Jupiter Three

So, OK, it took me two weeks to blog about a long weekend. But now things are back to normal. Well, except for me and Julia. It seems my little run in with CS and the subsequent lockup scared her off. She said something about not being able to afford the extra attention. So in a way, Johns won.

We entered the asteroid belt about a week ago. It’s not as dense as people think – we are not dodging rotating boulders or anything. Occasionally one can see an asteroid off in the distance. Occasionally. We did get a good view of Ceres, which is the largest object in the belt. Its a dwarf planet about half the size of Pluto. I remember reading that back in the 21st century on Earth, they thought Ceres might host life, since it is covered in ice, but to their great disappointment, Ceres, like all the planets other than Earth (and now Mars) is barren. Earth is unique, at least in this solar system.

Anyway, Lisa has finally settled down, and I am back on one shift. Tonight’s special is Braised Rabbit with Pears. The pears are something new from the hydroponics farm. Stop by the Messa Mesa and check it out.

Gravity on board the Jupiter Three is now over 120% of Martian gravity. Its starting to take its toll on a few people who haven’t kept up with the exercise regime. Some crew members are tired all the time, and there have been a couple of broken bones due to low calcium levels. Gotta build up those bones.

Orders have come down from the captain – a mandatory doubling of the exercise period. I guess he takes his responsibility to include delivering all 500 of us ready for work. Fine by me.

The gym was crowded today as a results of the general order yesterday. Those of us who work out regularly had to make room for those that don’t, which normally would be fine, except everyone wanted the same time slots. some of the others in our little band took umbrage, believing that we should not have to be bumped from our ‘regular’ time slot.

Ahh, it’s the little things, isn’t it.

I am thinking of taking a tour of the hydroponics farm this week; you know, find out where the goodies are coming from. The new pears were very popular, and I wouldn’t mind giving Lisa a heads up on what else is in the pipe, maybe get a jump on some of the other dining facilities.

People stink. Terrestrial, Martian – it’s just a fact of life. Put 500 of us in a tin can, push us into space and institute an exercise regime, you’ve got odor issues.

Now add to that the preference for exercising in the higher gravity sections of the ship (i.e. the outermost sections, i.e. OUR level), and to THAT add a broken recycler, and you’ve got a crisis.

I understand that the early Martian colony had similiar issues (Martian Sociology 101 – hety I paid attention sometimes!). Before there was an ‘outside’, everyone huddled, and huddling humans smell.

Might be a good time to eat in your quarters. Just sayin’