Week of 23 December 2002

Barbara and I are having dinner tonight with Paul and Mary, and then returning home for a planning session for the Messier Marathon. Robert may join us for that. I have the basic sequence worked out for the February practice session, along with the first half of the schedule. If things go as planned, we'll have 55 Messier Objects logged (that's half) by midnight. I even have a break to warm up from 2130 to 2200 and a two-hour nap scheduled from midnight until 0200.

My mother has been having pretty much constant pain in her right leg for some time now. She's never been one to overmedicate, so she's been using Alleve routinely and only taking the hydrocodone when she really needs it. Lately that's been every evening. Barbara and I can tell when she's been taking hydrocodone because it changes her personality. She's normally sweet and not prone to complain. When she's been taking hydrocodone, she's argumentative, thinks everyone is out to get her (including Barbara and me sometimes), and can be positively nasty. It also affects her memory. I told her to ask for the hydrocodone when she really needed it for pain, but otherwise to avoid it.

Last night I talked to the nurse about the ongoing pain. She suggested giving my mother the hydrocodone more frequently (she's allowed to request it as frequently as every four hours) in order to "load up" her bloodstream with the drug. The nurse made a good point, which is that if mom waits until she's hurting badly, the hydrocodone is less effective than if she takes it well before the pain becomes severe. The nurse also mentioned a morphine-based "pain patch", which delivers a low dose of the drug transdermally and lasts for three days or so. She's noted in her book to ask the doctor about prescribing a 25 mg patch to start, with the possibility of upping that to the 50 mg patch if needed.

We'll see. I'm not really concerned about the possibility of my mother becoming addicted to morphine, in the sense that that doesn't matter as long as she has a continuing supply of the drug. I'm more concerned about the side effects, including the mental impact and particularly the fact that opiates are constipating, which is that last thing my mother needs. When I visit mom this morning, I'm also going to suggest that she ask the doctor about putting her back on prednisone. I'm fully aware of the downside of steroids, but they do help relieve her rheumatoid arthritis pain. She was for a long time on a low maintenance dose, something like 2.5 mg twice a day. According to the doctor who was caring for her then, that dose is low enough that the side effects are minimal.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were drugs that were entirely benign? Alas, there aren't, but sometimes the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. I think my mother is probably under-medicated right now, so we'll have to see what the doctor thinks. Personally, I resent the fact that our stupid laws require the doctor be involved at all. My mother is rational and informed, I am rational and informed, and there's no reason that we shouldn't be able to play with her drugs and dosages until we come up with something that works.

10:44 - Barbara still isn't fully recovered from her illness last week. Last night, she started feeling ill again just after she went to bed. This morning, she decided to call the doctor to see if anything could be done. She was able to get an 8:50 appointment, although her regular doctor is off today. She wants to avoid being ill on Christmas Day, if possible.

Barbara and I met Paul and Mary for dinner last night at Mi Pueblo, just up the road from us. I don't eat Mexican often, and I never have any idea what to order. So I just waited for Barbara, Mary, and Paul to order and then told the waiter "I'll have what he's having". I don't know what it was or even the name of it, but it was good. During dinner, Mary mentioned that she wasn't going to come over to our house after dinner to help plan the Messier Marathon practice session. She's allergic to dogs and recently had a pretty severe allergic reaction, so she decided discretion was the better part of valor. We would have just met at Paul and Mary's place, but I had all the planning stuff on computer, so Paul, Barbara, and I met at our house to do the planning. Here's the schedule/sequence we came up with:

Seq	Start	End	Time	Messier	YRMM	YRMM	Guide
#	Time	Time	Logged	Object	Feb #	Chart	Const	Rise	Culm	Set	Notes
1	19:15	19:25		45	18	11	Tau	10:19	17:39	0:58	Binocular (easy)
2	19:25	19:35		42	12	7	Ori	13:40	19:27	1:14	Binocular (easy)
3	"	"		43	13	7	Ori	13:40	19:27	1:15
4	19:35	19:45		74	1	1	Pis	8:38	15:28	22:19
5	19:45	19:53		77	2	2	Cet	10:31	16:34	22:37
6	19:53	20:00		31	3	3	And	5:50	14:34	23:18	Binocular (easy)
7	"	"		110	4	3	And	5:45	14:32	23:19
8	"	"		32	5	3	And	5:53	14:34	23:16
9	20:00	20:05		33	6	4	Tri	7:39	15:25	23:12
10	20:05	20:10		52	7	10	Cas	CP	13:15	CP	Binocular (easy)
11	20:10	20:15		103	8	10	Cas	CP	15:25	CP	Binocular (easy)
12	20:15	20:22		34	9	5	Per	7:38	16:34	1:29	Binocular (easy)
13	20:22	20:30		76	10	5	Per	4:54	15:34	2:14
14	20:30	20:38		79	11	6	Lep	14:31	19:16	0:01
15	20:38	20:46		78	14	7	Ori	13:35	19:38	1:41
16	20:46	20:49		41	15	9	CMa	15:38	20:37	1:37	Binocular (easy)
17	20:49	20:52		93	16	9	CMa	16:48	21:36	2:24	Binocular (easy)
18	20:52	21:00		1	17	11	Tau	12:14	19:26	2:38
19	21:00	21:03		50	19	8	CMa	15:16	20:55	2:33	Binocular (easy)
20	21:03	21:06		47	20	8	CMa	16:09	21:28	2:48	Binocular (easy)
21	21:06	21:09		46	21	8	CMa	16:15	21:33	2:52	Binocular (easy)
22	21:09	21:12		36	22	12	Aur	11:25	19:28	3:30	Binocular (easy)
23	21:12	21:15		37	23	12	Aur	11:49	19:44	3:39	Binocular (easy)
24	21:15	21:18		38	24	12	Aur	11:09	19:20	3:31	Binocular (easy)
25	21:18	21:21		35	25	13	Gem	12:40	20:00	3:21	Binocular (easy)
26	21:21	21:24		48	26	14	CMi	16:20	22:05	3:51	Binocular (easy)
27	21:24	21:27		44	27	15	Cnc	15:27	22:32	5:36	Binocular (easy)
28	21:27	21:30		67	28	15	Cnc	16:04	22:42	5:20	Binocular (easy)
	21:30	22:00									Break
29	22:00	22:06		95	31	17	Leo	17:58	0:36	7:13
30	22:06	22:12		96	32	17	Leo	18:00	0:38	7:16
31	22:12	22:18		105	33	17	Leo	17:59	0:39	7:20
32	22:18	22:24		65	34	16	Leo	18:29	1:10	7:52
33	22:24	22:30		66	35	16	Leo	18:30	1:12	7:53
34	22:30			81	59	22	UMa	CP	23:47	CP
35		22:40		82	60	22	UMa	CP	23:47	CP
36	22:40	22:43		97	61	22	UMa	CP	1:06	CP
37	22:43	22:46		108	62	23	UMa	CP	1:03	CP
38	22:46	22:49		109	63	23	UMa	CP	1:09	CP
39	22:49	22:59		106	64	21	UMa	16:35	2:11	11:46
40	22:59	23:02		40	65	21	UMa	CP	2:14	CP
41	23:02	23:05		63	66	25	CVn	18:18	3:07	11:57
42	23:05	23:08		94	67	25	CVn	18:00	2:42	11:25
43	23:08	23:11		51	68	20	UMa	17:47	3:21	12:56
44	23:11	23:14		101/102	69	20	UMa	CP	3:56	CP
45	23:14	23:17		102	70	24	UMa	CP	4:58	CP
46	23:17			61	37	27	Vir	19:58	2:13	8:29
47				49	38	28	Vir	19:55	2:21	8:48
48				58	39	28a	Vir	19:51	2:29	9:07
49				59	40	28a	Vir	19:56	2:34	9:11
50				60	41	28a	Vir	19:58	2:35	9:12
51				84	42	28b	Vir	19:35	2:17	8:58
52				86	43	28b	Vir	19:36	2:18	8:59
53				87	44	28b	Vir	19:43	2:22	9:02
54				88	45	28b	Vir	19:37	2:24	9:10
55				89	46	28c	Vir	19:47	2:27	9:07
56				90	47	28c	Vir	19:46	2:28	9:10
57				91	48	28c	Vir	19:41	2:27	9:13
58				98	49	28d	Vir	19:18	2:05	8:53
59				99	50	28d	Vir	19:24	2:10	8:56
60				100	51	28d	Vir	19:24	2:14	9:05
61				64	52	19	Com	19:38	2:48	9:59
62				85	53	19	Com	19:18	2:17	9:15
63				3	54	18	Com	19:57	3:34	11:10	Binocular (easy)
64				53	55	18	Com	20:06	3:04	10:03
65		0:45		104	36	27	Vir	21:03	2:32	8:00
	0:45	2:15									Nap Time
66	2:15	2:25		68	29	26	Cor	21:54	2:31	7:00
67	2:25	2:35		83	30	26	Cor	23:04	3:29	7:53
68	2:35	2:40		13	80	29	Her	22:15	6:29	14:44	Binocular (easy)
69	2:40	2:45		92	81	29	Her	22:07	7:05	16:02	Binocular (easy)
70	2:45	2:50		5	58	33	Opi	23:01	5:10	11:19	Binocular (easy)
71	2:50	2:54		10	75	34	Oph	0:54	6:45	12:35	Binocular (easy)
72	2:54	2:58		12	76	34	Oph	0:38	6:35	12:32	Binocular (easy)
73	2:58	3:03		107	77	34	Oph	0:56	6:20	11:44
	3:03	3:30									Break
74	3:30	3:33		4	56	39	Sco	1:37	6:15	10:53	Binocular (easy)
75	3:33	3:37		80	57	39	Sco	1:17	6:09	11:00
76	3:37	3:42		14	79	35	Oph	1:32	7:25	13:18
77	3:42	3:45		57	99	30	Lyr	0:44	8:41	16:38
78	3:45	3:51		56	98	30	Lyr	1:20	9:04	16:48
79	3:51	3:57		27	101	31	Cyg	2:33	9:47	17:01	Binocular (easy)
80	3:57	4:03		71	100	31	Cyg	2:41	9:41	16:42
81	4:03	4:07		29	102	32	Cyg	1:45	10:11	18:38	Binocular (easy)
82	4:07	4:12		39	103	32	Cyg	1:31	11:20	21:09	Binocular (easy)
83	4:12	4:20		9	78	35	Oph	2:00	7:07	12:13
84	4:20	4:28		19	73	38	Sco	2:11	6:50	11:29
85	4:28	4:36		62	74	38	Sco	2:25	6:49	11:12
86	4:36	4:40		11	96	36	Scu	2:54	8:39	14:23	Binocular (easy)
87	4:40	4:46		26	97	36	Scu	2:58	8:33	14:08
88	4:46	4:49		16	88	37	Scu	2:45	8:06	13:28	Binocular (easy)
89	4:49	4:52		17	89	37	Scu	2:54	8:08	13:23	Binocular (easy)
90	4:52	4:55		18	90	37	Scu	2:56	8:07	13:19	Binocular (easy)
91	4:55	4:58		24	86	41	Sgr	2:58	8:04	13:11	Binocular (easy)
92	4:58	5:01		23	85	41	Sgr	2:40	7:44	12:49	Binocular (easy)
93	5:01	5:04		25	87	41	Sgr	3:15	8:19	13:23	Binocular (easy)
94	5:04	5:07		21	84	40	Sgr	2:59	7:52	12:45
95	5:07	5:10		20	83	40	Sgr	2:59	7:50	12:41
96	5:10	5:13		8	82	40	Sgr	3:05	7:51	12:37	Binocular (easy)
97	5:13	5:16		22	94	42	Sgr	3:36	8:24	13:12	Binocular (easy)
98	5:16	5:19		28	95	42	Sgr	3:28	8:12	12:56
99	5:19	5:20		6	71	38	Sco	3:13	7:28	11:42	Binocular (easy)
100	5:20	5:21		7	72	38	Sco	3:39	7:42	11:44	Binocular (easy)
101	5:21	5:23		54	91	43	Sgr	4:21	8:43	13:05
102	5:23	5:25		69	92	43	Sgr	4:05	8:19	12:33
103	5:25	5:27		70	93	43	Sgr	4:17	8:31	12:45
104	5:27	5:35		15	104	46	Peg	4:38	11:18	17:57	Binocular (easy)
105	5:35	5:40		75	n/a	45	Sgr	4:59	9:54	14:49	Off Venus
106				55	n/a	44	Sgr	5:08	9:28	13:47	Binocular (easy)
107				72	n/a	47	Aqu	5:15	10:41	16:07
108				73	n/a	47	Aqu	5:21	10:46	16:12
109				2	n/a	47	Aqu	5:21	11:21	17:22	Binocular (easy)
110				30	n/a	48	Cap	6:38	11:28	16:18

The "YRMM" in the column headers refers to Harvard Pennington's book, The Year-Round Messier Marathon. According to Pennington, only the first 104 objects are achievable in February. We extended that list to include #105, Messier 75. Although the sky will be brightening by that time and M75 will be very low on the horizon, it happens that M75 is located very near Venus that morning. By using Venus as a guide, we may be able to get M75. The last five items, M55, M72, M73, M2, and M30 are completely impossible. The "Binocular (easy)" in the last column refers to the fact that these are easy binocular objects under normal circumstances, but certainly not when they're low on the eastern horizon with the sun rising.

We didn't both to set specific time goals for the Coma/Virgo Cluster, which most astronomers call the Coma/Virgo Clutter. The problem in that region isn't seeing the objects. There are hundreds of galaxies in an area of sky that you can cover with your hand at arm's length. The problems are identifying which specific object you're looking at and avoiding getting lost as you "galaxy hop" from one to the next. Lots of would-be Messier Marathoners have been brought up short by the Coma/Virgo Clutter. We hope to avoid that.

9:43 - Barbara is off to her sister's house today to celebrate Christmas Day. I'll stay home and read or work. My brother is coming over from Raleigh, so the two of us will visit my mother. I expect he'll have dinner at the nursing home. I'll probably just have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or something.

Christmas has always been a problem around here, because Barbara loves it and I hate it. This year Barbara decided to take the rational approach. She's celebrating the holiday with her family and leaving me out of it entirely.