June 3, 2008

Ok, so if you have been reading this, you know my scope is in for repairs.

I called last night, and Meade says another week. (I'm good with that). I do miss it. There have been some great nights this past week, that I would have loved to have used it.

In the meantime, what have I been doing?

Mostly yard work. :( But when the sun goes down, I still manage to stare up at the sky.

I recently started watching for "Iridium Flares" (learn more here). These are actually pretty cool (ok, couldn't really think of the best adjective, but cool will work). In my area (Massachusetts), they seem to be pretty late in the evening. Roughly 10:30PM or so, but worth the wait. I'm sure if you have children who can stay up that late, they would find these very interesting.

Satellite watching has been another thing I've been doing. Just sitting/standing on the deck looking up and seeing how many I could see. The other night, I saw 2 cross paths. Almost thought they were going to run into each other, but knew that NASA and JPL (Jet Propulsion Labs.) must know what they are doing. Right? :)

Other than that.....haven't been doing much else, being "scopeless". :(

I did order a set from Meade Outlet. The Adventures Set I believe. Consists of a flashlight (like I don't have enough - but this has a clip on it so you can even clip it to your hat. I'm thinking of putting some red lens on it and that will work great for night observations with the scope), multi-tool (got a few of those), compass (actually have a few of those too, but this one s is pretty nice!), pedometer (my wife wants to use that, but I may use it while mowing the lawn, I need to see just how much walking I do doing that), and some binoculars. Now, I have a pair of binoculars, but they're small and not so great. Pretty good for hunting, but these are actually better, and great for hunting. I can see into my neighbor's house across the street! (Not that I would do that). And the whole set was just $17!!! See! You can still find great deals!

I have thought about upgrading this about Section to a "Full Blown" Blog, so maybe you can look for that in the future. I would like people to share their thoughts, ideas and interest in this fascinating hobby.

And, I know.............before you ask, I need to post some images. I'll get to it, just don't have all that many to post. But maybe if I did post some images, people would stick around longer on this site? :)

So........for now........Clears Skies All!!