Shine (23 page)

4:03 am December 27th, 2053 from distweet

Even in the periods where I'm scheduled to sleep when he's working, he's then scheduled for leisure while I'm working. And so on.

8:04 pm December 26th, 2053 from distweet

It's not like I have any way to actually avoid him, really.

8:03 pm December 26th, 2053 from distweet

M broke up with me. This could be tricky.

6:03 pm December 26th, 2053 from distweet

I really love it out here.

2:32 am December 22, 2053 from distweet

But that's the way astrophysics works, I guess. Or do I mean solarphysics? Planetphysics? Physicsphysics? Whatever.

10:15 am December 21st, 2053

Passing the orbit of Mars again. Somehow means less this time. Still amazed that I've passed the orbit of Mars twice without seeing Mars.

10:14 am December 21st, 2053 from distweet

@frogheart29 No, you MAY NOT TELL PAPA AND DAD. Honestly! You're so lucky we have so much space between us.

7:25 pm September 1st, 2053 from distweet in reply to loucheroo

@loucheroo Nah, it really is just a shipboard fling. Nothing more, nothing less.

7:23 pm September 1st, 2053 from distweet in reply to loucheroo

M and I did a little more private celebration of our own later. More firsts in space, I expect.

5:00 am August 28th, 2053 from distweet

Huzzah! Company tells us we have all earned major bonuses, already deposited. Celebrating with another chocolate pack.

6:42 pm August 27th, 2053 from distweet

Also mined barium and lithium and lots of other things you don't care about ending in um.

3:48 am August 17th, 2053 from distweet

And people said those efficient iridium/lithium batteries would never work because iridium's so rare on Earth. HA!

3:46 am August 17th, 2053 from distweet

Mining major success. M, K and R note that we've mined 145% of expected iridium, enough to power 2 billion cars for 50 years. Staggering.

3:45 am August 17th, 2053 from distweet

Approaching the asteroid that we'll be extracting iridium from. Expect a bit of silence from me for a bit.

5:42 am July 8th, 2053 from distweet

@loucheroo We have a now two year old version of Wikipedia that M uploaded back on Earth, but of course it hasn't been updated.

11:26 pm May 11th, 2053 from distweet in reply to loucheroo

Oh, I can get on the net, but by the time my search query reaches an Earth computer and then responds, it's been a couple days. Not worth it.

5:19 pm May 9th, 2053 from distweet

@the28thkarenbear Right--I knew one of you could look it up. Star Wars. It just takes so long to research anything here.

5:17 pm May 9th, 2053 from distweet in reply to the28thkarenbear

Instead, we just see more points of lights.

3:34 am May 4th, 2053 from distweet

You know, the one where they're flying through rocks? That's what I thought we'd see, but we're not close enough to them to see rocks.

3:23 am May 4th, 2053 from distweet

Asteroid belt really not what I was expecting--even though they told me not to, kept thinking of that scene from that really old movie.

3:23 am May 4th, 2053 from distweet

Did I mention allowing R to bring along his horror movie collection a MAJOR MISTAKE?

9:42 pm April 29th, 2053 from distweet

Entered asteroid belt. This is where everyone else's jobs go nuts. A, K and R very bitchy--stress of piloting through this getting to them.

2:21 pm April 23rd, 2053 from distweet

Let's just say that some things really are better in space.

2:26 am March 1st, 2053 from distweet

M and I still managing to catch moments when we're on "breaks" during work shifts. No, you don't get details.

2:24 am March 1st, 2053 from distweet

Sigh. Just shifted to sharing work and leisure time with K again. Oh well. It's just two months, right? Wish this was with M.

6 pm February 16th, 2053 from distweet

R begging us to stop singing Judy Garland. Even promised to turn off his entire horror movie collection if we do. Tempting!

7:13 pm January 18th, 2053 from distweet

Even if he sings to the stars with me. Even if he sings Puttin' on the Ritz with a Judy Garland accent with me.

4:26 am January 11th, 2053 from distweet

@loucheroo :laughs: No, I wouldn't call this a major romance. Just a shipboard fling.

4:21 am January 11th, 2053 from distweet in reply to loucheroo

@piehole72 Um, I so don't see this group doing a space orgy. Intriguing idea, but, so not.

5:23 am January 9th, 2053 from distweet in reply to piehole72

@piehole72 Ok, the 43.5 million Mile High club at this point probably. To be technical about it.

4:42 am January 6th, 2053 from distweet in reply to piehole72

And yeah, I know all about "fornicating" in the workplace, but it's cool. And we're not the only ones doing it.

8:21 am January 4th, 2053 from distweet in reply to anaisis

I know, I know, but let's face it--near zero grav is hot.

10:32 pm January 3rd, 2053 from distweet

Probably shouldn't admit this, but M and I are creating our own version of the Mile High Club.

9:24 pm January 3rd, 2053 from distweet

Another long 'night' talking with M. I didn't realize how much I missed talking.

3:12 pm January 2nd, 2053 from distweet

M designed a digital flower for me. So lovely. Now must figure out something for him. What I can make with dirt?

7:22 am December 27th, 2052 from distweet

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. To tell the truth, hardly noticing it here.

11:48 pm December 25th, 2052 from distweet

Plants still not growing. Big negative against the singing in space experiment--but I'm still doing it.

2:23 pm November 14th, 2052 from distweet

Explained that T had suggested it--apparently some sources claim it helps plants grow.

1:46 am November 2nd, 2052 from distweet

M caught me singing to the plants last--night? Shift? Time so distorted out here. Anyway. Wanted to know what I was doing.

1:45 am November 2nd, 2052 from distweet

Talked to T about lack of plant growth. He suggests singing to the plants. Feels a bit silly, but I'm trying it.

3:46 pm October 27th, 2052 from distweet

@loucheroo I haven't a clue. K and A do all of the calculations of where we are. I just busy myself with the plants and with watching space.

6:21 am October 8th, 2052 from distweet in reply to loucheroo

@the28thkarenbear We have 50 chocolate powder packs, to be used for special occasions only.

5:24 pm October 6th, 2052 from distweet in reply to the28thkarenbear

Just passed the orbit of Mars. A has to tell me which dot is Earth, now. Celebrating by opening one of the chocolate powder packs.

2:03 pm October 3rd, 2052 from distweet

@frogheart29 Nope, not even space pizza. Once I get home, I'm so going on a food splurge.

9:13 am September 21st, 2052 from distweet

Ended up taking to M for hours and hours last night. We both admitted to a deep craving for pizza.

8:13 am September 18th, 2052 from distweet

Odd, how this place can feel so crowded and so alone, all at once.

7:04 am August 11th, 2052 from distweet

@the28thkarenbear Well, being the sweetest out of 6 doesn't mean much.

6:54 pm March 13th, 2052 from distweet in reply to the28thkarenbear

@the28thkarenbear AWW. You are the sweetest person on the planet.

5:23 pm March 11th, 2052 from distweet in reply to the28thkarenbear

I probably could concoct some alcoholic thing from my plants, but probably not the best idea.

1:19 pm March 10th, 2052 from distweet

Still, if you're reading this, please respond. Just so that I don't feel so alone.

10:42 am March 8th, 2052 from distweet

Right. Keep forgetting that it now takes hours for my tweets to reach you and hours for you to respond.

10:42 am March 8th, 2052 from distweet

Is anybody reading this? Anybody?

7:18 pm March 7th, 2052 from distweet

I wish all of you could see this with me.

3:01 am February 26th, 2052 from distweet

Slightly upsetting to realize that a supernova is much brighter than Earth, but it's so beautiful.

5:18 pm February 23rd, 2052 from distweet

We're watching the Betelgeuse supernova too. It's--I can't tell you how spectacular it is from here. Only the sun is brighter.

5:16 pm February 23rd, 2052 from distweet

To make up for it, A had pictures of little red envelopes on our hand screens, that exploded into fireworks when we thumbed over them.

8:03 pm January 23rd, 2052 from distweet

A celebrated Chinese New Year today by opening every door on the ship. I think she just wanted to catch T naked.

8:02 pm January 23rd, 2052 from distweet

Sorry for the long silence. Just finding that I don't have much to say. I'm caught in the silence of stars.

4:02 pm October 12th, 2051 from distweet

@frogheart29 My first niece! Congratulations! I wish I could hold her. Show her pictures of me for me, will ya?

7:43 pm May 17th, 2051 from distweet in reply to frogheart29

And when the plants are growing, they're growing in weird directions.

12:49 pm May 5th, 2051

@loucheroo Oh, we're fine for food even without the garden. I just miss biting into a real tomato, you know?

12:42 pm May 5th, 2051 from distweet

I think the plants know we're leaving the sun.

10:31 am May 4th, 2051 from distweet

The garden isn't producing as much as expected. We should have everything--real soil, water, fertilizer, robot pollinators--

10:31 am May 4th, 2051 from distweet

I keep finding myself looking out the portholes in the gardens and labs and in our living area, and wanting to sing to the stars.

6:02 pm April 23rd, 2051 from distweet

Trying to figure out how K passed the psych tests to get on here. I know, double PhD, quan comp/eng, 8 years Chinese Air Force. Still.

3:22 am March 27th, 2051 from distweet

Ok, our worst mistake? Letting R bring along his horror film collection. In space no one can hear you scream. Yeah, right.

4:06 am March 7th, 2051 from distweet

I say I keep everyone breathing.

10:13 pm February 26th, 2051 from distweet

T says he keeps everyone alive. Not that anyone's needed a doctor yet, and we haven't seen him do anything else except watch the stars.

10:12 pm February 26th, 2051 from distweet

A says she's the only one with mission for the entire trip. The rest of us stop after we mine the iridium/lithium.

10:12 pm February 26th, 2051 from distweet

K and R say they are piloting the ship. Without them, no iridium/lithium.

10:11 pm February 26th, 2051 from distweet

Major fight broke out over who has the most important job on the ship. M says lithium entire point of trip.

10:11 pm February 26th, 2051 from distweet

Sigh. SOME people have no idea how to share living quarters. You'd think a doctor of all people would be less of a slob.

8:11 pm January 24th, 2051 from distweet

@frogheart29 Oh, it's definitely NOT full gravity. Our legs will be so rubbery when we return. But it's enough to keep the tanks going.

7:46 pm January 2nd, 2051 from distweet

@frogheart29 Heh, I haven't worked out how the low grav works either--something about the way this ship spins.

2:41 am January 2nd, 2051 from distweet

Throwing tomatoes through low grav is awesome. Saying no more for now.

1:32 am January 1st, 2051 from distweet

Oh, and we have a picture of a Christmas tree up on the screen in the rec room. Vaguely depressing honestly.

11:09 am December 25th, 2050 from distweet

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Not much happening here although R put on some carols.

11:08 am December 25th, 2050 from distweet

The food garden's a bit experimental, but the company's worried about the long term effects of no fresh food for four years.

8:07 pm October 8th, 2050 from distweet

We have two spacegardens: the cyanobacteria tanks for recycling waste and producing oxygen, and a food garden.

8:06 pm October 8th, 2050 from distweet in reply to frogheart29

@frogheart29 It's less a spaceship than a biome, really.

11:43 am October 7th, 2050 from distweet in reply to frogheart29

@loucheroo Oh, I'm sure they're monitoring this. I'm not going to tell you EVERYTHING on this. Or in email.

10:15 am October 7th, 2050 from distweet in reply to loucheroo

@anaisis It's supposed to increase social stability, but what I'm trying to tell them is, my plants won't work that way.

10:13 am October 7th, 2050 from distweet in reply to anaisis

And leisuring--is that a word? with the person you work with, and then it switches and you're with a new person.

7:06 pm October 6th, 2050 from distweet

So far so good, but, they're also switching our schedules every two months. That way, every two months we're working with someone else.

7:06 pm October 6th, 2050 from distweet

@the28thkarenbear Basically, they're setting up three eight hour shifts, two people per shift. You work eight hours, have eight hours for leisure.

7:06 pm October 6th, 2050 from distweet in reply to the28thkarenbear

So every third shift, I'm going to be gardening in the dark. Why don't they just switch the other shifts and not mine?