Re: whereabouts of John Pumpernickel?


"John P" <none@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:gm86kq$p7j$2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Gary,

Got a phone call that you were asking about me. I'll bet this is the
first
time I've been in unet for over 10 years. How have you been? Still
visiting SAA I see.

Oh yeah. Been pretty much consistent since the groups got started. I'm
mostly a lurker here as most of my friends have moved on over the years.
I've been good. Just retired after nearly 30 years at the plant.

After awakening from the coma, I lost all interest in astronomy. The 29"
sat here for who knows how long until a guy stopped by one day about 5
years
ago asking if I wanted to sell it and for how much, so I let it go. It
was
a bargain for the price at the time as you know and I spent many a nights
sketching. I don't know why I lost nearly all interest in my old hobbies.
The docs say I had some sort of a stroke during the coma that affected
memory and personality, so maybe that's why.

I wish I had known about the 29" being sold. I'd have made you an offer.
Granted, I don't have the space and I probably would have had to borrow some
of the neighbor's property to store it, but somehow I would have made a way.

Do you still have your 12" SCT? That was sure a beauty of a scope. If I
ever got another, that one is nice and portable so I'd probably get
something like it.

No, it never did have the best of mirrors, so I traded it on Astromart for a
C14. I had the guy send me results of mirror testing first though. You
just never know when you buy a scope what sort of mirror it truly has. Oh,
you can go with some of the guys that make mirrors like Royce, etc and then
you are pretty assured of quality, but with the Chinese stuff now it's hit
and miss. I don't know if you've heard of a company called Orion, but I
favored their little 6" Mak. Because they're made in China, quality is not
assured. Had to go through 3 scopes before I had a decent mirror. They
never asked any questions though and paid the shipping each time, so I can't
complain.

They say that during the 5 years or so I was "out", Mars drew closer to us
than it would for the next 60,000 years and there were some big sunspots
around that time also. Sorry I missed them. Geez, I have a LOT of
catching
up to do. Is Hawking still alive? Last I heard he was trying to come up
with a theory to explain everything.

Yeah, that was all back in '03. In August of that year, Mars had a very
close opposition. I tried to get some images, but never had anything decent
as it appeared pretty low for most of the US at that time. '05 was better,
but of course more distant, but by then I had sold the C8 I used for
planetary. Then there were the giant sunspots in Oct '03. Aurora lit up as
far S as FL for several nights. I do have some images of those huge spots
if you would like to see them sometime. Hawking is still alive, now 66 I
believe, and the disease is causing him to be almost totally paralyzed now,
but he still keeps on working. I'm not up on his theories presently though.

Did Celestron stop making scopes? Can't tell from what I've been reading.
It's either that or they are importing from China.

Celestron still makes them, but I believe most, if not all, of their scopes
are Chinese imports. Can't say one way or the other about the quality
though since I haven't owned a new one since the takeover. I think the
scope firms are hurting pretty badly right now due to the poor economy.

I spent many a nights looking out the window at the stars while I was in
rehab. There wasn't a whole lot to see with all the bright city lights,
but
I did make out URSA Major a few times, along with Cass and of course Lyra.

Overall, I guess I'm beginning to miss the hobby once again. They said
much
of my personality/ interests would return with time and I'm hoping that
they
do.

After my uncle had his stroke, his personality completely changed. He was
never the same person. He still had many elements of his former personality
though that would come through from time to time, but he never did regain
what he once had. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing as we all learned to
accept it. Funny how medical science can do wonders with eyes and
infection, but when it comes to things that deal with the brain or heart
they still have a long way to go. My brother used to say that it was
because of penicillin that people lived longer much more frequently and I
used to laugh, but now I think he was right.

Well, stay warm and let me know what you've been up to.

It was -14F here last night and expected to get a bit colder. We have
plenty of wood and coal to keep the fire going. Great to hear from you
again, John. I was beginning to think that you fell of the face of the
earth!

Gary

John

"Gary Listberg" <erilda21789@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:gm8140$b81$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Used to be a gentleman who frequented here by the name of John
Pumpernickel? Is he still a member of this group or does anyone know if
he's still on usenet at all?

Thanks,
Gary L.





.

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