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27 July 2012 (Friday) - Astro Club

I got up this morning and as I went downstairs I was expecting to be greeted by Fudge. I wasn't. He was in his bed, and when I went up to him he did open an eye and wag his tail. I opened the back door so he could go out and do his business. He heaved himself up and as he walked he did seem to hobble somewhat. There's no denying that I ached somewhat after yesterday's exertions. I seem to have somehow strained my hip; which is an odd thing to have strained. Perhaps Fudge aches too? Perhaps both of us need to go out walking more often?
I left him with "er indoors TM" as I went to work; being glad that I didn't have to shut him in today. He's been a good dog so far. On his first night he did nibble a rug and have a minor chew of a dustbin. But nothing serious so far. Unlike a chap in Devon who was filmed on CCTV causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage when he chewed a lump out of the seat of the bus on which he was travelling.
Also in the news today was an article about the imminent collapse of Facebook and, by implication, all social media. The reason for this rather bleak outlook? Money. It seems that Facebook is considered to be a failure because it doesn't make lots of cash for its owners. Doesn't this speak volumes about the sad state of our society? Does something have to make loads of money to be worthwhile? Is money the beginning and end of our value system?

Being the last Friday of the month, tonight was Astro club. I spent a few moments on Google Maps working out the best way to get there; and was pleasantly surprised to find that the way I have always gone is actually the shortest. I got there reasonably promptly and helped with the setting up thing. I had been wondering about how much of a turn-out we would get tonight. Being the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, I wondered if a lot of people would stay at home to watch that. Personally I couldn't see the attraction. But then I can't see the attraction of watching any sport. I really can't. Sorry(!)
I was hoping for a decent attendance this evening; we had a guest speaker tonight. We had a decent attendance, which was good.
And I was rather worried about what we might be getting as a speaker. The last guest speaker was (in my honest opinion) all wind and piss. I was hoping for better this time. I was disappointed. Stellar evolution can be a tricky subject to convey comprehensibly to the masses. But the speaker didn't really give the promised lecture on stellar evolution. Instead he had a disjointed series of (so-called) facts which he spouted at random. He kept showing pictures of Hertzsprung Russell diagrams but never explained what they were. He kept mentioning the concept of absolute magnitude, but never explained how it could be measured. At first sight the fellow was entertaining, but I couldn't help but feel that he was all style but no substance. His presentation would have been good for the general public, but it needed to be more structured and detailed for an astronomical society.
Towards the end I actually fell asleep.

And then one of the parish councillors marched in and complained about the cars in the car park. There are ways to complain, and marching in shouting at whoever might be there isn't the way to do it. The fellow didn't recognise me; but I recognised him. He was someone I originally met through scouting many years ago, and have since encountered in various places. I think it fair to say that the first time I met him I felt he was a prat, and in the intervening twenty years he has done nothing to make me change my opinion of him.
Home. I had been worrying about Fudge. He was fast asleep. It was a shame to wake him...



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