Scattered Thoughts . . .

I started off the day hoping to get enough accomplished today to check a few things off my absurdly long to-do list.  First, I did some spraying painting...  that went well.  Then I pulled out a can of white paint, a stirrer, a screwdriver and a ladder so I could put a second coat of paint on a few windows I started a couple of weeks ago.  That didn't go so well. I couldn't seem to hold onto anything.  I dropped the paint can lid into leaves and pine needles so I then had to stop to clean it up.  Then I dropped the screwdriver into the paint covering me and the screwdriver in paint.  Then I dropped the brush to the ground into the pine needles and leaves.  At that point, I was just finishing up a sloppy second coat of paint and decided to call it a day.   It is a bit of a hazy, partly cloudy day but I decided to try out my newly built telescope pier anyway.  Crystal clear skies would have been far better but the last time I saw crystal clear skies here is one night late l

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I am feeling so lousy.  The past few days have been generally lousy as far as my health goes.  I still managed to get a few little things accomplished over the past few days.   What I accomplished should have been accomplished in a few hours but it required a few days for me to get this done considering how I was (am) feeling.  Anyway, the telescope pier project is now a success! Here is a photo of the telescope pier doing its thing around lunchtime today... This morning, I assembled the mount leveling adapter which is the white metal part on top of the wooden pier...   And, a closer look at this newest part... In this photo, you can clearly see the polar alignment pin.  This turned out to be an easy part to create contrary to what I expected.  I did, however, need to file down one side of the top of this pin in order to make it fit into my telescope mount.  The four bolts around the outside of this adapter make it v

Yesterday, we had a little birthday party for Nan in the sweltering heat and humidity.   After Sheila and I spent the morning preparing for this little birthday gathering, I set up air conditioning throughout the house so we could take breaks from the heat inside the more comfortable house.  That worked out well especially when a few passing thundershowers passed through the area during dinner. We started the day with a much-needed haircut for Lukey.  Here is Lukey before the haircut...   Sheila managed to capture a few good photos of the haircut... And, here is Lukey after his haircut...   And, a before and after comparison in one image... While I cut Lukey's hair, Kenzie was keeping cool by playing with the cold water from the hose... Lukey had no desire to shower after his haircut but he was covered in long cut hair so he opted for getting sprayed with the hose... The water from the hose was a bit colder than Lukey liked so he did a little w