Rocket fuel-strength coffee

Yaaaaawwwwwwwwn! Oh scoos me, that escaped.

Been on automatic pilot this morning – fed the cat, lit the stove, made a cuppa, booted the puter and am all systems go – chuckling. Takes at least an hour to get going, so just as well am up in the wee small hours yet again. Should be well and truly awake by the time the Dragon is grabbed by the ISS. YES! About 9pm GMT last night NASA gave the ‘set to GO’ and I’ve got SpaceX and NASA ready on the monitor.

NASA TV begins live coverage from 8.30am GMT http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

SpaceX from 11am GMT http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

Needless to say I’ll be glued to it, probably NASA coverage, as it shows Dragon’s run up to the grappling gizmo. The science, technology and wonder of it all, will never cease to amaze me.

In the meantime, I’ll be on the Shipping site, watching the floating world of fishing boats, ferries and tankers http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?refresh=2&count=10&map=Hebrides I monitored the fishing boat that gave me the giggles yesterday with its destination marked as ‘Prawns!’  Hope their catch was abundant. They deserve a well earned rest.  Jings, but they work long hours! I know the work is hard too and not for the weak-hearted. I am curious about the various boundary lines, some in the middle of nowhere that seem to be distinct traffic lanes.  Also, why some boats appear to go to a pale colour on screen – does that mean they’ve slowed down a bit? Some even vanish from the monitor! Lots to learn, but will have fun doing so. Nearly had kittens watching a monstrous oil tanker plough its way through The Minch – there were a few smaller vessels nearby, which in reality were likely miles apart, but on screen appear close enough for crews to hop aboard and have a cuppa tea and swap some good ole yarns.

Had to have the windows open nearly all of yesterday and well into nightfall, until a winged bug flew in. Hmph! It took a dive between me eyes and specs! Then flew around goodness knows where. I can’t help but wonder if it got macerated in the whirry thing above the stove. Yuck! Will have to get some sort of window screens for the warmer weather (we live in hope lol)  Aurora constantly jumps on the window sill inspecting the garden for predators (neighbouring cats) with her snout poked through the slightly open window. Ragdoll cats are not blessed with a sense of danger, so letting her out is a no-no, unless on a harness. Once she dragged me across the garden chasing a stray cat – she is big and powerful. I, on t’other hand am not strong and there’s not a lot of me, so I had an involuntary run around the garden while screaming for hubby’s help haha

 
Talking of gardens, there’s a plethora of little spikes appearing rather rapidly. They’re green and ... yep ... the grass has started growing, so mowing will be on the cards soon.  Time for more coffee methinks and an eye on what’s where on the ocean and up in space. Enjoy your day, Susan :)