Yesterday I hiked up the hill to see my friend Norma for lunch. She lives just above Santa Cruz, but you can only drive to the bottom of the steep hill — then it’s time for about fifteen minutes of nice healthy exercise. I’m sure it did me good. And leaving the family behind for some me time did even more good. It was great. We talked about music, books,…
Warp speed 9
I got all the photos from the wedding edited and written to CDs — 9 CDs! — and gave them to the bride on Wednesday. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up with housework. On Thursday I took my son into town to buy a new bicycle helmet and video game. While we were there, I got a ton of fresh veg from the market, to…
Pwned
I’ve learned a new word. My son is a video games nut, like most 10-year-olds, and this morning he informed me that he’d just been pwned online. Apparently it means to be soundly thrashed in a game. I looked it up on wikipedia, and found that pwn also means to take control of someone else’s computer. Meanwhile I’m editing the photos from last week’s wedding. A lot of them need…
Spread thin
Today I went to see my friends in Franceses, and to translate for them at their town hall. It’s always nice to see them, and the new progress on their house. They’ve done wonders with the room they were decorating. It’s a good thing I enjoyed the visit, because the town hall trip was a washout. Everyone we wanted to see is on holiday. But we did get an email,…
A Magical Perk.
Yesterday I was guide for another two telescope visits. Unusually, they were afternoon visits. First I showed a sick boy and his mother around, and then a group of British amateur astronomers. The best bit was that after the amateurs finished seeing the Herschel, they were going to visit the MAGIC telescope. I hadn’t seen that one yet, so I tagged along. MAGIC stands for Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov…
Sleeping with my Best Friend’s Wife
Sunday night was the peak of the Persaid meteor shower, so the local astronomical amateurs were going to meet at a viewpoint ont he ridge of the island. I was keen to see the shooting stars and keen to get to know some more amateur astronomers, so I decided to go, even though it was an hour’s drive away. Then I remembered that I’d promised to take my son camping…