Eclipse photos & other stuff

Well, it's finally stopped sleeting here (for now, at least). There's enough sleet to cover the pavement outside, and make a good attempt at covering the grass. Lovely weather.

Last night was clear until after midnight, so we did get to see the eclipse after all. We saw the beginning of it as we went out to dinner and did some grocery shopping. I took this photo with my Olympus FE-120, which doesn't have any focus control, and isn't that great at moon pics.


After we got home, I added a layer of clothes and went out with the tripod and the SP-510, which is much better at night photography. This is the moon with Saturn on the left and Regulus (part of the constellation Leo) above.

And this is the moon alone. Not as sharp as I'd hoped for, but between the breeze and my shivering, I'm not surprised. Plus, no telescope with tracking capabilities, so with any exposure time over a few seconds, I start to get star trails.

I only stayed out 30 minutes or so, because it was darn cold here last night. The low was 10 or 12 degrees and there was a steady breeze to go with it. Even with a hat, scarf, and two layers of gloves, it was too cold to stay out much longer.

Spaceweather.com has some eclipse photos, and a neat part of their site where you can look at a global map and see where photos have been submitted from. It's pretty interesting to see photos from different parts of the world.

Progress-wise, I did finally decide what to order from L.L. Bean. I ended up with a flannel-lined "barn coat" from their sale section, about $35 after shipping.

Today, I got a reply from SanDisk about the case for the Sansa m240 that I was inquiring about. Turns out they don't sell replacements for the case that comes with the player. They do sell a $15 (retail) silicone case, in a variety of colors, but that case doesn't protect the screen at all, which is the only reason I wanted it in the first place. The CS Rep's only suggestion was to look into generic cases at electronics stores. Gee, thanks. Like they don't have dozens of the flimsy clear cases hanging around somewhere.

Still no reply on the DVD replacement.

And now I've got another replacement to inquire about. DH noticed last night that the bottom seam on my Chico bag (a gift from my sister) is starting to tear. I've only had it since November, and the heaviest thing I've put in it is a gallon of milk. I love that bag otherwise, so this is a little disappointing, since the website says it has a 20-pound capacity. They have a 1-year warranty, but since Sis got it at a trade convention as a giveaway, I'm not sure what they'll do about the date-of-purchase bit.

Also, we got a rebate ready last night (deadline is tomorrow), and I submitted a photo to an online contest.