I am a firm believer in Karma. I believe we each possess a depository where good Karma is stored and bad Karma takes away from your store of good Karma. I always try to keep a very healthy plus account in my Karma depository. Two nights ago I think it paid off.
As I was observing Jupiter through my CPC1100, I reached down to grab a higher power eyepiece from the tripod caddy and I heard a Kerthunk! and then I was waiting for the follow-on Kerthunks! but didn't hear them. I immediately stopped what I was doing because we all know how horrible that sound is. I looked around and I noticed that the diagonal in the business end of my scope which used to be right side up was now wrong side down and the eyepiece that used to be in that diagonal was no longer there. I looked around and saw that the eyepiece had landed on the central plastic pedestal where the fork arms connect on the CPC mount, a fall of about 8" (20cm). There it was, the eyepiece did not fall to the ground plus, it was not damaged. Additionally, I have gotten lazy in my old age and partly exacerbated by the fact that I get so few nights to observe that I take short cuts, so I no longer put down a 6' (2M) square piece of carpet to protect anything that gravity may grab ahold of. So that
Note to self: tighten all screws tightly before turning your back on your gear! For those new to this hobby, I've been using telescopes for 55 years and I'm having to remind myself to tighten screws -- ooof!
Thank you good karma,
JT