5 minutes in Russia

[Flashman]

LiveLeak.com - 5 minutes in Russia

Typical afternoon in Glasgow. Isn't that Minestrone with his top off?

[AlfredJPruffock]

After my stint back in 1993 as one of the IT Pioneer's of the International Space Station courtesy of the European Space Agency's Operational Centre in Germany - I watched with interest over the years as the ISS changed from being a blueprint to an orbiting Space Station.

I worked again for ESA (again on contract) - this time in Holland from 2008-2011 - well shortly before I left I was told to visit the European Astronaut Training Centre near Koln in Germany - I hadn't been there before and after completing a wee IT project there - I was taken to lunch and had the pleasure of having lunch with NASA astronaut Don Pettit !

As a keen astronomer for many years I never thought I would have the pleasure of lunching with somebody who had been several times on the ISS via the Space Shuttle.

Don had been told I was one of the ISS Pioneers way back in 1993 when I was on my own in Moscow - and wanted to meet me to say thanks!

It was one of the best lunches of my life I can tell you , that's NASA astronaut Don Pettit on the left (note the ISS symbol on his shirt) and that's myself on the left - OK although I was laughing - what I didn't know then was that I had deadly Melonama cancer - but you can read about that in the thread " The Life and Times of AlfredJpruffock"

PS we were sharing a joke about our Mothers at the time ...




PS Don was a scientist before becoming a NASA astronaut and has performed many experiments on the ISS - check out this wonderful YouTube video he created - shot from the ISS !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwt3kMivZk4

[fullyautomatix]

After my stint back in 1993 as one of the IT Pioneer's of the International Space Station courtesy of the European Space Agency's Operational Centre in Germany - I watched with interest over the years as the ISS changed from being a blueprint to an orbiting Space Station.

I worked again for ESA (again on contract) - this time in Holland from 2008-2011 - well shortly before I left I was told to visit the European Astronaut Training Centre near Koln in Germany - I hadn't been there before and after I did some IT work there - I was taken to lunch and had the pleasure of having lunch with NASA astronaut Don Pettit !

As a keen astronomer for many years I never thought I would have the pleasure of lunching with somebody who had been several times on the ISS via the Space Shuttle.

Don had been told I was one of the ISS Pioneers way back in 1993 when I was on my own in Moscow - and wanted to meet me to say thanks!

It was one of the best days of my life, you can see Don on the left(note the ISS symbol on his shirt) and that's myself on the left - OK although I was laughing - what I didn't know then was that I had deadly Melonama cancer - but you can read about that in the thread " The Life and Times of AlfredJpruffock"

PS we were sharing a joke about our Mothers at the time ...




PS Don was a scientist before becoming a NASA astronaut and has performed many experiments on the ISS - check out this wonderful YouTube video he created - shot from the ISS !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwt3kMivZk4

Amazing stuff. Its stuff like this that makes you think the job you are doing is worth while.

[Euler]

Amazing stuff. Its stuff like this that makes you think the job you are doing is worth while.

Sadly for you, desktop support doesn't count as "amazing stuff"

[fullyautomatix]

Sadly for you, desktop support doesn't count as "amazing stuff"

[AlfredJPruffock]

Aye FA

Amazing stuff. Its stuff like this that makes you think the job you are doing is worth while.

To tell you the truth I never even wanted to work in IT - I only did a IT course back in 1983 (that was Information Technology year) which was founded by the Government - I had working around odd jobbing - prior to that I had been working as a labourer in Ravenscraig Steelworks in Scotland then was laid off - I undertook the IT course as I was playing synthesisers and as a musician thought IT somehow might be useful .

Mind you back in 1983 there was no websites - in fact the Commodore Pet was as about multimedia as you could get... "BLEEP" -
impressive sonic effects - eh ?!

Anyway to cut a long story short - I ended up getting my first IT job in London as a Mainframe Computer Operator I thought this might see through till the end of the year - I hated it as for most of my time I was changing paper on a mainframe printer - but needed the money ... and Jings! ... It was tough to get that first IT job ... the moneys no good but get a grip on yourself and - well you can find out the rest in the Life and Times of AlfredJPruffock.

PS FA - I like your attitude - remember if you don't have a dream - how are you going to make your dream come true ??

PPS Check out this awesome YouTube video from Don Pettit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwt3kMivZk4