Eclipse

[Mark Warner]

We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week started
out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue sky with but
a few high, wispy clouds.

The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police had
estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU football
weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on parking are
going to be disappointed.

I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I was
taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little while
ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I guess
others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the other). A
number of our big customers had announced they would be closed, and the
owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced staff.

Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.

Anyone else have plans?

[Bob]

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week started
out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue sky with but
a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police had
estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU football
weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on parking are
going to be disappointed.
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I was
taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little while
ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I guess
others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the other). A
number of our big customers had announced they would be closed, and the
owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

According to Mike, some creature he calls God has at least one plan, but
Mike is trusting
tedw and Rob for details because Mike's prayer and meditation gobbledygook
doesn't seem to work. :-(

[badgolferman]

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week
started out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue
sky with but a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police
had estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU
football weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on
parking are going to be disappointed.
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I
was taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little
while ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I
guess others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the
other). A number of our big customers had announced they would be
closed, and the owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced
staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

Honestly I have no interest or care about the eclipse. You would think
that someone whose work is actually in space would be excited about it,
but I guess it's just another day at the job for me.

[Mark Warner]

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week
started out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue
sky with but a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police
had estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU
football weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on
parking are going to be disappointed.
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I
was taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little
while ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I
guess others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the
other). A number of our big customers had announced they would be
closed, and the owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced
staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

Honestly I have no interest or care about the eclipse. You would think
that someone whose work is actually in space would be excited about it,
but I guess it's just another day at the job for me.

You're one strange dude, Mike.

[badgolferman]

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week
started out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue
sky with but a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police
had estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU
football weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on
parking are going to be disappointed.
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I
was taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little
while ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I
guess others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the
other). A number of our big customers had announced they would be
closed, and the owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced
staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

Honestly I have no interest or care about the eclipse. You would think
that someone whose work is actually in space would be excited about it,
but I guess it's just another day at the job for me.

You're one strange dude, Mike.

Maybe so, but tell me truthfully… what is the big deal about an eclipse for
you?

[Mark Warner]

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week
started out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue
sky with but a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police
had estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU
football weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on
parking are going to be disappointed.
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I
was taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little
while ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I
guess others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the
other). A number of our big customers had announced they would be
closed, and the owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced
staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

Honestly I have no interest or care about the eclipse. You would think
that someone whose work is actually in space would be excited about it,
but I guess it's just another day at the job for me.

You're one strange dude, Mike.

Maybe so, but tell me truthfully… what is the big deal about an eclipse for
you?

Once in a lifetime experience, one I was able to share with others. No,
it wasn't life changing or "spiritual" or any of that shit, but it was
waaaay fucking cool.

YMMV

[Sharx335]

Post by Mark Warner

Post by Mark Warner

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week
started out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue
sky with but a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police
had estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU
football weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on
parking are going to be disappointed.
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I
was taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little
while ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I
guess others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the
other). A number of our big customers had announced they would be
closed, and the owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced
staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

Honestly I have no interest or care about the eclipse.  You would think
that someone whose work is actually in space would be excited about it,
but I guess it's just another day at the job for me.

You're one strange dude, Mike.

Maybe so, but tell me truthfully
 what is the big deal about an
eclipse for
you?

Once in a lifetime experience, one I was able to share with others. No,
it wasn't life changing or "spiritual" or any of that shit, but it was
waaaay fucking cool.
YMMV

We only had 23 of totality here but I get it. Really. Hard to explain. I
know that it is a natural, easily explained phenomena, BUT....

[Bob]

Post by Sharx335

Post by Mark Warner

Post by Mark Warner

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last week
started out grim, but had improved. Today we have a beautiful blue
sky with but a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state police
had estimated 300K people descending on this smallish town -- isn't
happening. The crowds are no bigger than what we see on an IU
football weekend. Lots of people who were expecting to cash in on
parking are going to be disappointed.
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told work I
was taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the store a little
while ago and the employee parking was half what it normally is, so I
guess others have done the same (I hadn't heard one way or the
other). A number of our big customers had announced they would be
closed, and the owners had said they didn't mind there being reduced
staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around 3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

Honestly I have no interest or care about the eclipse.  You would think
that someone whose work is actually in space would be excited about it,
but I guess it's just another day at the job for me.

You're one strange dude, Mike.

Maybe so, but tell me truthfully
 what is the big deal about an
eclipse for
you?

Once in a lifetime experience, one I was able to share with others. No,
it wasn't life changing or "spiritual" or any of that shit, but it was
waaaay fucking cool.
YMMV

We only had 23 of totality here but I get it. Really. Hard to explain. I
know that it is a natural, easily explained phenomena, BUT....

Hope you enjoy the irony, Dave!

I've never bothered to count the solar eclipses in my lifetime, but what I
*can* vaguely remember is the room getting darker inside, while "idiots",
after *squandering money* on special glasses, were outside hoping to see
nothing; so they could have a memorable moment in their "pathetic" lives.

[badgolferman]

Post by Mark Warner

Maybe so, but tell me truthfully
 what is the big deal about an eclipse for
you?

Once in a lifetime experience, one I was able to share with others. No,
it wasn't life changing or "spiritual" or any of that shit, but it was
waaaay fucking cool.
YMMV

We had an eclipse in 2017.

[Ted H]

On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 08:57:11 -0000 (UTC),

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner

Maybe so, but tell me truthfully
 what is the big deal
about an eclipse for you?

Once in a lifetime experience, one I was able to share with
others. No, it wasn't life changing or "spiritual" or any of
that shit, but it was waaaay fucking cool.

Yup. See my other post.

And Charlie had some really nice photos on Facebook. He'll
appreciate this one...

https://xkcd.com/2917/

Post by badgolferman
We had an eclipse in 2017.

You so dour.

[badgolferman]

Post by Ted H
On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 08:57:11 -0000 (UTC),

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner

Maybe so, but tell me truthfully
 what is the big deal
about an eclipse for you?

Once in a lifetime experience, one I was able to share with
others. No, it wasn't life changing or "spiritual" or any of
that shit, but it was waaaay fucking cool.

Yup. See my other post.
And Charlie had some really nice photos on Facebook. He'll
appreciate this one...
https://xkcd.com/2917/

Post by badgolferman
We had an eclipse in 2017.

You so dour.

I asked a bunch of my co-workers if they were excited to see the
eclipse. Most of them didn't bother.

[Mark Warner]

Post by badgolferman
I asked a bunch of my co-workers if they were excited to see the
eclipse. Most of them didn't bother.

Were any of them in the path of totality?

I get not getting too excited about a partial, but a total is a whole
'nuther thing altogether.

[Bob]

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman
I asked a bunch of my co-workers if they were excited to see the
eclipse. Most of them didn't bother.

Were any of them in the path of totality?
I get not getting too excited about a partial, but a total is a whole
'nuther thing altogether.

Checked up on a total eclipse where I was in the direct path. Totality
lasted for two minutes. No big deal.

What I do remember as significant was Sputnik 1. A significant proportion of
my workmates believed it was fake news and explained it away as false
Russian propaganda, and the rest were mostly scared shitless. I can even
remember what we were building and where we were standing when we shared
the news, and that was a bloody long time ago.

*That* was a whole 'nuther thing altogether.

[Sharx335]

Post by Bob

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman
I asked a bunch of my co-workers if they were excited to see the
eclipse.  Most of them didn't bother.

Were any of them in the path of totality?
I get not getting too excited about a partial, but a total is a whole
'nuther thing altogether.

Checked up on a total eclipse where I was in the direct path. Totality
lasted for two minutes. No big deal.
What I do remember as significant was Sputnik 1. A significant
proportion of
my workmates believed it was fake news and explained it away as false
Russian propaganda, and the rest were mostly scared shitless. I can even
remember what we were building and where we were standing when we shared
the news, and that was a bloody long time ago.
*That* was a whole 'nuther thing altogether.

WTF! That was October 1957. I was 11 years old in Grade 6. HTF old ARE
YOU????
I thought that *I* was an old fart like Mark and Charlie.

[badgolferman]

Post by Sharx335

Post by Bob

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman
I asked a bunch of my co-workers if they were excited to see the
eclipse.  Most of them didn't bother.

Were any of them in the path of totality?
I get not getting too excited about a partial, but a total is a whole
'nuther thing altogether.

Checked up on a total eclipse where I was in the direct path. Totality
lasted for two minutes. No big deal.
What I do remember as significant was Sputnik 1. A significant proportion of
my workmates believed it was fake news and explained it away as false
Russian propaganda, and the rest were mostly scared shitless. I can even
remember what we were building and where we were standing when we shared
the news, and that was a bloody long time ago.
*That* was a whole 'nuther thing altogether.

WTF! That was October 1957. I was 11 years old in Grade 6. HTF old ARE
YOU????
I thought that *I* was an old fart like Mark and Charlie.

That was roughly 67 years ago. He said he had workmates, so he must have
been roughly 18 or more at the time. So I’d say Bob is around 85 years old.
Either that or you caught him in an “exaggeration”.

[Sharx335]

Post by badgolferman

Post by Sharx335

Post by Bob

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman
I asked a bunch of my co-workers if they were excited to see the
eclipse.  Most of them didn't bother.

Were any of them in the path of totality?
I get not getting too excited about a partial, but a total is a whole
'nuther thing altogether.

Checked up on a total eclipse where I was in the direct path. Totality
lasted for two minutes. No big deal.
What I do remember as significant was Sputnik 1. A significant proportion of
my workmates believed it was fake news and explained it away as false
Russian propaganda, and the rest were mostly scared shitless. I can even
remember what we were building and where we were standing when we shared
the news, and that was a bloody long time ago.
*That* was a whole 'nuther thing altogether.

WTF! That was October 1957. I was 11 years old in Grade 6. HTF old ARE
YOU????
I thought that *I* was an old fart like Mark and Charlie.

That was roughly 67 years ago. He said he had workmates, so he must have
been roughly 18 or more at the time. So I’d say Bob is around 85 years old.
Either that or you caught him in an “exaggeration”.

Who, in ARAA, would even be tempted to "varnish" the facts? WTF, very
early on my path to sobriety I learned that the three ESSENTIALS were
willingness, HONESTY, and open-mindedness. I do recall Sputnik I going,
"Beep, beep, beep".

[Bob]

Post by Sharx335

Post by badgolferman

Post by Sharx335

Post by Bob

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman
I asked a bunch of my co-workers if they were excited to see the
eclipse.  Most of them didn't bother.

Were any of them in the path of totality?
I get not getting too excited about a partial, but a total is a whole
'nuther thing altogether.

Checked up on a total eclipse where I was in the direct path. Totality
lasted for two minutes. No big deal.
What I do remember as significant was Sputnik 1. A significant proportion of
my workmates believed it was fake news and explained it away as false
Russian propaganda, and the rest were mostly scared shitless. I can even
remember what we were building and where we were standing when we shared
the news, and that was a bloody long time ago.
*That* was a whole 'nuther thing altogether.

WTF! That was October 1957. I was 11 years old in Grade 6. HTF old ARE
YOU????
I thought that *I* was an old fart like Mark and Charlie.

That was roughly 67 years ago. He said he had workmates, so he must have
been roughly 18 or more at the time. So I’d say Bob is around 85 years old.
Either that or you caught him in an “exaggeration”.

Who, in ARAA, would even be tempted to "varnish" the facts? WTF, very
early on my path to sobriety I learned that the three ESSENTIALS were
willingness, HONESTY, and open-mindedness. I do recall Sputnik I going,
"Beep, beep, beep".

Given my age is as important as a lunar eclipse, my age isn't important at
all - at least since reaching pension age at 65, almost two decades ago.
;-)

BTW, Seems evident to me the only requirement for my sobriety was and
remains willingness.

Actually, I'm reminded with monotonous regularity that the honesty I had
prided myself on was about mostly irrelevant things. Unfortunately I'm
still learning what it's important to be honest about - but may be, as a
result of AA's steps, I'm very fortunate to be still learning.

[Ted H]

On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 20:00:58 -0400,

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner
We're in the area of totality. Weather reports in the last
week started out grim, but had improved. Today we have a
beautiful blue sky with but a few high, wispy clouds.
The gridlock hellscape that people had predicted -- the state
police had estimated 300K people descending on this smallish
town -- isn't happening. The crowds are no bigger than what
we see on an IU football weekend. Lots of people who were
expecting to cash in on parking are going to be disappointed.

Kathy and I were still living in Bloomington when the 2017 eclipse
happened. The path was south and east of there, so we decided to
drive to a southern location near the Ohio River (can't recall
what it was). The traffic was *awful*, the worst I've ever seen.
It was gridlock on the southbound highway. I got off the highway
and just took county roads in the general southerly direction.

We ended up at some monastery on the Indiana banks high above the
river. Got there not too much before totality, and were totally
knocked out by the experience.

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman

Post by Mark Warner
I'm pushing 70 years old and have never seen a total. I told
work I was taking the day off three weeks ago. Drove by the
store a little while ago and the employee parking was half
what it normally is, so I guess others have done the same (I
hadn't heard one way or the other). A number of our big
customers had announced they would be closed, and the owners
had said they didn't mind there being reduced staff.
Supposed to start here around 1:30 EDT and totality around
3:00.
Anyone else have plans?

This year we drove to a library on the south side of Lafayette and
then rode our tandem southeast to Thorntown. We got there with
about half an hour to spare and got to see the lead up (solar disk
gradually being covered) and a bit over a minute of totality. It
was awesome. When that corona pops out, wow!

The weird look of the sky, the darkening, the stars becoming
visible, the streetlights turning on, the drop in temperature--all
were as advertised, and pretty much same as seven years ago.

Post by Mark Warner

Post by badgolferman
Honestly I have no interest or care about the eclipse. You
would think that someone whose work is actually in space would
be excited about it, but I guess it's just another day at the
job for me.

You're one strange dude, Mike.

Yar. This cartoon explains it well.

https://xkcd.com/2914/

My belief is that folks who've seen a partial have been (not
surprisingly) unimpressed and concluse it's not worth going to any
trouble to see the totality. In the path? Off the chart.

[Mark Warner]

Post by Ted H
Yar. This cartoon explains it well.
https://xkcd.com/2914/
My belief is that folks who've seen a partial have been (not
surprisingly) unimpressed and concluse it's not worth going to any
trouble to see the totality. In the path? Off the chart.

That's the only explanation that makes any sense.