On the August Total Eclipse

[RoadKingLarry]

Had dinner with Son2 today and he gave me a pair.  He's going up north to see the totality, but he mentioned that it would be 90% here and he'd feel better with me having that protection.  They really are dark.

Funny how the roles have been reversed.  Now he's taking care of me.  

I love my kids but the thought of them having to take care of me scares the hell out of me.

I had originally made plans to drive up to somewhere in the path of totality. On second thought after imagining what a *expletive deleted*ing zoo anyplace worth going to is gonna be I decided to stay home and enjoy the 90% we are getting.

[lupinus]

Forget hotels. You should see what PARKING SPACES are going for.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[never_retreat]

Glasses dark enough and UV protective enough  to allow direct viewing of the sun. Even a partially or mostly obscured sun can cause eye damage unless protection is used.

So I can just use my speed glass helmet? Do idea how dark that really is.

[cordex]

So I can just use my speed glass helmet? Do idea how dark that really is.

Depends.  Eclipse glasses are cheap, though if you have any doubt.

[Ben]

So I can just use my speed glass helmet? Do idea how dark that really is.

1) Not all helmets go up to #14.

2) I don't think your helmet will auto-darken when you point it at the sun. It's one of the first things I tried with mine. It would sometimes darken, but not stay that way. Or from what I read and worse, it will repeatedly activate/deactivate almost too fast for you to notice, but slow enough to damage your eyes if you are staring at the sun.

Probably better to just buy the glasses or do as Bob suggested and just buy a #14 (or a couple of #7) regular lenses at the welding shop. Don't bother with Amazon - they seem to have joined in on the solar $$$ fun and even welding lenses are suddenly overpriced.

[Ben]

Ha ha - the eclipse path is Trump's fault. 

http://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2017/08/01/piping-hot-boston-globe-take-sun-moon-might-as-well-wear-maga-hats-next-month/

[Perd Hapley]

Ha ha - the eclipse path is Trump's fault. 

http://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2017/08/01/piping-hot-boston-globe-take-sun-moon-might-as-well-wear-maga-hats-next-month/

He's a wealthy man, with properties all over the place, and tax-payer provided housing in D.C. Yet the journos let him live in their heads. Sad!

[never_retreat]

1) Not all helmets go up to #14.

2) I don't think your helmet will auto-darken when you point it at the sun. It's one of the first things I tried with mine. It would sometimes darken, but not stay that way. Or from what I read and worse, it will repeatedly activate/deactivate almost too fast for you to notice, but slow enough to damage your eyes if you are staring at the sun.

Probably better to just buy the glasses or do as Bob suggested and just buy a #14 (or a couple of #7) regular lenses at the welding shop. Don't bother with Amazon - they seem to have joined in on the solar $$$ fun and even welding lenses are suddenly overpriced.

I'll have to see if I can find the shade level on it. I know I don't use it turned up to the darkest setting. And if you fiddle with the sensitivity it will darken if you look up from your work outdoors.

[K Frame]

And you know that if totality passed over only Hillary voting areas they would be going absolutely apeshit because "their sun is being cut off" by the evil Trump-leaning sun.

[Scout26]

I love my kids but the thought of them having to take care of me scares the hell out of me.

Which is why I give really cool presents to my great-nephews.  I want them to smuggle booze into my nursing home for me.

[Perd Hapley]

According to Travelocity, hotel prices in St Louis haven't changed, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of empty rooms. That's about 60-90 minutes from various points along the totality.

Hotels in or near St. Clair or De Soto are full up.

We're going to head over to St. Clair. I don't know what kind of crowds to expect.

[230RN]

Trump's fault.

[230RN]

Just checked to see what if anything (besides clouds 'n such) would interfere with my view from my balconies.

Just FYI in case you need to know in advance, for Denver, ~105° W, ~40° N, 21 Aug 2017, 11:57 AM MDT, the sun will be at Elevation ~58°, Azimuth ~145°, 90% totality. Oh, the moon, too.

Total event will be from 10:23 AM to 1:14 PM MDT.

I reckon the moon will in fact be in totality. :)  Nyuck-nyuck-nyuck.

'Course, you can guess at it pretty good, too, but them's the numbers iff'n you need 'em for instrumentation or whatever.

I meant to mention this again.  The last full one we were in a woodsy area and it was spooky when everything went black because all the forest creatures suddenly shut up.

Weather near Golden; I didn't check for Denver proper:
Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 72.  

What filter number do clouds have?   Nyuck-nyuck-nyuck.

[RoadKingLarry]

I got enough glasses for all the grandkids and kids and wife and I. I think we're gonna do a BBQ event for the afternoon.  Only one that has to work is my son in law.

Current forecast calls for clear skies for our 90.7% eclipse.