Today it all came together, and many of the issues we have had during our stay have been resolved. The primary 20kW generator was returned and brought on line, spare keys were procured so that we can operate all three ATVs at the same time, and new headsets for the EVA suits were delivered.

I decided that I was the one who should make the trip to Grand Junction to get the generator, since everyone else had science to complete. I listen a lot to books on tape during long drives, and this trip, appropriately, I was listening to "Mars" by Ben Bova. During the drive back to the Hab, the wind had really picked up, and there was blowing sand across many sections of the road. Just by chance, the characters in "Mars" were experiencing high (200 kph) winds and zero visibility while on an excursion in their rover. Made me feel right at home.

While I was out braving the wind and weather, the rest of the crew were preparing the Hab for the Discovery Channel Canada visit tomorrow. I left Kim in charge with instructions to clean up the clutter we had accumulated and inherited, and generally make the place ready for visitors. I knew I had made a good delegation of command when I saw that the place was looking really good, and everyone said they were glad I was back.

The really exciting event today was the return of the primary 20 kW generator. The backup generator provided only 7.5 kW of power, and we had to be very conscious of our power consumption. For instance, we could not make coffee and fry eggs at the same time. We also shut down the backup generator at night, and every 12 hours we had to stop it, and refuel it.

The main generator is quiet, and is designed to be run 24 hours a day, and even delivers enough power to run the Incinolet. Imagine being thrilled to have an electric toilet.

Tonight I have declared that anyone can take a shower so that we can look our best for the media. And in honor of our dinner tonight, fried Spam, we will watch a Monty Python movie.