The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Main > Nothingland

Nothingland Something about nothing - game threads, diversions, time-wasters

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-19-2014, 01:41 PM   #106
Carruthers
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Buckinghamshire UK
Posts: 4,059
I just went outside to watch the International Space Station pass overhead. There's no moon as yet so it was the brightest thing in the sky.
I'm not familiar with the scientific method of determining brightness, but I'd say that it was probably brighter than I've ever seen Venus.

I'm no astronomer but I do like to know what's going on around me. I remember Dad showing me an early Echo satellite when I was very small.
The Echo craft were, I think, balloons so their reflective surface would be substantial. I used to spot Skylab from time to time and I think that my best sighting was a Shuttle chasing the ISS to rendezvous.
Difficult to estimate, but I think that it would have been about fifty miles in trail. I have a feeling that that was the penultimate Shuttle flight.
Carruthers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-2014, 02:20 PM   #107
Gravdigr
The Un-Tuckian
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Central...KY that is
Posts: 39,517
Got Mom & Popdigr up at about 3 one morning to watch the shuttle pursue the ISS across the night sky. All 3 of us have seen the full size mock up shuttle up close and personal, so, it was fairly awesome to associate that with the tiny bright dot zooming across the sky behind that other bright dot.
__________________


These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off.
Gravdigr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-2014, 02:27 PM   #108
Carruthers
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Buckinghamshire UK
Posts: 4,059
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gravdigr View Post
All 3 of us have seen the full size mock up shuttle up close and personal.......
Just wondering, where was that Grav? Cape Canaveral? Smithsonian?

It's so I can plan my next trip. That's the one I shall probably never have the chance to make. Oh, well...
Carruthers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-2014, 02:37 PM   #109
Gravdigr
The Un-Tuckian
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Central...KY that is
Posts: 39,517
I believe that was at The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Maaaybe Canaveral.

We went to Florida almost every year during my childhood, and our usual route took us through Alabama, so really it may have been either place.
__________________


These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off.
Gravdigr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-2014, 03:04 PM   #110
Carruthers
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Buckinghamshire UK
Posts: 4,059
The ISS has just passed overhead once more but unseen by me.

In the ninety minutes since I last saw it, the crew will have seen the sun rise and set once more.

They will have flown over several continents and mighty oceans.

I have been as far as the kitchen to make Dad and me a cup of tea.

Such is life.


BTW Thanks for that info, Grav.
Carruthers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 11:30 AM   #111
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
I just saw a Bald Eagle. A big one. It perched on a tree above our building.....but it was in a spot where the only place you could see it from put the Sun behind it. I don't know if anyone here was able to get a good picture.... I'll try to post one if they did.
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 12:09 PM   #112
Carruthers
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Buckinghamshire UK
Posts: 4,059
Quote:
Originally Posted by lumberjim View Post
I just saw a Bald Eagle. A big one. It perched on a tree above our building.....but it was in a spot where the only place you could see it from put the Sun behind it. I don't know if anyone here was able to get a good picture.... I'll try to post one if they did.
There's a series on TV here at the moment about the work done by the charity Hope for Wildlife based in Nova Scotia.

Friday's episode featured a Bald Eagle that was seriously weakened after a severe storm.

The first thing the Vet did was to completely tape up the bird's talons having first shown them to the camera. Evidently capable of doing great damage.

Good spotting, Jim. If you don't mind me asking, are you in PA? I have a feeling earlier posts might have indicated that. If so, is the Bald Eagle a resident species?
Carruthers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 12:42 PM   #113
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
Quote:
Evidently capable of doing great damage.
500 to 1000 pounds pressure...
Attached Images
 
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 01:59 PM   #114
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carruthers View Post
There's a series on TV here at the moment about the work done by the charity Hope for Wildlife based in Nova Scotia.

Friday's episode featured a Bald Eagle that was seriously weakened after a severe storm.

The first thing the Vet did was to completely tape up the bird's talons having first shown them to the camera. Evidently capable of doing great damage.

Good spotting, Jim. If you don't mind me asking, are you in PA? I have a feeling earlier posts might have indicated that. If so, is the Bald Eagle a resident species?
I'm in NJ at work. Cherry Hill, which is about 5-10 miles (as the Eagle Flies)due east of center city Philadelphia.

Apparently, there are a few nesting pairs not far from here.

Quote:
In fact over the last 20 years bald eagles have become a regular presence over New Jersey bodies of water statewide. According to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife (NJDFW), as of a 2012 census, New Jersey has 119 active nesting pairs of bald eagles.
Here's the best one I could get:
Attached Images
 
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 02:26 PM   #115
Carruthers
Junior Master Dwellar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Buckinghamshire UK
Posts: 4,059
Thanks for the info and picture, Jim.

It's astonishing how often large wildlife lives in close proximity to urban areas.

A pair of Peregrine Falcons has nested for several years on a large office block in nearby Aylesbury, but there is a large supply of rather sluggish town pigeons available as easy pickings.
Carruthers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 02:52 PM   #116
Gravdigr
The Un-Tuckian
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Central...KY that is
Posts: 39,517
That was cool.
__________________


These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off.
Gravdigr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 03:22 PM   #117
Griff
still says videotape
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 26,813
We saw a bald eagle fly over the stadium just before kickoff for my nephews high school football game on Saturday. It was apparently a good sign, 55-14 good guys. We get a lot of baldies around here, they're spreading outward from the Susquehanna. Pete and I saw a juvenile while paddling a couple weeks ago.
__________________
If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you.
- Louis D. Brandeis
Griff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 03:35 PM   #118
Griff
still says videotape
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 26,813
Pic of Pete as the eagle shots are too tiny.
Attached Images
 
__________________
If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you.
- Louis D. Brandeis
Griff is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 07:18 PM   #119
lumberjim
I can hear my ears
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 25,571
I just ...had a Scottish customer. She said my Scots accent was quite good actually.

an ah doon think she was avin' me on
__________________
This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan
lumberjim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-20-2014, 08:29 PM   #120
Griff
still says videotape
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 26,813
__________________
If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you.
- Louis D. Brandeis
Griff is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:39 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.