The sixteenth day in Palestine was Paul’s birthday!  Unfortunately, the celebration was short.  Sarah and Pierre-Simon bought birthday cupcakes, so as soon as they arrived in the morning we all sang happy birthday and had cupcakes for Paul.  That was the end of the fun.  The rest of the day was fairly dull.

The birthday boy celebrating by doing work

Everyone hard at work (Sarah is hiding behind Pierre-Simon)

I’ve definitely overused the word continued over the course of writing this blog, but here we go again.  Brian continued working on making sure the data stream was flowing from GSE computer to GSE computer.  John continued filling out documents.  Sarah continued coding new software analysis tools and worked with the vacuum pump cart.  Pierre-Simon continued monitoring and analyzing test data.  I continued working on the website and configuring the GSE 3, GSE 4, and another spare computer.  From California, Robert continued analyzing data with Pierre-Simon and Paul, looking for any anomalies among the test runs that could explain any pre-existing problems.  Paul continued editing his software tools to make them up to date with the needs of AESOP-Lite and John.  James continued setting up all the electrical equipment on the gondola.  For the most part, our work continued and continued and continued.  Everyone besides James spent their day staring at a computer screen.  The only break from the monotony of the day was another form of monotony.  Pierre-Simon and I put in more time calibrating the PHA.  This involved turning a knob, pressing a few buttons on the computer, and repeat.  It fit perfectly with the theme of the day.

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-Matt Collins