Another week went by ...

Highlights of the past week were the arrival and assembly of our bikes (don't think I've ever had such a good bike as now - apart then from the purple and pink monster that was given to me for my communion when I was twelve ...) and the preliminary arrival of two Christmas presents: a naughty book-with-a-wink about Syrian lingerie and a bread machine! Bread is insanely expensive here and not necessarily that good of a quality, so I'm looking forward to baking my own bread again.

Last Saturday we spent quite some time trying to adjust the dérailleurs of Will's bike and then drove up Persia and down Avalon to the Mc Laren Park where we had a good view over the bay. Check out some pictures from our ride and of the house!

The Sunday - yet another incredible sunny November day with a sun still capable of causing minor sun burn - we had a pancake brunch at the house with Mike, Brendan and Jutta. Good company, yummie food! We dropped Mike and Brendan off at the Glen Park BART station as an excuse for a little walk and then went on a bit further and discovered the beautiful Glen Park Canyon!

Yesterday evening then was the last Tuesday of the month, which meant another SFBC meeting. The annual grotto elections were held with all positions filled unanimously, something unheard of at Spekul ... ;-) No bitter election campaigns, heated discussions or people voting against. It was a painless affair and very quick, no time to get bored! ;-)

We were all looking forward to this month’s program which sounded very promising. Dave DesMarais of NASA Ames gave a very interesting talk about “Exploring Mars for Evidence of Habitable Environments and Life”. The majority of those present seemed already rather well informed about the Mars expeditions, but for me it was an introduction into a whole new world. He mainly talked about the Mars Rovers who were sent there to gather information about the past and present climate and gather evidence on the (past)(non-) presence of water and possibilities for sustaining life on Mars. He showed a cool animation showing the take off of the space shuttle, the landing on Mars (very bumpy with bounces more than a 100 m high, but a cushion of air bags protected the shell that contained the Rover!), the unfolding of the Rovers (think transformers!) and the start of their voyage. Check Wikipedia or YouTube for some more info or a cool animation!

Tomorrow morning we'll leave for our first caving trip to the Lava Beds National Monument. Looking forward to that!