Leppotone

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said. She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was ''more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship,'' according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.

''What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate,'' he said.

Hartsfield said he couldn't recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternizing among astronauts.

When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.

Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, Nowak boarded an airport bus that Shipman took to her car in an airport parking lot. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.

Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said.

Shipman drove to the parking lot booth, and the police were called.

During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.

Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter ''that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein,'' an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.

Police said Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Shipman into talking to her about her relationship with Oefelein and didn't want to harm her physically.

''If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray,'' said Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. ''It's just really a very sad case. ... Now she ends up finding herself on the other side of the law with some very serious charges.''

If convicted of attempted kidnapping, Nowak could face a maximum of life in prison.

It was not immediately known whether Nowak had an attorney.

Oefelein and Shipman did not immediately return phone messages Monday night.

According to NASA's official biography, Nowak is married with three children. During her 13-day mission in July she operated the robotic arm during three spacewalks.

Oefelein is unmarried. He piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He has two children, according to a NASA biography.

Nowak and Oefelein were both first-time fliers during their shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew together.

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Associated Press writers Kelli Kennedy and Jessica Gresko in Miami contributed to this report.

I found something funny as I was cleaning out my study today. Back in the mid 1990’s I worked in the credit department for Daytons/Hudsons/Marshall Fields in Minneapolis. I had to sit and take phone calls from pissed off people regarding their charge cards for 8 hours at a time. It was pretty miserable but, over the year+ that I worked there I compiled a list of names of actual customers. It was pretty hilarious because you would get the customer’s account information on the screen so you’d see their name (among other info) before you would patch their call through. Some of these names had me rolling and it was pretty hard to maintain any composure when speaking to these people as a result. Anyway, here’s the list … Thank heaven my folks didn’t tag me with one of these monikers! Dorcus Hole, Mrs. Lulu Mae Loshbough, Baby Loreto O. Vertudes, Noviest A. Panty, Dshon Moonshine, Shirley A. Dick, Rachel F. Fang, Lisa and Steve Schwinghammer, Lovely Leggs, Modern Man, Denise Death (who fairly SCREAMED the pronounciation at me over the phone when I read it as written, “IT’S DEETH!!!”), Deborah Deathrage, Holly Head, Penny Lane, Mary Smariege (pronounced, “Smare-idge”), Lawrence and Karen Kielbasa, David J. Bowie, Jesus Oppenhiemer (“Prince of Peace and creator of the Atomic Bomb all rolled into one man?!?!), Lovey Bush, Freddie B. Logwood, Rockets Red Glare (Okay, he was a local artist who had legally changed his name…), Merko Matic, Willi Zogg … … . Well, I entered them as a list, but the Leppo-gremlins had other formatting ideas. . .

At the risk of sounding insensitive to age or gravity (and I would remind my critics that I am 44!) I surely cannot be the only one who wonders why on earth people don workout clothes to go to "All-You-Can-Eat-Buffets" - does this mean that people are playing sports dressed in tuxedos now? 

Here's a story from the Onion that I enjoyed about holiday shopping.

"The black snake bone had been born. The Black Mamba. The shaman dipped in liquid licorice. The leather Adonis … And no underwear … Did he look good? Oh, my, yes! He looked great. He was going to pierce the heart of the collective … audience with black arrows of Eros: Dionysus was about to become manifest on the television screens of America. We were ready to rock, and the satyr was drooling."

—R. Manzarek on Morrison, "yet summing up our feelings toward you."

Love and eros,

Amy & Scott

[All from a Stevenses birthday card for Nathan several years ago]