I had scheduled an Observatory open night for Friday, Nov. 2. The weather and observing forecasts agreed that Friday night would be, at the very least, a very good night to view Comet 17P/Holmes and that's just the way things turned out. Friday night, for a good couple of hours after sunset, boasted an outstandingly transparent sky. Because the local daily newspaper, The Record-Courier, was kind enough to run our event announcement and our photo of the comet, we had a very good turnout. In all 37 folks of all ages came to see this most unusual celestial visitor. The century-old telescope performed outstandingly keeping good track on the moving object. We could see at least one background star shining through the huge coma. The sky was so clear that I could make out the Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 884 & NGC 869) with my unaided eyes! A glorious sky, indeed. Visitors asked many questions about comets and the Observatory and seemed to have a very enjoyable evening. The event closed out at 10 PM and I shot a number of sky photos with and without the dome in the foreground — I need to process those images but they look very promising. With this entry is a medium telephoto shot of the triangle Comet Holmes formed with two of the southern Perseus stars. Got home rather late after a most enjoyable night under the stars.
Saturday brought lots of work… She Who Must Be Obeyed decided we needed to move everything out of our rental storage unit and bring it all home. Which we did. In one afternoon. It's amazing what you can pack into a Honda hatchback. Whew! We were both sore and tired after that one and the basement is full of s-t-u-f-f. But it's done. And we save a tidy sum every month that we don't pay for rental space. Sunday, thank goodness, was relaxed with a little shopping trip to a mall, food buying at Mustard Seed Market, and a quiet evening at home. Besides… it was chilly and overcast today!
Further tightening our belts, and for other reasons, we're looking at making a switch from DirecTV satellite television and EarthLink DSL data to the new AT&T U-Verse fiber optic combined service for TV and data. It has its advantages but I'm dreading trying to change my email address for all of those important things I've registered for using the EarthLink email address! Friends and family I can notify. Not so easy for businesses and agencies. {groan!}
PhotonStopper 
The comet viewing night sounds awesome! Wish we could have been there! I'm sure it will save loads of money not having the storage unit any longer. Glad Ben could help by taking some wonderful items off your hands! Let us know on your new email. As you know, we also just changed ours. ~S
The public night was lots of fun. I really enjoy showing people the wonders of the cosmos and this comet was a nice surprise for all of us. Best wishes with the big clean-up, fix-up… it sounds like you're off to a grand start.