This is the story of a girl
So, this week I went to a fondue party hosted by a cat in a tuxedo.
True story.
Let's see... I made this cake.
I got home yesterday an I was just exhausted. It's already been a long week at work. I hopped into the tub when I got home and texted Liz a pic of my tub feet lol. Because... I don't know. That's what we do. We're weird. Then this happened lol
Ah we're so funny. I can hardly stand it sometimes. Both in the bath tub texting away like we iPhones are impervious to water hahaha
So I wanted to decompress last night.
I made some mac and cheese, loaded up a bag with some food and a bottle of water and some comics and took off on my bike.
I headed to one of my favorite spots. There's a bend in the path and a hill... It over looks a narrow part of the river.
I threw down a blanket and set myself up to just hang out for a bit. I got there around 7:30. The sun was just setting. I ate my mac and cheese and watched as people kayaked down the river, rode down the path on bikes and jogged by.
I intended to read some of my Iron Man comics, but the sun went down very quickly.
So instead I watched an episode of Star Trek on Netflix on my phone. It's 2011, right?
After that, I laid back and just watched the stats for a while.
It was sort of dark where I was. The glow of downtown was close, but I was in a wooded area. There was one light in a nearby parking are for the firefighter training facility behind me.
I could see the dippers and Orian's belt. I could see Vega and some other bright stars. I downloaded an app that was very cool. It uses your positioning and maps out the stars for you. You hold it up and it gives you a very nice general idea of what is where.
I was completely enthralled with it. It's called stellarium and it's very cool.
I did a lot of research on telescopes and I've come to find that telescopes are expensive and cumbersome for the novice astronomer. You're hard pressed to find a decent telescope for under $300 if you want to look much beyond the moon. Also the issue of their size isn't convenient for someone like me looking to ride my bike out to a spot for viewing.
No, the best novice telescope for the money is not a telescope at all, but a pair of binoculars. I've poured over dozens of reviews, thirsty for both knowledge and the truth from those who are doing what I want to do with them already.
I have decided I really want these:
Celsetron Sky Masters. The reviews are amazing and they're said to be the best on the market for the money.
http://amzn.com/B00008Y0VN
They're only $60 and that seems like a nice amount to me. They're expensive enough that I will want to use them and inexpensive enough that I won't feel bad if I only use them for a while.
For now they'll sit on my Amazon wishlist an I'll just have to hope I can afford them before fall is over. I just ordered my fall riding gear- arm and leg sleeves. So that I don't have to switch to a long sleeve jersey and pants. And I really want to order these:
Like really bad. I know it's a men's kit, but it's literally the coolest I've ever seen.
I'm going to need at least a short sleeve jersey as right now I only have a sleeveless jersey and the arm sleeve I got only go just above my elbow.
This kit is my current priority as it will take two to three weeks to receive it once it's ordered and I want it for a tour in October. I'm hoping to order it next week.
Why can't I be rich? Lol
Once I order that it'll be two or three weeks before I can order the Sky Masters and begin charting the heavens lol. I can't wait to see nebulas and planets. Just like when I was a kid and my dad used to drive us out to the country to watch the meteor showers.
I'm going to watch the thrift stores for telescopes, but I doubt I'll find much worth while.
Also, Brian's birthday is this weekend. We usually don't do gifts, but I'm buying him a french press. Only because we were going to get one this weekend anyway. We planned on splitting the cost, but I said I'd pay for it since it's his birthday. So that's $40... I'll make $100 at the bar this weekend and I need $50 more of that to be able to afford that cycling kit... That'll leave me with all of $10 running money for the week lol. But I am getting $35 for a small cake and someone owes me $20 still for a cake I just made them... So maybe I will be able to order the Sky Masters after I get paid at the bar the NEXT week. That wouldn't be so bad.
Of course on top of all this I'm supposed to be saving for a new bike, I really want to get a Cannondale, but I am really terrible at saving money. I feel like I'd never be able to save up $800+ and that's for the old model!
Money is so stupid lol.
Back to the space stuff though, have you heard about the 50 planets that have been recently discovered? Very exciting stuff. There were 16 out of these that are described as "super earths" and one that is in what they hope is in the perfect range of it's sun to be able to maintain liquid water. It's about 35 light years away from us.
I find this all extremely exciting. Brian says it's scary because this means soon we'll make first contact and most people don't have the capacity to accept that. I don't think that's scary at all. I think it's thrilling. I can't express how happy it would make me. He asked if I really wouldn't lose my mind and panic if we made first contact and I said with confidence that any freak out I had would be purely based on excitement and not fear.
Gosh this is rambley at this point. I should get to work.
Hope you're all having a good day.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
*UPDATE* someone just sent me a message on FB asking about me making a cake for them next week... so maaaaybe I will be able to afford everything haha.