Polling

In space flight operations parlance, "polling" occurs at critical junctures in a mission timeline. The flight director calls over the voice loop to each engineering specialist station, for example, "Power." The lead engineer at the Power station will then respond with "Go" or "No Go" (the latter with explanation). If all stations report go, the next step in the timeline is executed.

Quite by coincidence (I believe), I was polled for the first time by Gallup at noon today. Fortunately I was already awake when the call came in on my unlisted home phone. I was asked many questions about each of my white and yellow pages phone directories. What they were, how recently I'd used them, etc. My responses were essentially....never, never, never. I suppose if the power goes out and my iPhone has discharged, I would use them. I need reading glasses to read them now. I didn't back in the day when I did rely on them.

(Anytime I have a thought that ends in a question mark now, I go to my computer first. It's a good habit to develop.)

Just in case, I quickly called the phone number that appeared on my Caller ID (using my cell) while I was answering questions. The announcement gave me some confidence that I really was dealing with Gallup rather than some nefarious outfit. You can't be too careful these days.

They're in Nebraska, by the way. This particular call was from Lincoln. A number of Husker colleagues are reading this weblog, and I take this opportunity to salute you!

A salute also goes out to my friends Geoff and Susan, celebrating their 11th wedding anniversary today!