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My body is still in hibernation mode. I usually feel like I could sleep from about November/December to April. Once the weather warms up a little I'll probably do some hiking, but for now I just want to sleep until Spring gets here.

I am really excited for Spring to arrive. I just love seeing nature in full bloom, it's so magical to me.. I've also been seeing a lot of fat little birdies where I live recently which is super kawaii and also very cool that soon they will lay eggs and little baby birdies will be born! However a down side is bad weather can happen a lot more where I live which totally sucks but.. as long as flowers, plants, and animals come out more then I'm content~

I am so over winter just sick of the cold, and the ice. I will be walking a lot as I haad to dile it back a bit with all this blizzard weather, and cold sub zero temps. I am ready for aping and summer despicably.

A place to discuss random confessions that you might want to get out of your chest, even if they are harmless, random and with a bit of slice of life attached. For example, I will go first. I confess that when I was young, probably 10-11 I would watch Sakura Card Captor with a fear of my parents finding out, since it was a girls show I feared they would scold me for watching it or label me as an homosexual in family reunions because I liked magical girls. So what I would do is watch it in the lobby and swiftly change channels whenever a family member walked by, this would usually make me lose keypoints of the series and a lot of combat scenes - character development, but eh, well, nothing I could do about it. In the end it was the right choice, as my parents did confessed that they were glad none of his kids liked girlie shows and that the catholic values were being uphold... wut?

Not really an extremely impressive piece of art but I made this when I was planning the site I wanted to make and I don't know why but I'm so proud of it so there it is

This is Glitter Spring speaking, Hello everyone. Today is the day that we are going to talk about the season of spring. So what are you going to do in the spring time? Winter will be over soon. Hope to read what you are saying here. Have fun with spring time. Yours truly, Glitter Spring

I bought a Nintendo Switch the other day. I’m waiting for it to arrive (ordered it online)

New baby animals are always cute to be sure even though it is hard to ever see them when just walking since most animals hide their young naturally for their protection. Plus mamma animals of any description aren't exactly very nice when one approaches their young.

Or you become the dummy, because will believe the true brains behind the outfit.

As happy as I am to see an end to winter, I don't get that excited about spring. Around here it tends to be far too wet, turning anything that isn't paved into a mud pit. Plus the dampness makes it feel colder than the actual temperature. I don't usually get more active until summer. Though Autumn/Fall is my personal favorite of the seasons. Almost forgot, one thing I do like about Spring: Opening Day & the start of baseball season

Currently starting to play the Sims 4.

So I figured it might be interesting to see people find out where they would fit in my site even if they don't wanna join my discord or even be part of the site (which is totally cool with me, I got 30 peoples which is awesome). So if anyone wants to take this just for a bit of fun then here it is Totally didn't spend three hours on this https://www.playbuzz.com/item/3437dbcd-2306-406c-9c99-c52bb0017d95

Okay well here's another thingy that the site artists made for our shops, we call it a Garganta Capsule. Anyone that knows Bleach knows about gargantas. The spiritual gate that can connect a world to the Hollow world, Hueco Mundo. On our site, there's one black market store that sells these little capsules that, when broken in half, can open a gateway above the capsule user that will lead to Hueco Mundo. This design is just a starter, we plan to make a more aesthetically pleasing one later

Thanks guys, the posituve feedback is great to hear :3 I might have more to share soon!

I concur that designing a site is tough even if you do know all the standards for putting it together. Its like starting out writing a story. The hardest part is getting started the next hardest part is keeping your drive to continue. Though if your proud of it thats what matters.

Hey it's not easy to design a website. Even if it's just a mockup. So be proud of yourself. Even after years of web development I still get stumped when asked to design a website.

THE NEW SMALLER CREATIVE CORNER I THOUGHT OF IN MY ROOM! I love when anime have long and descriptive tiles like that... Anyway since there is no creative corner currently and sharing your creativity is fun and I like to to here is my smaller creative corner for anyone to upload and share anything they like... And if I am the only one who ends up posting well I'll damn well keep it goin..

This should be a fun topic to follow. It will also be a really good way to gauge how much the Creative Corner forum is truly missed.

Using prisms as a secondary mirror is (was?) pretty common. It used to be a lot easier/cheaper to make a prism than create another primary-surface mirror for the secondary. They also used to have as few supports for the secondary as possible on the theory that more supports blocked more incoming light. That big (heavy) chunk of glass sticking out on a single stick is prone to be knocked out of alignment however. Newer designs using modern manufacturing methods tend to have smaller, lighter primary-surface mirrors with more supports so they tend to stay put once you have them aligned. It shouldn't matter if the secondary is a "prisim on a stick" version or a newer mirrored type however. A laser collimator should work for either type. (In fact, Orion's youtubie on collimation shows both types. The actual device in the video has a more modern, multiple-support setup for the secondary but the diagrams show the "on a stick" type. It also shows both the "manual" method with just a collimation cap as well as using the laser collimator. Worth a watch, if you're into that sort of thing.) Tell me about it. These days there's almost as many solar installers as HVAC companies and permitting is a lot easier. But when we built our system we were the trailblazers in our area. Most people were ok with the concept (even SCE, since the state paid them for doing nothing), but the bureaucrazy was nuts. Took us a long time just to get a permit. There was no checkbox marked "solar panels" on the city's building permit application forms you see, and you can't get a permit to build unless you fill out the application form correctly. I think we wound up calling our work "roof repairs" or some such nonsense. Technically true, since we re-shingled the roof and did some patching before installing the panels, but...

Ha! For me collimating was a literal PITN (Pain in the neck). I have disk problems and I can't tell you how many weekends I spent curled up in pain after working on it. They saved me! I almost got a laser collimator, but I wasn't sure even with it that I could do it. You see (and when I explained this to the group the first time before bringing my scope they all thought I was either crazy or making it up), the secondary mirror was possibly a prism and not a mirror...and it was attached via a single "stick" or thin pole. No spider veins on that baby! And it had one screw to hold it into place and it would spin when you'd tighten it. The collimation isn't perfect now, but I can see again in it! My father had left it in the garage for several years (an open door garage and no cover on the scope...the only reason it wasn't stolen was it's weight) and then in an unfinished bedroom for another 20 years before I rescued it from him and I removed the mirrors to clean it up. It was full of cobwebs, dust, and at least an inch or so of pine pollen. When I think about the fact that I removed and cleaned the mirrors on a telescope older than I am, I shudder. I am so thankful that mirror hadn't had any mold or fungus or mildew growing on it from having been outside in the insane humidity of my homestate. Would've ruined the coating on the mirrors for sure. I'm hoping the next time I'm in town and they are meeting, I might try to bring it out for everyone to look through it. My job sadly keeps me away at the moment =/ I also want a small tabletop dob someday, but I told myself to get the SCT first. I think it'll be just light enough that I can still carry it without too much issue. It is awesome you still have the cat I love older scopes. It honestly sounds similar to one of my friend's scopes that he sometimes brings out. You can get amazing views from it on a dark night but they have to use a ramp to get it back up in the truck. As for solar, you could definitely replace with better panels now. I had to replace mine (racoon damaged every single one of them but that last panel arced in his mouth...) and it was just two years after we installed them. Got panels about the same size with much better inverters and output, for less than what we originally paid (even managed to sell the old damaged ones to a salvage group). I'm waiting for my 5k system to someday pay for itself. I got in on the tax rebates and got it pretty much 65% paid for in tax credits so I should be seeing a return on my investment in just another year or two. I wanted to eventually go off grid, but that's a longterm dream. Part of the problem here however is the little co-ops see solar as a competitor, and they fight you tooth and nail on the systems, charge extra fees every month if you have one, have ridiculous pointless boxes to check off (like must have metal box in weird dimensions that a single cable runs part way through and must bury in ground under power box a min of x feet and max of y feet and an awkward to grade angle just for the heck of it. No joke. Had to go to a metalworker to make the box for me). They make it so hard and such a frustration to get solar, even though they are benefiting from my solar credits to their power network. It is insane I wish we had a more welcoming area for it. Still, when people are looking for my home, all I have to say is "yeah, we're the only house on the street with solar panels. You can't miss us." so...it has benefits too. It definitely has helped with our power usage and now with the system I can estimate exactly what we would need to go off grid on our current power usage and power generation.

Yeah, collimating is a PITA. I finally broke down an got a laser collimator for my cat. With a smaller scope it probably wouldn't be necessary but the cat is big. Or at least big enough to be hard to adjust the screws while keeping an eye on the alignment. It really helps there. It gets you 95%+ there quickly and it is hard to do completely wrong. They're not too expensive either. At least not when I consider how much fiddling it lets me avoid. I think mine cost about $50. (It is a combined Cheshire/laser deal, kind of like this.) Nice size. I've been thinking of getting a smaller, portable, "tabletop" model of that sort (Dobsonian or SCT) myself. The cat I have is great, but it is heavy enough that I have to be REALLY interested in viewing to want to drag it out. (The motor housing is cast iron and weighs a ton just by itself. Then add the 2 counterweights, the legs, the battery to power it all.. oh yeah, and the telescope. ) Back when there wasn't so much light pollution and smog where I live I got more use out of it because I could just set it up in the back yard. These days I think I'd get more use out of a smaller 'scope that's portable and easier to set up. To really let the cat shine I need to pack it in the car and haul it up the mountain or over into the desert. Unfortunately that's just too much for me lately. My refractor is good for portability, but it is only a 2.5-inch aperture. I use it mostly for solar viewing. It is almost as old as I am and has seen better days too. Thinking it is time for a third option. It makes me sad to see the cat just sitting in the corner though. Solar panels are a no-brainer here in SoCal Edison territory. SCE's "tiered" rate structure starts at 18¢/kWh and goes up to over 40¢/kWh! The system on our roof we built for about 17¢/kWh, and that was 15 years ago. The system has already paid for itself and I'd like to (re)build a newer one with more modern gear and cheaper panels. (Maybe add in a charging station for my car as well... I'd love to be able to at least do the commute effectively on solar power alone.) These days I could probably do it again for about 10¢/kWh or less. We're in a great area for solar too. Makes me wonder how SCE stays in business.

Hehe, my profession has a similar problem, but instead of asking questions about work we usually commiserate about how bad it has gotten. I just try to avoid it...even though sometimes you just can't. I wish I had a picture of my telescope on hand. It's 42? Years old...at one of the star party functions, someone in the group managed to find an old catalogue listing for it. An Edmund Scientific and the mirror is nearly perfect. They helped me collimate it and everything (I tried unsuccessfully for 2 years on my own). I wanted to get a Celestron 8SE SCT for Christmas but I'm currently saving money for a career change so I did the adult thing and restrained my credit card. And wow! I have solar panels on my roof too (a rarity in my area). And the hurricane didn't rip them off so I suppose they weren't kidding about our roof having the hardest wood they'd ever drilled into lol. I wish I knew more people with solar too. I could compare notes on cost and what it might take for me to transition off grid someday. the dream...the only house during a hurricane with the electricity running strong on the street lol. I hope your schedule gets more regular again. I think a solar group would be really fun to join

I've tried that a few times. In fact, where I work it is kind of an occupational hazard. Every eclipse or transit or whatever there's a crowd of people and telescopes in the mall down the hill from my office. I even have a couple telescopes* myself, including a nice 8-inch CAT, with GOTO, GPS, wifi interface to my phone/computer, and more optics and accessories than I care to admit to. The problem is that it has been hard to find such a group nearby where I don't know anyone from work. I'm a fix-it guy at work, and socializing with work-friends always seems to wind up being about work.. specifically about getting me to fix something at work. Or discussing how to fix something at work. Or the best way to do something at work. Etc. Etc. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to help in a work context, and I do enjoy my work. (At least when it isn't making me crazy.) But not so much that I want to give it my social life as well. And yes, I've tried to make rules about not doing or discussing work outside of the office. It doesn't really help. I'm happy to discuss pretty much anything having to do with anything more than 100km up, but that's a slippery slope. It seems at some point there's always a "Hey, that reminds me; I know you don't like discussing work but..." moment. As a result I find I'd rather associate with non-work people, even if meeting such is difficult. That said, for a while now I've also been looking for a good solar power group locally. Maybe I could try that again. I have solar panels on the roof and I'd like to find like-minded people to get together with and compare notes. It is a lot easier & convenient to find people online though, especially with my work schedule. Recently my boss even has/had me working shifts again. Hard to find time for parties or club meetings when you'r'e working graveyard one day, then swings the next. *"Frangere" and "Cat"...

@efaardvark ever try going to a star party? That was big for me and if my work situation wasn't what it is like right now, I'd still be going and meeting new people and talking about the stuff we enjoy. @Steerminator making friends wasn't big on my list in life. I grew up in a remote retired persons neighborhood with no friends my own age about, never actually bonded with kids my own age at school or extracurricular activities. Honestly I was happy that way. Had to change though for work. Social networking is hard but takes a personal effort on your own part. If you aren't putting yourself out there, it isn't going to just fall in your lap. Most all my friends came from grad school, work, or my hobbies. And there are many out there with the same interests as you. If you go to a convention you'll see jusjust start talking to people about the stuff you are interested in and see where it leads.