Rocketry has runied my appreciation of the weather

[neil_w]

You may laugh at me or with me about this.

Nowadays, whenever I'm outside (especially during spring and summer), I instinctively evaluate whether the weather is suitable for rocket launching. The stupid part is that it has nothing to do with whether I actually plan to launch a rocket that day, or the next, or within the next month.

It could be the most beautiful day in the world, but if it's a bit breezy I'll get stressed and almost angry that the wind is threatening to ruin a perfectly good launch day. And I'll think "Gee, I hope that this doesn't mean it's going to be windy at my next launch three weeks from now."

If it's still and perfect, I'll get annoyed that I'm *not* launching that day.

The two times when I seem to be able to be happy about the weather are when (a) I'm actually at a launch, and the weather is good, or (b) it's the day of a launch that I couldn't get to, and the weather is bad. Then I feel tremendous relief that I didn't miss a nice day at the field.

Frankly, it's ridiculous, but I can't seem to help it.

Possibly it stems from the fact that I get to so few launches these days that I'm absolutely paranoid about having bad weather on the days I actually manage to clear my schedule to go. Dunno.

Anyone else suffer from this?

 

[Andy Limper]

Many of us have the same mental behavior. I frequently tell my wife "it's not a good rocket day". She says" Huh? You're not doing any flying anyway, you're working for me.....

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

I am right there with ya. My other hobby is surf fishing. Every time I feel a slight north breeze I start thinking about the beach, I'll even check the weather 5 days out even though I have no plans to go. A rough windy day is always "I bet it's windy down on Holly today", or "Glad I'm not trying to fly a rocket today". Both of my hobbies depend on the wind or lack of.

But let me drag out the kite for my daughter on a windy day. Like flipping a switch, wind just stops.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Out West you can add another frustration: Perfect weather and launch scrubbed due to burn ban!

 

[DavidMcCann]

When I was in my teens, I'd launch with my family maybe 2-3 times a year. No matter. Every single day I'd wake up and before even getting out of bed, I'd look immediately up out of my skylight and see what the clouds were doing and evaluate if it'd be a good day to launch.

Now, I'm torn between praying for wind at work so I don't sweat to death, and wishing for zero winds to launch in. It's a brutal mental task

 

[MALBAR 70]

The one that always gets me is the "prior commitment" day. I wake up on the morning of a great flying day, no wind, clear sky and perfect temperature. Only to realize that I have to attend a wedding, graduation a family get together or something of that nature. I'm usually miserable for a few hours, thinking I could be poking holes in the sky. :rant:

 

[blackjack2564]

The two times when I seem to be able to be happy about the weather are when (a) I'm actually at a launch, and the weather is good, or (b) it's the day of a launch that I couldn't get to, and the weather is bad. Then I feel tremendous relief that I didn't miss a nice day at the field.

Frankly, it's ridiculous, but I can't seem to help it.
Anyone else suffer from this?

Only when I'm off my Meds.........:lol:

 

[DavidMcCann]

The one that always gets me is the "prior commitment" day. I wake up on the morning of a great flying day, no wind, clear sky and perfect temperature. Only to realize that I have to attend a wedding, graduation a family get together or something of that nature. I'm usually miserable for a few hours, thinking I could be poking holes in the sky. :rant:

If it's not a launch day, Im usually OK with this.... If it's a launch day...dude it better be a rainy wedding.

 

[Bat-mite]

I do it. Some days at work I go outside for a walk, and if it is clear and calm, I end up wishing I were at a launch. Very frustrating.