Welcome to A.A.

[knobby]

The first step to curing any addiction is to admit you have a problem!

My wife has pointed out to me that I'm 'not myself', I have even noticed it myself.

I become ratty and uncomfortable when its cloudy ans the longer I go without seeing dark skies the worse I get. While the forum here is a great comfort it's no substitute for the real thing.

So I admit it, I am addicted to astronomy

Welcome to Astronomers Anonymous!

[JamesF]

All this cloud is enough to drive someone to drink; it really is.

James

[Marki]

My name is Mark and I'm an amateur astronomer.... .

[sallystar]

Count me in as a member too as I spend most of my evenings looking at the sky out of the French doors,

reading about things I am unable to see through the clouds and checking the weather forecast.

Aaarrrhh! I even drive myself crazy so what my sons make of it all I don't know!!

[JamesF]

There is that. I often have a peek out of the door three or four times a night to see if the clouds happen to have disappeared.

James

[Alan_B]

Count me in as a member too as I spend most of my evenings looking at the sky out of the French doors,

reading about things I am unable to see through the clouds and checking the weather forecast.

Yes this all sounds very familiar - just bought a filter to keep my spirits up

[knobby]

Oh Alan ... you really have for it bad ... buying things to alleviate the symptoms!

I just bought a 2h 4se to take camping as the Dob was too big ( that's my story anyway)

[sallystar]

Yes this all sounds very familiar - just bought a filter to keep my spirits up

I think that's another part of the addiction as I keep buying things I can't use because the clouds won't

clear just to feel like I'm doing something productive!

[David Smith]

And I thought It was just me who had no life outside of astronomy! All this talk of evenings spent checking the weather forecast, looking hopefully at cloudy skies and then spending the evening on here sounds very familiar. I think I have to come clean!

[LukeSkywatcher]

My new bank card arrived today. Not only is it a debit card but it also doubles as a Visa Debit card which i can use online. I see a spending spree coming on this weekend. I might push the boat out and buy a dew heating strip for my 8SE.

That will make up for the bad weather this week.

[Marki]

Same as James and Sally...constant rushing to the back door every five minutes just in case the sky has miraculously cleared.... .

[Solar_observer]

mark me down as a member .....i work nights and only have mon/tue night off. when this time comes around its always cloudy IF its not im out with my scope and i can see my girlfriend GLARING at me through the bedroom window. she doesnt understand astronomy and always says "are you getting your toy out tonight", ahhhhhhhhh i hate that word......ITS NOT A TOY. when im at work it always seems to be clear skies....GUTTED.....i try and sneak out the back to look around the sky, in some cases ive been behind in my work cos ive spent so much time outside.......I CANT WIN......IM OBSESSED. but you know what.......I LOVE IT

[Stevie816]

Astronomy is like an addiction for me in that you see everything differently with an empathy for space, once you have a sense of the cosmos, life restricted here on earth is sooo frustating. it's like being on a desert island from which you will never escape.there is an infinite amount of knowledge things to see etc etc.which will never be available. without a sereous paradigme shift the universe will never be accessible and only for hypothesis and theory. So much is out there which we ( the human race) will never know, (sorry bout the spe;limg)

[L8-Nite]

If we get a book, and a "12 step" ladder ( for a bigger Dob), I'll drink to that !

[LukeSkywatcher]

Astronomy is like an addiction for me in that you see everything differently with an empathy for space, once you have a sense of the cosmos, life restricted here on earth is sooo frustating. it's like being on a desert island from which you will never escape.there is an infinite amount of knowledge things to see etc etc.which will never be available. without a sereous paradigme shift the universe will never be accessible and only for hypothesis and theory. So much is out there which we ( the human race) will never know, (sorry bout the spe;limg)

Socrates once said "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."

I really like this quote. It fits well when you consider how much we dont know about the universe.

[FarSide]

I have this awful habit of looking out the window every few hours to see what the conditions are like. Or i walk outside into the garden and keep looking up. I do it without even noticing.

[scuffer]

having a laugh at this thread , i do exactly the same , keep going out the back door checking the cloud situation ...lol , only just realised I was doing so often myself

[knobby]

wait til you start tripping over ... coz you're looking up instead of where you're going !

[paul schofield]

One things for sure real A.A. members would not benefit from astronomy in this country, they would just have entirely too much time on their hands.

[Kbramley]

Must admit I'm the same, also I'm now totally obsessed with the weather, ever since I started to seriously get into imaging it seems like its forever cloudy. Other people don't seem to notice how shocking it's been the last 4 months for astro, especially here in the NW England.

[faulksy]

im a member to, even in the middle of the night when i get upto go to the little boys room i always have a look through the window to see if its clear

[Astro Imp]

Another member here, keep walking out the back door and looking. Don't know why I bother it never changes, well only slightly, it's either cloudy or cloudy and raining

[FarSide]

I don't now about you guys, but being a man with many wires and many bits and bobs to set up, i have to keep looking out of the window to get out there as quickly as possible. otherwise i spend an hour setting up and then an hour taking everything about when the clouds coming over. Can someone please buy me an obsy?

[Mr Q]

For a "fix", you can visit the Night Sky Network at the link below. It's a world wide network of astronomers that broadcast their telescopic images live. So whether day or night where you are, there are astronomers everywhere sharing their views on this site. It works for me And you can check in as a guest to see some great observation sessions without signing up.

NIGHT SKY NETWORK

[Si W]

It's 04:04 am, I'm sat in my Obby, SGL on one tab of my internet explorer, and the other tab the Met office EUMETSAT looking for breaks in the cloud, say no more !,