Friday was the Saab Club of Canada advanced high-performance driving school at Shannonville. I had been asked to teach the classroom sessions for the novice and intermediate level drivers. Mom, travelling from the west, picked me up Thursday afternoon. I drove the rest of the way and, in the hotel, reviewed my notes. And bemoaned all the things (mostly props) that I had forgotten. Overall, the school went well. Usually suspects there plus a few old friends, like Fabio and Andrew.
Saturday morning Mom and I were up early and heading back to Toronto. I was very tired and considered having a nap to recharge but at the same time I did not want to put myself into late afternoon traffic. I also wanted to arrive at the Carr Astronomical Observatory at a decent time to help out with the RASC Toronto Centre Open House preparations. Mom continued west and I headed north. I made good time despite the increasingly poor weather and low air temperature. It was interesting watching the lightning strikes in the Shelburne windfarm...
Much had been accomplished at the work party. I noted the patio stones by the back step had been levelled and that the storm windows were in place. Lora showed me the new red spotlight over the parking lot. In the basement, I found Pat and Charles busy relocating the bathroom door. I put on my work boots and hard hat and started in. As Charles finished the framing, I cut drywall.
In short order it was time to clean up. We were expecting a small crowd for the Saturday evening Open House tours. We finished our early dinner around 6 PM as guests began to arrive.
I programmed alarms into the Davis weather station console, one for rapid change in air pressure, and one for low inside house temperature. To test the alarm feature, I programmed a low outside temperature. As I set the console, I noted the outside temp was 9.5°C; I set the alarm for 8.0°. And we waited...
I watched the two astronomy presentations. Tony went first with his pitch of what you can see, with minimal equipment. Then, Ian W, fired up his presentation and talked and demonstrated what amateur astronomers do. I had never seen him in action before. He did a great job! His presentation itself was well done. After I showed him the setup, he enjoyed using PowerPoint's Presenter View.
After the second tour, I popped outside for a bit. The skies were surprising good. People were looking at some of the bright objects under the Full Moon, including Jupiter and M13. I was asked, with my high-power green laser, to point out where in the sky the Ring Nebula could be found. And then M13. I had a hard time, in the moonlight, with unadapted eyes, to find Hercules. I gave Tony my laser pointer as he was without.
Once the visitors had left, we enjoyed some late-night dessert and conversation. With Charles's Brother labelling machine, I made small stickers for the kitchen receptacles. Hopefully people will avoid overloading circuits in the future. I also labelled the confusing Great Room light switches.
We monitored the outdoor temperature, in preparation for the alarm test, but the temperature had flattened out, hovering around 8.4°.
Later, I tried out Charles's LED light with remote control (not unlike the one from ThinkGeek): the white light was faint and clearly blended. The red was quite nice, deep and dark. The remote was awkward to use however: you had to aim the remote into the lamp lens. Not easy to do in a floor lamp.
Then I opened my new USB keyboard LED light kit from Lora and Phil. A generous little gift for my birthday. The Okion Plug-N-Light Delux package includes an adjustable clip with swivel arm so to aim the white LED where need. The power cord is coiled and has an in-line on/off switch. A clever design. Includes a nice little case too!
We discussed hacking it. Given the design, it might be possible to easily change the LED, from white to astronomer-friendly red. But an easier, quicker, non-invasive solution will be to simply insert a coloured lens inside the metal cylindrical shell surrounding the LED. It'd be a shame, in a way, to cut it up...
Huh. Okion has digital pens!
Before I knew it, I was setting up a portable bed in the living room. And passed out. Apparently, I made the most inhuman noises over the evening.
At some point in the evening (I was so tired I forgot to check the time), the low temp alarm went off. The outdoor temperature had finally fallen and was showing as 7.8°. The console alarm sounded like a regular digital clock, with a steady beeping medium-pitched tone. I cleared the outdoor alarm. Test concluded. Back to the cot.
Erich woke us up in the early morning with brewing coffee, loud keyboard typing, and the occasion loud video clip. Hmmm. Guess he didn't see me and Charles a couple of metres to his right...
We got back to work. I popped into Collingwood for some building supplies. From the Home Depot, I picked up one replacement left-hand window casement opening gear mechanism to replace the broken one in the kitchen window. I bought another left-hand as a spare as well as a spare right-hand. Some drywall compound (90). And more duct tape, of course.
Back at the CAO, I repaired the kitchen window opener, with Dietmar's assistance. Then I returned to the basement to cut more drywall, just as Pat and Charles finished the plumbing. Lunch time!
I helped Trevor pump up some of the tires on the ATV and with a quick car driving lesson. Don't tell anyone. And, no, there will not be a video on YouTube!
I tried to help Nick with his old Palm computer, connecting it to our wireless network. We discovered it only support WEP. He'll need to upgrade it, if possible.
Things were winding down, helpers gradually leaving, cleaning and tiding beginning. It wasn't long when we were all leaving, en masse.
Lora and Phil elected to leave the trailer up. They are planning to return next weekend. Which will be my second stint as CAO supervisor. Long-range weather's not looking great though...
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