a new weekend job!
Dear Readers,
To supplement my modest income, I am overjoyed to say that I found an occasional weekend job!
Here is how it happened: I e-mailed NASA, including my resume with my space travel experience, cooking experience, parenting experience, & the 7 jobs I have had since arriving on Earth, along with everything else I could think of to put on there. (Later on, my dear friend Tabasco said that it probably would have been better to leave out many, if not most, of the experiences…but no matter…)
Luckily, I had put my space travel experience first, & NASA e-mailed me back, then granted me a phone interview!
I reminded them of the time I had met Buzz Aldrin & Neil Armstrong on the moon many years ago, & mentioned that those 2 kind astronauts had said I should apply at NASA, if I ever came to Earth…
Well…the people at NASA said something that I could not quite make out…then they phoned Mr. Buzz Aldrin (luckily, he remembered me!)…
Finally, after several more phone calls, much paperwork, & a special Space Safety & Hygiene course…they said they did possibly have a job coming up for me on the following Saturday, and was I available to help out at the International Space Station for the day?
I was overjoyed! I kind of miss space travel, first of all, & I also need a second job…and now that my relatives are nearby for the winter, & my neighbors Tabasco & Big T are able to babysit occasionally, I was able to accept! (I don’t want to be away from the children very often, but maybe a tiny space mission once every 4 months or so would work out fine, I am thinking…we’ll see how it goes!)
So here are a couple of photos from my first Saturday of work…!
If you look carefully, I can be seen in the picture above. In that photo, I am tethered to the space station (which is above us, out of the picture), but I am actually prepared to zoom out in my space kayak & assist the astronaut, if anything were needed out there. The astronaut was practicing free floating maneuvers that day.
As a little surprise, I brought a cooler of homemade popsicles with me, & in this photo, we are just taking a little popsicle break.
Luckily enough, everything went very, very smoothly! The astronauts are all really excellent!
When my job was done, I waved goodbye, & flew home in my space kayak…
…through the miles of beautiful evening sky…
…and then the moonlit Earth…
And do you know what, my dear Readers? I was so happy to return home…
…and yes, your beautiful blue planet does seem like Home to me now!
love rocks the stars,
love,
Clay Ball
The space photos are courtesy of NASA–thank you NASA!
