Tang, Dry Tongue, and Easy Does It
I don’t remember the last time I had
tang. I have faint memories
of it as a child. There was something about NASA and something
about a little kid at breakfast; that’s about it.
But at 9000 feet I await my meal and what just happens
to be one of my beverage choices: the good old orange liquid
of the astronauts, sweet vitamin C tang. It was actually
pretty good. It’s like orange juice without the juice and
without the fruit. Yum. Someone needs to investigate
this NASA-tang relationship and explain it to me.
We are not exactly in space here. In the
meantime, my work on the telescope and it seem to fit just time.
(Would someone please shut up the person behind me in the airport
who has decided that everyone waiting for my flight wants
to hear how bad his business is going? He apparently wants
to fix the problem. I think we disagree about what the problem
really is.)
Another thing about Meana Kea is just how dry it is. Each
little room comes with its very own humidifier and boy does
it need it. On my first night on the mountain, I didn’t bother
to run it all night. That was a big mistake. I awoke in the
middle of the night with a piece of cardboard in my mouth.
I could have sworn I had a tongue. What is this nasty thing?
It will be nice to get back to where the air has some moisture
and my nose can grab some oxygen now and then.
Speaking of oxygen, it’s amazing how
winded I can get at high altitude without the stuff. Simple
tasks like walking up steps all of a sudden take effort.
My last trip to the mountain featured a room on the bottom
of a four story climb. Lugging the 1000 lb laptop to
the top each day required a gargantuan effort.
At more than 13000 feet these effects are more pronounced.
I’ll have to save my hopping around the telescope for a later
date. All it does it give me a preview of legs and heart at
60.
Now that I’m finally off the mountain, I have to say one of the
things I’ll miss the most is the easy access to their bubbling
tub of tang. Maybe I’ll hit the grocery store and bring
back the eighties in style. Does anyone know if Mikey still
likes it? Does anyone remember what “it” was?
Laura
November 20th, 2002 at 10:22 am #
Life cereal. Mikey liked Life. While we’re bringing the 80’s back, can you grab me some Pop Rocks?
Deb
November 29th, 2002 at 9:31 am #
Hey Ken, speaking of the 80’s, do you remember those lovely dinners I used to cook of spam with melted cheese and playing Atari Pong. Those were the days. Don’t forget the leg warmers. Thank goodness they haven’t come back in.