An Endeavor, Day 3, April 30, 2011

12 hours later, I woke up. The hotel graciously provided me a late checkout so I cleaned up, repacked, and caught up on some work. I also had time to figure out my next move. 

After a bit of research I decided to check out and hang in Orlando until an announcement was made about Monday’s attempt. Some insider information told me that they were going to take the APU apart today and would know in the afternoon or early evening if they were going to be able to fix the problem by swapping out some parts or if it was going to require them to replace more. If I found out by 6pm they were not going to make Monday’s launch attempt I could catch a flight home tonight. If I found out they were going to try to Monday then I would stay. I also have a friend who wants to join me should they try for Monday.

I checked out and went to a Panera Bread nearby to grab lunch, enjoy their free Wi-Fi, and wait.

4 hours and a lot of work done later, the data I was getting presented enough evidence for me to stay one additional day. Tomorrow at 10:30am they will have a press conference and should know if they can attempt Monday or not. The gamble is staying and they don’t launch in which case I’m only out for one more night’s hotel vs. going home tonight only to find out that they are going to launch on Monday. Trying to get back down here would be more hassle than staying and going home tomorrow if they can’t launch on Monday. Remember the fun I had getting here in the first place?

This of course doesn’t come without problems. Getting another hotel for tonight was no problem but extending my rental car proved a hassle. Thrifty was more than willing to allow me to keep the same car at the same rate however they charge a $10.99 fee per additional day when you make a change. It was cheaper to go online and place the same reservation again for the added days. All I had to do was go to the airport and swap my car for another one. I don’t see how they make money doing it this way but I played their game and went to the airport just to swap cars. I ended up going from a Ford Crown Victoria to a Mercury Grand Marquis with a cheaper daily rate. I wonder how these people make any money.

I grabbed dinner and checked into another hotel for one more night. I hope that tomorrow morning will bring good news. If not I’m homeward bound.