Screw Change Day

Well, today is crew change day, but not for me. I'm only at the official halfway point of my tour. B and our trainee left this morning, and his relief is on another launch working his way over here, so for now it's gloriously quiet and peaceful. Just the whir of the fans, hum of the generator, and the assorted deck machinery and compressors and such kicking on and off. Soothing.

         I actually really like our trainee. I felt terrible for being such a snowflake, but living with a middle-aged stranger who is literally never more than 8 feet from you, 24/7 for 2 weeks is just too much. Waking, sleeping, cooking, taking a leak... 8 feet or less. We all did our best to maintain good humor and there was some laughter in there, thankfully, but overall it was awful. I've been eating motrin every single watch for the insane headaches. The HQ is just not set up to support an extra body.

    But for now, the peace. This week I have a fill in mate coming, and he's a great guy who I know pretty well. Experienced, friendly, soft-spoken and a giant of a guy, and we've worked together before, so we know each other's likes and dislikes. Should be a good week. Next week I have another good guy coming in too.