MortonH
05-05-2007, 07:31 PM
Bought myself another scope (ED115S) two weeks ago and it will see first light tonight. I've been studying hard, plus I had to get some holes drilled in a dovetail so I could mount the new scope on a TeleVue mount, so I've been waiting patiently. Of course, the TV Panoramic isn't meant to hold a 115mm refractor, so it's not exactly rock solid, which means I now have to consider a new mount of some kind, i.e. I need to buy another thing.
As I've watched myself checking the Buy/Sell forum twenty-three times a day over the last few months, I've realised that this pattern is not unique to me. Therefore, I'd like to suggest alternative meanings for some standard astronomical terminology...
Black hole - the hole down which all your spare cash (and some 'not spare' cash) seems to start disappearing as soon as you buy a scope. "Ah, but I need this gizmo as well, and if I just upgrade to this..."
Event horizon - the fine line between life and death. On one side, the irresistible inwards pull towards more gear (and more cash). On the other side, the infinite force of your other half, where too many perturbations may result in permanent ejection.
UFO - a common response to the statement "I'm just going to Bintel for a look round..."
White Dwarf - what I might become when the wife is finished with me. (Depending on your heritage and politics, others may become brown dwarfs or red dwarfs).
Supernova - you ever seen my wife get angry???
Close encounter - when you've secretly upgraded your 10" Dob to a bigger one and you hope she won't notice. Then one day...
Absolute zero - the chance you'll ever be satisfied with the gear you've got.
Singularity - how it will end up if you're not careful.
Cheers
Morton
As I've watched myself checking the Buy/Sell forum twenty-three times a day over the last few months, I've realised that this pattern is not unique to me. Therefore, I'd like to suggest alternative meanings for some standard astronomical terminology...
Black hole - the hole down which all your spare cash (and some 'not spare' cash) seems to start disappearing as soon as you buy a scope. "Ah, but I need this gizmo as well, and if I just upgrade to this..."
Event horizon - the fine line between life and death. On one side, the irresistible inwards pull towards more gear (and more cash). On the other side, the infinite force of your other half, where too many perturbations may result in permanent ejection.
UFO - a common response to the statement "I'm just going to Bintel for a look round..."
White Dwarf - what I might become when the wife is finished with me. (Depending on your heritage and politics, others may become brown dwarfs or red dwarfs).
Supernova - you ever seen my wife get angry???
Close encounter - when you've secretly upgraded your 10" Dob to a bigger one and you hope she won't notice. Then one day...
Absolute zero - the chance you'll ever be satisfied with the gear you've got.
Singularity - how it will end up if you're not careful.
Cheers
Morton