Scattered Thoughts . . .

I'm finally beginning to feel "halfway" decent lately which is a tremendous change in my health since September of last year so I'm now trying to catch up on little (and big) projects that need to be accomplished around the house.  I've done some raking outside on a rare sunny day...  I've replaced a leaky bathroom faucet...  I've replaced our locksets and deadbolts...  I installed all the window screens around the house...  I've rebuilt and restored an older computer to use for astronomy...  I installed a new focuser on a fairly large telescope...  I've tuned up and adjusted my largest telescope mount...  then, yesterday morning, when I saw that we had a sunny day with some decent visibility, I had to pull out my newest telescope to view the sun! Decent visibility is a rarity these days and it significantly impacts viewing the sky, day or night, with a telescope.  This is why NASA prefers to launch their telescopes into space to view from there

Kit eyepiece, far left, with three upgrades to the right. I feel as though I'm always trying to persuade newcomers to astronomy about the importance of purchasing something better than the kit telescope eyepieces that come with most new telescopes.  My advice, however, usually seems to fall on deaf ears until, that is, the new telescope owner eventually gets to peer through a better eyepiece with their own eyes.  Then they are flabbergasted with mixed emotion, saying, "Wow...  I can't believe the difference!" as they smack their forehead with the palm of their hand instantly realizing all the time they wasted while dragging their feet about purchasing new, better eyepieces. You see, these eyepieces that come packaged with new telescopes, generally speaking, are tiny, difficult to see through and less-than-sharp junk that border on useless.  I recently realized that if I write about this and show some photos,  at least   these people would be able to see the

This past weekend, Sheila and I finally got out of the house and managed to do some much-needed shopping.  This was the first time we were out and about since before our cross-country trip well over a month ago.  What held us back, mostly, has been my health...  between the flu and the associated impact on my primary health problems, I was stuck at home and mostly slept so that kept us at home.  Needless to say, we were in fairly desperate need of some grocery shopping as well as personal hygiene items so those two things were our priority.  I have to say that it was nice to be out of the house though!  Sheila and I went to lunch too and had a much-needed tasty lunch.   Sheila wanted to run through a car wash since it was nice out for a change so we did that and then headed back toward some shopping in Williston.  As we were passing Ashley Furniture, I quickly told Sheila to "pull in here".  As she was pulling into the shopping center, I mentioned that perhaps we should d

When I got out of bed yesterday morning, the sun was shining brightly!  I can't remember the last time we've seen the sun...  maybe someplace out west last month during our train trip? So, after taking a bunch of medications that I need to take every morning, I started collecting solar astronomy gear to bring out to the deck.  The days and nights that are suitable for astronomy in our neck of the woods are severely limited so I need to take advantage of every available moment if my health allows.  Fortunately, yesterday morning I was feeling well enough to do an hour or two of solar astronomy.  At the very least, I knew that a short burst of adrenaline would carry my flu-ridden body for an hour or two! I had planned to set up the telescope on the deck so I could stay out of the snow and mud but, unfortunately, the sun is still too low in the sky way up here in the north.  When I stepped up on the deck by the time I started moving gear outdoors, the sun was behind the trees.

I'm still struggling to shake free from the flu.  I've been sick since just before we arrived back home from our cross country rail journey.   I still have a cough but not nearly as bad as it was in that first week. My biggest complaint, however, is dealing with the overwhelming fatigue and overall aches and pains.  Then, add in the usual fatigue, bone pain and joint pain from my primary illness and the past few weeks have been brutal.  An hour after getting out of bed in the morning, I need to lay down again.  At that point each day, I hardly have the energy to stand or hold my head up.   We'll see how long this lasts...  I'm tired of it though...

I think I am feeling well enough to get a few blog posts published so I'll give it a shot.  My health is still rather poor and I'm still in recovery mode from a bout with the flu but I'm thinking more clearly than I have since returning home so I should be able to get a few blog entries published today.   The first group of photos that I needed to and wanted to get done were the photos from Adam and Joi's surprise engagement so that is what I tackled first. I was one of the few who knew that Adam was going to propose to Joi but, since we were traveling across the entire United States, I was very light on photography gear.  I would have preferred to have a few flashes, some umbrellas, and perhaps even a more appropriate portrait lens or two.  Everything had to fit in one small shoulder bag though so I had to sacrifice the lighting and heavier lenses for convenience and staying as lightweight as possible.   Since I knew the proposal was coming, I was constantly on t

On our way back home from California, apparently, I picked up the flu. I rarely test positive for anything but I somehow managed to test positive for the flu this time around.  Usually, test results are inconclusive whenever I'm tested and we need to come to some sort of clinical diagnosis instead.  This time around, however, I tested positive for Influenza A.  It was almost too easy! The doctor immediately started me on an anti-viral medication and I noticed a positive difference within a day.  That was good news!  I took the five days of required medication and improved each day but, the moment I finished the course of drugs, I immediately started getting worse again.  This is not so good.   So, now we've been back home for a little more than a week and a half and I am still quite sick with the flu.  I'm coughing, having difficulty breathing, not much of an appetite, sleeping a lot, and I'm generally feeling pretty lousy.   Of course, my primary illness would ty