Captains Log: Stardate 4/12/2000
Location: Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy. Mission Status:
Mission proceeding (eratically).
Systems Status: Systems nominal (i.e. nearly everything is working, most of the time)
Report:
Since the last report, the crew have been through a difficult rotation period of the planet around its primary (otherwise known as a year). We have welcomed the arrival of a new crew member, Junior Spaceman 2nd Class Andrew Paul Trembling, on 20/3/00, local calendar. We have also completed a planned re-location to larger quarters, and are now well settled in to our new location. However, stress levels have risen alarmingly, especially in myself and First Officer Annie Trembling, on whom much of the extra burdens have fallen. Some medical problems have resulted, but so far nothing fatal! We are planning a Command Team stress-relief programme to deal with the situation (i.e. me and Annie are getting in a baby sitter and going swimming one evening a week!)
Senior Spacemen Thomas has been doing well in his studies, and we’ve been quite pleased with the reports from his Educational Instruction Programme (‘Teacher’ to you!). He has also been active in local organisations such as ‘Cubs’ and in playing sports. A new area of responsibility for him has been the care and feeding of a newly acquired local species, Rabbit 1st Class ‘Hoppy’. A minor crisis recently arose when the said rabbit grew large enough to escape his containment field (jump over the fence): several exciting chases around the garden led to his recapture, several times! A happy (cold and wet) Saturday morning for the Captain, with a roll of chicken wire and some nails, seems to have solved the problem. As long as Hoppy doesn’t get much bigger, that is.
Junior Spacemen 1st Class Matthew is about to start Nursery School in January, 5 afternoons a week - an event eagerly anticipated by the First Officer! He continues to be bright, intelligent, funny and as stubborn as a herd of mules. Or sometimes we prefer to say he’s “tenacious”! He’s developing good computer skills - just today he was demonstrating how he’s learned to use a mouse! He’d learn things a lot faster if he’d let us help him more - but he always insists “I can do it by my own!”
Since arrival, Junior Spaceman Andrew has shown remarkable progress. His Locomotion Study Programme has led to his discovery of crawling, and he has since embarked on an exploration of outer-space: out-er the kitchen, out-er the living room - out-er anywhere we leave him! He has also developed language skills - “Ma-Ma-Ma”. This amazingly compact communication system means “Pick me up”, “I’m hungry”, “I’m thirsty” and just about everything else as far as we can work it out. The Captain was thrilled just today, when he progressed to “Da-Da-Da”.
Sadly, I must report that there have been some outbreaks of mutiny amongst the crew. These have been put down with the utmost severity. (“You’re GROUNDED!”)The First Officer, having recruited Andrew by Caesarean section, spent a little while on light (well, lighter) duties early this year. However, she has now returned to work as a registered child minder, and to leadership of our church’s Sunday School. She has also found time to do First Aid training and a counselling course. With this crew, we need all the skills we can acquire.
For myself, I’m continuing to be employed as an Admin. Assistant by Nottinghamshire Police - obviously they haven’t done much security checking of my past! I’m still preaching regularly: recently I did a string of services on Missions. Digging through old prayer letters for personal testimony materials, I was challenged again by the spiritual needs of the world, and excited by what has been and can be done. Both myself and Annie remain committed to supporting missions, and are open to be called in that direction someday.
Thanks to those of you who continue to send us communications by sub-space transmitter, or (more often) by post. Sorry that we don’t get round to replying very often: perhaps someday we’ll achieve a technological breakthrough to e-mail, but that will need a financial breakthrough first!
Location: Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy. Mission Status:
Mission proceeding (eratically).
Systems Status: Systems nominal (i.e. nearly everything is working, most of the time)
Report:
Since the last report, the crew have been through a difficult rotation period of the planet around its primary (otherwise known as a year). We have welcomed the arrival of a new crew member, Junior Spaceman 2nd Class Andrew Paul Trembling, on 20/3/00, local calendar. We have also completed a planned re-location to larger quarters, and are now well settled in to our new location. However, stress levels have risen alarmingly, especially in myself and First Officer Annie Trembling, on whom much of the extra burdens have fallen. Some medical problems have resulted, but so far nothing fatal! We are planning a Command Team stress-relief programme to deal with the situation (i.e. me and Annie are getting in a baby sitter and going swimming one evening a week!)
Senior Spacemen Thomas has been doing well in his studies, and we’ve been quite pleased with the reports from his Educational Instruction Programme (‘Teacher’ to you!). He has also been active in local organisations such as ‘Cubs’ and in playing sports. A new area of responsibility for him has been the care and feeding of a newly acquired local species, Rabbit 1st Class ‘Hoppy’. A minor crisis recently arose when the said rabbit grew large enough to escape his containment field (jump over the fence): several exciting chases around the garden led to his recapture, several times! A happy (cold and wet) Saturday morning for the Captain, with a roll of chicken wire and some nails, seems to have solved the problem. As long as Hoppy doesn’t get much bigger, that is.
Junior Spacemen 1st Class Matthew is about to start Nursery School in January, 5 afternoons a week - an event eagerly anticipated by the First Officer! He continues to be bright, intelligent, funny and as stubborn as a herd of mules. Or sometimes we prefer to say he’s “tenacious”! He’s developing good computer skills - just today he was demonstrating how he’s learned to use a mouse! He’d learn things a lot faster if he’d let us help him more - but he always insists “I can do it by my own!”
Since arrival, Junior Spaceman Andrew has shown remarkable progress. His Locomotion Study Programme has led to his discovery of crawling, and he has since embarked on an exploration of outer-space: out-er the kitchen, out-er the living room - out-er anywhere we leave him! He has also developed language skills - “Ma-Ma-Ma”. This amazingly compact communication system means “Pick me up”, “I’m hungry”, “I’m thirsty” and just about everything else as far as we can work it out. The Captain was thrilled just today, when he progressed to “Da-Da-Da”.
Sadly, I must report that there have been some outbreaks of mutiny amongst the crew. These have been put down with the utmost severity. (“You’re GROUNDED!”)The First Officer, having recruited Andrew by Caesarean section, spent a little while on light (well, lighter) duties early this year. However, she has now returned to work as a registered child minder, and to leadership of our church’s Sunday School. She has also found time to do First Aid training and a counselling course. With this crew, we need all the skills we can acquire.
For myself, I’m continuing to be employed as an Admin. Assistant by Nottinghamshire Police - obviously they haven’t done much security checking of my past! I’m still preaching regularly: recently I did a string of services on Missions. Digging through old prayer letters for personal testimony materials, I was challenged again by the spiritual needs of the world, and excited by what has been and can be done. Both myself and Annie remain committed to supporting missions, and are open to be called in that direction someday.
Thanks to those of you who continue to send us communications by sub-space transmitter, or (more often) by post. Sorry that we don’t get round to replying very often: perhaps someday we’ll achieve a technological breakthrough to e-mail, but that will need a financial breakthrough first!