David Trek and the last few days.

Personal log, 210902.28--The away missions to the other moons went well. The teams collected samples from PbS3 and PbS4 on Thursday. Both of the moons were like the small moons we visited during our time at Neptune. Next week, I have decided to have our shuttles do some close orbit scans of Pollux b.

The last few days have been okay. I glimpsed Betty from a distance early Thursday morning shortly after I arrived at work. I saw her through the windows of my area and her department as I was heading for the break room. On Friday, I finished filling my third tape of episodes of "Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles." I did some vacuuming, some reading, and watched an episode of the "Weird Science" series online.

Today, I did some more vacuuming and more reading. I watched some funny stuff on a site called "RiffTrax" that I found today. It is like the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" series, except that you purchase some audio recordings of the guys making jokes during a movie and listen to the recordings while watching the movie the jokes go with. I might buy a track sometime, assuming I find one I really want to hear with one of the movies I have.

David Trek: Pollux b's Moons.

Personal log, 210902.25--Today, we sent away teams to the second moon (PbS2). Lt. Commander Collins led one team, and Lt. Commander Arnold led the other. Meanwhile, we located two more moons, both smaller than PbS2 (which itself is about the size of Dione, one of Saturn's moons). We have designated them PbS3 and PbS4, and I plan to send an away team to each of them tomorrow.

Betty sightings, David Trek.

I saw Betty a couple of times this week. Yesterday and today, I spotted her as I was in the parking lot after work. Today, I spotted her leaving the ladies' room as I was heading to the men's room on my afternoon break. She spotted me and said, "Hey, David" and I said, "Hey."

And now, "David Trek":

Personal log, 210902.24--We arrived at Pollux a few nights ago and made our way to the first extrasolar planet we've encountered on this mission--Pollux b. We did some orbital scans, and Lt. Comm. Collins found a moon. Today, Gene and I both led away teams to this moon, the first away missions we've done since we leave the Sol System. Since Collins found it, we named the moon "Collins", but we have also designated it PbS1 (Pollux b Satellite 1). Gene recalibrated the ship's sensors to make it easier for us to detect moons, then he found a second moon. We plan to send away teams to it (designated PbS2--Pollux b Satellite 2) later tonight and tomorrow morning.

Betty sighting, movie weekend.

I saw Betty from a distance on Friday. She was heading for the ladies' room, and I waved to her from inside my department. She looked my way, but didn't wave back....

This has been a weekend of movies, especially Saturday. I have been watching my VHS copy of Predator, starring Arnold S., Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura (two of these guys became state governors years after this movie came out), on Friday and today. On Saturday, I went to see Push with Harry. Later, we rented some movies to watch at his place with Liz. We watched Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Quarantine.

Besides movies, I did other things this weekend. Saturday, I found a large spider that reminded me of Peter under my bathroom sink. I relocated it to my "spider preserve" in the laundry room (it was too big to put in the jar with Peter V). I went with Harry and Liz while they ran errands on Saturday. I watched Harry play "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows" on his PS3.

Today, I went to Cosmo and Wanda's to have lunch with them, Norman, Gwen, and Diana. We introduced Cosmo to Pandora, a free online service that allows you to pick out songs/artists that you like and stream them from the Web. After I got back, I worked on the laundry.

Recent Betty sightings, Underworld.

I saw Betty twice this week, both sightings being the same in format. On Monday, I was walking towards to the stairs, and I saw the door opening. I paused, and Betty emerged. I said, "Hey, [Betty]," and she said, "Hey, David," as she entered her department (its door is right next to the door to the stairs). Today, the same thing happened, except that she said, "Hey, David" before I said "hey" back to her.

Monday night, Harry and I went to see Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. It was an exciting movie, with much less swearing than the other Underworld movies. There was one love scene and lots of violent scenes with spurting blood. I was disturbed when I heard a kid talking near the front of the theater about halfway through the movie. Who brings their kid to an "R" rated movie on a Monday night? Especially one featuring werewolves and vampires?

Valentine's Day Weekend.

Well, it was a fairly quiet Valentine's Day weekend. I played more "Rampage: Total Destruction" on Valentine's Day. In the game, I trashed New York as Crock, completing my tour of the cities. I went back to Las Vegas and decided to try some monsters that didn't make my initial tour: Venus (the giant plant monster), Bart (a wingless mutant bat that can jump super high), Nick (a demon--it had a flaming skull like a goat or a bull and a body covered in red skin), and Bubba (a fat blob with feather-like things on its head). I also got my hair cut, did my taxes online, and did laundry. Today, I did the usual Sunday stuff, then took a nap. I ironed some shirts and watched TV.

The Call, Friday the 13th.

Well, the call to Betty last night went well. She liked the flowers, but was concerned about me giving her gifts like that since she's "in a relationship." I told her I had ordered the flowers before we had talked last Friday, and that I had chosen yellow roses (since they symbolize friendship) in case she was seeing someone. I assured her there wouldn't be any more surprise gifts and that it was okay with me if she kept the flowers. I also told her to feel free to call me if she ever wanted to talk. All in all, it was a more pleasant experience than I thought it would be and may have brought us closer as friends.

Today, I had the day off to see my orthodontist. I had the appointment in the morning, so I was free to get caught up on stuff the rest of today. I did my vacuuming, as well as some cleaning in the laundry room. I also did some fun stuff: I watched a rerun of "Batman: the Brave and the Bold." I played "Rampage" for the first time since last December. I started as Amanda (the giant armadillo) in Chicago. I released Rojo (a giant minotaur), then switched to him. I moved on to Hong Kong, where I released Crock (a giant crocodile). I finished off the city as Crock and quit for the day.

Possible problem, David Trek.

Well, I received a note at work today from Betty. Today is the day I had scheduled the flowers I ordered to be delivered to her, but I'm guessing from the note that she didn't like them as much as I had hoped. She asked me to call her later this evening because "we need to talk." I've seen enough television and read enough books to know this phrase isn't a good sign. I will do my best to smooth things over if she is angry about the flowers, and I hope to remain friends with her. If I can't resolve this, then I will disavow my feelings for her and give up trying to befriend women who catch my eye or to win their affections (at least for a while). I will keep you (the reader) updated on the situation.

Ever since I was a teenager, I have had trouble forming relationships with women I was interested in. The women friends I have had were mostly women I didn't have romantic feelings for. Or else they were women I wouldn't allow myself to have feelings for because they were engaged or married when I met them. I'm not sure if I scare the women I'm interested in somehow, or if I just lack the social skills to initiate friendships with women.

And now, "David Trek":

Personal log, 210902.12--Things have gone average at Messier 79. On Tuesday, we used some of our robotic sampling containers to harvest material from the edge of the cluster. Today, we are continuing our orbital scans. Given the size of M79 and our variation of Drift speeds, I don't expect us to do a complete orbit before we depart, but I still think the trip here will provide us with useful scientific data and material for our replication systems.

LEGO Batman, David Trek.

Well, I got another data corruption error yesterday when I tried to play "LEGO Batman." I entered a bunch of codes, then completed the first Episode of the Heroes' Story. I played the first chapter of the first Episode of the Villains' Story. To my disappointment, this did not unlock the rest of the Villain Episodes. I think I will quit playing this for awhile, then try again once I get a new memory card. And now, "David Trek":

Personal log, 210902.08--We arrived at M79 last night. I am concerned about our sublight engines, so I requested the crew to vary our Drift speeds so the engineers can perform maintance on Drift Drive. We are planning on staying at this cluster for awhile, so I am sure we will get plenty of data (as well as matter for our replication systems) without travelling at full Drift the whole time.

Betty Knows.

Well, I finally told Betty how I feel about her. We met in the hall twice (like the dream I had last night), and the second time, I said, "There's something I need to tell you." *deep breath* "Oh, boy." *ran my fingers through my hair as I looked down at my shoes* Then I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I really like you." (Which didn't happen in the dream.) She responded by saying she had a boyfriend. I grimaced and said, "I figured that might be the case." We talked for a few minutes after that, and she seemed okay with my revelation and willing to be friends with me. She doesn't know about the flowers I'm sending her, but I hope we get to talk a little more next week. I'm also hoping I can give her my cell number, so she can call me outside of work and talk more.

Betty sightings.

Well, I had a couple of Betty sightings this week so far. First, I saw her from a distance on Monday afternoon. I waved, but she didn't wave back (she may not have seen me). Today, I saw her in the larger break room as I was buying a sub for lunch. We said hi to each other, and bye as I headed out. I was kicking myself later because that would have been a good time for me to tell her how I feel about her (she was still in the room as I left).......

David Trek, other weekend activities.

Personal log, 210902.01--Last night, we Leapt to Kajam, a star about 235 light years from Earth. It has no planets, so we will do our standard high-orbit scan before Leaping to our next destination, Messier 79. We will be spending a lot of time at the globular cluster (like we did at the Crab Nebula). I hope to harvest material there for our replication systems as well. Some of my research on our future destinations gives me hope that we will find an extrasolar planet to study, at least from an orbital perspective.

Besides the "David Trek" stuff mentioned above, I did some other things this weekend. I fed Peter V a small spider I found in my bathroom yesterday. I did the usual Sunday stuff and watched more of Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl. I ordered some flowers online to be sent to Betty at work next week. Diana and I went out to eat with Gwen at Ruby Tuesday's. I decided to be adventurous and ordered chili (something I have never ordered at a restaurant before).