Continuing to love Roomba

I have been bummed out for a few weeks now because Roomba inexplicably stopped doing its job. It was horrible. Cat fur in the carpet that I had to vacuum myself! Bird food that I had to sweep myself! Oh the humanity.

So, tonight I finally sat down to troubleshoot and perhaps contact the nice people at iRobot. As it happens, both of my issues were easily solved via their customer support website. Complete with video showing me just what to do to get Roomba back to work. Awesome. These people know their stuff.

I really love Roomba.

Today, I decided to rearrange the furniture in the living room, and I have to say it looks pretty good. Once I get all of the random bits and bobs put in place I'll take some pictures. It really does look nice! The only real downside is that it will necessitate moving one more piece of furniture into the "spare" bedroom so it will be just a tiny bit cozier for guests. As in, please be careful not to break any toes on all the furniture. But the air bed will still fit, as will a decent amount of luggage so it should all be good.

The weather reports for my upcoming star party are not looking so great. There are some predictions for rain on Friday. This will give me a chance to see how well I've really done with my gear purchases. Wish me luck!

My best gear purchase by far has been a copy of Objects in the Heavens. It's by a guy in Illinois, and I have to say I think he's done a fabulous job. I took this little guide with me to observe Saturday night and had the most rewarding viewing of my astronomy career to date. Absolutely brilliant. If anyone here in the northern hemisphere is looking for a good guide to get you going. Messier objects are all well and good, but this guide contains a lot of other really cool stuff as well. And all things that show nicely in a telescope of moderate size. With descriptions to let you know you've found what you're looking for! An excellent guide. It's really going to enhance my viewing at Calstar.