Comet NEOWISE

July 23, 2020 7:40 pm

Comet NEOWISE is making its closest approach to Earth today. Last night I drove up into the hills southeast of Livermore to try and get a look. Visibility was apparently better earlier in the month when the comet was closer to the Sun, but it was also only visible just before sunrise and that just wasn’t going to happen.

I used online maps to scout out what I thought would be a good vantage point and I drove out just after sunset. I got to the dirt road and across the cattle guard then I had to wait for the cattle to get off the road. Once they moseyed on their way I climbed up the hills until I had a pretty good view over Livermore. Then I got my camera set up and played around with the moon while I waited for it to get darker.

Dusk over Livermore

I still couldn’t see the comet with my eyes and it looked like the main problem was light pollution. But I figured I could use my camera to find it. So I pointed it in the general direction, zoomed out to 50mm, and took a 20-second exposure. I did that a few times before I found it. Here’s the first shot I got with the comet in it straight off the camera:

It’s right near the bottom, about a third of the way from the right. So I carefully adjusted the tripod to center the comet and then zoomed in to 200mm. The light pollution made it really hard to pull out the details of the comet. Here are my best two shots:

Comet NEOWISE. Pentax K-7, 200mm, 6400 ISO, f/5.6, 6s
Comet NEOWISE. Pentax K-7, 200mm, 6400 ISO, f/5.6, 5s

Then the moon was setting and became a tiny sliver of deep red:

And since I was already out there I turned my camera around away from town and go the stars behind a utility pole:

The K-7 struggles in low-light conditions. It’s 11 years old and sensor technology has improved dramatically in that time. I’m planning on upgrading in the near future. Pentax is releasing a new APS-C flagship later this year which I’m keeping an eye on. If reviews are positive I’ll probably pick one up. It should be a considerable leap in image quality, auto focusing, and low-light performance.

COVID-19: Part 39

July 17, 2020 3:12 pm
  • Quarantine Day 123
  • Livermore cases: 349
  • Alameda County cases: 8,556; deaths: 160
  • U.S. cases: 3,555,000+; deaths: 137,000+

A triple quarantine. Ugh.

The school system sent out a notice that school will be either fully remote or as a hybrid model with limited on-campus time each week in smaller groups with the option to dynamically switch between modes depending on conditions. Given the data trends, I’m expecting things will start fully remote at this point, unless things really turn around in the next four weeks.

So Jess ordered a desk and chair we can put in Heather’s room under her loft-bed so she has a dedicated school-work station. I’m setting up deal alerts on Chromebooks so we have a dedicated computer available for her (the school system has Chromebooks available, but I’m guessing we can get something better and also ease the demand on their supply for others who can’t afford to just go buy one right now). I’m expecting we’ll see a run on Chromebooks as the school year approaches (since many district use them) so I’m hoping to grab one before that happens.

How remote Kindergarten will work for Corinne is a mystery. She really needs the hands-on, in-person experience. So it’s sad she won’t get to have that. But we are fully in support of following the best available medical advice on how to do schooling safely.

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I interviewed for a “Group Leader” position at the Lab today. It’s basically the bottom rung of the management ladder. It’s only funded at 5% so you still do a regular technical job 95% of the time. Mostly it’s handling performance appraisals and career development type activities for a group of 10-20 people.

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Last night my friends played the Gambler’s Pass adventure in our campaign. One of them used a flying spell to fly across the Red River and avoid falling in when the bridge was destroyed. So that was unexpected. I’ll have to do a little re-writing for the next adventure to account for that.

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More and more states are enacting mandatory mask regulations. But then you have Georgia whose governor passed an executive order banning mask mandates in the state that had been enacted at the city level.

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I finally got my hands on “Ring Fit Adventure” a fitness game for the Nintendo Switch. They’ve been completely sold out since March and any time they are in stock they sell out again within minutes.

We’ve all been playing that this week (except Corinne who isn’t strong enough to squeeze or stretch the resistance band). It’s pretty fun.

It’s a great evolution on the Wii Fit concept. In Wii Fit they created a bunch of minigames where you exercise to play the games. But they had no overarching narrative so it was interesting but you still had to have the base motivation to do exercise since the minigames lost their novelty fairly quickly.

In Ring Fit Adventure they built the overarching narrative and exercise is the medium of fighting enemies and advancing the story. So while the actual exercise is still repetitive (repetition is rather the point) there is a developing story line and your character’s strength and abilities level up so it’s much more engaging.

Consequently we’ve all had sore muscles all week.

COVID-19: Part 38

July 13, 2020 4:02 pm
  • Quarantine day 119
  • Livermore cases: 282
  • Alameda County cases: 7,711; deaths: 147
  • U.S. cases: 3,296,000+; deaths: 134,000+

Yesterday, Alameda County was added to the state’s “Monitoring List.” Which indicates a county which is struggling to contain the pandemic. Counties on the list for 3 consecutive days become subject to additional restrictions from the state. However, the current state restrictions are things that haven’t re-opened in Alameda County yet anyway, so it probably won’t make much difference.

Today, California issued a new public health order locking things back down statewide and placing additional restrictions on counties on the Monitoring List.

Statewide, indoor food and entertainment activities are prohibited (e.g., restaurants, movie theaters, bars, wineries, museums). For the counties on the Monitoring List the prohibitions include gyms, religious centers, hair salons, malls, and non-essential offices. 31 of California’s 58 counties are on the Monitoring List (29 for 3+ days).

So we’re reverting back to April/May levels of restrictions. [sigh]

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Last week we put a deposit on a solar + battery system for the house. It will be months before any construction happens, but that puts us on the wait-list.

We also locked in a mortgage refinance at 2.75% which will save us about $40,000 over the life of the loan.

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I forgot to mention in my last post that Ivy and Beryl had completed their trek through the Forgotten Lands (and battled a Sand Worm on the way). They’ve finally arrived back in Bree and were celebrated at the banquet. We only held the prologue of the next quest and I think I’m going to roll it back and redo it. I was exhausted and I’m not happy with the episode; it feels too arbitrary.

I bought a new game last week called “Above and Below” because I saw it on SlickDeals and it looked interesting. Jess and I played it to figure out how it works and then we played with Heather (and Corinne, sort of). Its endgame needs some focus. I have some ideas to modify the rules to make the gameplay a little tighter at the end. As it is, you’re playing along and then it just ends and you count up points to see who won. It doesn’t feel very purposeful.

COVID-19: Part 37

July 9, 2020 6:53 pm
  • Quarantine Day 115
  • Livermore cases: 256
  • Alameda County cases: 7,193; deaths: 145
  • U.S. cases: 3,047,000+; deaths: 132,000+

This XKCD comic came out this week. I feel it.

I actually went to work on site today for the first time since March 6. It was weird.

A lot of post-apocalyptic vibes. Guards with their rifles and side arms, now wearing masks. Signs on every building saying you must have pre-authorization before entering. Signs at every door reminding you that you must wear a mask and to wash your hands immediately after touching shared surfaces. Signs on every conference room declaring the reduced occupancy limits. The place is a ghost town because they’re only allowing ~25% of employees on site on any given day. Everyone you do see is wearing masks. The cafeterias are still closed.

I got to my office and there was a thin layer of dust on everything and my calendar still says March.

Just so weird.

There was one huge bright spot in my day though. To understand why requires some context. In 2007 a videogame was released called “Portal.” In this game your character is stuck in a quirky science lab and has to solve various puzzles involving a “portal gun” (a device which lets you open a portal from one location to another). At the entrance to each puzzle room is a sign indicating which hazards or components are present. Here are some examples:

Additionally, in the game you’ll see various corporate posters like these:

So with that context in mind, I was greatly amused to see this sign posted on one of the security booths (or “portal”) that I pass by between the parking lot and my office:

Whether it was intentional or not it looks like something very much inspired by the game. The apparent energy rays, the person appearing to levitate–it all just comes together nicely.

I contacted the Facilities department to ask if I could get one of the signs or the artwork at least and they provided it to me, which is why I have it here to share. I also ordered a metal sign of it for my own personal amusement.

I hope that the graphic artist tasked with designing the signs is a Portal fan and saw this as their opportunity to have a little fun. It made me happy at least.

COVID-19: Part 36

July 2, 2020 11:05 am
  • Quarantine Day 108
  • Livermore cases: 196
  • Alameda County cases: 6,223; deaths: 137
  • U.S. cases: 2,679,000+; deaths: 128,000+

Several states now have reimplemented restrictions due to spiking case loads. Texas re-closed bars. 19 counties in California were ordered to stop a bunch of indoor business activities that had started. Arizona re-shut-down bars, theaters, gyms, and water parks. A bunch of states have enacted mandatory face-mask wearing (I have not seen any reporting on what compliance levels look like). Alameda County has postponed further relaxations, but has not re-implemented any restrictions.

New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut have announced mandatory quarantines on people traveling in from 16 states.

Dr. Fauci warned Congress that “[he] would not be surprised” to see the U.S. hit 100,000 new cases per day if more isn’t done to curb the spread. The head of the WHO, Ghebreyesus, warned in a briefing that, globally, the worst is still ahead.

So things are going well [sigh].

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Last weekend we didn’t play any Dragon Strike. I didn’t have another adventure prepared and Heather never brought it up. But I’m planning to have one ready to go this weekend.

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On Sunday we did go walk around downtown a little because the weather was really nice and it was a chance to get out of the house. We wore masks and most other people were also wearing masks, but not all.

People seemed to feel that because a mask isn’t mandatory when eating that as soon as they sat down at a restaurant (outdoor seating only) that it made sense to take off their masks. So I saw many people reading menus and waiting for food without masks on. Which, of course, makes no sense.

I made pizza with my new, fancy, imported flour. It did get more browning than my other bread flour, not a lot, but some. I’ll have to play with the oven conditions. Aside from the browning, the texture was noticeably different than with the bread flour I’ve been using. “Fluffier” or “smoother” or something might describe it. I guess that’s the point of “00” flour (which is more finely ground). I liked it.

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We’re exploring getting solar panels installed on the house. We have other, higher-priority projects we’d like to get done (like the lighting in the kitchen), but a photovoltaic system could be installed without workers coming into the house (which they’re not supposed to be doing for non-essential work).

We’re also looking at including a battery backup so we can run independently when the grid is down. However, battery installs are wait-listed until next Spring. There’s also apparently some concern about our main feed and whether we can run a solar and battery system. We’re waiting on further details from the company’s electricians.