I continued my correspondence with the Sky & Telescope editor today. This editor seems much more detail oriented than my editor at SpaceFlight Magazine. I answered a ton of questions this afternoon about little details that apparently weren't clear when reading the article. The good news is that the magazine seems to really like the article and is eager to publish it. At some point during the day, several people at McDonald Observatory got involved in the discussions because the magazine wants to use some pictures taken through one of the large telescopes by my astronomer friend. It still appears that my article will be published in the February 2021 issue. It's strange how slow this whole process works. I'm pretty sure I was already talking about Sky & Telescope a year ago at this time on the blog.
I finally got my reservation confirmation from the ranch I will be staying at while I am visiting McDonald Observatory for the astrophotography workshop. It looks like the accommodations will be fairly spartan. There was a little message at the bottom of my confirmation letter saying that my room does not have: TV, telephone, mini fridge, microwave, shampoo or conditioner. I can ride horses if I want though.
It doesn't look like I will be taking a star tracker with me to the observatory. I found one I liked, but it can't be delivered in time. Not surprisingly, the tracker is made in China. I got a quick reply to my questions from a Chinese representative of the company, but even though they have a warehouse in the United States, it still apparently takes them too long to process and ship my order. Just as well. This trip is complicated enough as it is. I'll worry about star trackers at a later date.
I wish I was rich so I could just charter a plane to Marfa. I never look forward to the long drive to West Texas. Texas is a really big state. I always rent a car because I'm afraid that mine will break down along the way. No worries about Covid on this trip. The only worry is staying awake and alert on the long drive. When I was young, an 800 mile drive was no big deal. I used to drive long distances frequently. It's a little different now. You get tired a lot more quickly as you get older.
I need to decide what to do about my storage warehouse before my contract runs out. There's nothing really valuable in the warehouse anymore, but it's so much trouble to actually clear the place out. Storage warehouses never let you use their dumpster, so even throwing things away is problematic. A lot of the stuff I store is fairly heavy. I just hate dealing with this, but I can't ignore things indefinitely. Maybe I'll start paying month-to-month now instead of a year at a time to force me to deal with the situation. I need an assistant to take care of things like this. I wouldn't trust them though. It's a dilemma.
Another weekend has arrived. It's time to go grocery shopping again. Janet seems to thing something bad is going to happen and that we should stock up on canned goods again. I hope she's wrong, but I've got a list of things to look for. I don't think we've used up all the canned goods we bought back in March, but luckily we both like soup and tuna fish.
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