What's the Most disappointing Day in your Life.

[FlashDrive]

What's the Most disappointing Day in your Life.....that you can remember...!!

Mine was when I found out ' Santa ' wasn't real .....:(

Flash....:D

[alocky]

When I realised that not strong with the force was I. Couldn't even do a Jedi mind trick on my parents.
That and the annual dissapointment of not winning a Nobel prize. Otherwise I've found that the cosmological-scale sense of perspective we Astro-nuts share limits the harm dissapointment can cause.
Can't say the same for my parents, though :)
Cheers!

[rrussell1962]

When I found out that the pictures on the box of the 60mm refractor were not what I could see. For those interested it was a Prinz 600 (I think) sold in the UK in the 1970's. But I could see more through it than I could with binoculars - so it was not all bad!

[speach]

Last Friday found out my cancer has returned

[RB]

Sorry to hear.

:(
Andrew

[casstony]

I empathize Simon; nothing like serious health issues to make the rest of life's problems pale in comparison.

[Tropo-Bob]

From an Astronomy point of view: when I pointed my 60mm scope at the "easy" double Castor in 1968 and failed to split. It turned out that the Nortons Atlas had 'old' information and the separation at that time was much closer than listed. Now of course, it is easy to split.

On the same evening, I felt similarly duded when I pointed the 60mm scope at the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Nortons showed the area congested with deep-sky objects, but, I saw nothing from my light-polluted backyard. :lol:

[xelasnave]

Simon I am sorry to hear that. I will hold hope that you can overcome.
Best wishes Alex

[xelasnave]

Of course material things are insignificant but finding I had lost everything in a bush fire was a little hard to get past.

[Kunama]

Probably the day my wife told me she wanted to sell up in my beloved Snowy Mountains and move back to Canberra ................

[Hagar]

The day I found out a few people I considered friends weren't.

[louie_the_fly]

June 8 2015. :(

The second worst day was when I found out that I don't actually have Jedi powers, and that those doors in the shopping centre are automatic.

[pgc hunter]

Not getting accepted into a Meteorology training program at the BOM after spending days studying and filling out applications, including having to write essays, because apparently I was not "quality" enough. :mad2:

[RickS]

The day I learned that a scope with perfectly figured optics would still have aberrations.

[RB]

They probably Googled all your posts on here about Melbourne weather.....

:lol:

[csb]

THAT was a great day for me. I felt I had a secret that others didn't know. Mum said I couldn't tell my brothers n sisters. A golden day in my childhood.

[Kunama]

Having travelled extensively north of the Arctic Circle, I think you have been misled. We actually saw the Jolly chubby fellow a couple of times in our travels just north of Rovaniemi. Keep the faith Poppy !

[FlashDrive]

I knew it :clap: ... I knew it :clap: ...cause he still came every December without fail.

I didn't care what they told me then......:innocent:

Poppy.....:cool:

[AussieTrooper]

The day I moved out of home, and found out that the new place didn't have an automatic floor.
My clothes no longer disappeared from the floor, reappearing in the wardrobe. :(

[doppler]

Disappointing, astronomy wise

When...... after travelling 50kms over the Mt lofty ranges to Murraybridge in pouring rain to catch a glimpse of the 1986 total eclipse of the moon (after deciding not to pack the scope, beacause of the dismal viewing prospects)... only to arrive at clear skys, the eclipse at mid stage and looking great and hearing my mate yell out wow look there's Halleys comet. The comet was bright and at its best and I couldn't get an image.

Rick

[pgc hunter]

background checks LOL :lol:

[PCH]

The day another bloody Australia Post thread appeared on here! Oh wait, that's today, lol

[xelasnave]

I have been able to make a list...

[clive milne]

The day I knew with crushing certainty that the only person who dedicated his life to writing fiction on the following list is the one in italics.

William Golding
George Orwell
Bill Hicks
Aldous Huxley
Deek Jackson
Ray Bradbury
George Carlin
Gary Webb
Danny Casolaro
Rupert Murdoch

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tiding
Of the golden future time.

Actually... that was so yesterday.

I'm now going with;
4 legs good, 2 legs bad.
At least with this statement there will be no censorship from captain squealer.

As the saying goes, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Happy new year!
I expect it will be much like the previous, but with a twist of irony.

[astronobob]

At age 20 back in early '80's my bestest mate nickname 'Worm' for 15yrs, also my vice captain when we won two premierships U/14s & 15's; runners up in 16's - got involved with a Heavy Metal band as the Drummer - all other goings on included as can imagine, got a bit wacky and dobbed me into the police for breaking into their house and stealing heaps of stuff including thousands in cash - Which I Didn't - True Words may lightning strike me down !

Yeah, I had to wait like 2 hrs in an intimidation room, then the questions started, I did not have a clue what this was all going to be about, but after 15-20mins and a couple of ph calls as in alibi's, they let me go, saw that my 'so-called mate' was full of it !
Was rather distressing at the time as went went through heaps together - so many good-times - all gone in a whisper :shrug:

Apparently he is still Rock'en in Sydney - no great success, living on a whim !

[OzStarGazer]

AH!!! I wanted to write the same even before opening this thread, just by looking at the title.

Other disappointing days have been when I have found out that "friends" had been stabbing me in the back.

[CJ]

9/11 has to be up there.

[csb]

911 doesn't really move the emotions to disappointment, do they? Probably Bin Laden was disappointed that one plane was crashed into open countryside by the passengers.

[CJ]

There were lots of emotions that day.
I was disappointed that someone could commit such a enormously divisive act and that no terrorist act seemed unthinkable any more.

[OzStarGazer]

Third moon eclipse of the tetrad, last one theoretically visible from Australia - just as invisible behind thick clouds as the first two.

[clive milne]

Well, that particular conspiracy theory is not supported by much (if any) weight of credible evidence.

Unlike (a selection from the public record):

Operation Susannah/The Lavon affair.
The USS Liberty incident.
Operation Northwoods.
Gladio
The (attempted) sinking of the SS Patria
Deir Yasin
Kafr Qasim
Bahr al Baker

And I'll stop there, being that it's a very long list which might have been worth posting if I imagined any of you would take the time to understand the significance of these events, the common thread... and given the priorities expressed by people on this forum implies that none of you actually want to understand... the desire to that end being nowhere in evidence.

And so, history repeats.

[el_draco]

The first time I said, "I do....":screwy: In hindsight, I would have handsomely paid anyone who had punched my lights out 5 seconds earlier and stomped me hard where it hurts most :rofl:

[Hagar]

History repeats and so does Clive. Did someone buy you a book of lists?

[clive milne]

Thank you for illustrating my point.

For anyone who took the time to understand (the significance of the events on) the list I posted,
it would be perfectly clear where your heart, soul and thirty pieces of silver are invested.... it isn't with us, and it ain't here.

[Hagar]

Clive, remove your hand and take a deep breath.

[BilliGoatsGruff]

I missed them all too! It was such a disappointment when I realised that was all of the ones visible for us.

Actually, I seem to miss all of the exciting stuff. Not sure if I can blame it on the kids or not, but this chicky needs her sleep! :zzz:

[AstralTraveller]

Clive, I find your posts most informative and worthwhile reading. I'm interested in understanding you and if you were just a bit less cryptic I might succeed. I don't have time during the day to do the research you suggest and tonight is already spoken for (writing to DSS to tell them to stop stealing money from my mother). Can you point me to a not-too-long explanation of your point?

As you may imagine, I find you last generalisation inappropriate. It's true that the loud-mouthed ignoramii tend to make the most noise while the decent people tend to keep quiet but I think that is because 'ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge' (Darwin). You haven't made today the most disappointing of my life but being lumped in with <names withheld> certainly hasn't raised my spirits. :)

[CJ]

I too was interested to read Clive's links. Fascinating stuff.

[AstralTraveller]

I can't remember that clearly. I think it sort of dawned on me slowly. But I do remember thinking that I'd better not let on that I know or the flow of presents might stop.

As for me, I can't decide on an answer. I've had all sorts of bad days and I'm wondering which ones I call 'disappointing' ... and which ones I want to talk about. Right now I'm disappointed nothing seems to keep the grubs out of my tomatoes and that something small enough to get through the mesh has discovered what tasty strawberries I'm growing.

[clive milne]

On this topic at least, I am pleased to be suitably admonished for being incorrect and unfair.

I apologise.



The subject matter has been so profoundly obfuscated and distorted in the public narrative that it requires some historical context in order to even begin to understand it... well, actually a fair bit of historical context... way beyond what could be conveyed in a 5 minute youtube video or sound byte.

fwiw) I couldn't count the number of hours I have spent over the years trying to piece it together (and I won't insult you with the hubris to suggest I have been successful to that end) but the time would be measured in the thousands (of hours), digging through the publicly accessibly accounts, the journals, transcripts, diaries, interviews of historians and people on the stage of life in the pivotal moments in history. Of course, a sizeable chunk of that time was wasted on reading or listening to buffoons, shills, gate keepers and charlatans. Ironically, all of them serving to define the boundaries of the set of information best described; as 'not the truth'. Amongst the tailings however, you find the gems... the skill worth learning is how to make the distinction.

Ask Danny Casolaro why I choose not to elaborate further.

I prefer the remuneration of 'non-participant/observer' status.

[xelasnave]

you can study for ever upon any matter but you attain wisdom with realisation that perhaps you have learnt little.
be careful it sounds if you know too much.

[Larryp]

Alex, you remind me of a saying my parents used many years ago.

"Knowledge is proud, she knows so much. Wisdom is humble, she knows no more":)

[xelasnave]

Thank you Laurie that is a gem.
And to Clive ... Don't let history get you down.
Its study can generally leave one disappointed in human behaviour.