The Buttermilk Launch and the end of a year...

So of course, after going nearly insane over a week and half, we came to the final virtual space station mission. All I can say about the Wednesday launch is, we had to set up in virtually no time due to a library space scheduling conference but, having "solved" all the power-outage issues Tuesday I was very confident the launch would go without a hitch, at the last minute. WRONG! One of the student computers REFUSED to log on, even though it was running under exactly the same conditions as the computers that had no problems. Again, I worked furiously trying to get the thing logged onto the website, and, without boring you with the details, finally succeeded through sheer arcane network trickery.
Thursday was, actually, the first day in the series that we had adequate time to get everything up and running, had no scheduling conflicts, and had no power-outages.

It was the Buttermilk launch. At the end of the mission, I spoke briefly with the mission Commander, who had been on the other end of the line Tuesday and remembered our problems; I thanked her for her patience and she remarked "you know, usually when these things don't come right up the folks on the other end just start throwing their hands up. We were impressed by how hard you guys worked to get the mission running, even with reduced time. You guys did a great job." That was all the praise I really needed.

And now the school year is winding down...I'm totally sad about that. Glad as I am to have summer work, I will miss going to school each morning and wait with greatest enthusiasm getting back into the saddle in August. Hopefully that will change soon; there is so much I would like to do over the summer, but my compatriot Pat will have to do those chores without me....for now.