Delayed, Denounced

This afternoon as I was leaving the lab with some of the newest reports, I received a cell phone call from a tech for our image processing service. More great news - ugh.

He told me the entire set of diagnostic images specially prepared for the EVA core alignment has been misplaced. He's having replacement sent from their headquarters but they won't arrive for another 2 weeks.

Yeah I know, 2 weeks - I could order a print the size of a house through Walgreen's and get it sooner - but this is very specific material, prepared for very exacting work.

And I realize the additional overhead is likely the security required by URI in explicit agreements with partners such as these. No doubt they've provided armed guards to escort the EVA core we sent them for test calibrations. The 16 hours that TI had access to the core was like a space mission, every moment choreographed, timed, inspected and re-inspected.

In fact I have to admit: Their constant scrutiny, combined with these endless complications, are beginning to take their toll on me. Not all at once. Just slowly chipping-away at me a piece at a time.

I retreat back into the work.

Some days it feels like all I have left of myself.