Ruffles and Flourishes

The internship ended with a bang yesterday. I was supremely fortunate enough to still be around for the rollout of the new EA-18G (it's a major press event, so I can say what it was), and since I was working for senior management, I got to attend. It was a big deal. The vice president in charge of St. Louis was there, and our members of Congress spoke, one in person, and the other in a recorded message from Washington, and Admiral Someone-or-other of Naval Operations (or something) was present as well. And I got to see the plane and touch the plane. It's surprising how big the plane is. I always though of planes that fly from aircraft carriers as being on the small side, and yet I can stand upright under the wing. And it made the news last night and the paper this morning. Of course, the whole thing was massively inconvenient for people who actually work on the plane. There are still a few more tests they have to run before first flight and those had to be put on hold, and in order to make it pretty for presentation, they painted over the radomes that they aren't supposed to paint over. So now they need new radomes. And they had to shut down one of the factory buildings for a day so they could hold the ceremony.
So, that closes that out. I managed to get a few souveniers, including a shirt and a few pictures. All that and I got paid, too.
A few other issues remain before I head back to school. There are now three services left to play... I volunteered for another piano one. And the Transportation Question remains. Specifically, I have yet to acquire a new bike to replace the one that got stolen last year. A few candidates have been identified, and I need something big enough that still works that's crappy enough not to draw attention to itself. Going for the new upgraded model last spring was definitely a mistake. It's something to think about.