Another Saturday Night in MCC

Hey kids,
For this saturday night I'll be staying up all night long. Like a party animal. Or a shift worker. I'm gonna watch the sun rise. Well I could, if I wasn't stuck in a windowless room. However, the sun will rise on the ISS 8 times before I leave here, and I'll see them all in my data and most of them in the video downlink, so that'll have to do.
Tonight is a fun night though, I get to do alot of commanding, moving really big pieces of the station. We have two giant joints that rotate about a third of the truss each, and then 4 little joints at the end of each of those that rotate just one solar array. I get to move both big ones (called SARJs- Solar Alpha Rotary Joint) and 4 of the 8 little ones (called BGAs- Beta Gimbal Assembly) to keep them safe from the thruster firings during the thruster test tonight. The nights I actually get to DO something I feel way better about spending my nights at work since I didn't just sit here and surf the net all night. Granted, they pay me to sit here knowing full well most nights I'll do nothing. Just in case something bad happens. I'm an insurance policy, basically.

In news actually related to the purported subject of this blog... I have been cooking, just not been so good at taking pictures and posting them. We grilled flank steak and made southwestern bean casserole and lamb chops and just last night there was italian veggie pie (picture posted by Dan on fb and then stolen by me to post on twitter). Its all been delicious, not a single letdown yet. I'm having more veggie pie in 1 hour and 33 minutes, the next time I'm allowed to leave this console.

One good thing about working the weekend overnight shift (in contrast to the many many not so good things presented in that statement)? Lots of free time next week. When I leave console at 8am Monday morning, I'll have worked 32 hours... before most other people have worked a single hour of the week, I'll be one full working day from done. With that spare time, I have ALOT to do:
1. Monday at 9am I am going to buy a car. This car. With luck. I test drove it over a month ago, and have been trying for 3 weeks to get one. The guy keeps jerking me around and saying "tomorrow, tomorrow..." but finally called me on Friday that it was in. Of course I had to be here all night and didn't feel like buying a car right before staying up ALL night. So I called today and they hadn't sold it yet so I'll be going right after work on Monday morning to get it. Hopefully. Whee!
2. Monday at 2pm, cable guy. I got Uverse, and its pretty awesome, but not quite as compatible with my Tivo as I would like. The cable box goes to sleep and the Tivo can't "press ok" so sometimes if I forget to turn the cable box on in the afternoon, or don't get home in time, it records an hour of "Press ok to watch TV." The new Tivo premieres don't have that problem, but my 4 year old Tivo does. But rather than get a new Tivo, I'm just gonna get the Uverse DVR. Cool thing here is that it records stuff all in one location but can be played back on any TV with a cable box... so I can record in my living room and watch in my bed. For some reason though, they can't just give me the DVR... they have to "install" it. Um, I control the space station, I can probably figure out your DVR. But no, I have to wait for the installer.
3. Bicycle... you may have seen the pic of my new trailer hitch. Last sunday me and Dave (a coworker who likes to tinker with cars) installed a trailer hitch on my CRV. Its main purpose is for my new bike rack, so that Dan and I can take our bikes with us camping in a few weeks, and maybe on other adventures. But my bicycle, after 2 years of non-use, and three moves, is not in the best of shape. So I need to strap the poor guy to my car, now that I have a hitch and rack for it, and take it to a bike shop.
4. Car maintenance... poor CRV is a little neglected, and will be more so once I buy a new car. It needs a tire rotation and oil change. Also want to see about maybe getting a transmission flush (if it didn't get one with the 75,000 mile service). And I should probably buy the poor thing new windshield wipers. Though it won't be my everyday car, I just put ~$250 into it with the hitch and rack... and it'll be a good recreational car. The Juke doesn't have alot of interior space, but it doesn't need to, for me to drive to work every day. For camping trips, Ikea runs, and other things, the CRV is still the perfect midsize crap hauler. And I want it to haul my crap for years to come. I foolishly dream of giving it to my 16 year old in like 20 years, who will look at it with disdain and threaten to take the bus, but I'll know that it was and is a wonderful car. I'll also know there is no bus in Houston and its too hot to walk. You'll take the beater and love it you little brat! Kidding, I likely won't let my kid anywhere near my "classic" (read: ancient) car, for fear that it'll break down and she'll be murdered on the side of the street.

Yes I sure am looking forward to all my free time, once I finish spending every waking moment in mission control. When you work a 13 hour shift, you only get 11 hours to leave work, drive home, get into bed, get up, get ready for work, and come back. Not much time for anything else.
Also, while you all mourn the loss of your hour of sleep tonight, I celebrate that my 13 hour shift is only a 12 hour shift. Whee!