Even Colder!

The National Weather Service had a forecast which included minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit for the low last night. I doubt it got below minus 12, but that was cold enough for an emergency decision. I brought the pets inside and left the electric heater going in the garage. This morning at about 8:00 am, the thermometer just inside the side door read about 33 degrees; too close for comfort! I barely slept and I'm still tired. The cat was a distraction - she plays with everything, which is cute most of the time, but sometimes not when there are stresses.
She's usually a help though and seems to be very sensitive and helpful during stress times. The dog stayed in the bathroom and so I didn't have my usual shower and slept with my clothes on as well, expecting minus 27 degrees. So I was too hot and had to get up to remove clothing. I also itched and some sores on my hands and neck irritated the heck out of me. Still, I managed to sleep about 2 hours.
It all worked out today when I napped a couple of hours and had a good breakfast. I was really "keyed out" on an apparent whole track perception! Wow!


OP 16d

OP 16d was an abandoned observation post with a still intact and workable landing dock. It allowed careful close manoevering and tight "lash down" for the ship. They could all safely and comfortably transfer to the main building. Thirty minutes or so and the whole thing was up to temperature and all the power was flowing and reporting "pass" on the warm up system check. OP 16d deserved some kind of design effiency awared for its insulation. Jim would read up on its history. About three inches of bulkhead was all that separated the interior from a near total dark vacuum outside. Much of it was clear poly cyclo hc (hydrocarbon) triple layered thermoplast or clear pc thermo as it was usually called. It appeared totally clear, but was not, of course, and was aluminized on the interior side of each "clear" layer to prevent radiation from within the station. It appeared fully reflective from without and wide open clear from inside. The opague alloy walls followed similar construction designs, vacuum insulation and front surface reflective metal ion deposition against radiation heat losses.
"What do they do here?", Nomi asked indredulously. "They make all kinds of obervations and standby for emergencies like ours!", Jim answered with humor that quickly became gratitude and wonder of his own at the foresight. "Do they know we're here?", she asked.  "They will soon, about eight hours or so.". Jim answered. "Where did they go?" Nomi's questions were totally normal and in this case they served to bring Jim out of a state of semi-shock as he reoriented to his work and training. "They usually have periodic patrols. We're spread fairly thin out here. I have to go over their log. I'll see what kind of messages they left."