I love to see businesses do well. Even big franchisey ones. Yesterday we decided to farm out the birthday party to Chuck E. Cheese himself. All we had to do was show up. No cleaning the house for days before and after, scraping frosting off furniture, walls and ceilings, no trips to the ER, no fuss.
I was impressed. Three young women ran the show; must've been high school age. I felt bad for them. They undoutedly suppressed their surliness or got paid a lot - or both. They ran this gig with precision down to the perfect photo op with the large rat embracing our daughter. Every one of the twelve 5-6 year olds were manic. Eating pizza, running crazy, playing games, eating cake, singing. All before 11:30 am. I ran the casino floor and all I had to do was comp our little whales with tokens.
This place would be an interesting business case study for any economy. 4 parties at a time, each about $250 (ours was $220, including a good tip) going off every 2 hours from 10 am to 8 pm, 2 days a week. Yesterday was entirely booked 6 weeks in advance.
What's up in kindergarten?
Science activities.
I'm on week 3 of the demos and activities for the kiddies. The first week was interesting. The dancing orzo was a hit. Kids had fun and so did I. Soaking wet shirt and tie and all.
My only teaching experience prior to the K's was teaching organic lab to a bunch of tired college sophomores at Purdue at 7:30 in the morning. They were great kids, but tired. I was nervous before teaching them too; I even walked into the ladies room prior to my first pre-lab lecture. But, I wasn't nearly as anxious as with the K's. Kindergarteners probe each and every pore of your being and exclaim vigorously any detail they find noteworthy.
"Frankie's Dad, why are you sweating?", "Frankie's Dad, where's your hair?", "Why is your nose so big?", etc. The college sophomores are too tired and actually more self-absorbed than the 5 year olds.
The next acitivity was a demo, the electrocution of tons of pickles to demonstrate properties of NaCl in an aqueous system. They liked it. I liked it more. This past Thursday was really fun. It was the always popular slime activity; mine happens to be worked out especially well so it can be done for a large group (it's here in case you're interested). I've done this with Frankie's class since daycare. This past Thursday was especially fun. The principal visited and participated, the teacher participated, the assistant teacher even joined in. Every single kid focused their boundless wiggly energy into this gooey polymeric preparation; they squealed with delight. They may even have learned something.
The only problem is what to do next?
I'm on week 3 of the demos and activities for the kiddies. The first week was interesting. The dancing orzo was a hit. Kids had fun and so did I. Soaking wet shirt and tie and all.
My only teaching experience prior to the K's was teaching organic lab to a bunch of tired college sophomores at Purdue at 7:30 in the morning. They were great kids, but tired. I was nervous before teaching them too; I even walked into the ladies room prior to my first pre-lab lecture. But, I wasn't nearly as anxious as with the K's. Kindergarteners probe each and every pore of your being and exclaim vigorously any detail they find noteworthy.
"Frankie's Dad, why are you sweating?", "Frankie's Dad, where's your hair?", "Why is your nose so big?", etc. The college sophomores are too tired and actually more self-absorbed than the 5 year olds.
The next acitivity was a demo, the electrocution of tons of pickles to demonstrate properties of NaCl in an aqueous system. They liked it. I liked it more. This past Thursday was really fun. It was the always popular slime activity; mine happens to be worked out especially well so it can be done for a large group (it's here in case you're interested). I've done this with Frankie's class since daycare. This past Thursday was especially fun. The principal visited and participated, the teacher participated, the assistant teacher even joined in. Every single kid focused their boundless wiggly energy into this gooey polymeric preparation; they squealed with delight. They may even have learned something.
The only problem is what to do next?
Why thieves should never target parents of small children
Last night, someone entered my car. I'd say broke in to it, but it was unlocked. It always is, I lived in Baltimore for 5 years and I know getting my car's window fixed is more of a pain in the ass than closing the glove box.
Here's what he left behind: Hanna Montana CDs (you bastard!), kitchen sponges, a bean bag I use for a stabilizing my camera, Giant Eagle reusable bags (so I can help save the planet by buying shitty bags made in China), two shirts for the dry cleaner, 1 lb. of roasted malt, 1.5 lbs. of 60 lovibond crystal malt, brewing yeast, magnesium sulfate, 2 really frigging expensive ounces of Styrian Goldings hops (this is how I know he was stupid - these catch $5 an ounce on Ebay), an empty wallet, a Starbucks splashstick, a crumpled Starbucks short cup, two receipts from Lowe's, sunscreen, some dried frosting in my kid's cupholder, same cupholder containing several Chuck E. Cheese tokens (street value 75¢), some new Crayola markers, LOTS of artwork, empty McDonald's happy meal box, several kids nugget meal toys, little boxes of partially consumed raisins, a book of maps, my Twinkie Deconstructed book, 450 grams of SrCl2 (at this point he may have ran), a ballet tunes cd, a $4 shirt from Big Lots (ha, that was a wicked good bargain), stakes to keep down a soaker hose in my yard, spare lug nuts, a blanket, the tie Frankie likes best on me, lots of napkins, an accurate tire pressure guage I made myself, a weekend edition of the WSJ, a plastic slinky, my car's registration, my decoy wallet, 50¢ from the ash tray, maps in the glove box, a large piece of polycarbonate I use as a blast shield when subjecting pickles to electrocution, ...
Here's what he left behind: Hanna Montana CDs (you bastard!), kitchen sponges, a bean bag I use for a stabilizing my camera, Giant Eagle reusable bags (so I can help save the planet by buying shitty bags made in China), two shirts for the dry cleaner, 1 lb. of roasted malt, 1.5 lbs. of 60 lovibond crystal malt, brewing yeast, magnesium sulfate, 2 really frigging expensive ounces of Styrian Goldings hops (this is how I know he was stupid - these catch $5 an ounce on Ebay), an empty wallet, a Starbucks splashstick, a crumpled Starbucks short cup, two receipts from Lowe's, sunscreen, some dried frosting in my kid's cupholder, same cupholder containing several Chuck E. Cheese tokens (street value 75¢), some new Crayola markers, LOTS of artwork, empty McDonald's happy meal box, several kids nugget meal toys, little boxes of partially consumed raisins, a book of maps, my Twinkie Deconstructed book, 450 grams of SrCl2 (at this point he may have ran), a ballet tunes cd, a $4 shirt from Big Lots (ha, that was a wicked good bargain), stakes to keep down a soaker hose in my yard, spare lug nuts, a blanket, the tie Frankie likes best on me, lots of napkins, an accurate tire pressure guage I made myself, a weekend edition of the WSJ, a plastic slinky, my car's registration, my decoy wallet, 50¢ from the ash tray, maps in the glove box, a large piece of polycarbonate I use as a blast shield when subjecting pickles to electrocution, ...
Big Park is open again!
Frankie and I are finally back on our routine for dinner, Big Park, library and ice cream on Thursday nights (plus or minus a night). For some months, Whetstone park and rec center has been under construction. The play structure is new and open for use.
Rave reviews from the little ones. Kids and their parents were all over it the other night. Nice looking, sturdy, no swings (darn), but tough to get the kids off it. We look forward to many trips there.
I actually bought 450 grams of strontium chloride on Ebay today. I can't wait to go by the TSA again.
This week I've been running about frantically on a scavenger hunt around Columbus tracking down materials I used to take for granted while working in a big fancy corporate laboratory. Now, I'm in Lowe's, on Ebay, on Youtube hunting down information and materials.
Thursday, I'll be doing a demo for the kiddies; it is practically a cliché on Youtube, the electric pickle demo. On the fun side, it's a wild display that lights up a pickle with 120 V and turns it into a malodorous, desalted bit of limp flesh. On the serious side, it's a fun way to observe atomic absorption using different ionic metals. It plays well on many levels.
After scanning about a hundred of these vids, I wanted to do some variations on the theme to extend the exercise. Today, I stumbled on a great paper published in 2005 that executed what I wanted to do. It's great work with all the details worked out. Not a hard thing to prepare for, but it takes a lot of time, takes a couple weeks to prepare the pickles. I'm going to do the more elaborate demo at the end of the year and do the short version this Thursday as a teaser.
My basement looks like a torture chamber for pickled vegetables and it smells weird. I have time for a couple more practice runs tomorrow and I hope I'll be ready.
I do think the guys at Lowe's may think a bit before asking the next harried customer "... well, what do you need that for?"
Further reading:
Electric Pickle videos
A great paper on the demo.
Clintonville: Mulch Sale Fundraiser, Free Delivery!
I received a flyer in my mail the other day for a Whetsone High School Althletic Booster/PTA Annual Mulch Sale!
They will deliver (FREE DELIVERY with 5 bag minimum - Lowe's minimum delivery fee is $50) in the following zipcodes:
43202, 43211, 43212, 43214, 43220, 43221, 43224, 43229, 43235
(other zipcodes, email Karen WHSMulch@yahoo.com for pricing)
Make checks payable to: Whetstone Athletic Booster Assoc. and let them know what you want:
Hardwood (black) 2 cu. ft bags, 3.75 ea.
Cypress (orange) 2 cu. ft bags, 3.75 ea.
Pine Bark (reddish brown), 2 cu. ft bags, 3.75 ea.
Payment Due by Monday 3/23 with order.
Mail payment and directions to your driveway (and your email) to:
Athletic Booster/PTA Mulch Sale
74 Winthrop Road
Columbus, OH 43214
Honey, I'll be in the basement.
Every other week, I'm visiting Frankie's classroom and the other Kindergarten class for a 30 minute science activity. I intend for these to be hands on, but, after spending some fun time last night on video.google.com, I am on a scavenger hunt. I have a demo in mind that will be both instructive and fun.
I've never been much of an inventor. I've always been better at making a good idea much better. Based on the big favorite "electric pickle," I have a an awesome twist in mind. Stay tuned, I'm still scavenging materials.
I've never been much of an inventor. I've always been better at making a good idea much better. Based on the big favorite "electric pickle," I have a an awesome twist in mind. Stay tuned, I'm still scavenging materials.
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