I know a guy who was in the US Army and was deployed to a base in Egypt back in the 80s. They had a no go perimeter around it that prevented the locals goats from grazing and so contained the only field of greenery in sight.
Oh, and showing a sports game while playing typical Star Trek music - not a good idea if you're wanting to build drama!
One of my sisters-in-law is from the Philippines and encouraged her brother and his family to immigrate here to BC.FakeGeekGirl wrote:And it is always, always, always, always humid. The problem with having such narrow ranges of temperature and humidity virtually year round is that people become delicate flowers who lose their cold, heat, aridity, and everything else tolerance.
First bit here he hated how cold it was (which we got a good laugh from, being that Southwestern BC is effectively the Florida of Canada) even going around in summer in a jacket. Now adjusting to here, he can't stand the Philippines when he visits and is stunned he could even tolerate living there in the first place.
Humidity is an odd one. We're fairly humid here being a rain forest, but it's still not tropical humidity. I did love going on trips to the US through the Southwest trucking with my father and feeding how dry the air was, though I'd never want to live in it. In my case being British/German and very pale in the "Celtic" way, I don't think I could ever adjust to living that close to the tropics to the point that feels almost like a genetic incompatibility.
An apt insult the Afrikaners applied to the British during the Boer War that became an off the cuff name for anyone of British descent in South Africa is Rooinek, or Red Neck. At first it's an odd name for a people of Dutch/French/German descent to be mocking Brits for, but given that the Afrikaners had centuries to acclimatize themselves to region one can see why they laughed at those much like them that didn't know to cover up.So basically, I am not surprised that Trip completely wilts in the desert and becomes the load for the entire trip.
For me it depends on how much he's lived in Florida and how much time he's spent since then in space accustomed to the regulated environment one would expect on a space ship or station.So basically, I am not surprised that Trip completely wilts in the desert and becomes the load for the entire trip.
I could fully see people living in space or on sealed bases somewhere like on the moon returning to Earth and bitching about all the fine changes in the climate we're all used to. That the wind is blowing too much even when we'd consider it a windless day, that at one moment it was cold and now it's too hot, that the humidity is constantly changing, that it's too bright around noon and too dim towards dusk, that it's disturbing hearing such uneven, random sounds around you with things heard far off in the distance instead of the constant hum of machinery close and all around you that they grew up with and of course, that the gravity is far, far, faaaaar too heavy.
It's these sorts of things I love to think about with Sci-Fi and I wish they'd include them more in settings. Others would be how common Earth things could be taken as insults, like offering something that dirties the air like a cigarette when living in an artificial environment would leave them constantly concerned about wasting their air scrubbers, or trying to get a spacer to drink a carbonated beverage when in zero-g it causes terrible indigestion and so even with Artificial Gravity it would have a stigma over the possibility that the one time you decide to drink it the gravity fails leaving you feeling like shit unable to burp it out.
Also: Topol's ending comment about decisions being left to governments and not ship captains is reason in a world like ours where government communication is close at hand, but in the Age of Sail emulating world of Trek, a captain is in that moment as much the leader of his country as the people light years (and months, or even years) away that will have to effectively make nation level decisions then and there because it is impossible to get in touch with ones superiors back home.
The same also applied to military actions and was a huge reason why the Royal Navy ran circles around their more top heavy, follow your orders to letter foes like France and Spain, since they encouraged their captains to act so long as they knew that if it cost Britain and was inconsistent with the conduct they expected they'd pay for it themselves as Byng found out when he acted more "French" than "English" at Minorca being too cautious and by the book, barely trying to resist because he abandoned the Balearic Islands.
That isn't to say I support Archer's sentiments. IMO, he deserves Byng's fate for misconduct more than Byng did.
