I found out yesterday afternoon that the Phoenix team’s only helicopter crashed, leaving us crippled for competition. I was fairly depressed about this turn of events and was not completely sure that I would go down after all. While it would be fun, it’s harder to justify taking off a week and a half of work for what may only be another vacation. While I was still considering my options I worked on finishing the installation of MusicBox (my computer sound system) in Freya. When everything was finally hooked up, I turned the key for a live test. The system powered on, booted, and quietly spoke these words to me, “Don’t loose your nerve.” A sign! Well, actually it’s just because that’s where I happened to have left off in the middle of Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For a Film).” Of course, it’s dangerous to look for signs in random places because the song ends with the comforting wish of, “We hope that you choke, that you choke.” Hmm, can I be selective about my signs? :-)

Anyway, I just found out that the team will likely be getting a new helicopter either tomorrow or the next day, so I am definitely going (although I probably would have gone anyway). Tomorrow morning, I head down to LETU to help the team with the final preperations before the contest, and then it’s off to the contest to see what we can do.