In this case, I just gotta compliment Steve on a solid performance.

takes you more directly to the article.
And this is a video of the actual drinking:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/11/24/howto-drink-coffee-i.html

And not to misquote Professor Harold Hill from “The Music Man” when asked about steam cars he says, “They went and invented one.”

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/10/16/the-zero-gravity-coffee-maker-space-station-luxury-or-necissity/

NASA astronaut Don Pettit loves his coffee. So it comes as no surprise that he found a way to drink coffee from a cup, instead of the traditional straw, on his day off Sunday aboard the International Space Station.

No word on whether he’s lost his beans yet.

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/24/1720245&from=rss

Hal: I can’t do that Dave.

Dave: Open the &)()(& espresso, Hal!

Hal: Maybe you should take a sleeping pill and lie down, Dave. Dave, what are you doing with that frother. It looks like an electric toothbrush, Dave…

And.. it did remind me of HAL…

I also loved the switch where you finally realize that the protagonist is not quite all there.

The story was really well read, but I felt the “freaking out” portion of the story (when he is in the Cryogenic Chamber) was a bit rushed.

Well done! Love the stories, so THANK YOU!
(PS: this is my first commentary, yay!)

PK: note that he needed power and gravity. Living quarters had gravity (well c force) but not the helm.

I bet if he was a tea drinker, he’d be much more calm. Zenlike psychopaths are so much more nicer than stark-raving-mad ones.

I don’t think it is much of a stretch to compare this story to 2001: A Space Odyssey. What made the movie scary was the complete lack of humanity that Hal had for the humans on board. This story takes that theme and changes it into something else.

I think the narrator drank the coffee but lost the time like he did in the bathroom. He just wasn’t told about the lost time, so he didn’t know. And because he was telling us the story, we didn’t know.

Ok, your opportunity to make me feel stupid. I don’t get the click and repeat the story part again. Somebody explain it to me in small words.

It also reminds me of another not terrifying but chillingly cold and horrifying story involving an airlock; The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin in 1954. A little girl stows away on a ship with just enough fuel to get only the weight of the pilot and drugs to save a planet. With her added weight, the ship will not make it and thousands will die. You know what the end will be, you don’t want it to be that end, but that is how it ends because thats reality. It will leave you numb.

I’ve had roommates that I’ve wanted to throw out of an airlock, too (especially if I haven’t had my morning coffee!).

I hope you feel better soon, Steve.

As for Steve’s comments, kudos – it’s both difficult and brave to admit to problems that in our society often can cause others to view one as weak. Needing help is a natural human condition – it’s sad that it’s viewed so poorly. We can’t all be cowboys (or astronauts!), and we shouldn’t have to try to be. This story definitely captures the perils of that, taken to an extreme.

As for where the beans went? He simply used up his whole stash and couldn’t face the fact.

But what I did notice during the episode is that Escape pod has an awful lot of coffee-based and coffee-related stories, such as Bean There and…well, that’s already too many for me , giving me no choice but to do this: Steve Eley, I declare you a latte-freak. Welcome to the ranks, comrade!

And about the editing, unless you donate to escape pod on a regular basis, I don’t think there is any room to complain. This is the best podcast out there, mistakes or no. Thanks Steve.

On the topic of the outro Steve: I’m glad you’re aware you’re in trouble. I know Escape Pod is one of the more important things in your life, and I know you don’t want to let us listeners down. But you are more than just a podcast, and I hope you’re not letting escape pod hurt the rest of your life. It’s not good for you, and, ulimtately, not good for the show. Spekaing as just one listener, I would be perfectly ok if you missed an episode, in order to get caught up and release the next one on time- it might give you a sense of contorl in your life.

Your work amazes me, and significantly improves my quality of life, so I feel I owe you AT LEAST a week off to improve yours!

The outtro is what affected me the most. Right now I’m dealing with a lot of problems and I really need to talk to somone. The only problem is that there’s no one I trust enough to unload my problems on. It’s a tough situation to be in and I don’t know how to deal with it.

I thought those edit points were part of the plot, as if the main character…

Hang on….

GGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
Please take the errors out of the final ‘cast.

Seriously, at one point it repea
click
…final ‘cast. Seriously, at one point i..
click
..point it repeats soo many time
click
..losing the thread of the senten
click
…..

Having enjoyed the story I still do want to point out some oddities.
A) Since when do you leave the survival of hundreds of people up to two people? Don’t you need three to mitigate risk etc?
B) The protocol to relieve a crazy person REQUIRES you to tell them before that person is revived?!

That is al

I understand what it means to bottle everything up; I used to as a kid and broke a few windows in the process. Although I personally don’t believe that a psychologist is for everyone, a friend’s ear is usually the perfect outsource for me.

This story seems to have gotten a bit of bad press. I’ll agree that it didn’t add anything to the genre- it didn’t engage any emotions, like stories have in the past, and it didn’t present any new ideas to SF- the idea of space insanity and the claustrophobia of long journeys causing physchotic outbursts- it’s been done before. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like the story. It was light and quite fun, rather than some of the more heavy works I’m used to reading, which made a nice change. I could tell that our friend the protagonist was “the mad one” from pretty early on, but that just made the story more involving. All in all, a fun listen.

As for the outro, that actually made me think about my own life. It’s possible that everyone bottles things up, particularly me. I know, deep down, that the reason I won’t tell people about my problems is that I slightly scared of the change. Not telling anyone is just more of the same, and whether I can handle it or not doesn’t really matter. But talking to someone about what I feel would change everything, and I realize now that it’s far braver to ask others for help, and face the uncertainty in your future, than bottle up your feelings and just know more of the same. So thanks for that.

Also I was very happy to be mentioned in the outro. I’m a member of the family now evil laugh!