Saturday, October 22, 2005

I think it's real snow now.

Last night it started snowing for real, and this morning there is 3 or 4 inches on the ground. The weather forecast says it will warm up still today, and that later next week it will be above freezing and it will rain. I say "Ok, if you say so!" This is the first winter weather we have seen.

Friday, October 21, 2005

First snow

We got our first snow last night, but it is no more than a salting on the ground. It is soon gone during the day.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Arrival

Entered Tuesday, October 18, 2005 11:26:55 PM

1128 (AM, Shchuch'ye time; PDT 2228, Monday, Oct 17)
Landfall. We are crossing over the North Sea or somewhere up there by Scotland, Norway, and Finland. I see islands and isthmuses, and lots of water still, so it must be Scandinavia.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 11:26:55 PM; PDT 1026, Tuesday, Oct 18
Arrived camp about 2 hours ago. So, there ya go. It is 10 AM on the Central Coast, so that is 0230 on Monday, thru let's say 0730 on Tuesday. 24 hours of travel time, or actually, 27 hours, 'cause I'm counting driving on each end, not just one end. Arrived in Moscow in the late AM local time, depart there about 3 PM local. Two and a half hour flight to Chelyabinsk, wait for the luggage, and then we drive to the camp - another 2 hours. It is around 9 PM as we pass through Chumlyak, and the magazines (stores) are closed.

Inflight report

Monday, October 17, 2005 7:32:28 PM (Shchuch'ye time) (PDT 0632, Monday, Oct 17)
Well, well, well. On my way back to Russia.
On my way back, and glad to be so. I am looking forward to the challenge at work.

2:27:55 AM (Tuesday, October 18, 2005) (This would be 1:27 PM Monday Santa Cruz time)
Except it's not 2:27 in the A (cough) M. Body clock reads about noon, current time zone reads 14:27. I am going to see us fly out over the east coast today, halle-lujah. This should be fun. I will be going into fall weather. I'm actually looking forward to the winter. It will be an adventure. I need to remember that positive attitude.

The time scoop: Got my butt up just after 2 in the O-dark-hundred. Lazed around for another 10 or fifteen minutes, then we got up. I brushed my teeth, brushed Alpha, got dressed, took the bags downstairs, then out to the car. Sz cooked a breakfast burro, and made a p-nut butter sandwich. And coffee. Then she had to "get ready". We were a bit late out the gate - about 20 minutes, I guess. Since I planned a little slop time in the drive time, that covered us. We arrived at the front of the terminal about 5:10 or 5:15, just 2 hours and a few minutes prior. Perfect. No lines to speak of, good there too. I say no lines, but that is relative. There were still 10 or 20 ppl in front of me, and it took a good 40 or 45 minutes to get to the counter. Bless me, that counter is a worse problem in SFO than security. Security lines only took me about 5 minutes.

Arrive ATL at 1445 local or thereabouts. Scheduled departure 1525. Gate is just a block down the terminal - pretty close for ATL. So, cool, I grab some chocolate as an antidepressant, have a couple nibbles, and sit down next to a plug. Plug in this box, and type away.

So, let me figger it out. Sleep adjustment and thyroid pills adjustments. Flying time is 10 hours, but I need to compress a night into that time. Either that or stay up the whole time. 'Coz I'm gonna get in at night - and I want it to be night. Got lots to do.

3:12:33 AM (PDT 1412, Monday, Oct 17)
We are taking the northern circle route. Heading northeast by north up the eastern seaboard before we go out to sea. Over Virginia now. I'm a little disappointed, I expected to head out to sea sooner, and I don't think the Atlantic on the northern seaboard is quite as pretty as that along the southern coastline. Prejudice, hehe!

Oh, and the movie is in russian again. Damn.

I can see the Delmarva peninsula. Cool. O, and the movie is in English on the other channel.

There she is - the Atlantic-O. Be-A-U-ti-full. We are gliding to the northeast as we move northwards, and the coast is slowly moving from our right to our left.

4:32:18 AM (PDT 1532, Monday, Oct 17)
We leave the coast for the Atlantic by Nag's Head / Martha's Vineyard. A little 'down east' of the Gulf current, eh?

7:31:31 AM (PDT 1831, Monday, Oct 17)
It's morning in Shchuch'ye. Good morning. Off to starboard I see . . . stars! Orion hangs there, as big as life, so to speak, 3/4 of the way over the horizon - one major star of his lower kilt is below the horizon. The moon is bright, the land is . . . not. There has been only a cloud bank visible below since we began to cross the Atlantic. I'm up and getting on Shchuch'ye time, I guess. Good on me! I eat the last of the chicken legs and peanut butter sandwich for a breakfast. I guess I've screwed up the shift timing on the thyroid. I should have compressed it - and I stretched it.