Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

Today is great for me - took the day off work. Enjoying the eclipse from our back patio - beautiful, blue sky day, sunny & 90 degrees, light breeze - we will see 91%. Sipping adult beverages to celebrate!

Eclipse in our area covered all but a thin semi-circle of the top of the sun. Outstanding!

Anne, good for you getting the shot tomorrow. Glad that it will last several months. It is nice to have life back to some semblance of normalcy. Sorry that you didn't get much of the eclipse.

I did not get anything ( glasses or a box etc. made ) set up for myself to attempt to actually watch the eclipse but as I was watching my furry friends for the most part I didn't totally mind. It would have been nice, but right before the event I came home to get a bite to eat ( didn't want to mess up the kitchen there and then have to clean ) and a cup of coffee. So, a bit after I was here it started getting darker and darker -- by that I mean dim more than dark.

We live in a clearing where we are, but there are trees all around. That meant that in the dimness the house inside got dark enough I had to turn on a couple lights. Outside it was beautiful. It looked like moonlight though much brighter than it ever is here on moonlit nights. It was really interesting to feel like it was dark outside when it wasn't to look out -- though the house was quite dark inside. The leaves were had an almost dappled appearance. I don't recall just how long -- maybe just under ten minutes and then slowly the fuller daylight returned.

I have some really good news to share. Just before coming on here I finally was able to reach someone ( they were not actually supposed to tell me ) to find out the results to my biopsy. I am negative. That was definitely music to my ears. I did think it was highly possible that it would turn out that way but since we have all faced similar things of this nature here -- a part of me didn't want to believe that so strongly that I would have trouble with assimilating it if it was less than good news. It was only a fatty fibrous lump and that has been a problem for me since my very first mammogram yrs. and yrs. ago now. I do feel like I have my life back now so to speak and can actually make plans of some duration if I choose.

Otherwise -- yippee -- yahoo. I'm back in business.

Woohoo for the b9 biopsy!

I made a paper-plate pinhole rig but discovered Gordy had bought eclipse glasses. It was overcast here, but with the glasses on (and much craning of the neck and precise stance on the deck), there was just enough clearing between tree branches to watch the progression of the eclipse. I was able to use the glasses to about 50% coverage, when Gordy came downstairs. From then on, we passed them up & back. At one point, the pinhole rig projected a whole bunch of crescents from wherever there were sufficient gaps in the tree leaves. (Would have needed a third hand to take a pic). We were able to see up till about 80%, when the clouds got too thick, and so switched back to watching the TV live coverage. We were told about the phenomenon that it takes not just humidity but sunlight to make clouds and that at the moment of totality the clouds would thin just enough (as it did for the final 3 seconds of totality down in Carbondale, which was supposed to be Eclipse Central for the continent), but 87.6% wasn’t enough to thin the clouds here. Nevertheless, it got dim here (as dim as it is now, about an hr. before sunset) and the temp dropped a few degrees.

Gotta make plans for 2024. Not tempting fate—someone will get to use a hotel room or campground res. if I can’t.

Our view of the eclipse was also disappointing. It was cloudy and we were only supposed to get 67%. I sat outside on the front porch to see what would happen. Around 1:15, I noticed the shadows on the front lawn fading and finally disappeared. Two minutes later they were back. It was just too cloudy to see any sign of the sun.

Great news, Jackie. Yippee yahoo indeed!

MJ

Good news, Jackie! Big sigh of relief.

Wow. Nice!

I think the pictures were taken at Lake Hartwell and the best location I can give you is that it is somewhere between Dacula, Ga and Clover, SC. They were driving from their house in Ga to my son's house in Clover, when Andrew saw this place. There were only maybe 20 people there and all of them asked for copies of Andrew's pictures. Good thing the stopped there- my son in Clover,SC says they saw very little because of heavy cloud coverage.

Sandy, I can't say for sure if he had an eclipse lens on the camera, but based on their financial situation, I would doubt it. Maybe he put his sun glasses over the camera. I will check.

I sent the pictures to my siblings and one texted yesterday asking me to resend them, she had accidentally erased them.

Anne, hope that if he used regular sunglasses over the camera lens, he didn’t look at the sun except during totality. Sunglasses, no matter how dark (or even one pair layered over another) are nowhere near dark enough to be eclipse-safe—not even if looking at an iPhone screen or SLR mirror (the sun could also burn out the sensor in the camera). Those who prepared a couple of weeks early were able to buy paper eclipse-filter glasses cheaply or even get them free from their libraries. Or bought or borrowed welders’ glasses.

My recording engineer and his wife down in Sparta, IL not only had a full house at their B&B, they turned the surrounding field into a temporary campground, which was filled to capacity. The World Shooting Complex on the outskirts of town was also chock-full. Since Sparta will be in the totality belt again in 2024, they said they’ll save us a spot. But Jackie, Mt. Vernon will be smack dab on the center line!

Joan, best wishes for speedy healing for your mouth. Speech problems can be so frustrating for those of us who depend on our voices for our careers (whether speaking or singing).

And sorry for the loss of your friend. It's tough enough to lose a close friend, but to have lost touch and then find out much later that they've passed away is wrenching. The “if only"s can drive you mad. My best friend in law school went back into the Army (it had paid his tuition after he'd been a medic in 'Nam) for JAG school, spent a year in Germany in military intelligence and visited me here and at my mom's in NYC before going off to AZ to be a military prosecutor. Last we spoke, he'd just been assigned to the Presidio for the Appellate Division and he'd planned to visit Chicago in a few months for a prosecutors' convention. He didn't call when he was supposed to have arrived, and the conference had no record of him registering. A bunch of us decided to try to ask around, and a classmate near Yakima did some digging and found out he'd passed away at the base in AZ. I called, and one of his fellow officers said he had gotten sick very rapidly and was emaciated when he died…three days after the call to tell me he was coming to Chicago. The colleague said he thought it was leukemia but couldn't say for sure. But it was about the same time as the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, and who knows what went on when he was in Germany. My Yakima friend, always a bit of a conspiracy theorist, hinted that maybe it wasn't a coincidence that he was in Military Intelligence—anything could happen in the realm of espionage. Decades later, it made me think of Alexander Litvinenko, who was sickened and killed by polonium poisoning, probably by the FSB. In my friend's era, the parallel would have been KGB (or Stasi if E. Germany). We've all searched the Internet and found no clues from his home town, Army bases, undergrad alma mater or anywhere he lived after law school.

Glad to see you back Joan. I miss you when you are gone as I'm sure everyone here does. Your entries/story telling is always a delight to read. Count me as well sorry to hear you lost your friend. The Universe is richer, but hmmm, we here with all sorts of emotions often have to struggle with loss. Sadly, we even see it/feel it differently depending on just where we are ourselves emotionally at the time we receive the information. We can only hope your friend was enjoying her life and the new changes and challenges of moving back to N. Carolina.

Sandy, I think the same of your friend. No matter what the cause. We gain something from everyone who touches our life -- no matter how big or small the event or time. JMHO but I think of these events as meant so that we learn from each other some important lesson which we will use in some way when it is our turn to live in another more rarefied dimension. Haven't had as much time for study for some time but have hopes to return to that study. I find it a huge comfort.

The day/weather/temps are great here. A/C not running -- cool enough outside -- very low 80's, to make do with the inner shade and some fans to circulate it. Was the same yesterday and we may be able to enjoy even more. Hard to believe we are getting close to September. That really ( for me ) begins to process of having to start thinking of Fall right around the corner. Fall means a lot of work here so we will see. I will have to help this year. Last yr. Dh was not able to successfully handle the leaf removal alone. I did not help enough and I will have to get out there early on, but for now --- I'm just going to enjoy this beautiful day. I hope all of you are having one as well.

Watching a hurricane - Harvey - out in the Gulf. It's supposed to come on shore sometime early Saturday morning and hang around for several days just raining. H & I went to the grocery store early this morning (7:30) because he wanted to get back to mow. If we get the rain that is predicted, it could be a week or more before he can mow. The parking lot was packed! All we needed to do was our weekly shopping, but the shelves were bare...no water, bread, lunch meat, toilet paper(?). People were running around in a panic. All I could do was shake my head. Hurricane season starts June 1st - why do people wait until a day or two before a storm to buy their supplies.

We picked up the yard, took down the wind chimes & hanging baskets and readied a water bucket for the garage in case we have to bring the dogs in (they are outdoor pets with a 25' x 30' fan-cooled and heated building for sleeping. It is also H's shop and S's garage; but they do come in to the garage or utility room when we have severe weather). H was a first-responder, for the utility company where he worked, for more than 25 years. He spent many a tropical storm/hurricane working. I rely on his expertise when it comes to preparing. He only had me evacuate once...when we were expecting Rita in 2005. He is concerned about this storm. We aren't in line for hurricane force winds, and tropical storm winds he thinks will be okay. His concern is the rain. We aren't in a flood-prone area, but the weather people are saying we could get up to 25" over the next 5-6 days. H is saying we will flood if that happens. Especially if their prediction of 4" an hour proves accurate.

I am not too worried, yet. We no longer have any carpeting and the few pieces that sit on the floors that are lift-able, I will lift to higher ground. I think having BC and dealing with everything it entailed has changed my perspective. Before, I would have been in panic mode - worrying about my 'stuff'; now, I don't worry so much. We have flood insurance and house insurance, and while we couldn't replace everything, at least we could replace what we absolutely needed. I am not ignoring the reality of what this storm can do or how dangerous it can/will be, but I also can't stop it. So we have taken the necessary precautions and will stay indoors until it is safe to go back out. We have plenty of supplies to last the three of us at least a week. If we lose electricity, we have food that does not require refrigeration or cooking. We will get very hot and uncomfortable, but we will manage.

Please keep the people in the Gulf Coast area in your thoughts over the next several days. We are in for some really bad weather .

Poppy, glad your Dh had a great deal of experience BEING in and around bad storms. I would imagine as you say, while you don't like it, you can view it on a bit of a more pragmatic level. I do think though many people ? Corpus Christi and beyond have to think about getting elsewhere. Even LA has some who need to go inland. I too wonder why people would wait till last minute to 'stock up' when something is predicted to happen. Wondering if they have plenty but just feel they should maybe over prepare, and that is what leads to such a scarcity in the stores. I do hope and pray all remain safe, especially now when federal help may have some issues attached.

Another cooler day here. I sure can't complain. Will soon do my car again -- while we have this nice cooler weather. Dh bought me something called Top Coat. I think he might have seen it on t.v. to put on my car --- he knows I take great pains and complain all the time about having to keep the dirt and dust down. Not sure how happy I'll be. I think I saw the ad, but didn't focus on it. I do think --- ads for things can be deceptive -- looking effortless. Sigh !!! I'll give it a go, but not sure how worth it in the end. Anyone here tried it ???

Otherwise, all is well here. Hoping you all have a fabulous Friday.

In my prayers tonight are all those in the storms path and any later who may suffer with lg. amts. of rain. Uppermost the safety of anyone who felt they HAD to stay. I hope there were planned options for them.