The STS-107 accident investigation report will be released in about 45 minutes. Once we’ve all had a chance to read it, or at least skim it (as the report plus appendices tops out around 1000 pages, I’ve heard), I’m sure it will be the pervasive theme at work for a while. We all know it will have some harsh things to say about NASA; this is to be expected. But our more imminent concern is what it will say about conducting entry risk studies, as that is where our expertise lies. So it should be interesting, to say the least.
Matt lent me a CD of an Austin-based band called Damesviolet. He saw them here in Houston on Saturday night, but I didn’t go because I was still moving. Anyway, they are pretty good, I’m enjoying their CD.
My fantasy team (the “All-Star” one) keeps inching up on Ron’s team, but I can’t quite surpass him. We’re currently in first and second, him with 67 points and me with 66.5. Randy is a (very) distant third with 46.5 points. It’s a little strange because in the past two years, Randy has won the league, with Ron in second, and me in third. This year Randy’s team just hasn’t performed like he expected them to, I guess. But anyway. It would be awesome if I won, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to pull ahead of Ron (though on the plus side, there’s no way Randy will catch me). I’m winning all the pitching categories except strikeouts, and he’s winning all the hitting categories except stolen bases. The problem is that I don’t think there’s any way my team will outperform his team enough for me to pull ahead of him in any categories; if anything, he’s likely to pull ahead of me in a category.
But second place certainly ain’t bad. We have 8 people in the league, and only one of them is a girl. And yet the girl is in second place. Ha HA! 🙂
I went rock climbing last night, which, as George scolded me this morning, was probably not the best idea considering that my ankle is still swollen from twisting it on Sunday. In fact, it’s still swollen today. Ugh. Yesterday I went to the clinic after lunch to ask them for an ice pack, which turned into a half hour ordeal. In order to get an ice pack, I had to see a nurse, who then said I had to see a doctor. Then, to get an ace bandage and ice pack, I had to go through the whole warm-up rigamarole of the doctor listening to my heartbeat, listening to me breath, taking my temperature, taking my blood pressure (which is excellent; perhaps I should start eating more salt), asking if I smoke, and asking if I’m pregnant. Sigh. Finally I got an ice pack, but it was a one-time-use deal, so this morning I stopped at Eckerds to buy the kind you can refreeze. It’s in the freezer as I type, so that’s that. Hopefully the swelling will go down today.
Rock climbing was a lot of fun, even though I was taking it easy. I guess I am destined to get some sort of scrape every week; the first week it was my knee, then my elbow, and last night I left with a nice 2-inch rope burn on my right forearm. Becca came for the first time last night too, and she did awesome for her first time. I was so proud. Now if only we can get her to trust the rope a little more; despite the fact that it caught her when she fell, she still said she doesn’t quite trust it. She’s weird.
At the end of the night we played a bouldering version of Simon Says, and today my fingers hurt. Whew. The amazing thing about climbing is that after only three weeks, I noticed last night that I actually have triceps! Ha. I’ve always been able to feel some faint semblance of a bicep in my arms when I flex, but now I might actually be developing triceps! Amazing. 😉 Anyway, the bouldering was tough stuff, but that’s what will help me get better–working on my finger strength and general upper body strength. I can’t do a chin-up. I have a feeling that once I can do a chin-up, it will open a whole new world of climbing. 😉
