Thursday, May 24, 2007

Odyssey, this is Houston. Do you read me?

Remember that scene from Apollo 13 when the command module goes into communication blackout during re-entry and too much time goes by? Gene Kranz is opening and closing his shirt collar, loosening and tightening his tie ... the room is too quiet ... Flight Engineers are chain-smoking and sweating ... all eyes are on the flight monitors ... and we hear the voiceover of a reporter:

Expected time of reacquisition, the time when the astronauts were expected to come out of blackout, has come and gone. But all any of us can do now is just listen and hope.

As the seconds tick by, we hold our breaths along with the guys in Mission Control:

Odyssey, this is Houston. Do you read me?

Three minutes, 30 seconds. Standing by.

Odyssey, Houston. Do you read?

That's four minutes, and standing by.

Odyssey, uh, Houston. Do you read?

Hello, Houston. This is Odyssey. It's good to see ya again.



After an unexpected 24 hour communication blackout, during which there was much chain-smoking, loss of sleep and irritable bowel upheaval here at Mission Control, we have confirmed use of debit card in West Texas!

Remember when ET couldn't think about anything but the need to phone home? That was a different movie.

Kwach

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My advice? Get nice, soft toilet paper, a really good book, and maybe your own supply of Pale Ale! Robin PS - hope your hand is getting better :-)

Kwach said...

LOL ... not YOUR first day knowing Ev, huh!?

You know she's cruising along listening to NPR, thinking "Sleep, schmeep! I'm only 8 hours from Tucson! I can totally do this!" and completely oblivious to the fact that anyone would be wondering how she's doing out there in her 20 year old e-Bay pickup truck.

The last words I said to her yesterday were, "Call me tonight and let me know you're okay!" and she smiled and waved and said, "I will! Don't worry!"

Beagles. They'll break your heart.

Kwach

Anonymous said...

Put their noses down and five miles (or maybe more) away, they look up and wonder where supper's at. Robin

Ev said...

Ha! She said, "call me when you land."

Is it my fault I didn't land until I got to Deming, NM?

I'm just efficient. :-)

Kwach said...

For a chick without much hair, can you really afford to split the ones you've got? Hmmm??

By the way, I didn't realize how much it was going to suck for you to be in Deming without me until I remember the enchiladas at La Fonda. Grrr.

Wave to my relatives when you drive past the cemetary, please ... it's right there by your hotel. :)

Kwach

Unknown said...

some reporter?