Is that how you even spell ain’t?  Anyway, today was a bit full.  Started at 8:00 by renting an auger (with extension bit) to dig the 12″ by 48″ hole we needed for the telescope pier.  An auger is fun.  An auger is cool.  I need an auger.  We dug the hole in about 20 minutes — would have taken us all day long to dig the same hold by hand and it wouldn’t have been as clean.  Auger’s should be as popular as iPods.  iAuger would be a cool name.  We also poured the concrete base for the pier and my friend Ken set up a nice template for the j-bolts that the pier will mount to.  We tapered the concrete from the 12″ tube to about a 14″ top to give the pier base a little more room.  Finally, we cut a hole through the shed floor which will fit around the concrete base.  Have to admit that I’m excited at the prospect of using the scope and being polar-aligned without hours of setting up and adjustments.  Next steps will be mounting the pier and putting up the shed and then mounting and calibrating the telescope for the first time.  In my gallery (http://www.gallery.roycosta.net), there are shots of the auger digging, concrete pouring (you’ll see the level on top of the wood template), and floor cutting.  Did I mention that I love augers?