You forget - I was an astronomy nerd once, too. 10" Coulter Optical with Telrad, a couple plossls and a handful of planetary filters. Sketchbook full of Messier objects, the whole nine yards. Then I moved to Puget Sound and suddenly there were five (5) Plieades.
I'm guessing you need 170FPS because of the stacking? Now explain to me the differences between your twitchy little security camera and Monsters of the Deep like this. I mean yeah. The sensor is eight times as big. The resolution is half, though. And holy fuck you can now buy adaptive optics for under a grand.
Somewhere I've got a picture of me next to a 25" Obsession. Once I started living near the ocean, though, that became a serious waste of money even to dream about.
I pointed this place out to my wife once. She said "eh."
Yeah unfortunately the Seattle guys go south an hour of me before they go east an hour from me thereby making it impractical... and their normal viewing conditions are shit. I mean, at least I was hauling my shit out to Gold Bar. Meanwhile, closer at hand...
- Upcoming Star Parties
Date:
(weather permitting) Location of Star Party
tbd - March? Star party at Ron Tam's (when clear weather returns)
Hey ho let's go!
The Hubski Pubski roly-polies are getting rather quiet of late. They are funny creatures; I always feel like I have more to say than I actually do. Or that I have nothing to say at all, which is worse.
Things have been quiet for me too. I finished the Ten Peaks barefoot thing at the end of June; we raised about €4500 for Pieta House, which I'm rather chuffed with, though we haven't done a full total announcement yet because little bits keep rolling in. And the friend who drove me around is busy so we haven't had a chance to grab one of those big novelty cheques for a photo.
I should do a trip report on that soon. For now, a mini trip report: I finally went on a two-day hike through the Nephins that I've been meaning to do for nearly two years. They're a mountain range in northwest Mayo, which you can actually see from my town, so talk about being in my backyard. And yet I never made it out there, despite often gazing across at them from Croagh Patrick and saying to myself that I'd soon explore those mysterious blue hills. Because I don't drive, my plan was to get the train to Westport, walk the Greenway north to Newport and then walk the Bangor trail, which leads through the eastern portion of the mountains to Bangor Erris, a small town in the backarse of nowhere. Then I'd have to make my way to Ballina somehow to get the train back, either walking or hitchhiking. Either way it'd be a two or three day little jaunt. And yet last year I never got around to it, until it was too late in the year to be feasible (or at least reasonably enjoyable) - so last weekend I decided rather on the spur of the moment that I'd just go ahead and do it, before my dad went to the Philippines and left me minding his store for the month.
It's important to note that Ireland is very small, so you might laugh at what we call mountains - there are only a handful in the country over 1,000 metres - or what we'd describe as "remote". There are few places here from which a cottage or a farm can't be seen. But man, that place is remote. Probably the loneliest place I have ever been.
The first day went smoothly. The Greenway is quite pleasant, though the section I walked ran along a road for most of the way, interfering slightly with the whole "countryside" groove. Lots of cyclists - dudes in lycra, families out for the day, beardy fellas with bags hanging off their bikes. I treated myself to lunch in Newport and then headed down a boreen toward the Nephins, and then onto the Bangor trail. Eventually I arrived at the beginning of a loop walk that intersects with the trail, and met a small family - after that I didn't see a human until I arrived in Bangor Erris the following day. It's just empty out there. The mountains rear up on either side and boggy green plains stretch out between them. The land isn't useful for anything but sheep grazing.
I'd brought my tent, but I knew of a little shelter that had been built out there, so here's where I spent the night, after walking about 35km.
You can make it out in this photo near the tip of the "arrow" of trees.
My backpack was a devil; I haven't worn the full pack in sometime, and wasn't used to it; I also don't think I've ever really figured out how to adjust them properly. When I woke up I felt broken, like somehow had shattered my legs and hastily glued them back together, and my original plan was to go off the trail, climb Nephin Beg and Slieve Carr, and then rejoin the trail. Well, I made it to the top of Nephin Beg after much toil (that's 627 metres, go me).
A grand old view - north to Slieve Carr looming in the cloud, south back the way I came, and east toward the sun and the lurking form of Nephin Mór, big Nephin, the lonely mountain that sits apart from the rest, that I've been meaning to hike for ages. That bad boy in the middle:
But this looming wall of rain to the west dampened my spirits, and I decided not to tackle Slieve Carr (which would have meant descending and re-ascending, and doing the same for a couple of hills afterward). Back down to the trail I went.
A good decision. My legs were exhausted and I had ages yet to walk to Bangor Erris. Which, long story short, I did; and even managed to get there in time to hitchhike to Ballina for the 18:05 train home.
Another quick snap of the wastes:
And this rack of lamb I found:
It's funny, though, how when you're out in the hills both time and distance seem to stretch unimaginably. I felt that I was a thousand miles from civilisation, and that I'd set off from home weeks earlier. Yet I was drinking a beer in my kitchen less than 48 hours later. (And sitting down.)
Anyway, it's made me quite apprehensive about the Dodentocht next weekend - I'm flying over to Belgium for a 100km, 24hr walk, and I'm now terrified because really I haven't done any training worth talking about. So in two Pubskis time maybe I'll be talking about my abject failure and a holy oath never to return to Belgium.
I'm minding my dad's store while he's away, like I did last year. It doesn't have "opening hours" as such; he sells rolls of pipe and fittings and stuff for plumbing contractors, so they call you when they're looking for pieces. Unfortunately the store is 15 minutes walk from where I live and I don't drive, so I've had to cadge a few lifts here and there - it's not too bad, except when you get in the door of the house and someone else calls you looking for something.
One other thing. So, my current life is rather unconducive to interactions with female members of the opposite sex. Me and my sister stacked it up once: I work part-time in a pub in a small town, I don't drive, I live with my mother, and I lack any kind of ambition or direction in life. But the nail in the coffin is that I have bunk beds in my room. Yeah, bunk beds. I mean, that's just not very sexy. So far it hasn't been a problem, because no-one has visited my room. Sigh.
Last week I decided to dismantle the top bunk and store it in the attic, and spent the entire time wondering why I hadn't done it ages ago - no-one shares the room with me. It was an enormous improvement to the room - it feels much spacier and now I can actually sit on my bed. Then this morning I broke the bed trying to get out of it - one of the side timbers turned out to have a series of cracks in it that finally gave way. So I had to dismantle that and get the top bunk back down from the attic and reassemble it. Funny how things work out.
Jack and coke.
This has been a week, and it's not over.
My grandmother passed this past weekend. She was the last surviving grandparent of mine that I was old enough to get to know other than a face and distant memories. It wasn't unexpected given her age, though it sure as hell wasn't expected all the same. For someone nearing in their 90s, she had exceptional presence of mind and a force of will that outlived what her body could offer.
I'm upset. I had a selfish notion in my head that she would at least be there for my graduation at the end of the year. As if she would be there to see me walk for both her and her late husband, who were the biggest part in my ability to go to college in the first place. Above all this, I'm going to miss talking with her about growing up and laughing with her on how things have changed. I'd be lying if I wrote I wasn't expecting at least one more heart-to-heart with her either. When she connected with her grandchildren in-person (she never really was much for phone calls), despite being cognizant, she would opt not to use words. She had this ability from time to time, to meet our eyes and let us know she understand the sentiment of wherever we were in conversation. It was also her way of showing us how much she cared and loved us. I miss her.
Now, my exam and moving living spaces are happening within 24 hours of me typing this. So, again, it's been a week and it ain't over. Needed a place to get some out before going balls deep and bawling in someone's arms after the move. So thanks for readin'.
This all aside, I have plans to go on Birthright after graduation and extend my stay indefinitely. I got family in Israel from both sides, so I'll have some reprieve if my activity has me dragging. I can also bring over some of my grandmother's stuffs they may want to keep within the family.
Thank you for sharing. I remember you recounting the trip in a pubski a long while back. I will 100% be scrubbing through the days later (doing a small amount typing this). Did you extend your stay?
Sidenote: wow, you're channel has really grown. Congrats!!
I didn't extend my stay because I had already bought some tickets to a festival a couple days after the planned return from the trip. Otherwise, I probably would have stuck around for a week or so.
I don't know if the group I was with was just too young for me but I found all the Canadians really complain-y. And conversations were mostly high school level drama that just annoyed me. Good thing we had the Israeli soldiers around. They were like... real people. Lot of fun to hang out with :)
OK I figured out what I want my next career to be (besides tattoo artist).
VERY SERIOUSLY NOW HUBSKI, I want to work with animals. I want to do something around rescuing or studying or ANYTHING TO DO with animals.
I know they're not all cute and they poop and they smell and they bite. That's ok.
Help me figure out what I can do (without a degree in bio) and how.
Please thanks any suggestions appreciated. I know, I'll end up poor. That's ok.
Luh u bye
i hate vacations they just fill me with existential dread
I have numerous friends who are making BANK as dog-walkers. These are people who are licensed clinicians, artists, writers, graphic designers, editors, etc.
All of them started dog-walking as a side business to their primary biz, and now do it full time, including boarding.
There are so many people with dogs, that you get to pick-and-choose your pack. Weed out the bad dogs - or, ONLY work with bad/difficult dogs, like one of my friends does - and get paid $20/hr for each of 5 or 6 dogs at at time, 2, 3, or 4 times a day. The money is ridiculous.
Oh, and when your FAVORITE dog, Fido, has his parents leave town for the weekend? You can keep Fido all weekend, and get paid $90-$150/night to play with your friend!
Seriously. This shit is crazy.
Get an older Subaru Outback. Get clothes and treats and leashes. Get dogs. Get familiar with each of the dogs. Bring them together as a socialized pack. Make bank.
Of course, you gotta be OK with weather. People really don't like to walk their dogs as much in the winter/rain/whatever.
There is also a great community of dog-walkers who work together to take care of dog parks, and support each other when one of them wants to go on vacation.
Work as many or as few hours as you want.
Work with only dogs you like.
It's a good way to work with animals, with ZERO training. Just get a biz card.
Cool thoughts - everyone!
after posting I had the thought that maybe it might be worthwhile to spend some time volunteering with animals first, maybe at like the SPCA or something. That way I could get a peek at what working with animals on the reg could be like while doing some good and also no risk of lost investment basically. I really appreciate this post in particular tho goob
Can you leverage your current skills to work with animals? Apply to work at North Shore Animal League in their finance department but request that two days a week you get to work with the animals? -Just spit balling here.
I feel great today and I have a sneaking suspicion it’s partly because the roommate who started flirting right when he found out I broke up with my ex moved out. I feel like roommates being off limits is a golden rule most people understand, but sadly not everybody. I just feel more comfortable in my home and I’m officially starting to notice the mess the place became while I was living under a mental fog. I hate conflict and I’m annoyingly willing to push myself into a dark little hole in the world to avoid it instead of enforce my boundaries.
It might be time to restart that feelings journal I was doing before. It’s maddening that I can tell how somebody else feels so easily and adjust my behaviour accordingly but I struggle so hard to understand my own emotions.
Gonna be up in the air in 48 hrs to go to Greece for my holiday. I'm hoping for it to be a relaxing holiday - we go to Athens for a few days and then to Crete where we have an apartment with a pool.
It's also the first holiday in a decade that I did not help plan in some fashion. Gonna just show up at the airport and not be mildly stressed about travel.
Hello everyone, how are you?
I recently decided to go back to school for my masters in accounting. My course is pretty much geared for people who didn't originally major in accounting. Going to try to be a CPA or at least get a decent accounting job in a big firm. Right now, I'm taking an online accounting class on accounting fundamentals. It's okay. In the fall, I'll be taking a financial reporting class on campus. I'll be doing this part time as I am still going to work full time at my accounting job. I'm going to go to Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ. I'm not too far from campus, so I won't be dorming there.
The 2 week long Ukrainian SUmmer sleep away camp started last weekend and it's great. We have awesome counsellors this year, my boyfriend who is the camp director has toughened up. (We had a bit of a shitshow last year in part because he doesn't like being the bad guy and force people to do stuff. So when the counsellors started misbehaving if was a bit too late to put them back in their place).
Also, a lot of the older people previously involved with the camp, including me, have been helping out by organizing fun activities for the kids just for fun.
I'm a bit sad I had to go back to Montreal to run my guided tours for a couple days, but I'll probably be back there by the end of the week. Yay!
Unrelated to your post - you're going to Burning Man, right? If so, I have a friend who is a long-time burner who definitely would be worth meeting up with. Very, very interesting older guy.
I found my septic tank!
The nasty thing is that it wasn't anywhere close to where I was digging.
A friend if mine who works for the sewer department went through the history documents for me and determined that it was in the front yard, way far away from the deck. An old retired building inspector that i'm friends with said that he'd never seen such a thing in a house from the decade mine was built, especially when the plumbing stack is in the back of the house.
I had to wait until this morning to answer this question.
We are cleared to build!
We found that there was a dry well in the backyard on the same document that shows the location of the septic. I wasn't sure if they would make me find it and prove it's not going to be a sinkhole someday.
They aren't going to make me find the dry well but I had to double promise that if I do find it I'll decomission it.
Ever onward, by next summer my back yard will be our little paradise.
Ever watched a trade show come apart?
The big bash for watchmaking is Baselworld, where the top-line exhibitors spend around $50m to put together a booth so that jewelers can ooh and aah. Unfortunately for Baselworld, Basel has gotten a reputation of printing up special menus with inflated prices for when Baselworld is in town, the hotels all push their rates through the roof and the company that puts on the tradeshow just bought a $350m building and people were starting to get cranky.
Whelp, Monday the Swatch Group pulled out.
Richemont's been gone since 1990; they started an alternative tradeshow. The MCH Group, which runs the show, had their stock tank yesterday. Now the retailers are starting to demand boons. Gonna be interesting for a tiny segment of the world, but the contagion has spread to CNBC and Forbes. Talkin' a $28bln industry which, I think, is about 1/4th the amount of value Facebook lost last Thursday.
See, talking about this means I don't have to talk about how much I hate LA.
When I was working for the stone company, they had a quarry just north of Atlanta. A young 20-something engineer from Montreal was working there and it was a sweet gig. Super well paid, interesting work, and he got a hefty relocation package too. But he was miserable, saying he can't manage to make any friends. He was really nice too, when I was down there we'd go hang out and eat out after work and it was always a blast. The only friends he managed to make were a couple middle aged men he was going golfing with every other week. He tried dating too, but he said the fact he didn't go to church was a massive deal breaker for many girls down there
So what he ended up doing was not taking ANY vacation and instead getting a friday off every other week. He was flying to Montreal for the weekend all the time. But by the time I finished my photography contract he had quit and was moving back home to Montreal, after only about 9 months in Atlanta.
I had some fun times there at Ponce city market, and trying out different restaurants. But I probably would hate living there.
He gave one explanation. There are so many others.
- White Flight, as explained by Howard Zinn. The "Valley" of LA exists because of school integration and the fact that privileged white folx didn't want their babies going to school with those horrible brown and black kids, thus creating a geographically as well as economically divided metroplex.
- the Street Car Conspiracy, as explained by nearly everyone. LA is a spread out heinous shithole because Firestone, General Motors, Standard Oil and Mack all worked hand-in-hand behind the scenes to annihilate public transit in the areas that needed it most.
- Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- It is hard for people who have not lived in Los Angeles to realize how radically the Santa Ana figures in the local imagination. The city burning is Los Angeles’s deepest image of itself. Nathaniel West perceived that, in The Day of the Locust, and at the time of the 1965 Watts riots what struck the imagination most indelibly were the fires. For days one could drive the Harbor Freeway and see the city on fire, just as we had always known it would be in the end. Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and, just as the reliably long and bitter winters of New England determine the way life is lived there, so the violence and the unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability. The winds shows us how close to the edge we are.
- Joan Didion
Spent the weekend in the mountains and the clouds, again. Reinjured an ankle on a boulder field, and had another 16 miles on it which naturally felt great. Actually, it didn't feel that bad and I'm rehabbing it hard. But it was interesting for two reasons - one in which I backed out of a summit because it was way out of my comfort level with the ankle issue. Without that, I probably would have said yes. But the increased risk was too much, and I'm struggling with that. Hoping after this season and upcoming winter I'll have put in the time on snow to not end up in this situation again soon, and will just go for it.
The other is having spent a weekend outdoors with a handful of "Instafamous" people, or people with accounts in the 25k to 125k follower range, all of whom are photographers in some capacity or the other. All of whom are really nice and funny people who I would like to spend more time in camps with, and all of whom have differing physical capabilities. But oh my god did they take a lot of pictures. Made me rethink the whole "getting a camera" thing.
- Without that, I probably would have said yes. But the increased risk was too much, and I'm struggling with that.
As they say, "there are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots." Risk assessment is probably the most valuable skill in adventure sports of all kinds and being willing to go "nope, I can see this ending badly therefore I will not start" is a mark of maturity.
- But oh my god did they take a lot of pictures. Made me rethink the whole "getting a camera" thing.
You can't be a photographer without taking a lot of pictures, but you won't be considered a photographer until you refuse to show all but a handful. I'll say this: you're not a photographer if you use a device primarily intended to do things other than take pictures. It makes perfect sense to be "instafamous" and take shit mostly with your phone but if your goal is lasting images, you need better control of focal length than any phone will give you.
Two weeks ago, you said "see a PT" or something. I'm seeing one Friday. I haven't run a single step in sixteen days. Reading your post here, I think I've been assessing the risk without thinking about it that way.
The risk is I think I feel better but don't know what the cause was. At best, I cycle between injuries and rest. At worst, I have a more serious injury. Taking the smart steps is smart, no matter how frustrating.
I've turned back on hikes, and it's tough. But I've also pushed through difficult hikes when I was capable but at my limits, and it's all the more rewarding knowing I did it and wasn't reckless.
Yeah right now I've got a seriously aggravated psoas. It has absolutely no problems pedaling 32 miles a day but try a sit-up? Oh fuck you. The worst is when you bump into someone or stub your toe or whatever and your core tenses up? Yeah when my core tenses up I feel it for several hours.
I'd totally see my PT about it but (1) what's she gonna do (2) that's not going to happen for quite a while.
Is this the first time you've turned back from a summit?
Nope, it's the 2nd time. The first was back in January but that's because we were breaking trail on snow the entire way and were running out of daylight. It's the 1st time I've turned back because of being sketched out / injured.
happy august y'all
like i said, i'm back from italy - glad i went, class was nice, people were nice, country was nice, i'd live in rome if i had the chance
8/10
now i'm not sure what to do with myself at home because in about 10 days i'm headed to california to meet up with some friends out there, and after that i'm moving out officially so it's a bit fuguey
OH FUCK MUTHERFUCKER NOW YOU'RE WINDING ME UP
Because beer fucking sucks right now.
You know it, you just don't want to admit it - beer is straight-up bullshit at the moment. Yeah, sure there's a million tiny shitty little breweries out there but they're all being bought up one by one by AB InBev or SAB Miller and they all make fucking IPA. You know what IPA is? It's the beer you make when you don't have the room to make beer - IPA requires no refrigeration to make. It's that shit you made in your dorm room when the RA wasn't watching. It's that swill that tastes the same whether it's turned or not because they sell it to you pre-turned. It's that shit you drink because hefeweizens are too heavy - you know, the beer that they've convinced you to put an orange slice in it so it doesn't taste quite so much like pruno.
Fortunately for the beer companies, your tiny shitty little IPA from bumblesquatch colorado can be sold for fuckin' $2.50 a bottle because it says you need a lumberbeard to drink it or some shit, as opposed to $1.25 a bottle for pilsners that you're shipping from Canada or Copenhagen (or brewing down the street, but as we all know your dad's macrobrews have been fucking terrible for decades, that's why we started down this road). Unfortunately for the beer companies, nobody wants to spend fucking $9 for a sixer of Fat Tire anymore and the alternative you're offering them is fucking Michelob Ultra Organic or some shit which tastes about the same as Zima without the sugar, assuming you remember what Zima is. Fortunately nobody remembers Zima or Bartles & Jaymes so let's try selling them "summer shandy" or "radler" because a wine cooler by any other name would taste as cloyingly sweet.
LOOK AT THIS PICTURE.
LOOK AT IT.
Bud. Light. Lime. STRAW ber RITA. "Try it over ice!" What. The Actual. Fuck. This is AB InBev throwing their hands in the goddamn air and saying "we never knew why they liked our swill in the first place, mix a Kool-Aid packet in there and see if they buy it." Meanwhile the beer that everyone drank forever is fucking gone, yo. When was the last time you saw an Anchor Steam? I mean, I live 150 miles from the brewery and I have a hard time finding Weinhard's.
I used to drink Kirin Light. Now I can't even find Kirin.
I used to drink Amstel Light. I haven't seen it at the market in three years.
I'm drinking Sam Adams Light - and that'll work - but it is literally the only drinkable light beer left at my supermarket. They generally have three cases of Sam Adams, two cases of Sam Adams Light, five cases of Heineken, two cases of Heineken light, and an entire aisle of various and sundry IPAs.
And those fucking "summer shandys."
You know what I drink down here in LA?
They've got me drinking Russian beer, yo. I live in goddamn America, home of the macrowbrew and because the industry is pushing trasherita premix I'm drinkin' shit that's been shipped from SAINT FUCKING PETERSBERG.
Let's drive a stake through the heart of the whole goddamn industry. I'm so completely fucking over the direction it's taken. Kill this bitch so we can bury it and move the fuck on.
Lol, I was joking about millenial hater articles rather than the beer industry. Guess I hit a nerve.
I still drink a shitload of beer, and I'll run the gamut of ales and lagers, but I'm right there with you vis IPA. There are some good English bitters, but it doesn't translate well across the atlantic. Microbrews have been stepping up their lager game recently, which is positive, but some are doing "hopped lagers" which is a negative. Mostly I still drink macrobrews though--lots of Labatt, which is piss, but my kind of piss; a little Urquell here and there if I'm feeling fancy; and actually Bell's has a new lager that is titties (Bell's is a large size "microbrew" out here--don't know if they're findable on the west coast but they have a pretty big regional to national distribution).
Anyway, I'll drink shitty beer any day of the week (especially if it's on special) over a $14 ethanol water (aka vodka) with a burnt strip of citrus rind and elderflower essence. Fuck that shit all day.
I saw an Anchor Steam last night! For, like $1.50 a bottle!
I spent my night drinking Vienna Lagers and Doppelbocks. It was awesome.
I spent my night drinking Vienna Lagers and Doppelbocks. It was awesome.