Shall I?

Well last night's eclipse was a bit of a wet squib - for me at least. I can't say I even noticed it at all, except that it got just a tad darker at one point for a few seconds, but I've heard other people have gotten some pretty great shots. I did go out on the balcony to watch the sky after dark to see if I could see any shooting stars but again, I got nothing!

The best shooting stars I've ever seen though were on my trip around Australia in 1983. My friend and I were working our way up the Gold Coast with our two-(wo)man tent or staying in youth hostels. I'm pretty sure it was Maroochydore hostel we were supposed to be staying at for three nights (the maximum stay allowed) but when we saw the state of the hostel my friend made a sign going "one night only" and I couldn't have agreed more as it was a real dump. Oh I'm sure it's much nicer now (the photos certainly seem to show that) but in 1983 it really was a dump. However, the warden was an absolute gem and offered to drive about 15 of us to a nightclub in the back of his van. This alone was probably totally against the law to have so many young people crammed (without seats) in the back of his van, but we did it anyway. I remember the exact date (24 September 1983) because it was my 25th birthday and the DJ had everyone in the club sing happy birthday to me - happy days indeed! Anyway, when we got back to the hostel (safe and sound) around 2 am, some of us didn't want to go to bed so we sat on the porch all night and just marvelled at the sheer number of shooting stars. It was absolutely magic! I know the theory is that they were easier to see because of the lower levels of pollution but for whatever reason, that night stuck in my memory because of what a wonderful sight it was! In fact, there was a time when my ex was still living here that we sat outside with the kids late into the night and spotted shooting star after shooting star - it was really something else! I can't say I've had a repeat of that experience since, or maybe it's just because I don't sit out on the terrace after dark much anymore!

Anyhoo, the real point of this post is because the other day, while playing Words With Friends with my usual bots, "Lincoln P" invited me to play a game. I've posted previously how "gorgeous Louis" and "lonely Kelvin" asked me to play at the same time and I took screenshots of their drivel as I went along. My first thought was "here we go, another scammer about to make a move" and sure enough today "Lincoln" sent me a message to say that I "played a good game" (better than you mate, better than you)! You can see from the screenshot that "Lincoln" appears as "Hank" at the bottom of the picture, so I'm very tempted to accept his invitation to chat, just to see what his spiel is. What do you think? Is he a soon-to-be retiring widowed Marine Corps Colonel, a diamond miner in Africa or a military surgeon bravely saving lives under extreme pressure in Afghanistan? Answers on a postcard please!

"Lincoln" at the top
and "Hank" at the bottom!