Sunday April 19th 2009. Launch -19 days and Holding.

 

Our analysis over lunch yesterday was that our friends from Planck will be the only people happy with the launch delay. They were never very keen about launching on May 6th because it would have implied an extremely close pass by the Moon and their navigational instruments being blinded for a time.

 

I must look a bit of a mess. Brushing my hair yesterday morning I seem to have broken the skin where I cracked my head on the cupboard door on Thursday night and now have two or three scabs and grazes marking the spot. Yesterday it was extremely sore.

 

Today has been a domestic day. This meant watching the Grand Prix in the morning (with cars sliding off the sodden track, or into each other constantly one never knew what would happen next, so I ended up not having breakfast). Then more cleaning and tidying activity (the refrigerator needed some attention) and the washing machine needed running, plus the typical Sunday morning odd-jobs. Signor Peponne and I agreed to meet up after lunch to check out aquaria. In the end, I bought myself a small (54 litre) complete aquarium. It was not expensive but, when I had added-in, stones and gravel, plants, chemicals, etc. it came to a pretty sum. Mind you, I had a lot of fun setting it up (a layer of substrate for plants, covered with a layer of fine black gravel, then in went the plants, a further layer of gravel on top to bed the plants in and, finally, a top layer of coarse volcanic gravel to hold everything else down). Then it was a matter of filling up with water and connecting the pump and thermostat and giving the water time to clear, which looks like it will take a couple of days to happen (and, of course, cleaning-up all the mess). However, it will be at least a month before I can put fish in. That, at least, will give the plants time to set down roots. The overall effect should be rather nice. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.

 

This evening a long session was dedicated to the one domestic task that I tend to put off as long as is possible: ironing shirts! No less than twenty shirts needing ironing. At least I now have enough shirts for a while and feel some satisfaction in seeing how the pending pile, some of which has been there for an embarrassingly long time, has disappeared and is now lined-up neatly on hangers in the wardrobe.

 

The Boss has looked at Friday’s minutes. The suggested changes were trivial, so they were made and have gone out now. The news on launch is that we expect to hear in two or three days what the impact is. It’s time for bed…