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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary Week of 18 August 2003 Latest Update: Sunday, 24 August 2003 19:49 |
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Monday, 18 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I have a busy week at work starting tomorrow. Since I can
only work a set number of hours a week I left early today to keep from
going over. I could always work shorter hours on Friday but I had a long
list of things to do at my computer this afternoon so I decided to leave
early today and come home to get some stuff done.
In addition to finishing up one last biography for my contract work I had a couple of small things to do for CBCR and rough out the newsletter for the Friends. I am also helping out with review coverage for the author promotion stuff and wanted to get those out. We had some of Frances' spaghetti for dinner with more than enough left over for another meal then I went to the gym for Body Pump class. When I got home Bob said Steve Childers called earlier with plans to set up his scope in his drive. It is supposed to be partly cloudy but Steve has been somewhat of an optimist all weekend with getting his scope out. Perhaps the third try will be the charm or whatever that cliché is. At any rate, we are heading over to his house in a little while. Perhaps it will clear off later and we can get a view of Mars. If so, it will be well worth staying up a little bit later than usual on a work night. As I mentioned I have a busy week at work. Tomorrow afternoon the firm will be holding their quarterly firm wide staff meeting for the W-S office. Wednesday and Thursday I will be in training for the new version of InterAction, the software package my team supports. I could go into work later those mornings since I am staying later but it is hard to get a parking place in the deck if you get in too late. If I go in regular time I can get those extra hours in for today and maybe even leave a little early on Friday, depending. [Top] |
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Tuesday, 19 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| We finally got a look at Mars last night. Although it is
still pretty low in the sky making the viewing mucking at least I got a
chance to see it. With Steve's new big scope we looked at a few other deep
sky objects. From his driveway with the conditions not all that great, we
saw some good objects, especially M13.
According to my viewing charts we have been able to observe three nights since our March 31 trip up to Fancy Gap. One night in May and two nights in June. It has been either cloudy or raining almost every night or weekend since. With me working full time now, if we did have a clean night during the week we could not have gone to Bullington this summer anyway. Once it starts getting dark earlier we can go up during the week and still get home at a reasonable hour for me to get to bed. We are supposed to go back up to Fancy Gap the end of the month, I hope we get at least one clear night out of the two. ___________________________________________ On the way home from work I made a quick grocery store stop for just a few things we needed. By the time we got the groceries unloaded and put away it was time to fix dinner. I heated up one of the pork tenderloins I cooked on the grill the other night and made one of the side dishes Frances gave us. After dinner I edged and mowed the lawn. It was not very hot but I was soaking wet by the time I finished from the humidity. Guess I better close up shop for the night and get in some reading before bedtime. Still working on the Carolyn Hart Christmas murder. It's pretty good. [Top] |
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Wednesday, 20 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| This has to be a quick post. We need to walk the dogs and
then leave for the library and our monthly FAS meeting. Not much else new
to report. My training went well today. One more day tomorrow.
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Thursday, 21 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
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We ate an early dinner of some of Frances' leftover spaghetti so I could go to the gym for my Spinning class. I have now spent almost two hours at my desk getting caught up on e-mails and doing other assorted tasks. It seems like there are just not enough hours in the day for me to get everything done I either need or want to do. Oh well. No rest for the wicked. Guess it is time to go out to the den for some reading and ball playing time with the Guys. Sorry for the short posts.
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Friday, 22 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Last night I finished the Carolyn Hart. I think I have one
Joan Hess left to be up to date on her series.
On the way home from work I stopped at the bank. While sitting in line at the drive through it thundered really loud followed by a very bright flash of lightning. I left the bank and went on to the library and pet store. It thundered a few more times but did not actually start raining until I got home. Since I couldn't take the dogs out for play time I went downstairs and did a bit of tidying up down there. I packed up all of Lenore's clothing for Goodwill and sorted out a couple of boxes of her personal stuff. The sofa bed needed to be put away and the furniture put back. After dinner I took the dogs out for some ball playing then we walked them just before another storm came up. If the weather had been good we had thought about going up to Bullington but the evening forecast is for off and on storms. Steve said he may just set up his big scope in his driveway but I told Bob I would just as soon stay home. I am pretty tired by the time Friday evening rolls around from being on the go most of the week. Hopefully we will have a clear night tomorrow night and can go up to Bullington and get some real observing time in for a change. Hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by.
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Saturday, 23 August 2003 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| It has been another typical Saturday, lots of things to be
done. I did sleep in until 7:30, read the paper, ate breakfast, and
tackled the house cleaning. Some rooms were getting a little cluttered and
messy. I organized the computer room and my office, vacuumed the up
stairs, the downstairs, and the stairs, dusted, and cleaned the bathrooms.
Things look at least a little better. I still have a stack of stuff
sitting on the floor by my chair that I will deal with tomorrow.
After lunch I planted the rhododendron FAS gave us and actually had to water the bushes and mums I planted lasted week. After my shower I sat at my desk playing around, checking e-mails, etc while resting and listening to some music. Although the Clear Sky Clock still indicates tonight will not be a good night for viewing the stars we are going up to Bullington anyway. Last night things did clear off about 9pm so we are hoping for a similar situation tonight. We can at least go up and be prepared if conditions improve enough to see at least Mars. [Top] |
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[Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Well, we should have gone with what the Clear Sky Clock
predicted. We got washed out, not rained out, washed out. As we were
driving up highway 52 it got darker as rain started splashing on the
windows. By the time we got to Bullington we were in the middle of a gully
washer. Steve and his son arrived around 9 pm. By that time the rain had
let up but the skies did not look like they would clear anytime soon.
About 9:20 we headed back to Winston and caught up with that same storm.
As we got about a mile from our exit on the highway it was raining so hard
I could hardly see to drive.
However, this morning dawned clear and cool. Dad and I played golf followed by lunch back at home. I then came home and mowed the lawn. After my shower I relaxed and read the paper. About 3:30 our neighbor, Mimi, called to see if we wanted to come down for a few minutes. We take care of their dogs when they are out of town and vice versa. Bob had not yet met the dogs in the house. They have an Aussie who does not take kindly to strangers in the house until he has met you. Just in case I am busy or out of town I wanted Bob to go down and see where the food was kept, water bowls, etc, and meet their dogs. I guess we spent about an hour down visiting them and their dogs. After dinner I finally got back to check e-mail and do other assorted tasks. I also got my office mostly cleaned up and some paperwork filed. Of course, the weather is to be near perfect tonight for observing, but it does not get dark early enough right now to make the trek to Bullington and back to get in bed at a decent hour for those of us who have to get up and go to work. Instead, I think we are going over to Steve's and do some Urban observing for a couple of hours.
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