On 03 Jan 2008, at 17:18, Chuck Hards wrote:
Yep, I remembered that as soon as I pulled away from work today, and my brain began working again.
Too many paint fumes at work? :)
I only ever met Andy a couple, three times so I'm sure that's why it didn't stick in my head.
You are not alone. As it turns out very few SLAS members were lucky enough to know Andy very well. Reason being Andy really didn't care much about astronomy so I don't think he ever came to a meeting and seldom attended star parties. Fortunately for SLAS, Andy's true passion was building things. Have a look at the SPOC construction images gallery ( http://slas.us/ Patrick2/slas/PW.HTML ) and you'll get an idea of just how often Andy was out at SPOC helping to put up both the Harmons Observatory and the Refractor House. Fittingly, perhaps, it was while Andy was loading up his truck for yet another day of labor on the Refractor House that he suffered the attack that took him out. (Thanks Andy!)
Isn't the Ealing still up for grabs?
If it were, I'm pretty sure that considering all of your labors to take it from the wreck it was to the museum piece it is today, "Hards" would be at the top of most people's short list. Carpe noctem! patrick