Astromart

September 11, 2002 11:55 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Planning for astro retreat

Meant to post this in the observing forum! Must be early...

September 11, 2002 12:08 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

The idiot box is still there, but I had the cable disconnected last year -- it was a lot of money to pay for the two or three things I may want to watch in a month. Being something of a movie nut, I have a small library of tapes and dvd's -- including From The Earth to the Moon, which could justify the whole setup alone -- so except for weather reports I don't even turn on the local channels anymore.

/John

October 11, 2002 12:46 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Classified Ad Etiquette

Posted By John Hopkins

Even just this one thread has proven there's all kinds in the world...

There's another angle on selling etiquette, though. If you tell someone you're ready to sell the item to them, then be email-silent for almost a week and then tell them you've changed your mind, don't be surprised if they're a bit miffed.

I doubt the guy who pulled this on me is a regular, but I would think that if you have *any* doubts as to whether you want to sell something, don't post the dingdang ad!

[epithets sanitized for family consumption] smile

October 15, 2002 12:25 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Any musical astronomers out there?

Posted By John Hopkins

For more modern stuff, Tangerine Dream's early albums certainly qualify as 'spacey,'-- in fact they're the reason I ended up getting into synthesizers. Turn on the reverb and a little echo and off you go...

October 23, 2002 12:02 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Life in the universe?

Posted By John Hopkins

"How far and how fast" we've come?

OK, it seems pretty fast, geologically speaking. I'm one of those cynics when it comes to the "far" part, though. We've gotten the hang of developing technology so well that I think it's fooling us when it comes to our overall concept of where our species is. (This may not seem to connect to Life In The Universe, but hang on...)

Basically, if we can put men on the moon but still have fifty-year-old men thumbing their noses like 8-year-olds on the net, *quite* a disparity exists. Consciousness came along *way* after instinct, yet it was told to order instinct around. Result: goofy planet.

Now we want to find others out there, plainly to have something new to laugh at -- we're getting tired of being the only ones who are both in on, and the butt of, every joke there is.

But perhaps I shouldn't tackle questions like this after I've watched three Godzilla movies in a row...

November 21, 2002 02:50 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Seems inappropriate to mention names

Posted By John Hopkins

Jim. Nancy. Bob. Robespierre. Tacitus. Barney. Golda. Sachiko. Phil...

("Incoming!")

December 4, 2002 01:01 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Backing out of deals

Posted By John Hopkins

I've had the complete opposite experience here, except once, when the guy said the item was mine then decided to sell it to his neighbor so he wouldn't have to ship.

That's what it's really about: making sure you know the difference between someone who's 'definite' and not just 'interested.' I've never had a problem as a buyer because I make sure the seller understands. That's why I fumed in this one case, because there was no ambiguity.

As a seller, I much prefer Astromart: none of this waiting for a week and ending up with a (0)-and-sunglasses guy who didn't read the payment terms for a winner. Everyone I've dealt with here at least knows their astro equipment, and everything I put up sold within a day.

(The most impressive was when I listed a 22mm Panoptic. Five minutes later, the phone rang!)

In sum, the pros outweigh the cons, IMO.

December 23, 2002 12:52 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions