Surprise & New Hobby at home

So I made it back home safely - with my luggage :) Overall, it was a good trip since I got to get to know some other coworkers and I got to be in my favorite city. Also this was the first trip I was leading other people around - and now feel very confident in my getting around skills - so I look forward to trips with better weather to explore more places!

Then I got to come home to a surprise - a new bike for me. Paul had found a great deal on a barely used hybrid bike for me and more used bike for him. The hybrid bike was exactly what I wanted - so it won't be too hard to ride on the street but will handle moderate mountain bike trails. He also got everything we needed - helmets and a bike rack for the end of the car.

Although in the end his bike didn't work out... so we opted to find him a better one... which was challenging. All the bike shops around here start with bikes at $350 (more than we want to spend since we are just biking casually). Then we went to Walmart, and after 30 min of waiting for a sales rep which we called twice, we left because we couldn't reach the adult bikes on the third shelf. We tried target, but after a test drive, the gear changer broke... finally we remembered Academy, where although not very knowledgeable, they actually had someone to help us, and a much larger selection - so we got a moderate Mountain bike from Columbia (I didn't know they had bikes - but the suspension is great - and they are reasonably priced). Plus, it looks cool!

So then we took off for the trail, and went to our usual (as in used to be usual) running trail. What used to take us 45 min to an hour took us 15 minutes... so we went off exploring other parts of the trail and rode past a small skate park and disc course! Not that we're going to pick up those new hobbies as well - but we had a great time checking everything out. Hopefully this will be a great way to get in some exercise too - I think some of the past excuses are out. If I'm tired I can take it slow and coast & even when it's hot, you pick up a breeze & don't overheat as easily!

I'm also excited because there are a lot of great easy level mountain bike trails within 2 hours of us - so we'll have some more adventures coming up!

Russian Space Museum at Energia

On Thursday I got to visit the Russian Space History Museum at the Energia site. Energia is the main contractor used for the Russian space program and they have a museum with the early and main space vehicles that were flown by Russia... it was very awesome.

Here were the highlights:

Sputnik: first satellite in space.

Earth's second launched space vehicle - with a dog!

Here is how the first animal in space, Laika , got up - not very comfortable... temperature wise either. Although, the original plans included poisoned food to be eaten on the 20th day in space, in reality Laika died from overheating due to poor thermal systems.

This was the next major manned or dogged vehicle, the Vostok. In total Russia launched around 60 dogs into space, and about 50% lived and returned to earth.

Here is Yuri Gagarin's capsule that returned to Earth (although he used the jettison system and did not "touch ground" in the actual capsule). In the display there is also a letter from Yuri to his wife. He was only chosen a few days before the mission, and it was highly top secret information so even his wife did not know he would be the first man in space. The letter was very sweet and heroic, and in the end was not needed because he lived to tell his story to his wife himself.

Here is a picture of the Soyuz vehicle, which began flying in 1963 and continues today to send astronauts and cosmonauts to the ISS.

Here is me in a Soyuz!!!

I'm a bit to short :(

And here are the control panels! What an awesome museum!

Things are looking up!

So - I thought I'd update that things here are looking up!

I finnaly got my luggage (Wednesday) and have been getting some good rest! I've been taking it easy now that the mad dash for buying work clothes is over and I am also wearing comfortable shoes :) Yes, those boots absolutly destroyed my feet!

Now - I'm trying to put together some last minute slides for additional information asked by our Russian counterparts... hopefully it will all go well! But I seam to be having trouble accessing the information I need here... uh oh!

Signing off to finish up before I call it a night (with my comfy PJ's and waking up to a nice instant oatmeal breakfast)!!

Bad trip of the year

It happens to everyone now and then - you have a bad trip... and this is mine...

My luggage didn't make it with me and is now stuck in the Moscow airport in room L... and I don't know why they won't deliever it, and delta says that it is the responsibility of Czec airline which I was transfered to when my flight got delayed... and Chez airlines gave me another number which doesn't work!! Man!!!

And it is rainy and cold... the good news is that I bought a super cute big green bag just before coming out here and at Izmolova I bought a super cute green scarf & green hat to match it...

Also - the people on my trip have been very nice - one of the guys packed an extra jacket and although it's way too big and I look like the hunch back from Notre Dame in it - it keeps me warm! Also, for the first day of the meeting, a girl on the trip let me borrow a shirt and pair of pants. She was also going to let me borrow her brand new Bebe jacket - but I couldn't!

Another good thing is that I have a faboulous throw over sweater from a day of shopping with Linda that is perfect for hear - and I've worn it every day!! So I am so happy I have something so perfect... and I also stole a book from Tam - Jarhead - which I absolutly love... it's very interesting!

I also have a big room - but it's not wired with a NASA phone or internet - so I have to check email and call from the conference room in the next tower - which is why I havn't called everyone (plus I am generally in a bad mood - so I am a little anti social). But my bathtub is wonderful - so it's a great place to be anti-social!

Here is the one picture I took... and then my camera ran out of batteries... guess where my charger is??? In my luggage at the airport!!

But - you will notice the fun boots - I went shopping & got underware, a super cute skirt and a pair of these fun (although probably soon to be painful) boots so I don't have to borrow Olga's clothes tomorrow!!

Oh man... my bag better arrive soon... otherwise I won't be able to bring any Vodka home :)