adorable toddler and another baby due literally any second now so I will get to cuddle them.
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A small victory, but a victory none the less–the last nine months, not a single person has seen the room I live in. Not my roommates, not my landlord, only you crazy lot when I’d post weird pictures (like my dr. Who scarf). This is almost entirely due to me feeling exceedingly uncomfortable with letting anyone into my personal space. I had issues (peanut gallery: had!? Try have!!)
Welp, today I ordered drapes, a few side tables, sheets that aren’t old, hardware to hang pictures I’ve kept in boxes, a mattress that isn’t embarrassing, and a few other things. I am also getting a few things shipped to me from my storage unit like my hybrid tube amp, speakers, record player, vinyl, my bespoke clothes, a few more pieces of art, and some things with emotional value.
I still don’t know if anyone will ever see my room, and that’s okay. I’ll be proud of it for me.
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At one this morning the wife reminded me that I was supposed to make a website for her.
Twice hours later after getting sleep and canoeing with the familyi sent it to her.
BAM!
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I say go crazy. Like art installation-level crazy. It’s your space. Function first, yes, but beyond that whatever your will, effort, and budget will allow. I’ve morphed my private space into wherever my mind’s at or needs to be. I’ve had my room so full of plants it felt like a jungle; painted light green with tree branches installed in the corners and across the ceiling; and (this is way, way back) covered floor-wall-and-ceiling with fabric, some of it draping from one corner and fanning out to an opposite wall with giant ball lanterns resting on top like some sort of visual contradiction of size and mass, string lights, glowing stars, stuffed animals—the whole thing looked like the set of a Flaming Lips music video when I was done.
One of my friends later said she thought I was manic while completing that last one. I told her you don’t have to be manic to feel excited about seeing the lit path to something no one else sees until you’ve created it.
I had a little ‘opening’ party for that project and some friends slept over on the padded, sheet-covered floor. Each of us just lay there quietly, smiling up at the star-studded ceiling, until we fell asleep. My mind had found where it needed to be. I was home.
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I think there’s full time Internet in Antarctica now. I seem to recall one of the TDRSS satellites missed insertion and had to use up its maneuver fuel to make orbit, after which it ended up wobbling about the South Pole, so NASA put in a TDRSS ground link at Amundsen, and now it’s part of the NEN.
But I could be wrong 
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If it’s not in some sort of stable orbit, how would it stay up?
My understanding from a couple of folks I know that did network engineering at McMurdo was that all of the satellites they used were in polar orbits and only visible for a short window of time.
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A “stable” orbit is not to be confused with a geosynchronous/stationary orbit, nor even an intended orbit. :). TDRS were designed for a limited lifetime, and once they’re out of hydrazine, they aren’t going to change orbital position much… they have electrically driven 3-axis positioning, but that’s it. If they aren’t inserted on target they’ll go careening about whatever wacky orbital path NASA can manage to achieve with the fuel on board, be it elliptical, corkscrew or figure-8. And as I understand it, that happened with one of the early TDRSS launches, and the satellite ended up in sight of the pole, so rather than waste millions of dollars NASA put in a Space Network/Near Earth Network ground node at Amundsen-Scott research station, and ended up getting their money’s worth plus.
If you’ve got contacts currently at McMurdo, trust them before you trust me! I’m basing this all on Goddard gossip and my own (mostly obsolete) aerospace knowledge, I didn’t look anything up.
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Feeling oddly proud of myself for having drawn up a few pages of comics for my roommate explaining lines, slopes, and the equations used to express them. Her major is history, so she takes a two semester sequence of finite math with a gobsmackingly awful text and an audi full of classmates who have zero motivation. She really dug my explanation.
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Awesome! Now you can confuse her with this t-shirt:
https://www.amazon.com/Mens-Funny-Math-T-Shirt-Perfect/dp/B01KESD6NU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472657124&sr=8-1&keywords=t-shirt+find+x
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Closet tamed, tube amp acquired, banana plugs for speaker wires affixed. Just need another table. God it sounds great.
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Drove halfway across the country and back in a giant Recreational Vehicle, with my other and two kids under 7, and the relationship(s) is(are) stronger for it.
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My college roommate taught me all the calculus I remember, in 10 minutes. I took 2 semesters of it, and I remember only his cram session all these years later, which allowed me to pass all exams and get by. He was a good teacher (wish he’d been a kinder person!).
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Before my husband and I decided to get married, we went to Europe for two weeks. I recommend that all people in budding relationships travel somewhere unfamiliar on a restricted budget. You really get to know the other person very quickly.
(eta about budget)
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about budget, but also about how they react to stress & uncertainty.
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Exactly. Not that we were rich (I was making minimum wage, but I had been working two jobs), but it could be easier to break out a credit card than to stay on budget. We decided to never use a CC unless it was due to a health emergency or a lost tickets/traveler’s checks scenario (when traveler’s checks were still king).
I’d suggest bringing a sibling along, but YMMV on that one. She was definitely the stressor on our trip.
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My dog Danny and I just got back from the veterinarian’s after his 6-week post-operation check-up (bilateral perineal hernia repair and neutering.) Yeah, it’s been more like seven-and-a-half weeks, but the place was busy. And… everything’s great. The doc feels he’s made a full recovery. I finally feel like we can declare victory! 
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You know, I was just rereading the Fuck Today yesterday (thanks, @OtherMichael) and I was wondering about that little guy.
Way to go, Danny!
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I thought I’d be able to post this a couple of weeks ago, but one of my instructors took a while to post grades. Two summer courses (business law and Java), two A’s. BOOM.
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