Driving south through desolate military base. All is quiet. Keep speed under 25 mph. Drive will take 15 minutes. 35-mph speed limit sign, crank it, but not too much – use cruise control – NCAR won’t cover speeding tickets. Turn off into Tent City. All is quiet. No one stirs but those crabs migrating across the road. Careful not to run them over. They’re just trying to make a living too. Plus, they own this island, with their side-swagger. Rapidly approaching our 30-minute launch window. Park and get rolling.
enjoying some downtime in the G-Lounge
Open a new sounding. Start up a new channel. Instruments reading green. Fill up a balloon. Call air traffic control. Clearance: check. Ground data good. Note winds. Don’t hang balloon on power lines. Green means go. Launch. Think about where the balloon might show up next. Maybe DGAR, maybe Singapore, maybe Fort Collins, maybe Patagonia. Maybe a UFO will get it caught in its engine and have to make an emergency landing, revealing the truth behind the existence of extraterrestrial life. We come in peace. Here, have a twix. Look, we call this Facebook. It rules our planet. Digress.
Check data stream. Hot and humid with light winds. Mostly clear sky. Start up laptop. Plan to accomplish a lot. Internet: ccchhheeeeccckkk. New emails: …wait for it…wait for it…wait some more for it…check. Eat a twix: delicious. Drink coffee: mmm. And, awake. Internal dial tone: check.
awe-struck at our new playground and, in an
act of excitement, revealing our paleness
act of excitement, revealing our paleness
What’s the current state of the MJO? Read DYNAMO forums and discussion boards. Filtered anomaly charts, Indian Ocean dipole, El Niño. Knock knock. Who’s there? MJO. MJO who? No MJO here, try again later. MJO over Maritime Continent. How does the MJO form? No idea: check. Try again later.
Accidentally hit power switch with foot and crash vital computers. Screens turn off. Panic. Better call Bill. Bill picks up well after midnight. Systems back up. Status indicators green. Balloon bursts at 23 km, falling at 120 mph. Work fast. Shut down channel. Send off to global observation networks. Sounding uploaded onto NCAR database: check. Beautiful sounding. Surely one for the record books.
Accomplish a lot. Check noise outside. All is quiet. Only company is the sleepless shoreline and the colorful birds with their weird noises. Catch gecko in the cargo-carrier-turned-office. Free gecko from dixie cup outside.
It’s 2 am. Time for next launch. Clearance: check. Launch. Goodbye forever, balloon. Data stream good. Eat twix: twix already eaten, no check. Another pot of coffee. Internal dial tone: check, and fading. Balloon burst. Look out below. Incoming, at extremely high speeds. Type this blog post. Ponder next food choice. Running out of options. Better call it a night.
It’s 5 am. All is quiet. Birds, crabs, and wind went to bed. Drive back north. No cruise control, too tired. Blast loud rap music to stay awake. Get into town. Drive in circles in search of the building containing my bed. Park. Sleep.
windsurf territory
Wake up. It’s 11 am. Make coffee. Eat cereal. What do I need? Board shorts: check. T-shirt: no check. Water bottle: check. $4.25 for lunch: check. Walk to lunch. Sergeant - son, you must wear a t-shirt here. Walk back to room for t-shirt. Walk to lunch. Eat lunch. Return to room. In room. What do I need? Nothing. Why did I come to room? No idea. Windsurfing? Gavin – yes. Adam – yes. Yesterday’s sunburn – no, better take care. Windsurf man – 2 dollars please.
Return to hotel. Eat more food. Shower: please circle yes or no here. Anyone to impress? Nope. Back to Tent City. Say hello to Bill. Swim in lagoon. Swimming in magical cove: check. Squeaky clean: check.
Enjoying life: roger.
- james, gavin, and adam, from Planet Diego Garcia, located somewhere south of India, somewhere east of Africa, somewhere west of Indonesia, and somewhere north of Antarctica
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