Changing horses

by Jason Newquist


From: "Dillon, Dillon, & Kuh"

The Peak just looks real good from Salinas, I want no dust tonight. Sorry to flake on Coe, not typical behavior. Just called Pizza Factory and ordered that meatball sub.

Well, you might've gotten the better deal, Jamie.

Coe was damn cold and windy -- with lots of diffuse and clumpy sky muck. Seeing was crappy.

Two highlights. M3 in Bob's new 12.5 Starmaster was outstandingly brright and sharp. And a quasar in someone's C9.25. If anyone has details on which quasar it was, and whose scope we viewed it through, I'd like to know!

But conditions remained yucky. At one point, it was all we could do to turn on the Art Bell show and listen to them talk about the Face on Mars, impending asteroid impacts, chupacabra attacks, and whatnot.

We tried to console ourselves by looking for the Peak and thinking that the lot of you up there weren't any better off, but who knows?

Companionship was good. Met a couple new guys. Someone asked if I was "the guy on TAC who doesn't write in his star atlas." Fe Fi Fo Fum.

Left Coe at 10:30. Maybe the sacrifice did my comrades some good. It could still be a tolerable night... since Moonset isn't too far off. And if the muck clears out. And if the wind dies down. And if the seeing improves. :-)