Valentine's Day (14th February) Massacred...

[Enchilada]

Woke up today with drizzle and rain... Then remembered it was Valentine's Day, :love::love: awhaargh...

Then I :prey::prey::prey:.... No phone calls, no messages, absolutely nothing at the door... (except a dead 'roach) :confuse2: :confuse2: :confuse2:

Perhaps next year... :sadeyes:

Did anyone do any better? :eyepop:

(Thought IIS, then worried. Jen will probably go absolutely nuts with the emotion-cons!! :lol:)

[renormalised]

Awe....don't worry, mate. It's highly overrated anyway and really just another commercial scam. The main thing is you still have family and friends, and that's what truly counts:)

Anyway, you still have the whole day to go, yet:)

[Enchilada]

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S WORRYING ME!!! :(

[renormalised]

I wouldn't let it get to you.....like I said, it's highly overrated. Anyway, it shouldn't matter what day it is. If someone loves you, they should be able to express it at any time, not just on the one day of the year.

Go do something you like doing and forget about it:)

[leon]

Na, don't believe in it, it is just a commercial money making scheme, I reckon.

I give those sort of gestures spontainously during the year.

Leon

[Ric]

Fully agree Leon

[spearo]

totally agree with Leon
frank

[Enchilada]

True, but does that other 50% of the population agree with you today? :lol:

[leon]

Yep, I reckon they would, probably the older generation I expect, I think the young ones are really into it, more than us old buggers.:whistle:

We don't have to hunt anymore. :lol: :lol:

Leon :thumbsup:

[BerrieK]

Yup! Its all very nice but like any 'special' day has become so commercialised that its a real turn off (although admittedly it can be a bit of fun!!).

Give me a card or flowers or something sparkly (other than the sparklies in the sky) or even just an extra big hug on any other day of the year and it will be much more appreciated.

Its pagan origins come from the third century to honour the god Lupercus who was said to keep sheep flocks safe from wolves...at the same time to celebrate one of the love goddesses, young womens names were drawn from a box by 'blokes' and it was said that these matchings would last forever!! Of course the Christian Church substituted the name from Lupercus to St Valentines day in order to try to replace the heathen practice.

So from its earthly origin it has become a money maker for buisness!!

Kerrie

[BerrieK]

Aaah Leon so its a hunting and gathering ritual!!! LOL;)

[pgc hunter]

on the plus side, Valentines day could be used as a good excuse for.....you know....nocturnal "undercover" fun ;)

[BerrieK]

LOL:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Do you mean playing murder in the dark??

Undercover detective games at night??

Perhaps the proceeds of the hunting and gathering ritual?

[Enchilada]

I thought all along only possums did that? :D

[BerrieK]

Enchilada what is an Astrognosist?

[Jen]

:eyepop:Valentines day :doh: whats that? :lol::lol:
Awwww Enchilada you dont have to have valentines day to show you love someone or that someone loves you it should be unconditionally EVERY day ;):thumbsup: you will find someone special one day :D
Oh and by the way thanks for all the emoticons awwww that was my Valentines Day pressie :lol::lol::lol::lol:

Happy valentines day Enchilada
:love2::love2::love2::love2::love2: :love2:
:love::love::love::love::love::love :
(hope that made you feel better cheers :thumbsup:)

[Jen]

:lol::lol: but that comes with a price ;)
a dozen roses, box of chocolates, buy out the local jewelry store and lots of teddy bears and a romantic dinner out on the town :D:lol::lol::lol:

[AlexN]

heh... Valentines day.... Yet another day, created by hallmark to boost the sales during the year...

Bah - Humbug.

[Enchilada]

I once mentioned this odd term in Dogstar's thread on 10th January; "Why is it so?" (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=39783)

All it is, is a fancy smancy term for a run-of-the-mill visual observer.

The archaic word, astrognosy, or practised by astrognosist, is the science or knowledge of the stars, especially of the 'fixed' visible naked-eye stars. This really implies not outstanding knowledge of astrophysics or the mathematics behind it, but still formally distinguishes one from the lameness of astrology (Again, my sincere apologies for using such language on such a family site as ISS.)

Probably just being my usual "smart-A", but I think it is apt term for my interests - especially the historical astronomical ones.

Probably also a very good word for "silly old bugger"? ;)

NOTE: Should get it engraved on my gravestone, because they would probably ask the same question! However will my luck, they would probable just say "well, he didn't know either?" :lol:

And yes, today, I am practising my self-deprecating humour. Sorry. :doh:

[pgc hunter]

in other words....take out a second mortgage :lol:

[Enchilada]

Awwww, thanks Jen... Now I feeling all flushed and humble like... :ashamed: It's real decent and neighbourly of you... :D

As for Valentine's Day and finding that "someone special one day", well maybe that is just as well and good.... Put it this way. Those little pesky arrows hurt so darn much... and in the ol' hip pocket too! :lol:

Enjoy your Valentine's day too...

Hope your hubby did something for you...
(... and hopefully he did buy you a decent bottle of bubbly :lol:)

[BerrieK]

Lots of interesting things have happened on 14th Feb over the years.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_14

http://www.juntosociety.com/dayinhistory/021403.html


AND in 1963 on this day the first successful renal transplant was performed!!

[Enchilada]

Thanks for this. I'll make sure I'll have an extra glass of water today... just to celebrate... :thumbsup:

[Enchilada]

True, but you do know what they say;

"Love may not make the world spin around,
but it certainly makes a lot of people dizzy!" :lol:

[pgc hunter]

Finally, conclusive proof that Wikipedia lies:

"The association estimates that, in the US, men spend in average twice as much money as women."[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day#cite_note-american-2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

[BerrieK]

PGC hunter, perhaps this IS true on Valentines day...women nest whereas men are hunting and gathering, and the gifts are the bait for the hunt!!

(no I'm not really this cynical by the way)

[GrahamL]

Uh oh .. its today isn't it .. might have to go out back and pick some flowers if it stops raining .. this is not looking good for my aniversery on
march 3rd again if I'm forgetting dates already .

[Enchilada]

Perhaps, yes. Yet when I was a kid, wasn't it general taught via the propaganda of the movies to be based on; heroic deeds of valour which win the lady's heart, followed by her helpless infatuation, and then ended either with virtuous rejection by the lady (unsaid) or the preverbal "happy ending" till death, then beyond. Forever? (Now.... wasn't this also written.... Mills and Boon or Gray's Men are from Mars, Woman are From Venus ? :lol:)

Also isn't it true that in some way; True "Romance" in be defined as attachment, fascination, or enthusiasm for something or someone.

SO quite logically in a real sense, isn't being romantically interested astronomy - being generally being swept gloriously away by the immensity and grandeur of it all, also true?

Ergo. Lovers and astronomers, celebrate on St. Valentine's Day, they should. :)

(Or am I now beginning to sound like Yoda?)

[Jen]

:lol::lol: yeah dont forget the bottle :lol::lol:

BBQ for dinner, six pack of UDL cans clear skies and kick back on the trampoline and watch the stars all night cant get much more romantic than that :lol::lol::lol: now thats my kind of Valentines Day :thumbsup:

[Enchilada]

Golly Gosh!! You can afford the TAX on the alcopops and afford astronomy at the same time! They must be paying you the big bickies at that ol' job of yours. For the rest of us in the economic times, it is either one of the other...

Most of us here are still paying for the second Nagler!! :rofl:

(Perhaps that is why the Hallmark's are completely off the agenda for some!)

[Inmykombi]

Just thought I'd let you all know that Romance is still alive after 21 yrs of Marriage.

I woke this morning to a french pastry and a glass of bubby and juice as well as a card and a few chokkies.:D

Tonight we are off to see a movie after a dinner without the kids....whoo-hooo.

Hope you all had a great day.

Geoffro.

[Enchilada]

Guys, here's some help, and will probably just save you, too. Just tell her;

"A life without your love is like a year without starlight."

If that doesn't melt her like chocolate, then nothing will... and better still, you won't be telling little white fibs either! (the starlight, that is!)

Comment : Make sure she DOES KNOW you're into astronomy? :rofl:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

My "loved one" came over this afternoon with a Valentines present for me - a HUGE astronomy book, when I say HUGE I mean the book is HUGE, I'll take a photo sometime tomorrow when I'm home again to show you just how big. It's mostly a picture book full of Hubble images, many I'd seen before of course, but many I haven't. It's simply titled "The Universe" and I've never seem a book with such BIG pages - 160 of them.

When closed this book overlaps all 4 sides of her small "TV dinner/hobby table", once opened the 2 pages side by side are virtually poster sized, and the table was lost underneath it. It takes 2 people to hold it up to read it, you could have it flat open on a table but you need to be standing above / over it to read anything near the top end of the pages.

... and no, before anyone asks, I didn't forget her - she got her present a few days ago (just to add to the surprise) - a lovely gold ring with fine filligree detail, and a very pretty emerald-cut blue Topax mounted in the centre.

Her words - "you scored enough points to carry you through for this year"

;)

[jjjnettie]

Bah humbug.
It's just another day.

[Enchilada]

Awwwww...
Anyway, Happy Valentines Day
Jeanette !

:love::love::love:

[jjjnettie]

Cheers.
;)Right back at ya.

[Enchilada]

For all those who didn't get flowers today,well here some fresh ones from my back garden from the other day... :thumbsup:

Thanks all for the fun today... :)

Encha...

[kinetic]

Hi Enchilada,

Maybe a read of this thread will put things into perspective for you:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=40993
Nice choice of Thread title.:rolleyes:

Steve

[jjjnettie]

Beautiful flowers!

[Robert9]

And a final "coup de grace" for this day - the day the GOTO died.:sad::sad::sad:
Slight breeze came up and cleared the skies of smoke and revealed a lovely sky (for the city). Set up my scope, turned it on, reached for the hand control......and it turned off, just as if someone had turned the switch off. Checked the battery, checked the connections, all OK. No go. Switched on and off, unplugged and replugged, cried, swore, all to no avail. :bashcomp::bashcomp: Went and had a stiff drink of lemon tea and a slice of my wife's freshly baked cake. Tried it all again - nuttin'. Did a search for problems like this. :prey2:Nuttin!
Took out my binocculars. It was a lovely sky, but a sad end to Valentine's Day. :violin:Guess its another trip to York on Monday.
Anyone got any ideas???:help2:

[renormalised]

Gonna need a multimeter for this one. Sounds like you may have a faulty connection somewhere in the goto. Are you getting any power to it at all??. You may also have a short. If they had a fuse, I'd say it was that. But I'm not sure a Celestron goto has an inbuilt fuse. You may even have a shot controller PCB. In which case, it's a repair job for the technicians.

[Jen]

:D thanks for the flowers Encha :thumbsup:

[Enchilada]

There is no doubt of the deadly seriousness of the bushfires that have devastated whole regions of Victoria or the floods in Northern Queensland. Like, most our hopes and prayers go out to the grieving families for the loss of loved ones, and the human cost in terms of property and suffering. We as Australians must be stoic and resolute to do everything we can possibly do to help those affected and those in real need; either spiritually, emotionally or charitably.
Right or wrongly, the only way to move on is to support one another as best we can, so that life can move on. Some happiness here and there has to be mixed with the sadness, otherwise there is a risk of falling into despondency and remorse. Showing people care for each other, in my view, is equally important.
If the frivolousness of this thread has worried you, then I unreservedly apologise.

[Robert9]

I had done all the right things with a multimeter and power was definitely getting to the unit. I even tried some AA batteries rather than my external battery. Searched for a fuse receptacle - none! Yup, technician job I reckon. !@#$%^&*( !! Its just such an inconvenience - 20Km into town, traffic, parking etc etc.

Robert
(now with time of an evening to read or :whistle: or perhaps even sleep.)

[Enchilada]

Bugger!
Hope it doesn't cost an arm or a leg, mate.

[Robert9]

Thanks for your sentiments but fortunately the scope is still under warranty. Only got it just 8 weeks ago. I still can't believe it though; I had turned it on, pressed ENTER and was about to align the scope when the display just turned itself off. Gone!
I reckon that if electronics last for a year, they're pretty well right for life - unless one does something stupid.
Robert