I’ve had fun this week getting caught up on some hobbies, restarting others, and considering picking up some more. I revisited my telescope for the first time in a while this week. I’ve been wanting an equatorial wedge, so I got that and played around with the whole rig some more. The wedge will allow me to get into astrophotography. While I still don’t feel terribly comfortable with my scope (I always feel like I’m going to break something), I’m much more comfortable than I was before. I took it outside last night and played around with the fairly clear, but incredibly light polluted, sky from our driveway.

I’ve also gotten a little fascinated with binoculars. Canon makes these amazing image stabilized binocs that would be great for nights out with the telescope (particularly if someone comes along) and for checking out birds. I admit that I’ve developed this weird birding hobby. I can’t wait for next summer with the new bird “sanctuary” we got setup this fall. It’s going to be crazy.

Then there is shortwave radio. This has interested me for years, but I’ve never taken the plunge. The place in town that sells my telescope stuff sells shortwave stuff (it’s actually more of a radio star, called Radio City after all). I was playing with this Yaesu VR-5000 radio there and thinking that would be a lot of fun to learn about as well. I could put a big antennae on the roof and tune into Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Add all this to photography, anything and everything computer related, digital video – oh yeah, and stuff like cycling and hiking. I need more time in the day.