What have you been up to lately?

[Ylem]

Well, you know you're an astronomer when...

Wifey and I went to an outdoor concert and tells me to put two folding canvas chairs in the car.

At the event I pull the first chair from its duffel bag, then I pull a Parrogon tripod from the other lol

Guess who spent the evening sitting on the grass?

[StarBru]

Saw one of my 'Ologists today. I am now 30 months cancer free.

That's great news!

[pakarinen]

Popped out for a look at triple star Beta Mon this morning with my 72ED. Back to the office 3 days a week starting today as they have pronounced me clear of COVID. I'm still dragging, but getting a little more energy day by day.

[Star Dad]

Sorry I haven't been active lately. The night of the 3rd of Sept was my last good night. But it sucked anyway. Let me explain. It had been about 6 weeks since my last AP session. And of course I forgot to set the gain on the images. So out of 8 of images I managed to get only 2 because the flats/darks/lights didn't match even closely in gain. Didn't realize it until the last 5 minutes of imaging. ARRRRGH!

Well, the next day serious rumblings started in my mid section and by Saturday evening I was in full diarrhea mode. Flushing every hour all day and all night. Tuesday morning I went to the urgent care facility and was told unless I was bleeding or things didn't improve in 5 days to just suck it up. Trips to the bathroom slowed down to once every 2-3 hours by the next Saturday morning. By 5 AM I gave up and had wifey drive me to the Emergency Room. I was totally dehydrated and exhausted. Fortunately, it was a light morning for the ER until all the drunks started showing up. I was put on IV fluids - how many bags I dunno as I lost count. Doc asks - when was the last time you peed? I had to think hard about that - 36 hours? and then only a dribble. OK, we need a sample of what's coming out to see what's going on. Sunday Morning I am told I have some sort of flagellated bacteria. Was I around a farm? no. Pets- no. friends with pets? no. Well what you got is transmitted from domesticated animals to humans. The only thing I ate that wifey didn't was a store bought turkey wrap. The docs all scowled at that as improbable. I dunno. I've been home a week now and am slowly recovering. I lost 16 pounds in 5 days and have regained 6 of those. I'm hoping to keep it there. So forgive me if I haven't been active. Lesson learned - if I ever get this again I am not waiting 5 days. My kidneys (usually at toxic level <1) were at 10... and were in the process of shutting down. No fluids were going through them. I got really lucky in hindsight, but I should not have listened to the urgent care advice. Take this advice as a warning in case you get this - COVID ain't the only killer lurking.

[Lady Fraktor]

Hopefully you are back to normal very soon!

[Gordon]

It sounds like you are on the 'mend'. Take care of yourself!

[StarBru]

Celebrated my wife's birthday all weekend starting Friday with relatives and friends! On Friday we drove to the Tucson Catalina Mountain foothills to Vivace Italian restaurant and had a wonderful dinner on the patio with our two best friends.

On Saturday we drove to Scottsdale, AZ and celebrated with family, and on Sunday we drove to Mesa, AZ and celebrated again with family. My wife's older brother flew in from California and his daughter flew in from Alaska. We were pleasantly surprised to say the least! Our niece brought some fresh Alaskan Halibut that she caught herself and the meal was fantastic!

I tried to observe the comet in the western sky after sunset, but got clouded out again!

[GCoyote]

Sorry I haven't been active lately. ... Take this advice as a warning in case you get this - COVID ain't the only killer lurking.

Wow. When in doubt, get a second opinion.

Glad you are feeling better!

[StarBru]

Pakarinen,
Good to hear you're doing better after Covid!
Take care.

[StarBru]

Star Dad,
I'm thankful you caught it in time and didn't just try to weather through it! Take care.

[Star Dad]

Quicky update - I saw my usual doc this morning. I'm now patient #4 in the area that has had this bug. So far, no correlation has been found - but something exceedingly strange is going on as this is highly unusual. Got to go get some blood work done to verify all has progressed well... I certainly feel well. Tonight I am planning an all nighter with NGC6992 and 896 being my two targets. AND it's a new moon. How rare it is to have a clear night and a new moon. Woo Hoo! Now if I can only remember all the settings and take my darks/flats, etc.

[GCoyote]

Good Luck!

[SkyHiker]

The rheumatoid arthritis in my wrists is almost gone now. It makes everything so much easier. I don't know if the diet change that my doctor advised in June has anything to do with it, but it's the only treatment I had. Since that appointment I lost 25 lbs as of 3 weeks ago, and more since then. I am currently eating next to nothing in the daytime, that may help too, and I hike up a mountain every 3 or 2 days.

The anti inflammatory diet is interesting to figure out. Basically, eat whole foods, dump all the processed stuff. No alcohol, sugar, white flour based foods, chocolate chips, etecetera. Eat lots of veggies and fruit. If you want something sweet, eat a date instead of chocolate. When I must eat a snack, I try raw saurkraut, kim chi, walnuts or smoked mackerel (omega 3s). It's quite doable.

If you hike a mountain at the end of a day of not eating, you are burning fat. I need that to climb Mt Whitney with my son in October. Weighing 35 lbs less (about 5 lbs to go) makes a big difference for a 6500 ft elevation day hike. I am pretty stoked about the improvement of my RA and the weight loss.

Other than that I've been dealing with an undisclosed typical old man ailment. At one point I ended up in the ER but it turned out to be nothing major. It will get fixed next month. Did I mention I needed a dental implant? The crown will be put in in November. If it's not one thing, it's another, comes with age!

Today I added a tensioner to my Newt using metal strings and turnbuckles to stiffen the tube but it did not make a difference. When I move the scope around, the laser dot still moves around the donut. It must be something else, I'll get go the bottom of it.

[Graeme1858]

The rheumatoid arthritis in my wrists is almost gone now. It makes everything so much easier. I don't know if the diet change that my doctor advised in June has anything to do with it, but it's the only treatment I had. Since that appointment I lost 25 lbs as of 3 weeks ago, and more since then. I am currently eating next to nothing in the daytime, that may help too, and I hike up a mountain every 3 or 2 days.

Well done Henk.

Graeme

[pakarinen]

Broken clouds this morning, but I took out my 72ED for some double star observing in Orion through sucker holes. Got about an hour and a half in before twilight, so I'm pleased.

And now I get to clean the grates on the gas grill. Went without a grill all summer and I didn't realize how much I missed cooking on one until I bought a new small one recently. Kabobs, baby! And I'm going to hit up the local meat market for a mess of Italian sausage soon.

[GCoyote]

Waiting out a tropical depression just like the rest of the US East Coast. No clear nights forecast for the next ten days so I'm spending Saturday cleaning things indoors that I've been putting off for "a rainy day".
(That did not go as planned.)

[Ylem]

First, glad to hear StarDad and Henk are feeling better.

I am also riding out that Mid-Atlantic tropical depression here, it caused some minor roof damage and water is dripping through the ceiling, mostly in the laundry room and attached garage.

It's always something, but it certainly could be worse

[Unitron48]

I'm in Atlanta, Georgia participating in a sports car event with my brother...NSXPO 2023. Had a refreshing drive through the mountains North of Atlanta yesterday. Lots of fun!

Dave

[helicon]

In a wedding today in California. I have to serve as toastmaster at the beginning the reception. My nephew (formerly of Tesla in Austin) has moved back to the Bay Area and is close to nailing down a position at a space start up.

[Ylem]

10 days of clouds and rain finally gone from that Mid-Atlantic storm, getting estimates for a new roof.

But it left us with gorgeous weather now maybe some Ha solar today