Coronal Mass Ejections and You

This past week there were several medium to large Coronal Mass Ejections, otherwise known as solar flares. As the resulting electromagnetic pulses, travelling at about four million miles per hour, collide with Earth’s magnetic field, there will be increased Northern Light activity, and also sporadic disruptions of Radio and Satellite signals.

So what does that mean for you and I?

Well, if you’re far enough north (Maine), and the conditions are right, it means that you may be treated to some strange and beautiful light shows in the night sky. It also means that the satellite feed your cable company gets could suffer periodically, as well as the signals from the GPS satellites.

We we’re up in Maine this weekend and we went down to the beach to star gaze, but it was too overcast to see any Aurora activity. We did however suffer from some strange tics in the cable feed, and when we started our car to leave, the GPS put us squarely in the Atlantic Ocean. It stayed pegged to that spot, just off the coast, until we hit the Hampton tolls, then all of a sudden it came back to life, plopping us on I95, where we belonged.

Phew.

Anyways, it seems we’re in a period of increased solar activity that won’t peak until 2013, so keep a weather eye to the sky, just be sure you have those polarized Ray Bans on, can’t be too careful. Matter of fact, I just finished fashioning myself a jaunty little tin foil cap, and I think I have enough left to line a couple of pairs of shorts.

That is all.

unplugged

We've been unplugged for the last few days, and it was soooo nice. No Internet, no phone, no cable, and barely any cell service at all. Of course, we weren't completely unplugged. We had the iPods, and there is a vintage tv set with rabbit ears in the cottage, but we were without the major distractor factors.

Hey, who needs technology when you've got fresh lobster sauteed in butter and wild blueberry pie? Not me. It's been way to long since we took a real break, and although this one was short, it was sweet, and just what the Dr. ordered.

I find that if I'm connected, I just don't relax. Even when I'm home under the weather, I still end up fielding calls or on the PC. Our home phone never stops ringing, and half the time it's someone looking for a donation or trying to get us to participate in some survey.

"Is this Mr. or Mrs. berryjocks? I'm calling on behalf of the Crop Dusters Benevolent Society and we're raising money to buy gas masks for the pilots. Should we put you down for the standard "Golden Mask" contribution of 50 dollars? There are cheaper packages, if you're not fully committed to saving lives..."

They always butcher your name, and they always spit out at least a paragraph before you can get a word in edgewise. It drives me nuts.

So, it was time to retreat. Time to lay in the sun, read, nap, walk the beach, and of course, eat. No ringing phones, no urgent emails, nothing but our own agenda.

Unlike most things in our lives today, you can't recharge your internal batteries unless you unplug.