Birthday Report

[bjarvis]

Yesterday was loaded with baggage all its own so I didn't get a chance to write about how I spent my 41st birthday last Wednesday.

cuyahogarvr made us a *huge* lasagna for dinner as only he could. And it was every bit as yummy as it was, well, heavy. We'll be eating leftover lasagna for days to come. He also created a tasty (and flourless) chocolate torte for dessert; it's very rich and must be consumed in small quantities. :-)

kent4str and cuyahogarvr even got me a few presents! Whee! One was a Zio-Tek padded laptop bag. It has no handles or shoulder straps: it's just a padded envelope into which a laptop may be protected while it is packed in a larger bag like my backpack. There was also a small collapsible laptop table with extendable legs; I'll be able to use this to raise the laptop a foot or so from the desk surface while calling square dances or such. We saw a similar platform/desk surface at caller school last year and thought it pretty neat.

The big surprise was this:

OMG! It's a beautiful but compact telescope... I can't wait for a clear night to test-drive it. For the truly lazy, it is capable of aiming itself at pre-programmed celestial targets. It'll be a hoot at the trailer this coming summer, esp. if the newly built amateur observatory behind our trailer lives up to its billing. cuyahogarvr spent far too much money on this, but bless his heart anyway!

Comments

[phornax.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm so totally jealous. Is that the 4" model?

no, telescopes aren't phallic at all

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

no, telescopes aren't phallic at all

well THAT one isn't, it's got a rather painful-looking right angle bend in the middle of the instrument.

as to jealousy: well, someone has a birthday coming up in four months and three days, why don't you drop hints? or maybe as a wedding present?

[phornax.livejournal.com]

I know what... I can post all my wish lists as links in my LJ Profile!

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

there ya go! better living through modern technology!

if amazon can have wishlists, shirley LJ can too!

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

It's the 2.4" (60mm) model. Plenty good enough for my very amateurish purposes!

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

All lovely and thoughtful gifts!

I really miss my laptop table if I forget it while on the road...it's a back-saver, not having to lean down to noodle with it while calling!

Maybe you and rfrench can compare astronomy notes soon!

[westwind-mv.livejournal.com]

Sweet scope! Reminds me a bit of the classic Questars...remember how Sky & Telescope used to feature Questar scopes always on the inside cover? Mmmmm....telescope porn....

[scruffmutt.livejournal.com]

WOW...what a great present!

My hubby (kenjallen) got me this...or a model very much like it..for Christmas last month. I've had one night so far when I was able to use it, that was clear and not TOO cold, and it was pretty amazing. I haven't played around with the computer yet, but I'm really anxious for the weather to warm a bit so I can spend more time with it.

Did yours come with a tripod? Mine didn't so I'd like to go out and get one.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

It does indeed have a tripod, and a backpack to store & carry the components.

cuyahogarvr originally purchased it for an xmas present but decided to hold off when we started talking about gift spending caps. I have no idea where he hid it for a month, but he managed it.

[jss]

He probably hid it behind the chicken stock.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Ooh, shiny object! A gorgeous thing -- I'd want one if I lived somewhere you could see the stars, and had time to use it...

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Well, there's the Sun...it's fairly visible around here.

Except this past month.

:-)

Lunar elipse

[snowboardjoe.livejournal.com]

This is prefect timing for the upcoming total lunar eclipse on 20 Feb!

Re: Lunar elipse

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Perfect! We'll probably be square dancing as the eclipse begins but should be able to catch it all as the moon moves back into sunlight. Presuming the skies are clear, anyway.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Wow, I had no idea you were interested in astronomy What kind of scope is it?

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I've been fascinated with astronomy in general, but my interest is more in the astrophysics and theoretical astronomy range rather than observational astronomy.

It's the Meade ETX-60AT-BB model, a achromatic refractor. It has an aperature of 2.4" (60mm), focal length of 350mm and resolving power of 1.9 arc seconds. The specs rate it good to a visual stellar magnitude of about 11.2. In short, it's a neat beginner package.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

OK, now I'm even more interested :-) I'm sure you've seen my notes about starting my MS in Astronomy in a few months. It's the astrophysics that I'm really looking forward to.

Sounds like a fun scope to start with. Pretty short focal length so it will be good for wide-angle views.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you like astronomical things. Even optical astronomy is interesting in a high-light-pollution area such as ours.

Go ahead: ask me what my favorite astronomical body to look at is. Curtis hates this but I never tire of this joke.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Go ahead: [...]

Uh, maybe not.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

Coward. :-(