I can only imagine the utter relief and joy the miners and their families - and their rescuers - must be feeling, and am just thrilled for all of them.

I guess if you're a miner, you're not dealing with feelings of claustrophobia, but as someone whose tolerance for confinement is limited - I think it's a control thing, actually, where I don't like it when I'm not the one who determines when a particular situation ends - I have barely been able to think about the whole thing - even shuddered at the idea of being placed in that tiny capsule and spending 15 or more minutes making my way to the surface - ugh.  Pretty sure though, that if the choice were between the capsule-to-the-surface or the mile-below-the-surface mine, I'd have figured out a way to tolerate the former to escape that latter!

WASHINGTON--A global audience watched captivated on Wednesday as the first of 33 miners trapped for a record 68 days deep underground emerged into the cold night air of Chile's Atacama desert.

People logged on and tuned in to read, watch and listen as Florencio Avalos was successfully extracted from the depths of the San Jose mine at 0310 GMT (11:10 am Manila time), followed by co-worker Mario Sepulveda exactly one hour later.
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Wellwishers from every corner of the globe, ranging in status from fellow miners to heads of state, have turned their attention on the remote site. link

Oops! Trapped miner's wife & gal pal meet
By TIM PERONE

One of the trapped Chilean miners is in no rush to be rescued -- because both his wife and his longtime mistress will be waiting for him when he finally sees the light of day.

Neither woman was aware of the other's existence until they met at a candlelight vigil for the miners, The Sun newspaper of Britain reported.

Yonni Barrios' wife, Marta Salinas, was shocked to hear another woman shouting her husband's name at the gathering held to support the 33 men who are trapped 2,300 feet underground, the paper said.

They compared notes and figured out that they both had been shafted.

Despite feeling "horrified" about her husband's cheating ways, Salinas, 56, has told friends she still plans to welcome Barrios, 50, back with open arms once he's freed, the paper said.

"Barrios is my husband. He loves me and I am his devoted wife," she said.

But she's not the only one who feels that way.

Susana Valenzuela, who's been his mistress for five years, insists she'll always be his soul mate.

"We are in love. I'll wait for him," she told The Sun.

Salinas clawed back at her rival, refusing to address Valenzuela by name.

"This woman has no legitimacy," she hissed.