MDRS-88: Grand disjunction

[davidlevine]

Woke up in the hotel in Grand Junction, and even though I'm no longer in an isolated station in the middle of the desert I felt very alone. I miss my crewmates. Had another hot shower to the point of wrinkled fingers. Aah.
Didn't have a great breakfast. My waffle stuck in the waffle maker

Comments

[birdhousefrog]

Thanks for writing this...I can see how these might be the after-effects of the two weeks in a small environment where you all depended on each other. And then a sense of loss that it now belongs to someone else and you have to let it go.

Was there any difference in folks who had been in the hab before? Didn't you have at least one person who had done it before, the commander maybe?

I think all of you added something...left the hab a little better than you found it.

And good luck to them with that morning jazzercise! That made me giggle when I read it.

Push/pull and conflicting emotions. Hope you can get some work done or at least some writing of your experiences while they're still hot in your mind. They'll be useful to refer back to.

Oz

[davidlevine]

Thanks for reading and commenting! None of us had been to Mars before. I'm sure the dynamic with a partly-experienced crew would be very, very different.

[birdhousefrog]

I think you're right, that the dynamics would have been different. Possibly your group brought a lot of enthusiasm and not a whit of cynicism. The radio telescope, for example.

Imagine what this does to your ability to write about group dynamics in a closed loop scenario. Wow. Or rather, you know and I'm imagining it. *writer envy*

Oz

[scarlettina]

I think you were all lucky to have to learn together. I'm just sorry you had such a hard splashdown, so to speak. ::hug::

My experience in Africa supports your observation that the dynamic with a partly-experienced crew would be very, very different--no question. I'll tell you about it sometime.

[therinth]

I've really enjoyed reading these David. *hugs*

have a gigantic . . .

[kathrynmice]

. . . virtual hug.

I can't wait to read what the back of your mind is already plotting writing about this whole experience!

Kathryn

[anonymous]

Welcome back to Earth!

As it turns out the downstairs hot water heater does supply hot water to the kitchen sink after all. We just had to turn up its temperature a little. Darrel fixed the leak in the kitchen sink hot water line by finding a replacement O-ring.

By the way, we "kids" have an average age in the mid-30s.

-- Brian (MDRS Crew 89)

[catjuggling]

Thanks for all your reports! Welcome back!