David Trek.

Personal log, 210908.30--We are nearly finished with our second mission. The probes we sent obtained several samples from Gliese 581 d's vast ocean. The modifications on the shuttles allowed us to do some excellent underwater surveys. After our final orbital scans are complete this evening, we will return to the drydock near Earth's moon and get some much needed rest. While this planetary mission wasn't all that I expected it to be, I think it was still time well spent. Perhaps I will find other adventures in other places in the future where my skills as captain of a starship will be more tested.....

David Trek.

Personal log, 210908.28--Gliese 581 d has proven far more interesting than the other extrasolar planets we've been to. I visited one of its two moons (G581dPS2) and found it was like Earth's Moon: barren and rocky. Yesterday, I flew one of the shuttles (the Verne) into the ocean of the planet itself. The water was dark, a blue-green in color. There were some creatures visible, resembling Earth's jellyfish. As far as we could tell in our initial surveys (there have been three shuttle trips so far), there are no sentient beings in the planet's ocean. However, it is a vast ocean, and there may be creatures in it so deep and so alien that we could easily miss them......

David Trek, District 9, Picnic.

Personal log, 210908.24--The last few planets (Gamma Cephei A b and 55 cancri A d) have been rather dull, but our latest (and last) planet has a lot of potential. We arrived last night at Gliese 581 d, a planet less than 25 light years from Sol. Our scans indicate the planet is larger than Earth and covered by a vast ocean. There are two rocky moons in orbit, which we plan to send away teams to. Today, we will be sending some probes to obtain water samples and get more detailed readings. If all goes well, then we may even be able to send shuttles down into the planet's ocean. I am discussing the possibility with our Chief Engineer (Arnold).

I had a pretty good time this past weekend. Saturday, I bought some DC animated movies, including Green Latern: First Flight, using a gift card I got for my birthday. In the afternoon, I went to see District 9 with Harry, Liz, and Liz's brother. The storyline itself was great, but I didn't care for all the gore and foul language. I also did a few loads of laundry.

Yesterday, I did the usual stuff, then went to a picnic near a lake. I took a lot of pictures and tried to catch a fish. Sadly, the fish were too sneaky for me, biting the worms off the hook before I could reel them in. At least I got some great pictures, including this one:

Busy at Larry's, G.I. Joe.

Well, last week was another busy week at Larry's. I logged over 45 hours there. I hope I can get at least half as many hours this week as well (though 40 hours would be good, too).

Yesterday, I spent time with Harry. We went to eat at Valentino's for lunch, then went to see G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. It had great special effects and lots of action. The only downside to the movie was the Baronness' back story. I won't spoil it for you, but it wasn't what I remembered from the animated series. Afterwards, we stopped by a Barnes and Noble Bookseller, and I used most of my gift card (from Clark for my birthday) to buy Jumper. Afterwards, we picked up Liz, and they took me back to my place.

Die Hard, Rampage, David Trek.

The rest of the week was okay. I had a few more busy days at Larry's last week. I left with Pat after 10 pm on Wednesday night and after 9 pm on Thursday night (Central Time). I had Friday and Saturday off, so I finished watching my DVD copy of Die Hard. On Saturday afternoon, I was briefly started by a spider in the dryer. I captured him and released him outdoors, then went back to my laundry.

I played "Rampage: Total Destruction" yesterday and today. Yesterday, I played as Venus (giant mutant plant) and as Rojo (giant minotaur), wrecking Chicago. I ran out of time on Chicago, too busy trying to wreck the Boss' saucer on the last section of the city to finish taking down the buildings. Today, I played as Marco (giant mutant shark), wrecking Chicago and Hong Kong. And now, "David Trek":

Personal log, 210908.09--We are nearly finished with our survey of Iota Draconis b. It had similar issues as our last stop in terms of temperature, but we found a way around it. We visited four of the eight moons we detected around the planet, but only when they were hidden from the Iota Draconis star by the planet itself. I paid a visit to IDbPS3. Tonight, we head for our next stop: Gamma Cephei Ab.

David Trek, visit to the zoo.

Personal log, 210908.04--Our time at Mu Arae c was uneventful. The temperatures on the planet's moons were too high for away missions, so we just did orbital scans from the ship and the shuttles. A few nights ago, we arrived at our current location: Iota Draconis b, located about 100 light years from Sol. We have discovered some moons around the planet, which has a mass over eight times that of Jupiter.


On Sunday, Harry, Liz, and I went to the zoo. I hadn't been there since the work on the Butterfly and Insect Pavillion was finished. We rode on this ski-life style ride before checking out the Pavillion, and I took several pictures. I took some pictures of the butterflies, as well as some pictures of spiders (which aren't insects, so it seemed a little strange for them to be there). One of my last pictures at the zoo was of a sloth I saw in the jungle exhibit: