As of this moment 100% of comments have to do with “I guess other people have a lot of money”. Very weird thing to be concerned about.
Personally I didn’t care about the eclipse until recently. Then I realized then when the next one happens in North America, my son will be in his 20s and I will be in my 60s. I got the idea that it will be cool to (G-d willing) see that one together and remember how we saw this one together 20 years earlier.
It happened to be that we had family we can stay with in the path of totality but even if it cost me an extra few hundred to do this, I would find it a good use of funds.
A couple of other things the people commenting about people having a lot of money might be overlooking:
1. My guess is that a lot of the people are treating this as a vacation and the money for it comes from foregoing some other vacation trip that they would have taken this year.
2. It doesn't have to be expensive to see an eclipse. My trip to see the 2017 US eclipse had these costs:
• $50 for a place to stay for the day of the eclipse and the day before.
It was at a farm where the farmer had converted one big field into an overnight parking area for people who were going to sleep in their cars, an adjacent big field into a place for people who wanted to park and set up tents to sleep in, and another adjacent field into a place for food and souvenir vendors and entertainers. They had set up a ton of portable toilets in all three of those areas, and had shuttle buses running a loop through all three areas.
The $50 was for a spot in the "sleep in your car" field.
• Whatever it cost to operate my car for the ~600 mile round trip.
• Maybe $10 for a small PC case fan, which I connected to a small solar panel I already had. I could then put the solar panel on the car roof, open a car window just enough to wedge the fan in, and have a nice breeze in the car. (The 2017 eclipse was in August and temperatures were expected to be in the mid-80℉ to 90℉ range where I saw it).
There is so much excess money floating in the economy at the moment. Its insane.
People emboldened by market and housing gains have to been spending ridiculous amounts of money like there is no tomorrow. Layoffs have been limited to tech.
Controlling inflation will hopefully be the main discussion around the next election, I am tired of watching the political theater around small side-issues and then paying $8 for milk and $6 for peanut butter. Why is our labor becoming worth less in real goods? Why is life expectancy decreasing? Can politicians address issues that affect every single person every day?
I make good money in tech but it still feels like more than 4k/mo (in California) is what you need just to cover rent and basics (car, internet, phone, groceries, etc.). I have no idea how people working minimum wage jobs are surviving.
> People emboldened by market and housing gains have to been spending ridiculous amounts of money like there is no tomorrow
what are you basing this claim on? the fact that airbnb bookings are up for a rare celestial event?
here is where all of my ridiculous amounts of money is going towards: $6/gal gas in california, ever-increasing property taxes, ever-increasing insurance premiums, $399 "surgery" charges at an ENT simply because they looked up my nose for half a second, insanely expensive annual car registration charges, etc.
Considering it's a literal once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people, and the scientific nature of said experience, I assumed people would be a little more open-minded.
Some things in life are worth paying for. Seeing an eclipse in totality is one of (many) of them
I don't understand the efforts I'm seeing people in Boston go to. We'll see it 94% obscured, meanwhile people are taking days off work and spending $$ to get to 99.9%. Then again I've never been a vacation person.
Here's an explanation for it – https://xkcd.com/2914/. If you are not in the path of totality you aren't really seeing "the eclipse". The difference between 20% or 50% or even 90% covered is very minor.
Are you sure people did that to get to 99.9%? I hope anyone who was willing to get to 99.9% from Boston would go the extra mile (or ~10 miles, in fact).
FWIW, I flew into Boston from California and drove north to the center line of the path of totality.
[+] [-] xyzelement|1 year ago|reply
Personally I didn’t care about the eclipse until recently. Then I realized then when the next one happens in North America, my son will be in his 20s and I will be in my 60s. I got the idea that it will be cool to (G-d willing) see that one together and remember how we saw this one together 20 years earlier.
It happened to be that we had family we can stay with in the path of totality but even if it cost me an extra few hundred to do this, I would find it a good use of funds.
[+] [-] tzs|1 year ago|reply
1. My guess is that a lot of the people are treating this as a vacation and the money for it comes from foregoing some other vacation trip that they would have taken this year.
2. It doesn't have to be expensive to see an eclipse. My trip to see the 2017 US eclipse had these costs:
• $50 for a place to stay for the day of the eclipse and the day before.
It was at a farm where the farmer had converted one big field into an overnight parking area for people who were going to sleep in their cars, an adjacent big field into a place for people who wanted to park and set up tents to sleep in, and another adjacent field into a place for food and souvenir vendors and entertainers. They had set up a ton of portable toilets in all three of those areas, and had shuttle buses running a loop through all three areas.
The $50 was for a spot in the "sleep in your car" field.
• Whatever it cost to operate my car for the ~600 mile round trip.
• Maybe $10 for a small PC case fan, which I connected to a small solar panel I already had. I could then put the solar panel on the car roof, open a car window just enough to wedge the fan in, and have a nice breeze in the car. (The 2017 eclipse was in August and temperatures were expected to be in the mid-80℉ to 90℉ range where I saw it).
• A car windshield shade. Maybe $20?
[+] [-] spencerflem|1 year ago|reply
enjoy the eclipse today, and I hope the clouds are kind to you!
[+] [-] jylam|1 year ago|reply
I like a total eclipse as much as the other guy but come on, money IS a struggle for many people, don't act like you don't know.
[+] [-] larvaetron|1 year ago|reply
This has to be the most out of touch statement I've seen on HN in a long time.
[+] [-] apwell23|1 year ago|reply
People emboldened by market and housing gains have to been spending ridiculous amounts of money like there is no tomorrow. Layoffs have been limited to tech.
[+] [-] ericmcer|1 year ago|reply
I make good money in tech but it still feels like more than 4k/mo (in California) is what you need just to cover rent and basics (car, internet, phone, groceries, etc.). I have no idea how people working minimum wage jobs are surviving.
[+] [-] haunter|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] SoftTalker|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] acchow|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] switch007|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Solvency|1 year ago|reply
what are you basing this claim on? the fact that airbnb bookings are up for a rare celestial event?
here is where all of my ridiculous amounts of money is going towards: $6/gal gas in california, ever-increasing property taxes, ever-increasing insurance premiums, $399 "surgery" charges at an ENT simply because they looked up my nose for half a second, insanely expensive annual car registration charges, etc.
[+] [-] alephnerd|1 year ago|reply
And in all honesty, good. Tech Bros (myself included) needed to be cut to size. There was a lot of hubris by my peers in the 2010s.
[+] [-] deodar|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] mvkel|1 year ago|reply
Considering it's a literal once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people, and the scientific nature of said experience, I assumed people would be a little more open-minded.
Some things in life are worth paying for. Seeing an eclipse in totality is one of (many) of them
[+] [-] dehrmann|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] DataDaemon|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] switch007|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] pphysch|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] refulgentis|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] martinky24|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] paxys|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Cyphase|1 year ago|reply
FWIW, I flew into Boston from California and drove north to the center line of the path of totality.
[+] [-] Olesya000|1 year ago|reply
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