18.09.2025 Out and about.

 ~o~

 Thursday 18th 60F/15.6C [6.15] A rather cloudy day is promised. With wind and showers.

 Up at 5.15 after an unusually quiet night. I was restless after waking earlier. 

 We'll see what the day brings. When it is light enough to see anything. 

 Last night I was experimenting with different software on my solar telescope mounting and astro camera. The move to a smaller instrument. On a relatively tiny mounting. Has required me to discover some new ways. To manage what was once completely routine. In my (now demolished) observatory. 

 The HP keyboard worked perfectly. Allowing me to communicate wirelessly with the mini-PC. Without the hindrance of connecting cables. Where there is/was a severe lack of USB3 ports. I found my 4-way USB3 hub. Previously hidden in the tubs of stuff I'd salvaged from the observatory.

 Being able to play comfortably with my new toys indoors. Without the risk of frequent showers. Was made all the easier. When the monitor screen is not washed out by bright daylight. Allowing me to relax and find my way through unfamiliar software routines and technologies. 

 Ironically Bluetooth worked fine between the mini-PC and the mounting. So the mini-PC is definitely transmitting BT. Why it was not similarly doing so via Wi-Fi is quite another matter. One which will have to be further investigated. 

 For all our reliance on technology and software. There is a remarkable lack of reliability. YouTube is stuffed with videos. Where supposed experts try to rescue us from the bottleneck of our dumb "intelligent technology" toys. Yet  the AI, which now pops up on so many of my searches. Is very useful for solving problems or providing clear definitions of the abstruse. Which no amount of Google's utterly corrupt, hard sell results. Would ever hint at in the past.   

7.15 Grey and breezy. I just asked a chatbot to rewrite this blog post. The result was interesting but felt strangely shallow. Like listening to a spokesperson, businessman, lawyer or politician handed a script. Nor did it sound like anything I'd write. So, you'll just have to put up with me. Grammatical warts and all. 

8.40 Back from a half hour walk. Lots of traffic. A large tractor, pulling a 6x6 flip-over plough, was making steady progress across the prairie. The wide stripes he made were clearly visible from a great distance. Though not in the phone photo above.

 11.40 Back from the shops in the Morris. 

 I spent the afternoon cloud watching outside with my telescope. Just re-learning the routines. 

 Dinner was a sausage and mushroom omelette. The trick is to wear an oven glove. When flipping it onto the plate. 

 

  ~o~