Weekend!

33 thoughts on “Weekend!”

1. I’ve got a bunch of gradient filters for my camera. I’m going to stack a few of the darkest together and point it at the sun, then record video.Report

   1. Apple says that you can use an iPhone without a filter and not hurt the sensor.Report

      1. That would require me to have an iPhone, which is against my religion.

         I have some pretty good neutral density filters. I’ll try them out this weekend & see if it will work. I’ll probably avoid taking video and just run the shutter on a timer.Report

2. You see, this is why I’m pissed at this whole “only happens once in 99 years” BS.

   I was in Fricking Washington State when the total eclipse happened in 1978. You have to actually look past the BS advertising to realize this once in a hundred years thing is just about the path of totality being completely in the US. The one in 78 started in Washington and went into Canada. The damn science channel or discovery channel has been flogging this BS for the last month.

   But hey, enjoy the show! I got coworkers who are going.Report

   1. My campus opens for the fall today. I have already had multiple e-mails from students telling me they won’t be here today (or tomorrow: travel time) because they have gone to the path of totality. (We get about 82.5% here, which is good enough for me. I can’t stand crowds and I’m too cheap to spring for a $300 Motel 6 room)

      I am slightly annoyed. Maybe, maybe my campus could have planned for this and decided to open the semester on a Wednesday (like they used to)?

      I’m just hoping they don’t expect attendance data from us for today.

      I have a cardboard frame with a piece of tinfoil and a hole punched in it. If it works, I might go out and project part of the eclipse on a cardboard and look at it like I looked at the partial one in ’79 when I was a schoolkid.

      (I am wondering how many reports we’ll hear of damaged eyes despite the constant drumbeat of DON’T LOOK DIRECTLY AT IT WITHOUT APPROVED GLASSES. It might prove something instructive about our populace)Report

      1. If I was the instructor, I’d give a quiz and fail everyone who wasn’t there. But I’m an evil bastard.Report

      2. (I am wondering how many reports we’ll hear of damaged eyes despite the constant drumbeat of DON’T LOOK DIRECTLY AT IT WITHOUT APPROVED GLASSES. It might prove something instructive about our populace)

         I wonder how many people will have heard the drum beat a bit too well and will put on their glasses while walking, biking, or driving.Report

3. Patience. Colorado Springs is almost dead center on Aug 12, 2045. Why do these happen during monsoon season, instead of the parts of the year when a clear sky is almost guaranteed?Report

   1. Apparently we will get totality in another 7 years (2024) here. That’s kind of cool because I’m actually pretty likely to still be alive for that one.

      the bad news is it’s in April, which is more than likely to be cloudy/rainy for us.Report

4. I’m trying to figure out if my dad’s old welding goggles are Shade 12 or higher. Because the dang eclipse glasses are completely sold out everywhere. So we’ll probably just stand at the office window on Monday and gawk at how dark it is.Report

5. I think we’ll get something like an 80% eclipse here. Mr. T mail ordered some eclipse glasses from somewhere, so I’ll go outside around lunchtime and stare at the sun. There’s a good chance the sun will also look quite red, with all the forest fire smoke right now.

   The kiddo is at the tail end of a trip in the mountains with my parents – we’re going down to Banff for the weekend to go on some walks and soak in some hot springs with them, then take kiddo home on Sunday afternoon.Report

6. Path of Exile 3.0. The game hates me and I often return the favor; but I’ve been playing it (poorly) since launch.Report

7. I’ll be at home in the Springs, enjoying 90 percent of a solar eclipse in the time between medical appointments.

   It’s very good having our houseguest here but I admit to looking forward to an overnight with just me and the cats while the boys are off chasing the eclipse. Need a battery recharge.Report

8. Dear husband aka Idiot Photographer, found us a camp site on the grounds of an 1800s farmhouse in Nebraska that is basically on the centerline of the path of totality. $35 bucks a night and they are serving 3 square if you donate to the kitty. (Fundraiser to restore the house)

   We got eclipse glasses weeks ago and of course he got a solar filter for the camera.

   So work for me all day today home to pack car. Then level at ungodly hour to drive 7 houses to the farmReport

9. I will be working at my kitchen table, waiting for it to go full dark at 10:35ish, when I will look out my window and see the night at day.

   On a side note, po-po is making the rounds of the neighborhood, checking for people car-camping for the ApocEclipse. I am down the hill form the hospital and heard multiple ambo sirens going once it hit dark. People are stocking up on gas (I haven’t sold my old truck yet just for this reason) and there hasn’t been a run on food that I have seen, but I haven’t been to the grocery store since Monday. Downtown is already packed with people, about half the folks I know are AirBnBing their house and all nonessential medical activities will be shut down Monday.Report

10. Granddaughter #1’s birthday on Sunday.

    Friend driving from Portland, OR to Princeton, NJ for a new gig is in town, so will see him on Monday.

    Been binge-reading the Alex Verus urban fantasy series. The author does an excellent cliffhanger at the end of each book. Unfortunately, I’ve reached the end of the series published so far, and the next one isn’t going to be out until July or so next year.Report

11. I thought NASA said it was a dragon eating the sun this time, not a jaguar. It changes every time, you know.

    I am literally a dozen miles south and west of totality, so I’m just hopping in my car somewhere around noon Monday and driving north on back roads that Atlantans(1) hopefully will not be using (They probably will be going up roads to the east of me.), halfway to North Carolina, until I get to somewhere that looks like I can park.

    1) Or Atlanteans, Atlantis is coming back for this eclipse, right?Report

12. And now… to go to Fort Collins.

    See you all after the end of the world!Report

    1. Came south on I-25 between 4:00 and 5:00 this afternoon after granddaughter #1’s b-day party. Northbound between the E-470 interchange and Loveland alternated between dead stop and moving a a reasonable clip. Hope JB either beat all of that, or at least bailed early — local roads seemed to all be no busier than normal.Report

       1. They left around noon so probably beat it. Haven’t heard for sure though.Report

       2. I’ll have a full report next weekend but I’m pretty sure we beat what you’re talking about. We had to deal with something around rush hour kinda traffic but it was nowhere near stop and go parking lot kinda traffic.Report

13. WTH Navy?Report

    1. Once is an “accident”. Twice, one begins to suspect it’s not.Report

       1. Once is an “accident”. Twice, one begins to suspect it’s not.

          Especially since it’s an accident that really shouldn’t be happening that much at all.Report

          1. It’s at least 4 times this year, depending on how you count things (USS Antietam and USS Lake Champlain)Report

    2. Daily Beast

       A U.S. Navy official said Monday that the USS John S. McCain suffered a steering malfunction prior to its crash near Singapore on Sunday, CNN reports. The official said it was not yet clear why the warship’s backup steering systems weren’t utilized to regain control before it ran into a merchant vessel.

       They probably snapped the rope that runs around the wheel drum and then down under the wheelhouse and around several blocks to the tiller. It’s probably rot or wear, though they could have been chewed through by rats. If the rope snaps (or gets cut by a cannon ball), a bunch of seamen are supposed to grab the tiller and steer manually. Since that didn’t happen in time, perhaps because of how densely trafficked the strait is, the Navy will have to look into how long it normally takes to get the backup guys to the tiller.

       Or (conspiracy theory), maybe Northrop Grumman used cheap Chinese blocks and cordage instead of quality American gear with hand forged axles and white oak sheaves.Report

       1. I don’t know at what point DDGs stand up the sea & anchor detail for the transit through Malacca, but with that traffic and that relatively narrow navigation channel, it wouldn’t suprise me that they had (or should have had) someone already sitting at the back-up steering station.

          But one potential scenario is that the rudder goes hard over due to some malfunction in the hydraulic system, and it takes literally a minute or two to undo the hydraulic lock and shift steering control – but in that time, the McCain (probably going 15 kts or so to keep up with the pace of traffic) has significantly drifted across the traffic lane and bascially drove right in front of the tanker.

          (note this is all just an off the cuff hypothesis based on very limited and unconfirmed public information)Report

          1. So we have an engineering casualty (steering).

             I’m going to assume, given the scuttlebutt I have been hearing, that the McCain was only turning one shaft in order to save fuel (because the Navy has been getting strict about fuel budgets). This would explain why a rudder failure was a problem.

             DDGs are twin screw with variable pitch props (VPP), and rudder systems are designed to fail to zero (no angle). If the rudders we’re not jammed on something, the ship would lose rudder control, but would not be stuck on a rudder setting. However, if she was trailing a screw, the side forces and angle of thrust incidence would cause the ship to turn regardless.

             Normally this is not an issue, because of twin screws and VPP (the ship can adjust shaft rotation rate and prop blade angle of each screw to turn or keep the heading), but a trailing screw takes 2 minutes to come to power (60 seconds for an emergency turbine start, 60 seconds to come to power). If the tanker was being overtaken and the separation was tight, even a light turn could take it in the path of a tanker and there is no way a tanker can turn or stop to avoid a crazy Ivan.Report

14. I joined and then went to a gym, for the first time in 20 years. Two days later, I am deeply regretting this.

    I did some cardio, a machine circuit, some cardio. I did not feel I had pushed too hard. My arms, chest, and back beg to differ. My legs are pretty much “We carry your heavy butt around all the time, we didn’t notice the weight lifting. We thought you were taking a nap”. I go back tomorrow — aiming for every two or three days.

    Cardio is more of a mixed bag. On a bike, it takes me almost ten minutes to hit my target heart rate. Which means I can’t stay there long as my legs get tired. If I want to get there faster, I have to up the resistance even higher, which tires my legs out even faster.

    An elliptical, on the other hand — I set what I feel is a nice, comfortable pace and my heart shoots to my maximum heart rate and the machine shuts down for my own safety. I think it’s the lack of impact — I’m moving at what would be a good sprint speed on a treadmill, but I don’t feel like I’m sprinting. Next time I’m going to work at setting a more sedate pace. I’ve been reliably informed I should aim for 5 to 7 minutes on the elliptical for awhile — my body will adjust in time.

    But good god my triceps and biceps hurt. I didn’t feel anything at the time.Report

    1. Yes!

       And your ribs? Did your ribs hurt because you weren’t used to having spent time breathing like that?Report

       1. That sounds weirdly sarcastic. 🙂

          But no, mostly biceps and triceps. A bit on the shoulder and chest. Hopefully I’ll get to go tonight, I might be stuck at once a week for the next few months. Which beats zero times a week but…..Report

          1. Dude, the day after the first half mile I jogged, my sides from under my armpit to where my ribs stopped were *SCREAMING*.

             They don’t do that anymore… but I, apparently, worked out breathing muscles that had spent the previous decade cheerfully napping.Report

15. The sun did not come back.Report

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