Extraterrestrial

What a sight! This is the latest image from the Cassini probe circling Saturn (click on it for a larger view). The moon is Dione. The horizontal lines near the bottom are Saturn's rings viewed almost on edge (they're very thin). The "stripes" on Saturn are the shadows of the ring's individual bands.

Mars has been especially bright and large lately because it's in almost its nearest position again. I always like to pick it out because, well this blog alone is a good enough reason. At the moment it's also close to the moon in the early evening so it seems even larger.

Back here on Earth I learned yesterday that I would be getting a new boss today. I've been carrying the load of both I.T. Manager and I.T. Director for six months now, so it's good to have the position filled (although I would have preferred to fill it myself). Of course it remains to be seen if we can work together. I'm pretty relaxed about such things, but I may find that my new boss wants to sweep the broom... Same old same old I guess. I always worry that a new boss won't appreciate my efforts or will feel threatened by me. We had a good introductory lunch today, so that's a start.

Another authority figure has been back in my life for the last two weeks. My father has been in town for a visit. He moved back to Australia in 1980, and I haven't seen much of him since until the last few years. Now he returns to Canada each summer to work on some TV projects and he usually comes through Toronto in the Fall. He usually stays with me when he's in town and visits my sister and his old friends. It's been good to catch up with him and to help his grandchildren get to know him, but I'm a bit tired of the prolonged political discussions...

Listening to: Nothing. Weird, huh?