Success at last!

I started off today by meeting a Bell South representative at the dock of the lagoon to have him install a connector at the end of our special waterproof ISDN line. After he finished and tested it, the line and I traveled to the SAS. I plugged in the line and expected it to be recognized by the computer as a good line. It wasn't. I went through a thorough testing and trouble-shooting procedure to configure my computer so it would call up our service provider at Lewis Research Center. Most of the configuration was done but I had the wrong login name and the other network cards in the computer conflicted with the ISDN card.

Oddly enough one of the crew's old roommates was topside and just happened to be an ISDN line expert who worked in Miami. This was a stroke of good luck. He came down to the station and together we worked on fixing the problem.

After 5 hours in the station, we dialed up Lewis and turned our camcoder on to begin streaming live video to the internet. I was incredibly happy when the connection was finally made.

I clapped and shouted and nothing could ruin my good mood as we began to make the first successful connection. For close to two months now, I have overseen and done most of the work to buy, configure, transport, and test this computer to be used for this project. It was very satisfying to have everyting tested and working for the first time underwater; just in time I might add: The project begins in 4 days. I had to let my body out-gass because I was breathing compressed air for more than 4 hours. I laid in a reclined chair for 1.5 hours and drank a lot of liquids until I felt strong enough to celebrate.

I went out afterwards to Snapper's for some seafood with Linda. Snapper's turned out to be a very, very nice restaurant with a good atmosphere and great tasting food.