cbcwpg
Registered User
A spot on the map called Alliance, Nebraska. Will be staying in Deadwood South Dakota leading up to it.
OT: Jets Lounge: post-Jedi edition
- Thread starter Romang67
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A spot on the map called Alliance, Nebraska. Will be staying in Deadwood South Dakota leading up to it.
Nice. Deadwood and the Black Hills are pretty awesome. Best chance of clear skies there too I think.
nobody important
the pessimist returns
One of the weird things about getting old is that I will struggle to remember what I had for dinner the previous night, yet events like this are completely indelible. I distinctly remember that day back in 1979 when the total eclipse passed through Winnipeg. I was working a dead end job for a company that no longer exists called Venus Industries, that manufactured cheap plastic and wood window blinds.
On that day, the head shipper and I had to go over to their main warehouse in EK. As zero hour approached, we headed outside to enjoy the event. I remember the shadows rippling along the ground from the Baily's Beads, and watching the transit of the moon through a piece of welder's glass. What an amazing day to be alive and in that place at that time, I thought. I mean, think about what has to happen for this to take place. You need a satellite of exactly the right size and right distance to occlude the body of the sun yet leave the corona visible to look at with the naked eye. This may be the only place in the universe with such an event. Hell, if I was booking interstellar vacations on some alien planet, I would charge an arm and one of six legs for a trip here to watch it.
Anyway, we got back to the main production facility and I went to talk to the women that did the blind assembly about it, and they told me they didn't see it. They weren't allowed outside to watch it, they were expected to keep working because that's what they were being paid for. And all I could think was, you ****ing ********. You absolute god damn ****ing ********. You would deny these people the right to watch a once in a lifetime event because you're worried this will affect your bottom line by a pittance? I hope there's a special place in Hell reserved for them.
Interesting. We've rented a motorhome and will be heading down to Mount Rushmore then Alliance to see Carhenge.
Then we're heading east to the Nebraska / (whatever state is next to Nebraska) border to catch the eclipse. The drive will net us an extra eight seconds of totality iirc.
Hydrogen Alpha solar scopes are packed, CPC 1100 is tuned up, this is going to be great. I was five years old during the 1979 eclipse and my mom subscribed to the old wives tale that you would go blind if you saw an eclipse so I missed the damn thing. Boo!
m.
Interesting. We've rented a motorhome and will be heading down to Mount Rushmore then Alliance to see Carhenge.
Then we're heading east to the Nebraska / (whatever state is next to Nebraska) border to catch the eclipse. The drive will net us an extra eight seconds of totality iirc.
Hydrogen Alpha solar scopes are packed, CPC 1100 is tuned up, this is going to be great. I was five years old during the 1979 eclipse and my mom subscribed to the old wives tale that you would go blind if you saw an eclipse so I missed the damn thing. Boo!
m.
It wasn't just your mom, it was everyone. I was in grade 9 at the time and we were all pretty much locked into the school; nobody was supposed to be let out.
Thankfully not all the teachers felt that way and a couple of them snuck out the back door of the school. I just happened to be in the hallway and saw them go out. Being a good student but a bit of a smarta$$ I went to the door and gave them crap and told them to come back inside. They told me to shut up and get outside before someone saw me as well. So I stood outside with a couple of my teachers (thank you Mr. Murray and Mr. Ayotte) and watched the full eclipse through a little piece of welders glass while everyone else was stuck inside.
cbcwpg
Registered User
It wasn't just your mom, it was everyone. I was in grade 9 at the time and we were all pretty much locked into the school; nobody was supposed to be let out.
Thankfully not all the teachers felt that way and a couple of them snuck out the back door of the school. I just happened to be in the hallway and saw them go out. Being a good student but a bit of a smarta$$ I went to the door and gave them crap and told them to come back inside. They told me to shut up and get outside before someone saw me as well. So I stood outside with a couple of my teachers (thank you Mr. Murray and Mr. Ayotte) and watched the full eclipse through a little piece of welders glass while everyone else was stuck inside.
Yeah, there was the usual panic. I was lucky. I was home sick that day from school... or so they were told.
Interactive map if anyone's looking to make a last minute dash to see it.
https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/interactive_map/index.html
It wasn't just your mom, it was everyone. I was in grade 9 at the time and we were all pretty much locked into the school; nobody was supposed to be let out.
Thankfully not all the teachers felt that way and a couple of them snuck out the back door of the school. I just happened to be in the hallway and saw them go out. Being a good student but a bit of a smarta$$ I went to the door and gave them crap and told them to come back inside. They told me to shut up and get outside before someone saw me as well. So I stood outside with a couple of my teachers (thank you Mr. Murray and Mr. Ayotte) and watched the full eclipse through a little piece of welders glass while everyone else was stuck inside.
Hmmm... My sister was in grade four and they went outside to watch the eclipse. I still remember the 'eclipse glasses' that everyone had. They had the sponsor name on the side - and the sponsor was that most Winnipeg of institutions:
Champs Chicken.
m.
BTW here's some more planning tools:
http://www.eclipse2017.org/
(Has a good community by community page)
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html
(Shows details along the entire path).
Remember: close doesn't count!
m.
http://www.eclipse2017.org/
(Has a good community by community page)
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html
(Shows details along the entire path).
Remember: close doesn't count!
m.
Different school division I'd assume. They let nobody out and our teacher kept telling kids to get away from the window as the full eclipse approached. Your sister had the better opportunity. I'll be golfing with a dozen guys next week that missed it because they were kept inside.
- Feb 23, 2014
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Holden Caulfield
Eternal Skeptic
That was well before I was born.
I am having a hard time fathoming what possible reason the schools would force people inside and not see whats almost a once in a lifetime opportunity? That makes no sense at all to me, I can't imagine what reason they would have for that.
Well, if you stare at the sun before or after totality you can damage your eyes. And without enough protective glasses/welder's glasses to go around, it was probably deemed too risky to send a bunch of kids out and hope they'd just not look at the sun. I recall watching it on a TV they rolled into our classroom that day...
I think that 1979 eclipse was the last time a total eclipse was visible from any Canadian province or the lower-48 states.
Tom ServoMST3K
In search of a Steinbach Hero
I remember a while ago my dad sister and I (All over 18) got out the welder masks to see Venus pass through the sun. It was a fun time. That trip is tempting, but I know I'll be WAY too busy.
Strictly speaking that's true but there was a total eclipse visible from the Northwest Territories on August 1, 2008. The far far northern part to boot.
m.
Yeah that was pretty remote...technically part of contiguous Canada, but you couldn't really drive up there to see it.
Next chance to drive to a total eclipse is 2024. Then there are two in relatively quick succession in 2044 and 2045. My kids can take their kids to those later ones!
I distinctly remember going outside in Grade 5 with welding glasses and our pin-hole cameras to witness the full eclipse.
Gen-X / Punk / Grunge era person here.
Tom ServoMST3K
In search of a Steinbach Hero
Ugh, Tech Support.
I feel for the guys in the trenches, but for two days in a row now, they've asked me if I was available for troubleshooting at work, and I ended up staying late waiting for a call that never came.
I feel for the guys in the trenches, but for two days in a row now, they've asked me if I was available for troubleshooting at work, and I ended up staying late waiting for a call that never came.
Yeah that was pretty remote...technically part of contiguous Canada, but you couldn't really drive up there to see it.
Next chance to drive to a total eclipse is 2024. Then there are two in relatively quick succession in 2044 and 2045. My kids can take their kids to those later ones!
And there's one spot that will be in the moon's shadow for both eclipses. To stand in the same spot for two eclipses will truly be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
m.
Is it October yet?
For the first time in my life I can be excited for the start of hockey season without the mourning of summer.
This is the most excited I've been for a season in a long time
PS I know this is OT for OT
You still in Florida? Where summer is largely indiscernible from whatever else might occur.
flyingkiwi
Registered User
At least you guys live on a piece of earth big enough to get an eclipse. Chance of anything passing over little ol NZ is very slim.
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cbcwpg
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