ness

I don’t think they’re anywhere near monopoly-still plenty of competitors out there. But the field is shrinking and the current offerings at the big guys sucks. I’m all for free enterprise and believe you’ve gotta have a reason to exist. But I also feel for Sidney, NE that was gutted when BPS bought Cabela’s and shut things down there. I’ve got a great fly shop nearby that would be my first choice if I needed something good quickly. Wish they had a web store.

Don't really care a great deal as I just don't find myself shopping at Bass Pro or Cabela's much any more, and never at Sportsman's, but this isn't a positive for consumers. https://sports.yahoo.com/sportsman-warehouse-join-great-american-221500329.html

Been looking through old photos a lot lately. Came across this one from a few years back that I always liked. Rocky Mountain National Park:

He saw a picture!

I was in a decent spot, up high without a lot of light pollution and it was still fairly hard to pick up. What you'll see is a fairly bright 'star' (Jupiter) and a much dimmer one (Saturn) near it. Haven't read up to see what it'll look like tonight though. Sunset here was 5:01 last night. I could see it at 5:45 to about 6:30 before I went in.

I guess 800 years ago the sky would have been darker, there was nothing on TV and Ozark Anglers hadn't become a time sink, so they would have thought it was a bigger deal

Yeah, they're passing by each other. It's been going on for a while and will continue for a while.

Yesterday afternoon I scouted around and found a great location for the conjunction-- a high spot with an unobstructed view of the southwest sky. I pre-focused my cameras on infinity and got all the other settings ready before I headed out so I wouldn't have to think about it in the dark. I got to the spot early, about 5:30. Me and about 200 other people. Fortunately there was plenty of parking and it didn't present much of a problem. It's a large park and people were spread out quite a bit, which was better. Except for the husband and wife standing about 15 feet behind me bickering at each other about how to take the picture, not being able to see, and generally being unkind to each other. I think they were expecting to see a super moon and take a picture with their Jitterbug. A little girl nearby was singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which was sweet and made the mess more bearable. I took several shots and bailed out to try my other spots. Got home and the pics were a bust. I knocked my camera's focus off at some point. I guess if last night was the first time those planets have been in that exact position in 800 years, then tonight ought to be the first time for this position in 800 years too. I may try again tonight.

Well, you guys made me go downstairs and look. Nashville, TN. Probably 20 years old. I would definitely do a comparison if I had both. Heavy doesn’t necessarily mean better at its job. Then there’s durability.

Thanks for the reminder -- I'm gonna try and set things up for a shot tonight.

How ‘bout them Chiefs!

Cookie decorating going into its 7th hour. Meanwhile I made a potato soup: Here’s another view. There it is at 10:00

That dog needs to be gently reminded he’s not a puppy anymore 😄

I got drafted into decorating cookies.

Cherry pickin'

Messing around with remote shutter through phone. Camera on tripod near feeder, ness on deck about 50 feet away.

Relfe Spring, Phelps County, MO

What he said.

Not-so-fun-facts: All three were Jews whose lives were greatly impacted by the Nazis. Klemperer's family fled Germany and Banner's fled Austria before the war. Clary (LeBeau) spent time in Buchenwald. I remember an interview he did where he showed the serial number tattoo on his forearm. Gen. Burkhalter and Col. Hoffstetter were both Jewish.

Been getting some Navy Band stuff on my FB feed. I liked this one.

I didn't have OnX but I'm looking at it now. Looks pretty handy.

Deets = cool for details. Sorry 😄

My parents and grandmother watched Welk. Sunday nights as I recall. We hated it as much as they hated our rock ‘n roll I guess. Not many TV choices in those days. Now Hee Haw was sorta enjoyable. The silly humor, the little tingle in the trousers I got from the Hee Haw honeys. Later I grew to like the music. If I run across it now I’ll stop and watch.

Need deets. There’s a lotta good going on there.