• Category Archives Life in the USA

  • News Flash!

    Posted on by beno Comment

    We have clouds!!!!!!

    No, really, big fluffy clouds in the sky!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Hard to believe, I know, but even harder to imagine for those of you in Ballarat…..Just think about not seeing a single cloud every single day for two months!
    Imagine walking out side every day for the past two months and not seeing a single cloud in the sky……. Can you please try………
    It has got to the point where I have been feeling nervous and a little twitchy (yeah, your right)….. But seriously, it has been getting to me a fair bit.
    Anyway, I have not had a chance to take a photo, perhaps tomorrow (if they are still around).


    Life in the USA

  • pod’ie training.

    Posted on by beno 3 Comments

    As most of you know, with in the first few weeks of arriving in Temecula, I attended a meeting of the Temecula Valley Astronomers. It was there that I met Susan, who would have thought that meeting her would lead to such an amazing opportunity……. When we first met, she told me about the Friends of Palomar. I joined up pronto, and Susan got me on the list for a tour and regular readers of my blog (all 3 of you) may recall that first tour.
    Back then, I honestly thought that would be as good as it gets……
    But, no, on my second tour we saw the Hale Telescope slew and the shutters open!
    Wow, so, surley, THAT was as good as it gets???…..Well, no, apparently Susan was conspiring all this time, and last week I got an email ‘formally’ inviting me to sign up to become a ‘Palomar Observatory Docent’ (pod).

    First things first. Whats this docent thing? I had never heard the word in Australia…… Well, according to the free dictionary.com, docent means ‘a teacher or lecturer at some universities who is not a regular faculty member or a lecturer or tour guide in a museum or cathedral’.
    Clearly it is the latter of the two meanings that applies to us here.
    So, a Docent is a tour guide………….
    Did that sink in? I took me a moment…… I was being asked to become a tour guide for Palomar Obervatory….. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Woooo whhhhhooooo!!!!!!

    So, I filled out the paper work, and last Sunday was the first time ever that two tours were offered on Sunday’s. (Clearly a big part of my acceptance). Freddy decided that she would come up with me.
    Sunday, mid morning, we headed up the mountain. We decided to drive, but we will try taking the bike a few times as Freddy gets a little queasy in the car, but I suspect she will be fine on the bike.
    We met up with Mike (tour leader for the day) and Susan, who was working in the gift shop.
    The idea was that we just tagged along and saw the tour from ‘Joe Public’ point of view. I wanted to get a feel of what it was about…. So Freddy and I were tail end Charlie to Mikes two tours.
    It was not long and we had about 15 people for the first tour. ($5 adults, $2.50 seniors and $2kids). We set of on time, and here is a little taste of what happens……..
    The first place we stop is just up the walk way from the visitors center. Its the first time you see the 200” dome.
    The group pauses and we talk about who ‘owns’ and runs the observatory, the size of the dome and a little of the other telescopes on the site.
    We then walk up to the Palomar Testbed Interferometer and we talk a little of how it works and what a light year is.
    Next is George Ellery Hales bust just inside the entrance to the 200 inch dome. We talk about his life and achievements.
    Up the stairs, note at the top the cut away section of the dome wheels.
    This is where you enter the public viewing gallery. Usually there are some people there that are not part of the tour, but they quickly stop talking and start listening (and hopefully are so impressed they go to the visitors center and sign up for the next tour!).
    Here you talk about the pouring of the mirror, the grinding of said mirror, the light path of the telescope and what it was like to use the telescope when it was first commissioned.
    You then open the door to the dome floor and collect every ones tickets. (Hey, sorry, no freeloaders!)
    (Sub note, I love hearing the oooo’s and aaarrhhhhs’ when people walk into the floor, its so much more spectacular to see the telescope right there, rather then through the glass of the gallery. (Worth the price of the tour right there)).
    Once on the floor you talk about the weight and ballance of the ‘scope. We have a small model that we get someone to drive and it makes it clear how the telescope moves around the sky.
    Next its up to dome platform. You can really see the scope now.
    We talk about the different parts of the scope and dome, the walkways, elevators and so on.
    Next, its out onto to the dome catwalk for a stroll around the outside of the dome, we point out the different domes, markings and mountains.
    Lastly its back into the dome to talk about the Friends of Palomar and answer any last questions.
    Then, you lead everyone back down to the floor and out to the gallery.
    Tour over.
    Mike has set me a nice high bar, hes a great Docent, I look forward to working with him and the other docents.
    The exciting thing is that Freddy has decided that its not the worst thing I have taken up and she wants to join me as a Docent and be the crowd control on my tours. So we will be ‘working’ together when we do it, that was unexpected (I honestly thought it would be too geeky for her, but she sees how excited I get. Also she saw how beautiful it was up there, and secretly, I think she has been smitten by the beauty of the 200” is as well).

    So, the burning question is……. Would take a tour if this guy was the docent of the day??


    Astronomy Life in the USA

  • Sea Kayaking.

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Thanks to Jason and Brittany (again), Freddy and I got to do a rather different (for us) activity….. We went sea kayaking.
    It was nothing like what either of us thought it might be, and we both enjoyed it a huge amount.
    You start off at a beach, hopping into the kayak and paddling to get out through the waves. From there is a matter of just paddling at a leisurely pace to keep with your guide. The whole area is a marine park and the guide is telling you about the different aspects of the park and the fish you can see swimming under your bright orange kayak.
    The main point of the tour is to go and look at some caves that can only be accessed from the sea.
    It was a lot of fun feeling the swell and I am pleased to say that neither of us got sea sick. Jo and Terry were on another kayak with us, and unfortunately they both got a little queasy in the middle of the tour, but once we got to go in the cave, they seem to settle down….. Speaking of Jo, she was the only one to have the fore-thought to get all of us a pair of gloves and thus save us from painful hands for the rest of the conference! Well done Jo!
    It was really neat to see all the different kinds of fish swimming around us, and it gave me a huge urge to do some snorkeling again as soon as the weather warms up again. (I still would like to try scuba as well).
    The best was when we saw the tiger sharks swimming along the bottom of the ocean. They were so smooth in their motions.
    There are sandstone cliffs along the coast and its in these that the caves have been made by the action of the waves.
    We got to go into one of them, and it was great to see the little nooks and cranny’s that have been etched by the sea over the years. The sound of the ocean in the cave was beautiful as well.
    The trip back to the beach was more exciting for some than for the 4 of us (thankfully, the water was REALLY cold).
    A few of the group got dumped out and thus totally soaked.

    Freddy had such a good time that she wants to get some kayaks to put on the roof of the RV we are (never) going to buy.
    It sure was relaxing way to spend the afternoon.


    Life in the USA

  • Jumping out of a plane

    Posted on by beno Comment

    I was given an amazing gift while I was away. Jason and Brittany paid for me to jump out of a plane at 13,000 feet.
    Its hard to sum it all up. I dont think a blow by blow retelling is going to do the job either.

    Its an amazing thing, you dont get a sinking feeling in your stomach when you leave the plane, the ‘only’ way you know your even out of the plane is that the sound changes and you stabilize looking at the horizon rather than at the interior of the plane. There is no ‘rush’, there is no ‘agh!’, just a big smile.
    Once you realize that you are in free fall, the best way I can describe it is freedom. Its a release of a bunch of things you never knew you were holding. The most obvious for me was breathing. You never think about your breathing when sitting or walking, or even on the bike, but when in free fall, the air is just rushing into your lungs and its so easy to breath, its like all the friction is taken out of the air and you are alive for the first time ever.
    Its an odd slapping feeling when the parachute is opening, then once its open you get a powerful pull back and up.
    Once that settles you can take your goggles off and look around. Its quite and peaceful. I just wanted to hang there for a long time. Its very comfortable and the view is amazing.
    We did a few tight turns on the way down, but I was getting a little queasy, so we just rode it down. The landing was very gentle, just a few steps and your standing there looking at the ‘chute flutter to your side.
    I can see how people would get hooked on it, for me though, it was about the release more so than any sort of adrenaline rush. I would do it again no problem. I would like to go a little higher and try a longer free fall and thus also longer glide back down.
    The weather was perfect for us, warm enough to wear a t-shirt, and it was about an hour before sundown, so the light and shadows were just beautiful on the hills.

    It was nice to leave the world behind for a little while.
    Thanks guys.


    Life in the USA

  • Rants and raves?……No, just rants…..

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Ok, if you are American, you can turn away, or you can take a deep breath and read on. (You have been warned).

    While I work in America, I dont ‘live’ with Americans. I have just come back from a 9 day conference where I spent a great deal more time than 9-5 with a bunch of Americans. For better or worse, it has only cemented in my mind the conclusions that were forming over the past 6.5 months.
    Americans generally (there are always exceptions, I am not talking about them) only like to talk about them selfs, they don’t like to listen to others. They like large groups where there is little chance to sit long enough to really talk about anything meaningful. They have very small worlds and largely don’t care or know about whats going on outside that small world. They think their world is bigger than what it is.
    Thats probably enough for now…..

    The 9 days went well enough. I got to take over 900 photos. I have edited that down to 616 which you can see in the two ‘Del Mar’ albums in my Picasa Web site.
    I will blog more of the past activities over the next few days, its pretty busy at work and at home (more on why its busy at home after we catch up on the past 9 days).


    Life in the USA