No Problem

It was mid June 2009 when my neighbor Jim asked me if I could build a astronomical observatory and with no practical knowledge of astronomy, my answer was "no problem". .

A few reasons for the blog.

First is my wife Pat. We have been together 29 years and she has seen me start many projects but witnessed few that are ever completed before another is started. She has a well deserved "honey-do" list that I did check, and observatory was not on it. Sometime in this project I will get the what the f**k were you thinking look, one that I have come to know well. Now when the look shows up, she will be able to read the blog and realize what little thinking I do, and this time, it's all Jim's fault.

Another reason is that when I started researching, mostly on the site http://obs.nineplanets.org/obs/obslist.html I found numerous types of amateur observatories built by all kinds of people, some handy, some not, but they all documented the experience, I enjoyed looking through them all. The photo's are a great help, they shorten the learning curve along with keeping construction screw-up's down, thank you all.

This third reason is a partnership, not just between Jim and I, but with the small community we live in. I'm sure once construction starts there will be people to thank and acknowledge for their contribution and I hope to miss no one.

Jim and I share a love for shiney, hi-tech, expensive stuff and this project seems to have it all. This blog will allow Jim to see just were his money is going and then he can hang his head and cry in private.

My hope is the WOW factor takes over after the build. I would love to see growth, some star party's, maybe get the high school involved, lets see were it goes.