Tag Archives: Nerding

Another Planet

In the end, it went by so quickly. We went outside just before 3:30pm as the moon started to move in front of the sun. By 4:30 the sun was almost hidden, the temperature had dropped a few degrees, the light was odd, the birds were quiet, the wind had died down.

Then gulp, the moon ate the sun, we took off our eclipse viewing glasses, and we were on another planet, a twilight planet where a ring glowed in the sky. I had anticipated our hens would head for their coop as it darkened, which is what they do every evening, needing to get up high on a roost as their eyesight is poor in dim light. Instead they kept pecking until it was too late, and they gathered together, confused, huddled next to a shrub. They heard their automatic chicken door shut, and knew something was up. It all happened so fast.

I was anticipating pitch black, but instead the horizon glowed, there was blue sky. It felt as almost like sunrise, except we were facing west. We could see a planet, maybe Jupiter, just below the sun. The sky that had been cloudlessly clear all afternoon had wispy clouds, but that just added to the magic. We had nearly three minutes of totality, but it felt like a second.

Then the light roared back in a whoosh, the strange shadows returning, our glasses back on to see the rest of the show. I stayed outside for another hour, watching the moon move away, the hens back to their scratch scratch pick pick dance. Then I had supper, the winds picked up, the birds started to fly around again, the sun shone brightly.

4:36:39 April 8, 2024

Preclipse

It’s cool, bright and sunny here this morning. Around 3:30 this afternoon, we will step outside our house and watch the moon eat the sun. We should experience 2 minutes and 47 seconds of totality here. I bought viewing glasses months ago, signed up to do some citizen science, and now just have to wait for this once-in-many-lifetimes event.

If what I heard on CBC is true and a total solar eclipse only happens in a specific location on average every 375 years, the last time a total solar eclipse occurred where we live would have been around 1650, and this land would be have been covered by an ancient forest: beautiful tall white pine, red oak, birch, maple, spruce. The red squirrels, chickadees, blue jays, crows and ravens we see here year-round would be flying and running around, perhaps joined by a now-extirpated species, the black bear. My ancestors were still all in the UK, 100 years from even thinking about heading west, so maybe a Mi’kmaq family were on the river fishing when early night came and went.

When bidden, Perplexity “curated” a playlist for the event, but left off some obvious (to my human brain anyway) choices: Moonlight Sonata, Claire de Lune, Here Comes The Sun. And, of course, You’re So Vain, with its line about some pompous fella taking his Learjet to Nova Scotia to see the 1972 solar eclipse. Did you know Carly Simon’s daughter, Sally, now lives in Halifax? The media has truly covered every angle under the sun.

We won’t be blasting music here, but will instead watch and listen to how the birds and animals around us respond. I’m going to let our little flock of hens run around the yard and watch them head back to the safety of their coop as it starts to get dark, then wait to see if they reemerge after their shortest night ever. I will report.

June 10, 2021 annular solar eclipse

For a total solar eclipse, Perplexity suggests:

  1. “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler
  2. “Blinded by the Light” by Bruce Springsteen
  3. “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
  4. “Solar Eclipse” by YoungBoy Never Broke Again
  5. “Moon at the Window” by Joni Mitchell
  6. “Blue Moon” by Billie Holiday
  7. “Starman” by David Bowie
  8. “Space is the Place” by Sun Ra
  9. “Eclipse” by Earl Sweatshirt
  10. “Moonlight” by Jay-Z and Kali Uchis
  11. “Seven” by Taylor Swift
  12. “Moonshadow” by Cat Stevens
  13. “The Moon and the Sky” by Sade
  14. “Eclipse” by JACE Carrillo and Alyko
  15. “La Noche de Anoche” by Bad Bunny and Rosalía
  16. “Eclipse” by LOONA’s Kim Lip
  17. “Eclipse” by GOT 7
  18. “Eclipse” by MAMAMOO’s Moonbyul
  19. “Eclipse” by Pink Floyd
  20. “Gravity” by John Mayer

Quick and dirty iPad holder

From about the age of 75 up to a couple of years ago when she was 98, my mother walked on a treadmill twice a day, every day, for 15 minutes each time. After breakfast and after lunch. Not fast, not trying to break any records, just walked at a good pace. She listened to Anne Murray and John Denver cassette tapes and hummed along.

She’s 101 and in remarkable health, so I try to follow her example and keep moving. I enjoy walking, especially in our woods, but the conditions around our house the past couple of weeks have been treacherous. Ice has completely covered our driveway and we wear grippers on the bottoms of our boots to go out.

So I’ve been forced onto the treadmill in our garage. It’s an old one, but still in good shape. I know if I can watch movies or videos I will be distracted from how boring the whole enterprise is and stay longer, but there isn’t a device holder on the treadmill console. I tried putting my iPad on an old music stand, but it was a bit tippy and awkward to reach. I considered buying a holder that would attach to the machine, or trying to build something myself, but just never bothered and listened to podcasts instead.

Then today I was putting a piece of paper in a plastic sheet protector and bingo, problem solved! Five minutes later I had hung a sheet protector from a piece of dowel and attached this to the treadmill console with two pieces of duct tape. It’s not pretty, but it works (which would also be the title of my DIY book, if I ever wrote one). The iPad covers most of the display, but I kind of prefer that as I’m not constantly watching the time tick by, and the iPad can be easily lifted if need be.

Added bonus I hadn’t anticipated: the touch features of the screen are usable through the sheet, which might also come in handy if keeping an iPad clean in the kitchen.

I might replace the tape with something like conduit clamps, attaching them by drilling carefully through the plastic console, but the tape seems good enough for now.

I now hope to walk and walk and walk to 100 while watching cat and DIY videos.

Gorilla-brand duct tape is kind of expensive, but it is super sticky and super strong.
Easy access to controls.
Easy to slip the iPad in, but doesn’t feel like it would fall out (something I don’t wish to test!).

Transatlantic Balloon Challenge

Deborah and Mike Scholes have been in Sussex, New Brunswick for weeks waiting for the right weather conditions to allow them to start their journey across the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. Today was the day, and they lifted off at about 9:45 am local time.

I checked their live tracking system and their initial path from Sussex had them heading to Moncton, then Shediac, and if they stayed on that course it looked as though they would be passing close to Tyne Valley, not far from where I live. Never one to miss the opportunity to stare at something going overhead and wave at it, I gathered my camera and zoom lens and got ready to head off just after lunch to find them.

When I checked the map one more time before I left, they had started to head slightly more to the east, which meant I had a bit further to drive than I had planned. I decided to go instead to Union Corner Provincial Park, and the tracking map later confirmed I had picked the right spot! I made good time, but arrived a few minutes too late to see them. It was also pretty cloudy.

I hopped in the car again and headed towards Summerside. As I zipped along Route 11 in St. Nicholas, I looked up and there they were, 12,896.3 feet above me, travelling at 23.5 mph!

View of balloon from Muddy Creek, PEI. I swear it’s there!
See it?
That’s an open gondola, folks.

I knew the Linkletter Community Centre about 10 minutes away would have a clear view from their parking lot, so I continued on there and was able to watch the balloon for a few minutes as it floated on toward Malpeque Bay.

And yes, I gave a little wave, which is completely silly, but the child in me needs to emerge every so often, and young me would definitely have waved to the brave adventurers floating toward the ocean.

Update July 21, 2023 – Due to technical issues, Deborah and Mike had to land their balloon this morning near Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. Must have been a huge disappointment for them, but I don’t doubt they will try again. And if you have seen the musical Come From Away, you know that you are guaranteed a warm welcome and safe harbour if you land in NL!

Rotary Un-Smartphone

Justine Haupt has started taking preorders for rotary cellphone kits and has released a video explaining the whole thing (it includes a great Contact Easter egg!). I don’t need a rotary cellphone, but love that this wildly intelligent and creative person has created it just because she wanted one. The combination of an ePaper display, rotary dial and real ringer bell is so steam-punk exciting!

One seafoam, please.

Bucket List

Hail to the 5-gallon bucket, the ubiquitous hold-all and do-all. Preppers seems to have a million uses for them, so look for them on the coat of arms of some future post-apocalyptic government. I am not a prepper, but I like to be prepared, and have many empty 5-gallon bucket, so I reserve the right to some day become a prepper. I’m ready!

I love using these buckets in the garden for weeding, but have always wished I could get the handle to stand up to make the bucket easier to grab and go. This week I cracked it. Bucket, meet bungee cord.

The handle stays up, so I won’t be grabbing the side of the bucket to move it when I’m on my hands and knees in a flower bed, which has always meant eventually breaking chips off the side of the bucket. And it’s easily reversible if I want to let the handle fold back down.

The bucket handles are mostly made of metal with a plastic piece that you hold. That plastic piece seems to break down long before the bucket does, and carrying a heavy bucket while only grabbing the thin metal bit is uncomfortable, so I take a piece of old water hose, cut off a suitable length, split it lengthways, and tape it over the handle. Ready for a few more years of puttering.

Electrical tape, because my father used electrical tape to mend everything, and I have many vintage rolls to get through.

Wave

When I hear a small plane or helicopter approaching our house, I run outside and give them a big wave. I’ve been doing this my entire life, but the little plane that flew over our house just now is the first one that clearly waggled its wings back at me. Never give up.

Off it goes.

PhotosRevive

I’ve been a Setapp subscriber for a few months now. MacPaw, the company behind the Setapp service, are a Ukrainian company, something I only learned since the Russian invasion on February 24. MacPaw took many steps to protect their services, and are now using their apps in innovative ways to communicate to their clients and make their voices heard, like this release note for an update that basically was, really, just this note:

A new app showed up on the Setapp service this week, PhotosRevive. It promises to colourise black and white photos using some AI hocus pocus. I popped some photos in to see what it could do, and the results were mixed, but interesting.

From left to right: my great-grandmother Eva Hardy, great-great grandmother Martha Sharp, grandfather Wilbur Hardy and my mother Vivian Phillips, probably taken in 1927. The older folks look pretty good, my little mother looks a bit ghostly.
My great-great aunt Florence Arbuckle, twin sister of Eva Hardy. She was married to a doctor and quite well off, so could afford beautiful beautiful clothing like the dress she wears in this photo.
My mother Vivian and her Uncle Elmer Hardy. The app handles foliage really well.
My mother in my parents’ general store in 1966. Pretty sure they didn’t just sell blue and yellow products! She’s holding a box of King Cole Tea, which has always had an orange and green theme. I think they won an award from the tea company, so this was a publicity photo.

You can tweak the PhotosRevive settings to make things look a bit better, but I’ve not had time to play with it yet. I like black and white photos, or am at least used to them, so probably wouldn’t have gone looking for this, but it’s a fun addition to the Setapp universe.