For Real This Time

I saw the comet for reals this time.  Last night, I mean. 

I went out shortly before 7:00 PM, and waited until it showed up, even though I was getting et up by mosquitoes.  It was worth it.   Alas, I didn't get very good photos of it, though.  When I tried to zoom in, the camera wouldn't focus. 

And when I zoomed out, the comet got a bit lost in the light pollution. 

But at least I got to see it.  I might try to see it again tonight before it becomes too faint, but this'll probably be the last time I go out.  

In other news, the long awaited checks have finally arrived, and I can breathe a bit easier now. 

Look what else arrived in the mail today.  My friend Kristine has a shop on Etsy, Stormy Blue.  There is still some stuff in it, but mostly she does conventions and stuff.  Anyway, she was having a special where you could get a cute little pumpkin tray 

and three fall candles for the low, low price of only $50.  

She only had five available, and I was lucky enough to sneak in and grab one.  After my Luddite self figured out how to use Venmo, the payment was made and my parcel was on the way!  It arrived a lot quicker than I expected it to, and All Hallows Eve is now burning, filling my living room with lovely scent. 

And she found this adorable card to include in the package. 

On a similar note, they're predicting we'll get down into the low 40s tonight with the possibility of frost in some areas.  I don't think it'll frost this far South, but I went ahead and brought my more tender plants inside just in case -- my Whatever Cacti and such.  I left my garden mums and Venus Fly Trap outside.  They'll be OK even with a light frost.  Oh, and I had some flies get into my kitchen, so yesterday I brought Marty Mac in and left him on the kitchen windowsill.  My house is now fly free and my VFT is nice and fat.   

And finally, I finished watching Land of The Lost, and am kind of bummed.  It was only three seasons long, so it went way too quickly.  I also watched the first episode of NCIS: Origins, and the new Matlock with Kathy Bates.  I enjoyed both of them, and liked the Matlock a lot more than I thought I would.  Kathy Bates was her usual phenomenal self, and there was a surprising twist at the end, which I won't spoil for you.  

I reckon that's it for tonight.  

Laters.

I Saw it!!

I saw it!  But I didn't see it, but I did!  I saw the comet, sort of.  

I'd gone outside last night with my binoculars and looked and looked and looked, but I didn't see anything that looked even remotely comet - like.   On an impulse, I took one of those long exposure photos, and when I got back inside, look what I saw!  

 It's the comet!  I'd seen it, but hadn't realized it until I saw the tail in the photo.  I'd probably just thought it was another star.  But now that I know where it will be located, I'll go back out tonight and see if I can get a better photo. 

Either way, I'm stoked!  This is the first comet I've been able to see since Hale-Bopp came through back in 1996-1997.  

In less exciting news, my checks were supposed to get here today.  I was so looking forward to putting all of that mess behind me and moving on with my life, when along about 8:00 this morning I remembered -- it's a holiday.  No mail.  No checks...Sigh...

Maybe they'll get here tomorrow.  In the meantime, I went ahead and called the customer service number and paid that bill over the phone.  The customer service rep told me I could pay it online, and I replied that I never could get it to work.  It says I don't have any qualifying bills, or whatever.  She told me I have to click on this other thing, and not what I thought I was supposed to, so I'm going to try that next time it comes due. 

That was the last thing I had to get straightened out, and once it's taken care of, this whole six week long headache will be over and done with.  

Now I need to run grab a quick shower before the sun sets.  

Laters. 

Knitting Into The Void

I spent a good deal of time this morning knitting into the void.  If you're a knitter, you know exactly what I mean.  If you're not, let me see if I can explain it to you. 

The ribbing section of the hat I'm working on is supposed to be 4" wide, so when it looked like it was getting close to 3", I started checking it with my measuring tape.   The first time I checked, the ribbed section was 2.75" long, so I knit about three more rounds and checked again.  It measured 2.75" long.  

I knit four more rounds and checked...again, it measured 2.75".  I knit 47 rounds and finally, the ribbing made it to 3".  Two hundred and sixty eight rounds later, and the ribbing is finally the requisite 4" long.  

OK, I'm exaggerating, but that's what it seems like.  When you're knitting and knitting like that and your piece doesn't seem to be getting any longer, we call that knitting into the void because that's where it seems all your knitting is going.  Occasionally, the void will give all that knitting back at once, and you end up with something that is 2" too long.  Fortunately, that didn't happen to me.  This time...

Nevertheless, the ribbing is done, and now I have to knit 9" of stockinette stitch before I begin the decrease rounds.  This one will be a gift, but I doubt it'll be ready for this Christmas, so even if the recipient sees it, hopefully she'll have a memory like mine and will forget by next year. 

Speaking of Christmas, I watched the first of this year's cheesy movies while I was doing all of that knitting this morning, because I'd DVRed it to watch the game last night -- which I also had to finish this morning because I fell asleep with about 4 minutes left in regulation play.  The score was 20-16 Ole Miss, and I remember thinking that LSU wouldn't be able to come back and win...the next thing I knew, the commentator woke me up shouting, "TOUCHDOWN!  LSU WINS!"  In overtime, no less.  

I found out this morning that it was the second longest game in Tiger Stadium history at 4 hours and 16 minutes.  No wonder I fell asleep!

In other news, was anyone able to see the comet last night?  I walked out a couple of times to try to see it, but couldn't even with my binoculars.  I guess there were too many trees in the way.  It's supposed to be getting higher in the sky over the next few days, so I'll try again tonight.  I may take my phone out and do a long exposure and see if I can catch it that way.  That's how I got all those photos of the Northern Lights, which were barely visible to the naked eye. 

While I was out there, I had a little fun experimenting with long exposure shots of the stars.  

It turned out OK, but the moon was waxing gibbous, and it made the night sky just a little too bright.  If I remember, I'll try it during the next new moon.  Because I know what the phases of the moon are and don't think the government hid the moon...

In other news, look what we have coming up this week:  

 All this cooler weather inspired me to get my piano books out and start playing a bit of Christmas music.   And I splurged and had a sip of egg nog.  OK, more than a sip, and I'm sure I'll pay for it with high glucose tomorrow, but I figure as long as I don't over do it, it's OK to have a treat now and again. 

On a similar note, I've been taste testing all these keto/low carb desserts, and honestly, to me the best ones are the easiest:  a pack of sugar free pudding mix made with heavy whipping cream instead of milk.  Just beat it into a mousse like consistency and you're good to go.  Very simple, very easy. 

I still haven't tried any cake or cookie recipes, though.  I just can't seem to motivate myself to do so.  

Somebody needs to come whip my butt into shape.  

Thursday Miscellany

 1.  I'd planned on going out to the lake this evening and watching the moon rise over the water, but I didn't make it.  I was letting the cat out, and thought, "Hmmm, I wonder what time moon rise is..."  Then I glanced over and saw it peeking out from behind a tree.  Um, oops.  But I did get out and take a photo anyway.  

Then I took a picture of Jupiter and a few of its moons. 

2.  This is my friend Peggy. 

I took that picture when I went to Missouri in 2017 to watch the solar eclipse with Peggy and her husband Ed.  

By the way, if you ever get a chance to see a total eclipse, you need to take that chance.  There is one coming up in 2024.  Do whatever it takes to get yourself into the path of totality.  Not the path of 99%-ity.  The path of  To. Tal. It. y.  Trust me on this one.   

But this story isn't about that.

This morning Peggy told me a funny story.  See, she's recently had knee surgery and can't really put any weight on that leg, so she uses a wheelchair to get around her house.  It's just easier that way.   Last night, she was wheeling herself down the hall ...well, I'll just let her tell it: 

I was rolling down the hall in my wheelchair a little before 9 last night. Ed was sitting in the living room and said, "You made the house shake just now". I said, "Nope, must have been an earthquake".

Lo and behold, when we turned on the local news, their lead story was about the earthquake just before 9. I didn't feel it, since I was rolling in my wheelchair, but Ed did.

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Yep, there was an earthquake about 60 miles from where they live, and word is, you could feel it as far South as north Mississippi.  I asked Cody if he felt it, but he said no.  A lot of people up there were talking about it, but he didn't feel anything himself.  

Now, you may think this is an odd location for an earth quake, but it is right along the New Madrid Fault line -- which they say is even more volatile than the San Andreas fault. 

3.  Early Monday morning, I got to work and noticed that the guy who brazes our tap fittings wasn't there.  "Hmmm," I thought to myself.  "Roger"  -that's his name, Roger --"isn't here.  I guess I'll fill the flux pots."  Not that that's any big deal, but Roger usually does it.  I filled the flux pots and went on about my day.  Most of the day passed uneventfully, except for the line sending back an entire order that had been messed up by someone on a different shift.  

Along about 45 minutes before quitting time, Roger came around to pick up the scrap copper to take to the scrap dock for recycling.  That's another thing he takes care of.  I got my box of scrap and poured it into his box.  "There you go, Rog."  I said.  "All right," he said.      It's the same conversation we have every single day when he picks up the scrap.  No big deal.  He finished collecting the scrap and wheeled the buggy towards the scrap dock. 

About five minutes later, it hits me.  "Wait," I said, turning to my coworker, "When did Roger get here?"  

She looked as confused as I felt, and replied, "When did Roger get here?"  And we both dissolved into paroxysms of hysterical laughter.  I guess you had to be there. 

As it happens, Roger had jury duty that morning, and came to work shortly after 12:00.  I guess he didn't know they'd changed the company policy.  Back in the day, you had to report to work when they released you, now matter what time it was.  A few years ago, they changed the policy so that if they kept you past 4 hours into the normal shift, you didn't have to come in

4,  One day, I'd like to have a really nice telescope, strong enough to see the rings of Saturn and the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.  Oh, and one of those smart tripods where you just program in what you want to see, and it finds it for you.  But those are some high dollar telescopes, and I could never afford one. 

5.  I cast on a new hat last night, from a pattern I'd printed out several weeks ago and had forgotten about.  I don't have a picture, because two rounds in, I found a pretty serious mistake and had to rip it all out.  As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to cast it on again.  Maybe by tomorrow, you'll have a picture.  

6.  I finished my first Michael Aaron piano book this week.  I'm still practicing up those last few songs, but I'm at the end of the book.  I want to spend the next month just playing Christmas songs for fun, but if you're going to get a Christmas concert this year, I'll need to get serious about learning at least a few of them.  

7.  My computer mouse is messing up.  I think I've dropped it a few too many times. 

8.  That's about it for tonight.  Have a great Thursday, everyone. 

Change Of Plans

After giving it a bit of thought, I went back and got that pink tool bag for Cody's girlfriend after all. 

The plan was to take all the tools out of the bag and put the ones I'd bough into it, but again, after thinking it over, I decided not to do that, either.  I'll just put them all into a big box and wrap it all up.  Now, I really am done shopping, because I'm not going back to the store before Christmas if I can possibly help it. 

One day last week, I forgot to tell you, I found out one of my coworkers had a stroke.  Someone found him unconscious in his house last Sunday, and they had to airlift him to Jackson.  My first thought was, "I hope they had a bed available for him."  I haven't heard how he's doing, but I'll be sure and let you know if I do.  For now, I'm still going with the no news is good news philosophy. 

That's one thing state health officer Dr. Dobbs has been emphasizing throughout this whole pandemic.  He says it's not just about COVID patients filling up the hospitals.   He says if you have a heart attack or a stroke, they want to be able to provide quality care to you, too.  I know over the last few months, they've had to send patients as far away as Georgia and Florida to find available ICU beds.  

I found out another friend -- this one a church friend-- who has tested positive.  I'm not sure of all the details, but they had to rush her to the ER sometime yesterday.  She's doing better now, though.  

Also, MEMA director Michel was admitted to the hospital with COVID pneumonia.  We've had a rough year, here in MS.  From devastating flooding, to killer tornadoes, to hurricane after hurricane after hurricane...and all in the midst of a global pandemic.  Through all this, Director Michel has held the line, and has become one of my real life heroes.  Please, if you feel led, to lift him up in prayer. 

More bad news, Rylea has started chugging water like it's going out of style -- which leads to her peeing like it's going out of style as well.  I first noticed it Friday, and it's only gotten worse since then.  I ran to the store today, and wasn't gone but maybe an hour and a half, and she had an accident in the house -- after I'd let her out right before I left.  I've decided a trip to the vet is in order.  Of course, the biggest concern is her age.  She's almost 14, and every little thing that happens, I think it might be her time.  I'm not quite ready -- but then are you ever ready to make that call?  We'll just wait and see what the vet says. 

In more pleasant news, tonight was the Great Conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter, and wonder of wonders, it was clear and I got to see it!  I took lots of photos, but this is probably the best one.

I took this one through my telescope, but with the naked eye, they did look like they were right on top of one another.  If you look closely, you can see three of  Jupiter's moons.  

While I was waiting for the planets to become visible, I took a few moon shots as well.

I'm really enjoying that telescope, but the tripod sure leaves a lot to be desired.  What I really want is one you can program in what you want to see, and the smart tripod will find it for you.  That would be so cool, but they are definitely high dollar. 

And finally, in knitting news, I've been working on this scarf off and on for a few weeks.  

It was at this point I realized, even as narrow as this scarf is, I wouldn't have enough to make it a decent length.  Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I got online and ordered three more balls.  They're supposed to arrive Wednesday, then I'll decide if I still want to make a scarf, or maybe a stole or throw.  

I guess that's about it for tonight.  There was something else I was going to tell you, but right now, I can't remember what it was.  Maybe I'll think of it and put it into tomorrow's blog.

But for now, I'll bid you adieu.