April sessions

Here are the April sessions =-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-0=-


Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 05-Apr-2011 Tuesday

9:32 PM - Name: Cosmos 1626 - Magnitude: 2.9
Int'l Designator: 1985-009-A
This is my 3rd sighting of Kosmos 1626, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite that was put into orbit using a Tsyklon-3 rocket in 1985.

9:32 PM - Name: Cosmos 1220 - Magnitude: 3.8
Int'l Designator: 1980-089-A
This is my 2nd sighting of Kosmos 1220, a Russian US-P ELINT satellite which was put into orbit using a Tsyklon-2 (not Tsyklon-3) rocket in 1980. According to astronautix (my new fav place to look up stuff on odd satellites): "The US-P (later known as RTR) was a solar powered EORSAT (Electronic Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite). It used an active radar to track naval vessels from space in darkness and all weather. The RTR was an element in the integrated Soviet weapons system devoted to destruction of the US Navy's surface and submarine forces." Sounds kinda scary doesn't it???

9:36 PM - Name: Cosmos 1939 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.9
Int'l Designator: 1988-032-B
This is my first sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket. This rocket was used to put a Russian Resurs-O1 satellite (Kosmos 1939) into orbit in 1988. The Resurs-O1 satellites were for monitoring earth land resources.

9:39 PM - Name: ADEOS II - Magnitude: 2.0
Int'l Designator: 2002-056-A
this is my 6th sighting of the Japanese ADEOS II (Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 2)satellite. It was launched in Dec 2002, however its mission ended in Oct 2003 when the solar panel array failed. An investigation panel was formed and after seeing the output just before failure drop from 6 kW to 1 kW they theorized that likely there was an impact to the power harness which caused an arc and thus killed the satellite.

9:43 PM - Name: Cosmos 1606 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.7
Int'l Designator: 1984-111-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Tsyklon-3 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 1606, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1984.

9:46 PM - Name: SERVIS 2 Rocket - Magnitude: 5.2
Int'l Designator: 2010-023-B
This is my first sighting of this Russian Rokot rocket. The Rokot launch vehicle was derived from an existing ICBM platform (shocker!). This particular rocket was used to put the Japanese SERVIS 2 (Space Environment Reliability Verification Integrated System 2) satellite into orbit in 2010. Unfortunately the Rokot platform has not been very successful by rocketry standards. In 18 launches, two have failed resulting in a 10% failure rate is not very good. In fact, the most recent Rokot launch, on 01 Feb 2011, was also the most recent failure which left the satellite in a lower orbit than required.

9:48 PM - Name: Cosmos 1300 - Magnitude: 2.7
Int'l Designator: 1981-082-A
This is my first sighting of Kosmos 1300, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite. It was put into orbit using a Tsyklon-3 rocket in 1981.

9:52 PM - Name: Cosmos 2360 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.4
Int'l Designator: 1998-045-B
This is my 5th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 2360, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1998.

9:53 PM - Name: Cosmos 1777 Rocket - Magnitude: 4.0
Int'l Designator: 1986-070-B
This is my first sighting of this Kosmos-3M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 1777, a Russian Strela-2M military communications satellite, into orbit in 1986.

10:00 PM - Name: Nadezhda 6 Rocket (or SL-08 R/B) - Magnitude: 3.7
Int'l Designator: 2000-033-D
This is my first sighting of this Kosmos-3M rocket. This rocket was used to launch the Russian Nadezhda satellite (technically it should be called Nadezhda 6 since the previous 5 were called Nadezhda 1, 2, etc... however the Russians occasionally do this weird thing where they stop numbering them right before they come out with as new version or something... anyway...). The Nadezhda satellites are basically for detecting and locating distress signals from ships and aircraft that have the international COSPAS-SARSAT search-and-rescue equipment installed.

10:02 PM - Name: Chuanxin1-02 Rocket (or CZ-2D R/B) - Magnitude: 3.4
Int'l Designator: 2008-056-C
This is my first sighting of this Chinese Long March 2D rocket. This rocket was used to launch two satellites: Shiyan 1 (or Experiment 1) which is an experimental stereo digital earth mapping system and Chuang Xin 1(2) (or Creation 1 #2) which is a "store and forward" communications satellite.

10:06 PM - Name: Cosmos 2263 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.1
Int'l Designator: 1993-059-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 2263, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1993.

10:07 PM - Name: Cosmos 1315 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.9
Int'l Designator: 1981-103-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 1315, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1981.

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Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 09-Apr-2011 Saturday

9:18 PM - Name: Cosmos 1606 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.6
Int'l Designator: 1984-111-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Tsyklon-3 rocket (See Apr 5 2011 entry).

9:19 PM - Name: Meteor 3M Rocket (or SL-16 R/B) - Magnitude: 2.5
Int'l Designator: 2001-056-F
This is my 7th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to launch the Russian Meteor 3M meteorological satellite.

9:34 PM - Name: Cosmos 1300 - Magnitude: 3.0
Int'l Designator: 1981-082-A
This is my 2nd sighting of Kosmos 1300, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite (see Apr 5 2011).

9:36 PM - Name: Cosmos 1437 - Magnitude: 3.6
Int'l Designator: 1983-003-A
This is my first sighting of Kosmos 1437, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite, that was put into orbit in 1983 using a Vostok-2M rocket.

9:37 PM - Name: ADEOS II - Magnitude: 2.1
Int'l Designator: 2002-056-A
This is my 7th sighting of the Japanese ADEOS II satellite. (See Apr 5 2011)

9:39 PM - Name: Cosmos 1400 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.0
Int'l Designator: 1982-079-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 1400, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1982.

9:40 PM - Name: Cosmos 2278 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.5
Int'l Designator: 1994-023-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 2278, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite into orbit in 1994.

9:56 PM - Name: Cosmos 1484 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.9
Int'l Designator: 1983-075-B
This is my first sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 1484, a Russian Resurs-OE earth land resource satellite, into orbit in 1983.

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Here's the time-line for the evening of:
Date: 12-Apr-2011 Tuesday
9:13 PM - Name: X-37B OTV 2-1 - Magnitude: 2.4
Int'l Designator: 2011-010-A
This is my first sighting of the second X-37B (known as OTV-2 or Orbital Test Vehicle 2). OTV-2 was put into orbit using an Atlas 5 rocket. As always, the U.S. Air Force are fine with telling us _when_ the second X-37B is going to launch, however they are mum about it's orbit (which amateur sky-watchers quickly figured out) and what it's mission / experiments are. From what is known, only two OTVs have been created (OTV-1 and OTV-2).

9:42 PM - Name: SERVIS 2 Rocket - Magnitude: 5.1
Int'l Designator: 2010-023-B
This is my second sighting of this Russian Rokot rocket which was used to put the Japanese SERVIS 2 satellite into orbit in 2010. (see Apr 5 2011)

9:46 PM - Name: Alouette 1 Rocket - Magnitude: 6.0
Int'l Designator: 1962-049-B
This is my first sighting of this U.S. Thor-Agena (or, more correctly, Thor-DM21 Agena-B) rocket which was used to put Alouette 1 and TAVE (Thor-Agena Vibration Experiment) into orbit in 1962. Alouette 1 was Canada's first satellite and was used to study the ionosphere where many future satellites would be put into orbit (read more on Alouette 1; interesting stuff on its scientific life). TAVE was a set of instruments attached to the Agena-B upper stage used to study vibrations from the Thor rocket.

9:46 PM - Name: Cosmos 2219 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.1
Int'l Designator: 1992-076-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Zenit-2 rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 2219, a Russian Tselina-2 ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1992.

9:47 PM - Name: ARGOS - Magnitude: 3.3
Int'l Designator: 1999-008-A
This is my 2nd sighting of The Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) satellite, mentioned above on March 28th 2011.

9:52 PM - Name: Cosmos 1484 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.1
Int'l Designator: 1983-075-B
NUMBER 600!!!This is my 2nd sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket. (See Apr 9 2011)

9:55 PM - Name: SJ 11-01 LM Rocket - Magnitude: 2.3
Int'l Designator: 2009-061-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Long March 2C III rocket which was used to launch Shi Jian 11-1, a Chinese science experiment satellite.

9:56 PM - Name: shooting star - Magnitude: 2.0
Int'l Designator: none
This was an orange shooting star traveling directly into the west which also had a 'burst' at the end.

10:00 PM - Name: APEX - Magnitude: 3.5
Int'l Designator: 1994-046-A
This is my 2nd sighting of the APEX (Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment) satellite. Read the Astronautix site on this one. Lots of interesting geek facts. The wikipedia page for this is minimal and not very good.

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Here's the time-line for the morning / evening of:
Date: 13-Apr-2011 Wednesday

9:32 PM - Name: X-37B OTV 2-1 - Magnitude: 2.6
Int'l Designator: 2011-010-A
This is my 2nd sighting of the X-37B OTV-2 (Orbital Test Vehicle 2). (See Apr 12 2011)

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Here's the time-line for the morning / evening of:
Date: 26-Apr-2011 Tuesday

9:32 PM - Name: Cosmos 660 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.4
Int'l Designator: 2011-010-A
This is my 2nd sighting of this Kosmos-3M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 660, a Russian Taifun-1 military targeting satellite, into orbit in 1974.

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Here's the time-line for the morning / evening of:
Date: 29-Apr-2011 Friday
9:28 PM - Name: ADEOS II - Magnitude: 2.2
Int'l Designator: 2002-056-A
This is my 8th sighting of ADEOS II, the Japanese Advanced Earth Observation Satellite II. (see Apr 5 2011)

9:39 PM - Name: USA 129/KH 12-3 - Magnitude: 3.5
Int'l Designator: 1996-072-A
This is my first sighting of this US NRO reconnaissance satellite known as USA 129 or KH 12-3. Historically there have been many version of reconnaissance satellites known as keyhole optical satellites. This particular satellite is from the KH-12 series (known as the Improved Crystal satellites (though the official series designation is not known and presumably KH-12 might not even be correct, but whatever). This satellite was launched using a Titan IV rocket (or more correctly, a Titan-4(04)A ).

9:40 PM - Name: Fregat/Iris - Magnitude: 3.0
Int'l Designator: 2009-049-C
This my first sighting of IRIS (Inflatable and Rigidizable Structure) which was a joint experiment between Russian and Europe. It was put into orbit using a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat rocket in 2009. IRIS was actually attached to the Fregat upper stage and was one of 5 other satellites launched by the Soyuz-2-1b rocket.

9:41 PM - Name: Cosmos 494 Rocket - Magnitude: 4.0
Int'l Designator: 1972-043-B
This is my first sighting of this Kosmos-3M rocket which was used to put Kosmos 494, a Russian Strela-2M military communications satellite, into orbit in 1972.

9:47 PM - Name: Cosmos 1939 Rocket - Magnitude: 2.8
Int'l Designator: 1988-032-B
This is my 2nd sighting of this Vostok-2M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 1939. (see Apr 5 2011)

9:55 PM - Name: IRAS Rocket - Magnitude: 4.2
Int'l Designator: 1983-004-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Delta 3910 rocket which was used to launch the IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite) satellite. Also onboard was PIX 2 (Plasma Interaction Experiment 2) which was attached to the Delta 3910's second stage was to investigate high voltage charges on various components.

9:56 PM - Name: Cosmos 2228 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.0
Int'l Designator: 1992-094-B
This is my 3rd sighting of this Tsyklon-3 rocket which was used to put Kosmos 2228, a Russian Tselina-D ELINT satellite, into orbit in 1992.

10:00 PM - Name: Cosmos 2455 - Magnitude: 3.0
Int'l Designator: 2009-063-A
This is my 2nd sighting of Kosmos 2455, a Russian Lotos-S ELINT satellite. The Lotos-S is one component that to the Liana system which is replacing the Tselina-2 ELINT system. Kosmos 2455 was launched into orbit using a Soyuz-U rocket.

10:00 PM - Name: Cosmos 1452 Rocket - Magnitude: 3.4
Int'l Designator: 1983-031-B
This is my 4th sighting of this Kosmos-3M rocket which was used to launch Kosmos 1452, a Russian Strela-2M military communications satellite, into orbit in 1983.

10:01 PM - Name: TACSAT 3 - Magnitude: 3.6
Int'l Designator: 2009-028-A
This is my 6th sighting of TacSat 3, a U.S. recon satellite which uses ARTEMIS (Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer). the goal of this satellite was to prove that real-time data could be observed and then relayed to ground troops. It was put into orbit using a Minotaur 1 rocket.

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Also, when doing this LONG catch up, I also did some research on a few objects that were previously unknown from back on November 12. Since my skills are getting a little better, I was able to identify them.

You can go to my November 12th 2010 posting to see the updates. Look for 'Picard r DbE' and 'SMOS'.

6th time is a charm -and- a month of sat sessions

Well, it took me a while, but I finally got a USB keyboard for the KVM that will work. I think I ended up trying/buying 6 different keyboards. The first was when I tried to use a PS-2/USB adapter on the Microsoft Natural keyboard that I already had. that did not work. The lights would come on and then just go right back off, even after a reboot. So I asked my buddy todd for a USB keyboard which he gladly gave me. it was a Mac keyboard. It looked cool, but it was missing a few keys. I guess Macs don't need an insert key or a scroll lock key... which is a bummer since that is the button I needed to switch the KVM between machines. So next I went to Big Lots 'cause I didn't feel like driving all the way over to MicroCenter. I looked over their keyboards and thoguht I found one.. but then I noticed there were some 110-key versions in the back that had the same price of $9. Woot! So I grabbed one of those quickly and brought it home. Notice the word 'quickly'. I get it home, open it and ... it's a f'ing PS/2 keyboard. Dammit. So, I took that one back the next day to exchange it and quickly went over and grabbed a USB keyboard. Notice, again, the work quickly. I get this one home and realize that where PrintScreen. ScrollLock and Pause should be (which is NEXT to the Function keys, instead, the stupid power buttons are there. Which means they shoved everythign else down. So where the Home key should be... it's the Scroll Lock... and where the End key should be.. it's the home key... and how the Del / End / Pg Down buttons are directly above the arrows. I tried using if for like 15 minutes and quickly realized this one was not going to work either. I then remembered that when I was looking at the USB keyboards at Big Lots that there were TWO variations. I of course picked the wrong one. But now I'm just pissed off and all 'F- Big Lots'. So I took that one back for a refund and headed over to MicroCenter. I perused their many keyboards, looking for something similar to the MS Natural that I had. Well, the REAL MS Natural was like $45. Forget that. I was hoping to speand like $10. But they did have a Microsoft Comfort keyboard. It was somewhat ergo and when I tried it at the display it seemed okay. So I got that one for $20 and brought it home. Of course after using it for 15 minutes I realized, again, that this keyboard wasn't going to work either. It had flat keys like a laptop and the spacing wasn't the same as the Natural and it was throwing me off. So, I took that one back and found a very generic Microsoft 104-key keyboard for $12.99. It working out well. The kicker of it all, was that I looked at the main section where all the cheap-o cheap-o keyboards were and they all either had the stupid power buttons in the wrong place or had the odd (but seemingly becoming more common) 2 wide setup for the insert/delete, home/end, etc keys are and I knew that would totally screw me up. However, when I got home I looked at the box for the el-cheapo $6 keyboard we got for the wife to hook into the lappy... and it has the same layout as the $13 MS one I just bought. But I'm not f'ing going back to MicroCenter again so screw it. This one works like a charm and I'm keeping it. Sixth one is a charm. :-P

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I'm about a month behind on entering my satellite sessions. With getting the job at the end of March and then spending alot of time burning my severance and then the kids sleep schedules getting all jacked up and then me just not wanting to do it, I... well... hadn't done it. But now I'm a month behind. Now, one would think this isn't that big of a deal, however most people don't realize I keep a spreadsheet of each object I spot and this spreadsheet contains the beginning, peak and end times for each object, not just the spotted time (which, anymore is the same as the peak time since that's generally when I spot it anyways). So, I used to prep spreadsheets and send them to myself, however I haven't had much time... and also nil access to the printer, so I haven't had the convenience of doing this. When this happens, I generally get the times from the heavens-above site. And usually this goes pretty smoothly since when I do these it's either that night or soon thereafter. However, these objects change their course, speed and all that crap. And in order to keep the current (and future) calculations correct, all these parameters get adjusted when people notice changes. So, when you're a month out, those calculations can change by quite a bit... sometimes up to 30 seconds. So, instead of being able to just cut n paste into my spreadsheet, I had to manually correct everything to match what the calculations where when I spotted the object. It has been a pain in the arse. But I'm caught up and have entered and corrected and researched over 50 sightings. Egads. I pray I do not fall this far behind again. So... this posting is a doozy... so feel free to skip the rest, but I did need some new cool stuff (including the latest X-37B spy orbiter plane thingy). :-)

Oh, and before I forget, whilst going over my spreadsheet, I did manage to track down two objects that I saw clear back in Nov of 2010 so I'll include those here as well (and also update the original post).

Hope all is well with everyone. Sorry for being long-winded, but the stories this time around just happened to be long and boring.

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Here is the link to my March 28 2011 session...



It's taking a while, so I'll link back to them when I get them done.

Also, I managed to get a couple more sessions in since I even wrote this post... so .. there are about another 11 I need to get done on top of my entire april backlog. Egads.

Super Desk is almost done...

Changed the look and feel of the template for my blog. Hope you like it. Looks like shooting stars. Neat-o!!!

(mildly wordy post below)

Super Desk Deux is shaping up (and getting cleaned up as well). We bought the Mrs a new desk (and laptop) for her study up in the loft. She needed a printer stand so I gave up one of the printer stands from the super desk. However, this weekend my sis brought up some our old crap from her house and included in that haul was a short bookshelf, so it's part of super desk now.

I also picked up a Trendnet 2-port USB KVM switch at Microcenter for like $14 bucks on sale (normally $34). It also does audio switching!!! So I was able to get rid of the big honking monitor and another set of speakers. This thing is getting leaner and meaner. If I was a bigger dork, I would have purchased a 4 port and hooked up the remaining spare computer. But I never use more that 2 computers at a time, so I didn't see the point - plus, the other tower would have crowded my leg space... it's already a rats nest behind the computer desk, despite my best efforts to keep it neat and tidy.

At first I thought that the KVM switch was manual switch only... however it does hotkeys as well (scr lock + scr lock... finally, a real reason to use scr lock!!!). I'd much rather have both options since some of the Belkin soft-switch only KVMs have been known to have issues.

So, I'm giddy as all get out about the KVM. (It doesn't mention Win 7 support, but I'm running XP and Vista at the moment, so it works out for me at the moment... actually, it doesn't mention Vista on the MC description, but the documentation states that it does... so... there. I'm sure that if it supports Vista, it likely supports Win 7 as well).

I still need to get a USB keyboard since, somehow, all of my keyboards are PS/2 and the PS/2 to USB adapter thing doesn't seem to work. When plug in the keyboard, it lights up at first but then goes dark and there is no response when typing. I tried multiple PS/2 keyboards ... to no avail. And yes, I did try the customer support default of rebooting. :p

... in other news ...

The new furniture is coming tomorrow... well... most of it. The called later this evening and said that there was something wrong with the 'gentleman's chest of drawers' so that piece would be delivered NEXT Tuesday. But at least MOST of it is showing up tomorrow.

I start the new job on Wednesday. Part of me is relieved and the other part is scared to fail. But that's the norm for me when starting the new job so... all is well. :P

The roof guy came over the other day and patched a spot by the skylight that had been leaking recently... for free. He said 'it only took me 5 minutes... it's on me'. You don't see that very often any more. So... thanks Dustin.

The furnace repair guy is showing up on ... Friday I think. It's been rattling about. Their cost will certainly not be free. It cost more than what they originally quoted. But at least their labor rate isn't terrible. I think it's like $15 per 15 minutes or something. So that only $60 an hour (which is how long they said it would take). AFAIK there is no 'service call fee' so that repair should be under the $500 we budgeted. Egads. I'm not convinced that we need everything that they want to replace, however, the furnace is about 12 years old, so I might as well repair them before they break (things like the ignitor and some other thing beside the rattling induction fan (which I'm also still convinced is nothing more than a loose screw.. but whatever... I just want it done with so it doesn't sound like someone sharpening a lawn mower blade on a grinder every time the heat kicks on)).

I hope all is well with everyone else out there.

old job -> new job = new stuff

Well, in case you hadn't heard, I got myself a new job last Friday. W00t! I also received my severance package from my former employer. There were quite a few things that the Mrs and I had been wanting to get for a while, so we've been splurging a little bit.

The first thing (I think) was that I got a new pair of dress shoes. My old ones weren't actually all that old, however, the sole came off. I gorilla glued the darn thing back on, however it was a pain in the butt carrying around black electrical tape with me whenever I went on an interview for fear that it would fail me at an inopportune time.

Yesterday I also bought a new suit at JCPenney. $99.99 for jacket and pants. Nice! I saved so much money that I also got the vest for shoots-n-giggles. I also got it altered so it will fit super nice. For facts sake, the jacket I was wearing to interviews was a 38 Short. When I got my sport jacket for my sisters wedding a few years ago, I needed a 40 Short. My new suit is a 42 Short. Just call me chunky-wunky from now on. :-P

We also purchased a new bedroom suite. Neither one of us has EVER had matching bedroom suites, went looking the other day with lil A in tow (and lil A was VERY good thank goodness) and we found something we both liked.

With the new bedroom suite means that the loft will likely change from the computer area to a 'reading room'. We have four bookshelves in the bedroom now, but the light wood on those wont anywhere match the dark cherry furniture we picked out... so... out they must go.

But what about M's computer, well... we've been looking to get a new laptop for school (since the other one crapped out in only two years), so the thinking is that we will buy a small computer desk for the lappy and put that in the bedroom. The bookshelves will go upstairs and the mondo computer desk will go...

DOWNSTAIRS!!! Where I am in the process of making Super Desk part DEUX! The previous super desk was made from my old L disk, an older and much smaller desk that M had and then a printer stand... all of which made a U shaped surround around desk. The new super desk is basically the big mondo hutch desk with printer stands on either side. I just measured and it is 8 1/2 feet wide. It literally takes up the one side of the wall. YES!!! And... this allows me to put the TV where it should go and clears up the middle of the room so i'm not constantly having to move around shit.

We are also in the process of fixing some crap that's needed fixing for a while. Like the squeaky breaks on the van, having someone fix the rattling furnace, and have someone take a look at the newly developed leak in the roof. Egads.

So, all is good here. With money not being such an issue and the Mrs and I have had in depth discussions about need to be done / purchased with said severance, I'm not such a bitchy bastard for the time being. Once the new job starts we'll have to re-budget and all that happy crap and try, once again, to stay within those budgets so we can actually plan to get new stuff yearly instead of every time I get laid off. :-P