The Johnson Blog

Ramblings of a geek with a few hobbies…

  • Sunspots

    sunspots

    Took a few photos of the sun with the solar filter. Click to view gallery.

  • X-Files Mythology

    Picked up my copy of X-Files Mythology 1 tonight from Best Buy. I really enjoyed X-Files when it was on, but stopped really keeping track of the main story line once I went to college. Watching the Pilot episode now!

  • Picnic

    At work today we only had a half day, we spent the other half at Lake Springfield for a family picnic. Ana was able to take off the afternoon and partake as well. The food and drinks were good and I set up my telescope for some solar viewing – a couple dozen people and their kids were able to take a look. It turned out to be a lot of fun, albeit hot (90s I think).

    Nothing really planned for the weekend right now, we’ll see what transpires.

  • Solar Filter

    My anniversary gift from Ana, a new Solar Filter for the new telescope, arrived today. I had to go to FedEx and pick it up after work but tried it out when I got home. It’s amazing what this telescope can do compared to my old one. I didn’t think it would make much difference on the sun, but it surely does.

    A neighbor came down to see what I was looking at, but just when he did the sun went behind a think blanket of clouds. Maybe it’ll be clear tomorrow and he’ll get to see it then. I also plan on taking some pictures with the new setup.

  • Movies

    Ana and I went to a few stores tonight and ended up purchasing 12 DVDs that were on the “cheap racks”. Our collection has exploded to over 140 now.

    In other news, Springfield finally has two Taco Bells open again. The most recent was about 5 minutes from our house that opened last week; mmm gorditas! Hopefully they won’t go bankrupt and force us to be without for 2+ years again.

    We were at the Taco Bell tonight and witnessed some idiot teenage girl back out of her parking spot and proceed to swipe the Grand Am next to her as she turned. The Grand Am shook as she got stuck in its trim and had to rock the car out, hitting it over and over. To our amazement, the girl looked around and saw about a dozen witnesses (all of us just staring at her) and DROVE OFF! We got the plates and found the owner inside to let them know; two local newscasters were also in the lot at the time and called police. As we were eating our food we were able to give info to the police officer.

  • Great Red Spot

    My first sighting of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot was tonight!

  • New TV, Random Stuff

    A week ago, shortly after our 25″ RCA TV was called the “pinnacle of television entertainment”, we went out and purchased a new television. Now sitting in our family room is a 30″ widescreen HDTV. Had a little problem with the first one we brought home and had to exchange it at Circuit City, but now it’s great. I’ll probably be calling our cable company and upgrading to their HD package soon.

    In other news, on Thursday our neighbors across the boulevard put a large (5-6′ tall) fountain on their lawn. It appears it’s here to stay, with 10 bags of mulch ready to landscape around it. Interesting.. I’ll try to get a photo of it up.

  • Azaleas

    Ana’s azalea bushes out front have bloomed in the past week and look great.
    blooms.

  • Congratulations Ana!

    Saturday brought Ana’s graduation from UIS with her MBA. Congratulations Ana!

    We had our families over afterwards for a small celebration, then headed over to Jay’s where his family was celebrating his brother’s college graduation as well.

    Happy Mother’s Day!

  • Laser: corrected

    I stand corrected from my last post. Here’s a quick glance at what it’s like.
    laser. Awesome.