Category: Personal

Quarantine – Week eleven

The ongoing train wreck just ploughed through the burning orphanage and is headed for the oil refinery.

Monday 2020/5/25
Speculation is rife that Dominic Cummings will resign / not resign. He’s giving a speech from the garden of Number 10 later. Most irregular.
Later : We’re fucked. People will now do just what they want.

Imaged the Ring Nebula. Was surprised how bright it is, visible in even a 30sec exposure

The Ring Nebula. the remains of a star they died around 5000 years ago.
The Ring Nebula. the remains of a star they died around 5000 years ago.

Tuesday 2020/5/26
Did some experiments with some simple wireless sensor networks

Wednesday 2020/5/27
More wireless network experiments. Discovered after several hours of debugging that I only has transmitters on the network, nothing was set as a receiver, so the network never formed. Everything was just shouting into the void. I know the feeling.

Thursday 2020/5/28

Friday 2020/5/29
Happy Oak Apple Day.

Saturday 2020/5/30
Finished a three-night imaging session on the Bubble Nebula. Time to find a new target.
The government still hasn’t fallen.

My uncle Richard died. Complications of heart surgery.

NGC6735, The Bubble Nebula
NGC6735, The Bubble Nebula

Sunday 2020/5/31
Fixed my long neglected bike.  Took it for a ride, about three miles, a lap of the park and some surrounding streets. It needs a new seat and also a handlebar extension.

Quarantine – Week Ten

Plans that either come to naught, or half a page of scribbled lines.

Monday 2020/5/18
Another day I should have been away with M. Builders did more on kitchen. Camping upstairs while they work. Found an old circuit I’d made as part of a radio I planned to build. Never did get around to finishing it.

Tuesday 2020/5/19
Students had their formal exam. Seemed to go OK. Staff meeting in evening where I picked up three questions to mark or second mark.

I also re-imaged SN2020jfo in M61, a week after my first images to see how it was progressing. Brightness seems about the same, so it’s not fading yet.

Supernova SN2020jfo in M61
Supernova SN2020jfo in M61

Wednesday 2020/5/20
Started marking the exam questions. Using the TopHat exam and tutoring system, seems to go well.

Started to image the Leo Triplet galaxies, probably a bit too late in this season, as they are already passing the meridian as the sky is darkening enough to start imaging. Has planned to get about 5-6 hours on these this night, but the clouds rolled in just after midnight

Work in progress shot of the Leo Triplet of galaxies. Really need 6+ hours to do this justice, this was just under two hours due to clouds
Work in progress shot of the Leo Triplet of galaxies. Really need 6+ hours to do this justice, this was just under two hours due to clouds

Thursday 2020/5/21
A few meetings about marking for the exam. Most of day seemed to be taken up with meeting. Most heavily laden bookshelf decided to start to come away from the wall. Urgent unshelving of books needed. Weeded the collection a little too.

Friday 2020/5/22
Final exam grades submitted. Shelf fixed back to the wall. Reshelving occurring. Useful exercise really, as I found a couple of books I knew I ad, but hadn’t seen in years due to the stacking on that self.

Saturday 2020/5/23
Watched Greg Jenner (Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen) at the online Hay festival. More bookshelf work

Sunday 2020/5/24
Took the dog for a walk, got dive bombed by swifts in the park.
Watched Adam Rutherford (How to argue with a racist) at Hay Festival.

 

Quarantine – Week eight

A week that really didn’t register.

Monday 2020/5/04

I took a photo of the moon.

The moon, 90% full on 2020/05/04

Tuesday 2020/5/05
I did something. Dunno what though. I really should keep better notes. Probably wrote code all day.

Wednesday 2020/5/06
I took a photo of the the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)

The Whirlpool Galaxy

Thursday 2020/05/07
The day must have happened, but I have no recollection of it.

Friday 2020/5/08
Saturday 2020/5/09
Sunday 2020/5/10
These days also occurred without trace.

Quarantine – Week seven

Another Missed Anniversary.

Monday 2020/4/27
Last of the antibiotics today.
Received a very nice letter of support for a project at work. Do feel a little guilty as i only names me, but then I am the person that’ had all the contact with the letter writer and I’ve made things very clear in talks I’ve given on this project that it is a team effort.

Tuesday 2020/4/28
Sent the letter in. Had a slightly strained conversation with boss. Oh well.

Wednesday 2020/4/29
I seem to be drinking 12 cups of Tea per day now. Have lost 7kg since lockdown began. Haven’t had a sausage roll or pork pie in six weeks.

Thursday 2020/4/30
In 1999 I was travelling by train to Birmingham for a meeting. We happened to slow down as we passed though Cheddington station, and I noticed in the distance a big hill. I decided on that day I’d like to climb that hill.
Several years later, I’d been past the hill many times, and finally learned what it was called – Ivinghoe Beacon. Over the years many plans to climb the hill have fallen though.

Today, I was supposed to be climbing it with another David Mills. It was set, it was really going to happen. At last, nearly 21 years to the day since I decided to climb it, it was going to happen.

Today I didn’t go to Ivinghoe Beacon.

Friday 2020/5/01
Doesn’t seem to have registered in any way with me.

Saturday 2020/5/02
Five years ago today I was walking around with a ring in my pocket.

Sunday 2020/5/03
Five years ago today I gave the ring to M.
This year we could only celebrate virtually.

Quarantine – Week six

Missing Anniversaries.

Monday 2020/4/20
Swelling in my arm has started to subside. Still chowing down on antibiotics.

Tuesday 2020/4/21
A year ago today, I was in Chesterfield.

Wednesday 2020/4/22
Some more motion in my arm and much less pain, decided to make the most of the unseasonable weather and clear skies and do some astronomy. Getting the telescope out was harder than usual. Managed to get some time on M101 – the Pinwheel Galaxy.

M101 – Pinwheel Galaxy

Thursday 2020/4/23
Should have bought train tickets to EMFCamp today, but it has been cancelled this year.

Friday 2020/4/24
Much more motion in my arm now, but strength is reduced. Got the telescope out again to try a new light pollution filter. Added another 3 hours to my Bode’s Galaxy data.

Saturday 2020/4/25
11 Year anniversary of meeting M. First year we’ve not been able to celebrate in person. Bum!
Telescope was still set up and ready to go, so I imaged The cigar galaxy and Bode’s galaxy in the same frame.

Cigar and Bode's galaxy from a very light polluted back garden in East London
Cigar and Bode’s galaxy from a very light polluted back garden in East London

Sunday 2020/4/26
Nothing much happened.