Doctor Bashir, I Presume?

Today was a really cool day! I attended a retirement party for a college professor of mine today and I was able to reconnect with her and a number of other people from my past that have left an incredible impact on my life. In addition to my professor who was retiring I was able to talk to the guy who got me into the field of speech/language pathology. It was great to hear how he is doing in his retirement and share my story of how my career is going thus far. It is hard to think that 8 years ago I was in the last stages of obtaining my master’s degree, the way time flies is simply put incredible. Even more fun I ran into a college classmate I had not seen in 8 years. It is just fascinating to see the directions that my classmates have gone in and the changes that are occurring at my former college. Who knows someday maybe I will become a professor.

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Bike and Elliptical Machine Tonight

Doctor Bashir, I Presume?

Dr. Zimmerman, most famous for being the model and creator of the Emergency Medical Hologram seen on the Voyager, has arrived on the station to make Bashir the model for the new Long-Term Medical Hologram program. In the process Zimmerman conducts a number of interviews and we get to hear what everyone hears about Bashir and it is quite funny. Bashir’s parents arrive on the station against his desires and it is clear something is fishy here. Through an accident the parents confess that Bashir is the product of genetic engineering because he was a disabled child and the parents wanted better for him. This is illegal and to avoid getting anyone else in trouble Bashir’s father accepts a two year sentence on Earth for breaking Federation Law. On a side story Leeta is in love with Rom and he is in love with her but neither one admits it. Leeta uses Dr. Zimmerman as a way to make Rom jealous and in the end it works out and Rom and Leeta become an item.

In Purgatory's Shadow & Be Inferno's Light

I posted last week to my Facebook, “Ever get the feeling something really positive is starting to happen?” Life has just been on a great trajectory these past few months/weeks and things are looking up. Late last year and early this year I went through a series of setbacks, physically, financially and emotionally. Now a few months post all of that life is on a big upswing and i’m feeling truly happy. There is a lot to be said about taking time to do some of that tough introspective work on yourself so that you can get your brain together and life together. Part of that process was setting goals for myself and thought I won’t be sharing what my goals were here because I need a little bit of privacy, I am happy to report that things are progressing.

Today I worked my hind end off to get a college class completed and I succeeded! It has been my goal for the last few years to work my butt off to reach a higher level on the pay scale by year 10 and I am going to accomplish that feat a year early! I Have one more class to complete now and then I will be done taking college classes… for now! There is still that big dream some day of pursuing a doctoral degree, but i’m going to take a few years off to enjoy life before I start looking at the adventure more seriously.

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13 miles on the bike at the gym. The weather was suspect so I was stuck inside today :(

In Purgatory’s Shadow & By Inferno’s Light (2 parter)

first off… what an amazing two part episode this was… WOW! I am getting to the point where I stopped watching Star Trek for a while as a teenager. I think that is because other people thought it wasn’t cool but ya know what I say now.. Fuck Peer Pressure! So really from now on out for the most part these are episodes of Star Trek that I have never seen before.

The episode opens with Garak being called to Sisko’s office to translate a Cardassian message sent from the Gamma Quadrant. Garak says it is nothing but an old planetary survey but then he attempts to take runabout and go into the wormhole. Garak reveals that it is a distress signal from his old mentor Enabrin Tain. Sisko agrees to the rescue mission with Worf going along to accompany and assist in the rescue mission. Once in the Gamma Quadrant they are found be the Dominion and sent to a prison planet where they are held with a number of other prisoners including Tain, General Martok and Dr. Bashir. It turns out that Bashir on DS9 is a changeling and has been for over a month. On the planet Garak begins working on sending a signal to the runabout so that it can rescue everyone. It is a slow and tedious project. Tain is about to die and for another big shock it is revealed that Garak was his son all along. Back on the station Sisko finds out that the Dominion is coming and sets up a plan to collapse the wormhole. When Dax and O’Brien attempt to close the wormhole permanently it fails because the Bashir on the station sabotaged the device. As the episode closes a huge fleet of Dominion ships are seen pouring out of the wormhole.

As the second episode starts Deep Space Nine prepares for battle with the Dominion but before any fighting begins they head towards Cardassian space. Dukat takes off after the fleet and reveals that he has negotiated for Cardassia to join the Dominion, with himself as the new leader of the Cardassian government. Back in the Gamma Quadrant Garak continues to slowly work on modifying the transmitter while Worf is subjected to numerous fights with the Jem’Hadar troops. At the last minute before Worf is killed the entire group is beamed to the runabout to head home. Meanwhile on the station a large Dominion/Cardassian fleet is on its way to the station to take back what is theirs. “Bashir” has stolen a runabout and is headed for the sun to destroy the Klingon, Romulan and Federation fleets, Bajor itself and the Station. The DS9 crew catches on and he is captured and destroyed before he can do any real damage. It is revealed that the whole thing was a ploy by the Dominion for the Alpha Quadrant to be severely weakened for a larger scale invasion and attack.

This two parter really kicks off the dominion war which will now dominate the majority of episodes for the rest of the show’s 2 ½ seasons.

For the Uniform

I absolutely love having a Monday off! Today I was able to stay in bed until 8:30 and then make a nice healthy breakfast at my own pace and watch a little TV on the couch. The biggest victory of the day so far has been a 5 mile run at the gym. It proves that I am ready for this five mile run I registered for a few months ago. I may not be as fast as I once was but I finished it in a solid 10 minute mile pace, which isn’t bad when you take into account my injury only three months ago. The only real bummer about the run was that I had to do it on a treadmill at the gym due to the weather outside. It is April and snowing… I am seriously wanting to move somewhere a little warmer.

At the gym today I encountered a new gym person that I always feared I was but am delighted to say that I am not. Singer Guy! OMG there was a gentleman on the elliptical machine having a great time singing, dancing, air guitaring and air drumming. He was having a grand time of it though I am not sure he was getting much of a workout in today.

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5 miles in 50 minutes

For The Uniform

Sisko is on the hunt for the treasonous Michael Eddington and during an encounter Eddington warns Sisko not to go after him. Eddington manages to cripple the Defiant with a virus and Starfleet pulls Sisko off the case. This infuriates Sisko but he ends up having to come to the assistance of the Captain in charge of the manhunt now. Sisko and the Defiant crew are thwarted by Eddington time after time and spirits are low. Eddington shares his favorite novel with Sisko, Les Miserables. Sisko uses Eddington’s fascination with the book against him realizing that Eddington views himself as the glorious hero willing to do anything for his cause. Sisko pushes Eddington to the edge by bombarding a Maquis planet with a deadly toxin, much like Eddington did to a few Cardassian planets. In the end to save his cause Eddington surrenders himself and the manhunt is over.

The Begotten, The Ascent, The Darkness and the Light, Things Past, Rapture, Let He Who Is Without Sin, Trials and Tribble-ations, The Assignment

I continue to work out and I continue to binge watch Star Trek, as long as I am doing my workouts I am good. I have been training the last few weeks to get back to shape enough to run a race next weekend. I am able to run 4 miles pain free and that makes me feel just fine for doing a 5 mile race!

Today I spent the day with my whole extended family for Easter. I love spending time with my family! Every time we are together we laugh, joke, drink, play games, talk, remember the good times from the past and just enjoy each other’s company. Everyone today wished each other a “Happy Easter” but I really didn’t. There are two holidays a year that people all around me celebrate and I don’t. I have a hard time with religion and it has never really been a part of my life. Not to offend anyone out there but I just don’t feel a connection or need for a “god” in my life or a community based upon that. I don’t believe the whole story and I really do fully believe it is a story. Possibly based upon some good things that happened but also based upon a lot of tall tales. I guess my biggest problem is the way religion is used by some people as a weapon or a means of organize bigotry. So there is my two cents on religion for the day. Maybe not a popular view but my viewpoint.

The Assignment

Keiko O’Brien comes back to the station and tells O’Brien that she is really an alien who has taken over her body. She wants him to make several modifications to the station’s array so that she can send a message. The Chief must aqueous to her demands but ends up fooling her and all is set back to normal. This episode introduces the Pah-Wraiths, basically the Bajoran equivalent of the devil. These Pah-Wraiths will come to play a larger part in the series in the future episodes.

Trials and Tribble-ations

The crew of the Defiant end up back in time at Space Station K-7 during the Enterprise’s first encounter with the tribbles. Arn Darvin the Klingon agent has escaped and gone back in time in hopes to kill Kirk and the tribbles aboard the station. Worf, Odo, Dax, Bashir and O’Brien need to find Darvin and not interfere with the events of the timeline. This is a rollicking fun episode that paid tribute to the series’ 30th anniversary.

Let He Who Is Without Sin

Star Trek Deep Space Nine- The Romantic Comedy. Worf, Dax, Bashir, Quark and Leeta are on Risa to have a little fun. Worf, of course cannot pull the stick out of his ass to have fun and gets caught up in a movement that hopes to rid the Federation of the pleasure seeking attitudes that have made it soft. Worf eventually pulls his head out of his ass and turns around to have some fun and get these essentialists out of the way. Bashir and Leeta break up too.

Rapture

Sisko becomes obsessed with an ancient Bajoran artifact and after an accident he stops at nothing to find an ancient city and speak the words of the prophets. At the same time Bajor is trying to get membership to the Federation, because of Sisko’s actions Bajor backs out of the entrance.

Things Past

Dax, Odo, Garrak and Sisko are mysteriously sent into the past on Deep Space Nine during the occupation. Things though are not as they should be and it turns out that this whole thing has come right out of Odo’s mind. He was the chief of security at the time and the time jump centers around three men who Odo convicted and had killed that he has always regretted. In the end all is worked out and everyone wakes up on the station alive.

The Darkness and the Light

Someone is hunting and killing the members of Kira’s old resistance cell on Bajor. One by one as the members of the group are killed Kira becomes more agitated and scared. She manages to track down who is killing her friends and she steals a runabout and goes to find the killer. The killer is a crazy Cardassian who wants revenge because he was injured in an attack. He plans to kill Kira and steal her baby. She is rescued just in time and all is okay.

The Ascent

Quark and Odo are stranded on a planet and must make a dangerous climb up a mountain to regain communications and get help. The two are put through hell in order to get a signal out including cold and well their love/distaste for each other’s company. The two manage to get saved in the end.

The Begotten

Kira is ready to have her baby but she can’t get enough peace and quiet to have it between O’Brien and Shakar’s fighting over her time and attention. One because he loves her and the other because she is having his child. In the other story Odo obtains an infant changeling and wants to help it to learn how to become the creature it is supposed to be. Odo gets the help from Mora Pol, the doctor who raised him long ago. The changeling ends up not living but it fuses itself into Odo’s body and he is once again a changeling.

A string of some not so great episodes to be honest! The tribbles episode is great but the other ones in this workout are not the greatest moments from Star Trek history.