Charles and Christy’s Weblog

Or Chicago for that matter.

I’m going on my fourth full day in NC. It’s hot. Half the time I feel like I’ve moved to the boonies and the other half I feel like there must be civilization here but I haven’t found a clearing through the trees with which to see it.

MBA Orientation starts tomorrow, so that will help. I only have dialup right now, so that’s probably adding to my sense of isolation. But it will get better - the boxes are clearing and giving way to a nice apartment. We’ve found a local co-op grocer that looks mighty cool. And the apartment complex is laid out like a resort.

The public radio and TV stations are quite good as well. More reports from the hills to come - stay tuned.

Tonight, Adam and I went telescoping. Since Mars will be ridiculously close over the next few weeks, we thought we’d take a peek despite Chicago’s notorious sky glow.

Tonight we got looks at Mars, the moon, the Ring Nebula, and Andromeda.

A while ago, Christy and my dad teamed up to give me a CCD camera for my birthday for use with the telescope. Unfortunately, my scope’s focuser does not have the range necessary to get correct focus. Adam’s scope does, however and we’ve had decent success.

Tonight we struggled against an obstructing tree, some thin clouds, and sky glow to the south, but we still got some decent pics.

The moon was nearly full.

An ok pic of Mars - some color (slightly reddish in this photo), some variation (darker patches), and an ice cap.

Well, here we go - the initial foray into the blogosphere as encouraged by Rod, Morgan, and . Hello World.

Within a few weeks, I hope to be self-hosted. But for now, a Radio free trial will have to do.