Of course, my enthusiasm wanes a bit when she passes overhead early in the morning, instead of early in the evening. But among the many opportunities to see the ISS this week is a spectacular, 6 and a half-minute trek that will be directly over Chicago.  The pass will begin at 6:42 on Monday morning, the 30th. It will come up in the northwest sky, and move in a straight line towards the southeast horizon. It should be immediately above us just before 6:46am.

Two concerns for this pass. One, as always, will be clear skies. But the second: will the sky already be too bright for us to see the sun reflect of the ISS? There have been many passes that NASA says I’ll be able to see, but when I go outside and watch for her, there is too much light in the sky for it to be seen. At least with the naked eye. So I’m hoping for a clear, dark morning.

If this one doesn’t work out, there will be an equally bright pass on the morning of the 2nd. Though this will be a shorter pass, lasting only about 4 minutes, it should be every bit as awesome. I hope you’re able to make it outside for one or both of these.

When a player resigns, it’s basically the same as retiring. He’s done playing. Sure, he might be back someday. Or he might be traded to Miami. But don’t expect to see him back in pinstripes anytime soon.

When a player re-signs, it means all is right with the world,  he’s agreed to stay with the team, be a clubhouse presence, take it one game at a time, and help the ball club win.

Don’t ask me about pitchers and catchers re-porting.

Last night’s January thunderstorms provided the perfect lead-in for today’s rant.

Lightening is something you do to your coffee.

Lightning is the bright light you see in the sky just before you hear thunder.

I know it can be confusing, because lightning does indeed create a lightening of the night sky, but still, no ‘e’ when talking about the discharge of atmospheric electricity. Or hockey in Tampa.

I hope you’ve found this post enlightening. (sorry, too much too soon?)

So here it is; what if I told you that all those words rhyme?

Makes no sense, you say? Well, take a look at the past tenses of them:

bought

caught

sought

thought

fought

taught

brought

Now that you’ve seen the answer, how many of you knew it, but were just too timid to raise your hand?

That’s not my gem; that came from Twitter, then was repeated by someone famous hundreds of years ago. And it might be true in some instances, but not when it comes to me being a Cub fan.

I love the Cubs Convention. After my first one in 2002, I decided I would go to every one for the rest of history. The standing in line for autographs and pictures, the racing from room to room, floor to floor, for the next discussion. It’s big, it’s crowded, and it’s all Cub fans. No haters. No stupid t-shirts about goats or 100-year droughts. Just fans being fans, trying to get up close and personal with the boys in pinstripes.

And therein lies my problem. I’m an emotional fan. I get attached to players. I sat in a chair next to Matt Clement and talked about going to high school 10 miles apart. Roosevelt Brown and I discussed the opportunity he’d have at the beginning of the 2002 season because Moises Alou always starts the year out injured. (Moises did; Roosevelt didn’t play well, and was gone). I’ve watched Sean Marshall and Kyle Farnsworth  and Todd Hundley stand on stage long after all the others had left, because there were still little kids wanting autographs, and those guys wouldn’t let them go away disappointed. But then they do all go away. The kids, the fans, and then the players. And those of us who’ve formed a connection with them are left behind, hoping we’ll bond with the next group.

The Cubs are rebuilding. The Cubs need to rebuild. And that means more friends gone. Like Aramis. Like Z. Like Corey, who didn’t live up to his potential on the field, but was a rock star at the convention. Goodbye Hee Seop. I don’t even know where you are anymore, just a few years after I followed you to each seminar and meet and greet, sure I was seeing the next Cubs superstar.

I’ve stopped looking at the tweets, posts, and photos from this year’s convention. At first, I wanted to know everything that was going on, but in a rebuilding year, it means some of those guys aren’t going to be here much longer. Like Matt Garza, who stood on the top dugout step all of 2011 and cheered like a maniac for his teammates, then spent this entire off-season heating trade rumors. Am I supposed to want another photo opp with someone who might be a Yankee at any moment?

Maybe this year, I’ll just root for uniform numbers. “Nice catch, dude in right field!” or “Way to move the runner over, twelve!” Yeah, that’s the ticket. No more names, no more faces. Just helmets and jerseys and protective equipment. That way, I won’t know who’s here, and who’s gone. Because pieces of equipment don’t go to Milwaukee and break your heart.

I’ve chronicled my contemptuous relationship with Rosetta Stone and their resale policy to near-ad nauseam levels on this blog, here, here, here, and here. I’m broken. It’s time to accept defeat, and move on.

While it would have been nice to get $400-500 for what is a brand-new, untouched set of Rosetta Stone Spanish software, I’ve decided to give up hope of selling, and learn Spanish. Maybe it will help me get a decent job when being bi-lingual is required. Or maybe it will just help me communicate in a region where the Spanish-speaking population continues to grow exponentially. The worst thing that can happen is that I learn a new language. All that remains now is for me to crack open the box and start learning.

Thinking about buying Rosetta Stone software? Make sure you know what you’re getting. I am not going to plug their product; just be aware that there is a lot of bogus stuff out there, and those who are pedaling it aren’t the types to willingly refund your purchase price.

Keep watching this space. Maybe I’ll be habla-ing here soon.

No, I need to put more apps on miPhone. A smart phone isn’t like a computer right? Where the more things you have going on, the slower it performs? Because I only have 3 pages of apps on it now, and when I see a commercial that says there are over 500,000 of them available, it tells me I’m under-utilizing my device. And while the iPhone still has its shiny new toy appeal for me, new apps are like extra presents in the days after Christmas.

my iPhone front page

So what apps should I be using? I have some space-gazing apps, a couple of word games (I’m not much of a gamer), the usual social media stuff, but not enough to be able to say “Oh cool, I forgot I downloaded that!” Am I missing any of the must-have, all-the-rage tools? What say you, Apple Nation?

For one thing, it’s in outer space, as much as anything can be in something that’s outer. So, for the same reason you can’t see the stars during the daytime, you can’t see the ISS either.

More importantly, when the ISS is visible, what you’re seeing is the reflecting sunlight off its massive solar panels. So when the Space Station is in Earth’s shadow, it can’t be seen from the ground. That means the only times you’ll see it is in the couple of hours before sunrise, and after sunset.

But if you’re like me, and you want to know where to find it at all times, I found a cool site here. You get to see the orbital path the Station is taking. It actually moves on the map, too. You could call your friends in Singapore and let them know it’s about time to look up. Or east. Or up and east. Of course, you’ll need to do some homework so you’ll know whether or not it’s the correct time of day for a sighting.

Next up, I need someone to develop an app for my iPhone that let’s me point it to the sky and identify the flight plan of the plane I see. For whatever reason, I need to know where that jet came from, and where it’s going.

The Chicago area has a few International Space Station passes coming up in the next week. Two of them, if the skies are clear, will be spectacular.

On Sunday the 15th, it will come up at 6:24:31am. Look in the southwest sky. It will travel towards the east northeast horizon, going almost directly overhead.

On Tuesday the 17th, the second of two passes will first appear at 6:07:21am on the west southwest horizon, and head toward the northeast sky. It will appear to pass just to the north of the city, again almost directly over our heads. Make sure you wave; I’m convinced someone in the six-man crew will be watching.