Thursday #694 ... does everyone have their eclipse glasses ready?

[cassiesmom]

Tomatoes are ripening it seems every minute. I have been harvesting in my friend's garden all week, and there were two massive ones that were so ripe, the skins split on the one-mile ride to her house! Tomatoes the heft of softballs, those more flat than spherical. So tomato, mozzarella and basil salad anyone?

Absolutely! Yum! *pouring wine to go with salad*

'm disappointed that it was too cloudy in Chicago yesterday to see the eclipse clearly. It definitely got more dim and then more bright. Richard- I thought the best example of science geekery was Chicago meteorologist Tom Skilling's reaction to the eclipse. His brother is the former CEO of Enron, so it's nice to see the name all over the Internet again for a good reason.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0d97c3fffa0c2

[RICHARD]

Absolutely! Yum! *pouring wine to go with salad*

'm disappointed that it was too cloudy in Chicago yesterday to see the eclipse clearly. It definitely got more dim and then more bright. Richard- I thought the best example of science geekery was Chicago meteorologist Tom Skilling's reaction to the eclipse. His brother is the former CEO of Enron, so it's nice to see the name all over the Internet again for a good reason.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0d97c3fffa0c2

I love it....I watched the reruns of the reporting and saw a few reporters/weather people get choked up about the event....

I grew up in So Cal, a real hot bed for science/space and all things that go up in the air.

I was thinking about all the things that I HAVE geeked out about - I remember the moon landing and later on was able to see some moon rocks on display at the museum in Lost Angeles. I have watched rocket missle launches from Vandenberg AFB.

http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbmultimedia.htm

I have seen launches in the morning, evening and during the late night hours. The most beautiful are the sunset launches, The sun backlights the exhaust trail and it turns into a gauzy sheet in the sky that disappears as the sun goes down!

The Space Shuttle flyovers and landings were pretty radical too. I spent many hours after a shuttle launch watching them trying to catch the Space Station...You still can watch the ISS fly over on a clear night....It starts as a little dot on the horizon and grows as it passes overhead....then it fades and winks out.....

My favorite memory is watching the shuttle fly into Palmdale, CA to be refurbished.

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.u...r=1.05&pid=1.7

THAT was happenstance....I hadn't kept up with the trip and was parking the car when I heard the sound of a huge jet flying over head. I thought "this sucker is gonna crash!" and looked up. I REALLY GEEKED OUT, jumped back in the car and flew down to the airstrip where I got to watch it land...Later on I got to walk thru that 747 at an airshow. It was a large empty 747, but it was the idea that it did such a hard job......the photos do not do it justice...
At that same airshow I got to hold one of the heat tiles that they used on the ship and got to chat with a scientist at the exhibit.

I was really upset afterwards. The have some really HOT women working for NASA, sorry if I sound petty, but brains and looks? I wasted my misspent youth!

I have also geeked out over stuff I have seen thru a telescope! The rings of Saturn are just fantastic! Venus is another treat - it goes thru phases, just like the moon! And don't start me on the meteor showers.....

[mon]

I guess the Donald didn't go blind. I'm sure he'd lie about it if he did.

[Karen]

I guess the Donald didn't go blind. I'm sure he'd lie about it if he did.

I am sure he just looked up for a second - but that's the shot everyone took - and spread. Any longer than a split second, and Melania likely elbowed him!