Just 2 days before I was going to go "head-down" I had a Dorsal Foot Vein test, which was the first (and only, to-date) test that I failed.  Failed as in, they did not get expected results from me.  If you ask me, any test subject that yields new, unforeseen results should be exciting -- it's new data.  I retook it 2 days after, and I had the same results, which they begrudgingly accepted as what they would get from me.

So I officially went head-down on Wed. the 27th.  Day 1.

The changes were almost immediate; the disorientation, swelling of face and upper extremities.  Within hours, however, I was feeling pretty well-acclimated.  And after carefully analyzing my status over the past few days, I am proud to say I've sidestepped all the potential side-effects.  No headache, no backache, no congestion, no gastrointestinal aches or bloating.  One of the staff joked that I was the perfect astronaut.  Could you please tell everyone at JSC that?  Among other potential future careers... I'll take it!

Today is Day 4 for me, and my testing today (Lactulose & Acetaminophen absorption) has been postponed indeterminately.  In actuality, everything on the ward has been.  My roommate Kjell was supposed to go head-down tomorrow and that's not happening now.

Hurricane Gustav.

Dear Mr. Hurricane, I know Louisiana's a played-out location for your kind, but please consider The Big Easy as a wonderful place to retire, hang your hat, and blow your wind and rain into.  Galveston is just a tiny island, and it has many little test subjects who really don't want their employment canceled early due to threats of you.

Snail-mail addy (for those who asked):

Deron Jenkins
c/o Michelle Cristan
1290 Hercules Ave.
Wyle/HAC/W2/130
Houston, TX 77058

Today's just balance test, mental aptitude test, and FSR (reflex test).  Good times.  I'm listening to my band's music and hey!  We're pretty good!



Today's Devin's birthday.  Happy birthday, man!

Today consisted of a balance test and a reflex test.  The balance test was a balance board that you stood on with a harness, headphones, and a multitude of electrodes attached to your body.  Also, a false horizon (a huge booth with scenery painted on it) was rigged to the balance board so that as you tilted, the "world" tilted with you, so you couldn't use your eyes to set your balance.  I was also tested with my eyes closed for part of it.  Tons of fun, actually!  I had a blast adjusting myself to keep the board from tilting.

The reflex test was boring.  I lay on a bed with my foot strapped to an articulating pedal.  The pedal would rotate my foot from flat position to toe-up position, and I either had to relax my leg or put resistance on the pedal.

I experienced my favorite meal.  Lasagna, mixed veggies, ice cream, and apple pie.  Oh!  And I got a new roommate, Kjel, from Seattle.  Seems pretty cool; in fact, I have a feeling the psych screening we go through is to filter it so only cool kids get in the study.  Pics tomorrow.  Someone remind me to take/post pics!

A look at some of my crew (those whose Myspaces I know, anyway) before they embarked upon the madness we're all sharing in right now. =)

Here's Candace, who I pretested with a month ago.  She's doing the lunar study.


Here's Devin, a.k.a. Sarcasmo here on the wing.  He has beautiful horses and is an electrical extraordinaire.


And this is Heather, computer-savvy witty blogster who keeps the masses aloft on all the NASA-news.  Check out pillownaut.blogspot.com for more on that.


So that's the crew!  Time to go have a Firefly marathon.  Have fun all.  Btw, do my blogs here disappear as I post more?  Kinda creepy..

This morning I was awakened by the wonderful sound of thunder, lances of lightning piercing the darkness mere yards around the hospital.  I miss thunderstorms.  Yesterday I underwent isokinetic testing.  They narrow your range of motion to check target areas, such as your ankle or knee, and have you perform burst muscle force exertion.  It was fun learning how the equipment worked, as there was an intern there, Stephanie I believe, who was watching over the testing too.

Today I basically went through the Presidential Fitness test you all remember from elementary school and high school.  Crunches, pull-ups, and the ever-famous sit-and-reach.  I think tomorrow I do lactulose testing -- I'm not precisely sure what that is, but I'll let you know once I do.  All I know is it means I'm fed a different diet than everyone else today in preparation.

It pays to be a movie-holic.  I love movies of almost every genre, and now I have a practically captive audience to watch movie after movie with.  It's terrific!  Did I mention we have a Netflix account for free here?  I'm practically in heaven.

As much as I loved Mrs. Frisby, I'm not sure if I can say it was any motivator for becoming a test subject myself.

To answer many of the questions I've been getting... No, I'm not confined to a bed yet.  The food's pretty good after all.  Yes, the people (both staff and fellow subjects) are amazing, nice, and legitimately interesting to talk to.  No, I don't miss home yet.

Today I went through some rigorous physical and mental testing.  I learned interesting facts about my reaction time and blood pressure.  Apparently my blood pressure is higher when I've been sitting around doing nothing, and lowers by about 30mmHg after a good workout and cooldown period, maintaining at that lower number.  My reaction time seems a little slow compared to others in the mental testing, but I also scored 95-100% in some of the tests as far as accuracy.  To me, accuracy was always more important than speed.  I guess I'm not a good American in that regard.

I'm really enjoying the company of the other test subjects so far.  It's nice to be around other people who're willing to make the same crazy decision with their life. =)

Aside from that, having most of the day to myself to do as I please is pretty rewarding.  I just wish 114 days was enough time to accomplish all the goals I've set for myself.

And *bam* just like that, I went from not knowing when I'd be admitted and flown to NASA to having less than a week to get my things together and say my goodbyes.

I leave next Wednesday.  There's no possible way I will see you all before then.  If I don't, best of luck, I will miss you, and I'll see you all at the end of November or beginning of December.

Wow, I'm nervous.

If you haven't been salmonbotted yet, you're in for a treat.  The rundown is, a program finds your screenname through myspace, facebook, whatever.  Then you get a random IM with some thought-provoking conversation-starter, sent to you by, for example, someone named LinearSalmon.  What you don't know is that LinearSalmon is some other hapless victim who just got the same IM from you... and your name is salmoned up too.  Maybe you're PolarizedSalmon now.  Both of you think the other person IM'd first.  Neither of you know eachother.  The chaos ensues.

Oh yeah, and I'm leaving for TX soon.  I give them blood on Friday, and then if everything goes without a hitch (and it should), I'll be making travel plans with them in no time.  I'm excited!

So, a heavy thunderstorm, 2 delayed flights, a dead laptop charger and $60 later, I'm back online and back in Cali.  I'm just waiting for the last blood I sacrificed to go through and then Michelle and I should be coordinating my next trip out to TX.

This time for 114 days.

The house is priority, so if I don't hang with you, it's because I really want Kathan to move in ASAP, and that means finishing the master bedroom.