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Whenever you step outside, there are two aspects of the weather that are inescapable here in Kwajalein: the high humidity and the strong winds. The humidity would be oppressive if it weren't for the wind. Between the two, the overall impression is a warm, muggy place.

I feel like I am a real member of the KWAJEX society now: I have a key to my room, I have green KWAJEX bike #39, and I have eaten a meal at the Pacific Cafe! Doesn't sound like much but it is good to have a place to eat and sleep and transportation to get around.

The rooms aren't much. I have one of seven beds in the room. Cement block walls. Dresser with sticky drawers. Phone and small refrigerator. It meets our needs, but luxury it ain't! My section of floor space is about 4 feet by 4 feet. But then, I don't spend much time in my room except to prepare these daily journal entries and pictures and to sleep.

Days start pretty early around here. The fellow in the bed next to me will be up at 4 AM tomorrow. The cafe serves breakfast from 5 AM to 8 AM. All transportation to other islands in this atoll will leave before 8:40. The first weather briefing tomorrow will be at 5 AM. It is now shortly after 10 PM and almost all of the KWAJEX people are asleep already.

Today was a day of getting the TV crew up and running and scheduled for the rest of the week. TV cameras will be able to get on to flights of the DC-8 and the Convair. The third airplane, the Citation, doesn't have enough seats for anyone extra so any filming inside the plane will have to be while it is on the ground. The crew got some good footage of a radiosonde release from here at Kwajalein. We will also try to get radiosonde releases recorded at the islands of Meck and Roi. I will be releasing radiosondes in a little over a week, so I will be paying attention during taping so that I will be a little pre-prepared for my training!

The TV crew also transformed a spot in a pretty drab meeting room into a well-lighted, attractive-background set for an interview with Ed Zipser who has been the coordinator for all the TRMM field experiments (KWAJEX is the last in the series of six field experiments).

A couple interesting things scheduled for tomorrow. Be sure to check back....

Alan Nelson