So what is it with some Vox users anyway? They add huge numbers of members as "neighbors" apparently to somehow generate traffic to their blogs and maybe get reciprocal links. Go to their Vox blog and you'll find page after page of "neighbors" listed, not a modest selection of connected individuals. Two have made me a "neighbor" recently — folks I share nothing with in the way of personal, cultural, or business interests. What do they gain? Is there a Vox ranking from which these folks get some benefit? C'mon! So to kindred spirits who wish to share a bit of their life I say, won't you be my neighbor? (ala Fred Rogers). To those who are trying to get attention, well, you're just a neighborhood spammer and I wish you would "move out."
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The weekend was rainy, chilly, and dark –especially today– and suitable to housework, shopping, and staying at home to read. So we continued our work from last week: She pulled old merchandise boxes out from under the basement stairway where they had been stored. I removed the packing materials from the boxes, then flattened the boxes. Items from the now-closed storage locker went under the stairs. Today we took the cardboard boxes and packing foam to places where they can be recycled. The housework shows and the basement, which was a disaster zone following last weekend's clearing of the storage locker, is much better. There's still a way to go but we're making progress. We watched the animated film Ratatouille (just released on home video) Saturday night. It seemed only fitting to enjoy a little wine and cheese, instead of popcorn, whilst watching the film. It was great to see the movie again as it is a masterful production in every way.
Last night I finished reading The Edification of Sonya Crane, a book I spotted at the library. The thing that jumped out at me was the author's name in bold print on the cover: JD Guilford. I don't think we're related but that sort of thing really catches your eye. It's a gritty novel, aimed at the "Young Adult" reader, about a girl's search for self-identity — that's the central story line, anyway. It's a good first novel but deals with tough urban teen issues and uses language that may make some readers uncomfortable. There are also a few typos that escaped the publisher's proofreaders! All-in-all a good read and the first novel I've read in years. Captivating and enjoyable.
Our astronomy club lost one of it's finest people last week when, on November 5, Art Nanadal unexpectedly died in his sleep. He was known for his friendly and outgoing nature — something unfortunately missing amongst the majority of those who attend our club's gatherings. It's not that attendees are unfriendly, it's just that, for the most part, we don't walk up to newbies and warmly greet them; a serious failing in a social group and a personal weakness. Art did that and more. He was also an active volunteer with other organizations, not the least of which were Project Astro, and Special Olympics. There's an astronomy club meeting Monday night, a week after his death, and I'm sure his name will come up often.
It was a cloudy week but one night (Was it Wednesday?) I did get a peek at the stars through a break in the overcast; it was just enough to confirm that Comet 17P/Holmes was still glowing brilliantly in the constellation Perseus. It was easy to spot the obvious change in its relative position since the weekend. Haven't seen it since with the weather as it is. I've got an Observatory open night coming up next weekend and, if the weather is clear, we'll focus on the comet as much as anything else. It will be interesting to see if there's any difference in its telescopic appearance.
I had scheduled an Observatory open night for Friday, Nov. 2. The weather and observing forecasts agreed that Friday night would be, at the very least, a very good night to view Comet 17P/Holmes and that's just the way things turned out. Friday night, for a good couple of hours after sunset, boasted an outstandingly transparent sky. Because the local daily newspaper, The Record-Courier, was kind enough to run our event announcement and our photo of the comet, we had a very good turnout. In all 37 folks of all ages came to see this most unusual celestial visitor. The century-old telescope performed outstandingly keeping good track on the moving object. We could see at least one background star shining through the huge coma. The sky was so clear that I could make out the Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 884 & NGC 869) with my unaided eyes! A glorious sky, indeed. Visitors asked many questions about comets and the Observatory and seemed to have a very enjoyable evening. The event closed out at 10 PM and I shot a number of sky photos with and without the dome in the foreground — I need to process those images but they look very promising. With this entry is a medium telephoto shot of the triangle Comet Holmes formed with two of the southern Perseus stars. Got home rather late after a most enjoyable night under the stars.
Saturday brought lots of work… She Who Must Be Obeyed decided we needed to move everything out of our rental storage unit and bring it all home. Which we did. In one afternoon. It's amazing what you can pack into a Honda hatchback. Whew! We were both sore and tired after that one and the basement is full of s-t-u-f-f. But it's done. And we save a tidy sum every month that we don't pay for rental space. Sunday, thank goodness, was relaxed with a little shopping trip to a mall, food buying at Mustard Seed Market, and a quiet evening at home. Besides… it was chilly and overcast today!
Further tightening our belts, and for other reasons, we're looking at making a switch from DirecTV satellite television and EarthLink DSL data to the new AT&T U-Verse fiber optic combined service for TV and data. It has its advantages but I'm dreading trying to change my email address for all of those important things I've registered for using the EarthLink email address! Friends and family I can notify. Not so easy for businesses and agencies. {groan!}
My commute to work this morning was beautiful. The air was cold and crisp. There was widespread frost. And as I entered the small community of Columbia, west of Strongsville, Ohio, a beautiful scene was laid out before me. Fortunately there was a place for me to pull off the road and capture an image to share.
They're my first telescopic comet photos. Here's one that has been heavily "Photoshopped" but it basically shows what I saw… Comet 17P/Holmes moving with two or three background stars showing through its coma. At first the two bright stars were right in the middle of the cloud looking like they might be part of the comet. Alas, as I observed over two hours the bright specks appeared to move off center and away from where the nucleus lay. More later… it's late and I'm tired and I must go to work Monday morning!
A formerly very dim comet called Holmes (17P) flared up October 24th growing many magnitudes brighter. It's currently outside the orbit of Mars and in the southern portion of the constellation Perseus. Last night, following a day of clouds, mist, and rain, I stepped outside to a clearing sky. It took me only a second to find Holmes and view it through my 10X50 binoculars. It was a beautiful sight, though to the uninitiated, it's just a big fuzzball. That is, of course, how it looked… a large, brightly glowing puff with a bright dot in the center — how comets look "head-on" with any tail streaming behind and away from the viewer. The glow was slightly yellow or golden… quite an unusual object. Nobody's sure how long the flareup will last –heck, it was totally unexpected– but it's got the astronomical community all excited which, by itself, has been a lot of fun. For the record, Comet 17P was serendipitously discovered by Edwin Holmes back in 1892. He had been observing Jupiter and some double stars when he happened across "his" comet when aiming his 32-cm (12.6-inch) reflector towards the Andromeda Galaxy (or "nebula," back then) to finish up for the night. So his surprise then is a surprise and delight to us today.
I'll be going out to the observatory tonight to take a good look at this comet and try to get some images. We'll see if anyone else shows up there … I've notified the astronomy class and put a notice on our Web site. It should be fun, regardless. One sees only just so many comets in a lifetime and I want to make the most of this one!
Ah, yes! Fresh laundry and cats… a natural combination. I'd taken the sheets from the dryer and found one wasn't quite dry. Draping the sheet from a bedpost to a chair back to air dry formed a sort of tent in the bedroom. It wasn't long before Tasha saw a perfect little house and took up residence.
This was an interesting weekend! On Saturday we were mostly going to stay home during the day and do practical things. The day, however, was incredibly beautiful! Fall color here is reaching or has reached its peak, the sky was a beautiful blue with few clouds, and the wind (a strong one) was very comfortable in the 60s. The bottom line: we couldn't stay home. As an excuse to get out we went for a drive to a shopping area east of here. She looked at clothing, I looked at computer stuff. Then we went to the lovely city of Hudson which is one of my favorite places. Whilst exploring the small but wonderful Learned Owl Bookstore, I spied a beautiful block print graphic connected with a local fundraiser for breast cancer research and prevention — also funding free mammograms for those who can't afford them. We learned that the artist who created the image, Lori Biwer Stewart, had works for sale at the Hudson Fine Art & Framing Company so we strolled over there. Hudson's town square is beautiful, especially this time of year. I fell in love with Stewart's work — simple lino cut prints with poetic and "spiritual" depth to them. We actually gave in and purchased one framed image titled "Song." Then home for dinner.
Saturday night was a scheduled Observatory open house so immediately following dinner I headed out. Arriving in the dark I met two of my regular attendees: a woman and her 80+ year-old-mother. They drive up from a place about an hour away for every one of these sessions, even when it's the same objects for observation — in this case it was the Moon. The drive took less time tonight so they arrived early. By the time the event was over we had 19 visitors look through the century-old refractor; we might have had more visitors but there was a big Cleveland Indians baseball game on TV. Guests were treated to superbe views of the Moon, however, as the atmosphere was extremely clear and mostly steady. I don't think I've personally ever seen the Moon so clearly with my own eyes! I couldn't find the planet Neptune –very close to the Moon this night– in the orb's bright glare so I turned the telescope away from the Moon and targeted the Perseus Double Cluster: NGC 884 & 869. They filled the eyepiece with diamond-like lights delighting our guests more than I had expected. This night was also to be the peak of the Orionid meteor shower but I saw not one "shooting star." Best viewing was after Moonset but I wasn't about to stay up that late: She Who Must Be Obeyed had her heart set on a bicycle ride in the excellent weather predicted for Sunday.
Sunday morning we slept in ever so little, got ourselves slowly together, and headed out to Oberlin for a loop-ride out in the country. Fall colors were past peak out there and, anyway, the route didn't take us through woods, only through flat to rolling farm country. Very nice roads, for the most part, but a fierce southwesterly wind made the going tough on a long first leg of the ride. Very tough as in riding uphill for 10 miles tough. We made it, however, but could only muster about 12 MPH on most of that leg. The return trip, however, was another matter! Effortless riding at 17 MPH for most of the return portion of the ride over, again, smooth roads. We flew under gorgeous blue skies and on good roads with little traffic. Ahhhh. Back at Oberlin we enjoyed our late lunch at Quizno's (their new veggie sub is excellent) and then headed home. Oh yeah, it was only a 23-mile trip on the odometer but felt more like 35 miles, but then, so did the wind speed!
Lucky me! Tonight I've assigned myself to try again to move our network user files from one server to another … one with a lot more disk space available. So, saying goodnight to everyone at 9:00 PM, I retreated to the Server Room to begin my night's work. Last time I tried it was some months ago. I thought it worked but the permissions were wrong and, basically, it was all "Read Only." That's fine for security but not so good for usability. So, as I write this, the first part of the transfer is taking place. Once the backup and restore to the new location is complete I'll change the login script to point users to the new file location. Ideally the only things users should notice is there is more space available for all of their crap and their crap is served and saved faster than it was. Ideally.
I did succeed in installing updated software to our email server while I was waiting for the big file copy operation. I dearly hope the vendor fixed a problem we've been seeing where Web messaging just quits –the ASP service crashes in the background– because that means most of our users lose their email service until the server machine is restarted. The operation was a success; only time will tell whether it helped the patient!
Update — 11:12 PM The Backup took 1 hour, 30 minutes, 40 seconds and verification took 3 minutes, 34 seconds. I've started the restoration process that unpacks the files to their new location that (this time) has access permissions that match their original home. It will take about 40 minutes for this process to complete. Then I get to test the thing by logging on using several different accounts and checking my file access. That will be at about Midnight. {Yawn!} Thank goodness I'm able to maintain Internet access during this vigil. Helpful in getting support information and in staying mentally active!
Update — 12:42 AM (Thursday) By Geroge I think I've got it! Restoring the files to their new home took 41 minutes, 9 seconds. The files didn't unpack the way I thought they would so I had to create a new shared directory, move the files and directories into it, and check permissions. Sure enough, they were set to "Read-Only." This time I removed the read-only attribute on everything except some restricted access files –Windows knew what they were– changed my login script and gave it a go with a low-level user account. Yea! I was able to access files I should be able to access, make changes, save those changes, and not get into files I've no business getting into! Yes, it looks good.
Of course the real test is when all those real users get logged in. What will they experience? Opening of business in a few hours will tell. Hopefully I'll come in well rested and not find a bunch of panicked librarians gnashing their teeth and pulling their hair out! For now, however, I'm goin' home.
We just couldn't get organized! She wanted to go on a nice autumn bicycle ride but we got up late Sunday, it was cold, we couldn't figure out what to wear… there was a litany of reasons but we just didn't get ourselves together. We decided to do another walk. So we visited the Bridgeway Trail in the Black River Reservation of Lorain Metroparks. We weren't sorry. The broad paved path is 2.5 miles in length, according to the maps, and we walked out and back from Bur Oak Picnic Area with a couple of short side-trips for a total mileage of 4.9 miles, according to my GPS. The people we encountered were nearly all outgoing and friendly and it wasn't crowded. We got the best of the day… mild temperatures and filtered sunshine. All around us were woodlands, grasslands, and the clear waters of the Black River. Lots of opportunities for photography. We got the usual nature photos we so love to do –Sweetie is getting really good at that!– but there was also the big, decommissioned iron railroad trestle. I shot it digitially and in color but it seemed bland. Then I dropped out the color values using Photoshop and, recalling my long career in fine art black & white, got myself some images I liked! At any rate, it helps my ego … Sweetie is getting really good! A fine day, indeed, that found us walking again.
True to recent weather conditions, and our luck, tonight's astronomy class star party was canceled due to poor sky conditions. Our final "cloud date" is this Friday but weather for the week is predicted to be unfavorable. We'll see!
PhotonStopper 