All Hallow's Eve and solar update
D.W.Q.M.:"I accept without reservation the results of your excellent potassium-argon test." -from The Image of Fendahl
First of all, I would like to print a retraction-Karen noticed an error in my 10-31 entry. I accidently gave you Cleveland's geographic latitude instead of the magnetic one. The magnetic latitude is 51, not 41. Thanks, Karen! :) (and that's what I get for trying to write a blog entry while im-ing 3 friends and taking a phone call at the same time. ;) )
Solar activity, for the most part, has settled down for now. Higher latitudes may still see some aurora displays, but those of us in the middle latitudes will not unless activity picks up again. Region 486 has finally started to decay, although NOAA's 3-day solar-geophysical forecast says that both regions 486 and 488 are still capable of producing some major flare activity. Needless to say, it's been an exciting week!! BTW, if you are interested, NOAA's Space Weather Now page has an auroral map which allows you to see the range of auroral activity for both the northern and southern hemispheres. When I checked Thursday before I left work, Ohio was in the reddish-orange region....maybe borderline yellow. Right now we are in the blue/white range (little or no activity-bummer) The map is really cool. :)
Halloween was alot of fun! Since I don't get trick-or-treaters in my apartment, I went over to P^2's house to help Persephone hand out candy. Jerm joined us as well. I must say, Persephone did a great job describing events before the kiddies came to the door-check out her site for the details-I don't think I could have put it better myself. ;) I loved it! The little kiddies were soo cute! (especially the Cookie Monster and the little leopard) I also thought it was cool when the kids said they liked my costume (and the parents, too!) I was dressed as a witch-complete with a long, strangly wig, hat, black cape, a plastic cauldron, and my Harry Potter wand. ;) LOL-next year I'm going to try to get Persephone to dress up as well (she said she would have this year, but lost her costume-we'll have to create another one for her! :) ) I tried to paint both Persephone and Jerm's faces, but they weren't too enthused. ;) Jerm was quite successful in making me scream before trick-or-treats, during trick-or-treats, and after trick-or-treats. Although I didn't actually scare him, I did worry him for a bit...
Perseph had to go pick up Paul from work-which meant Jerm had to go move his car so she could get out. As I was sitting in the dark living room (the only lights we had were the candles and the tv), I suddenly decided that this would be the best opportunity to get Jerm back. I headed for the upstairs, but quickly changed my mind-I figured if I needed to move around, he would hear the floor boards creak, so I headed for the basement. I made my way to the storage area by the furnace, and quietly waited. I heard him come in and move around-looking for me. He told me later at first he thought I might have gone outside, until he saw my shoes in the middle of the room. He took the candlelabra and went outside to check anyway. When he came back in, he headed upstairs, but decided against it-he thought it was too dark up there for me to see what I was doing, so he checked the basement-he opened the door, stuck the candlelabra out, then strained his ears to see if he could hear something. Then he closed the door, put the candles back, and started to walk around the the first floor, faking footsteps to try to lure me into a false sense of security and give up my hiding space.
Meanwhile, I was down in the basement, quietly moving around, careful not to touch or bump into anything, and careful not to make a single sound. (do you know how bad I wanted to clear my throat?!? But I didn't dare...) Occasionally I would run past the stair well to see if the door was ajar, but for the most part, I, too, stood in one place and strained my ears, in a vain attempt to figure out where he was in the house. Once I thought he was far enough away and started making my way back up, but then, knowing Jerm, I figured he might be trying to trick me into thinking he was farther away. So I stayed put. I don't remember how long I was down there, but eventually he came back to the basement door, flicked the lights on and off a few times, then closed the door. Now, if I had been thinking straight, I would have realized that something was odd when I didn't see the orange glow of the light switch at the top of the stairs... Just as I was about to head up, he flipped the light switch on and shouted "BOO!" (he had covered the light switch with his hand and kept his back to the door so I wouldn't be able to see him) He claims that that counted as another scare against me, but I didn't scream, and part of me figured he might try that eventually. ;) hahaha. :) :) He said that while he was looking upstairs, the tv kept throwing him off (we had been watching the 1931 version of Frankenstien) Everytime he heard a knock or a creak, he thought it was me and would whip around, ready to scare me, only to discover that he was scaring the tv. When P^2 returned, we tried unsuccessfully to scare them. ;) Ah, it's good to know that you don't have to be a kid to have fun at Halloween!
In closing, I will leave you with what is most probably my favorite quote of all time:
"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: Religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." - Linus Van Pelt. :-D
First of all, I would like to print a retraction-Karen noticed an error in my 10-31 entry. I accidently gave you Cleveland's geographic latitude instead of the magnetic one. The magnetic latitude is 51, not 41. Thanks, Karen! :) (and that's what I get for trying to write a blog entry while im-ing 3 friends and taking a phone call at the same time. ;) )
Solar activity, for the most part, has settled down for now. Higher latitudes may still see some aurora displays, but those of us in the middle latitudes will not unless activity picks up again. Region 486 has finally started to decay, although NOAA's 3-day solar-geophysical forecast says that both regions 486 and 488 are still capable of producing some major flare activity. Needless to say, it's been an exciting week!! BTW, if you are interested, NOAA's Space Weather Now page has an auroral map which allows you to see the range of auroral activity for both the northern and southern hemispheres. When I checked Thursday before I left work, Ohio was in the reddish-orange region....maybe borderline yellow. Right now we are in the blue/white range (little or no activity-bummer) The map is really cool. :)
Halloween was alot of fun! Since I don't get trick-or-treaters in my apartment, I went over to P^2's house to help Persephone hand out candy. Jerm joined us as well. I must say, Persephone did a great job describing events before the kiddies came to the door-check out her site for the details-I don't think I could have put it better myself. ;) I loved it! The little kiddies were soo cute! (especially the Cookie Monster and the little leopard) I also thought it was cool when the kids said they liked my costume (and the parents, too!) I was dressed as a witch-complete with a long, strangly wig, hat, black cape, a plastic cauldron, and my Harry Potter wand. ;) LOL-next year I'm going to try to get Persephone to dress up as well (she said she would have this year, but lost her costume-we'll have to create another one for her! :) ) I tried to paint both Persephone and Jerm's faces, but they weren't too enthused. ;) Jerm was quite successful in making me scream before trick-or-treats, during trick-or-treats, and after trick-or-treats. Although I didn't actually scare him, I did worry him for a bit...
Perseph had to go pick up Paul from work-which meant Jerm had to go move his car so she could get out. As I was sitting in the dark living room (the only lights we had were the candles and the tv), I suddenly decided that this would be the best opportunity to get Jerm back. I headed for the upstairs, but quickly changed my mind-I figured if I needed to move around, he would hear the floor boards creak, so I headed for the basement. I made my way to the storage area by the furnace, and quietly waited. I heard him come in and move around-looking for me. He told me later at first he thought I might have gone outside, until he saw my shoes in the middle of the room. He took the candlelabra and went outside to check anyway. When he came back in, he headed upstairs, but decided against it-he thought it was too dark up there for me to see what I was doing, so he checked the basement-he opened the door, stuck the candlelabra out, then strained his ears to see if he could hear something. Then he closed the door, put the candles back, and started to walk around the the first floor, faking footsteps to try to lure me into a false sense of security and give up my hiding space.
Meanwhile, I was down in the basement, quietly moving around, careful not to touch or bump into anything, and careful not to make a single sound. (do you know how bad I wanted to clear my throat?!? But I didn't dare...) Occasionally I would run past the stair well to see if the door was ajar, but for the most part, I, too, stood in one place and strained my ears, in a vain attempt to figure out where he was in the house. Once I thought he was far enough away and started making my way back up, but then, knowing Jerm, I figured he might be trying to trick me into thinking he was farther away. So I stayed put. I don't remember how long I was down there, but eventually he came back to the basement door, flicked the lights on and off a few times, then closed the door. Now, if I had been thinking straight, I would have realized that something was odd when I didn't see the orange glow of the light switch at the top of the stairs... Just as I was about to head up, he flipped the light switch on and shouted "BOO!" (he had covered the light switch with his hand and kept his back to the door so I wouldn't be able to see him) He claims that that counted as another scare against me, but I didn't scream, and part of me figured he might try that eventually. ;) hahaha. :) :) He said that while he was looking upstairs, the tv kept throwing him off (we had been watching the 1931 version of Frankenstien) Everytime he heard a knock or a creak, he thought it was me and would whip around, ready to scare me, only to discover that he was scaring the tv. When P^2 returned, we tried unsuccessfully to scare them. ;) Ah, it's good to know that you don't have to be a kid to have fun at Halloween!
In closing, I will leave you with what is most probably my favorite quote of all time:
"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: Religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." - Linus Van Pelt. :-D
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