Pretty much everything I remember from my high school chemistry class can be summed up in two paragraphs:
An atom can’t have more than eight electrons at a single energy state. Sharing electrons (up to eight of them) is what allows groups of atoms to form molecules. Or maybe it’s only six electrons. That gives oxygen (which has eight of them) two “extras” that it can share with passing hydrogen atoms, thus allowing water to stay stuck together, so yeah, it’s probably six. (Either way, when you consider how long it’s been since that chemistry class, I’m amazed I remember that much detail.)
Also, if you plan to mix sodium and water, you should wear safety glasses. Ditto for mixing potassium and water. Oil and water don’t mix at all, but if you mix oil and vinegar you end up with salad dressing. (That’s what I’m told anyhow; I usually go for honey mustard instead.)
All posts by dividingbyzero
Got Milk?
Amazon’s been experimenting with selling groceries for a while. Using your Amazon account, you can now buy a gallon of Tuscan Whole Milk. They’re even doing a special promotion right now with Standard shipping for just 99 cents.
Be sure to check out the customer images and review.
Not up for milk right now? How about some nice yellow cake instead? Amazon is also selling Uranium Ore! (Just remember that if you decide to use it as a power source, you’re not allowed to use iTunes to control the reactor. Ditto for using Google Earth.)
The customer images and reviews for this one are also priceless.
If that doesn’t do it for you either, then perhaps you’d like to buy a tank? It’s just the thing for blasting through traffic during your morning commute.
Sadly, none of these products are available with Free Super-Saver Shipping. 🙁
Waving Goodbye!
Whether I’m heading out for the office, or just a few errands, I usually give Wylie some sort of treat before leaving the house.
Wylie’s reaction to this ritual is mostly bored disinterest with the occasional wistful “when will you be back so I can get my ears skritched?” sort of look. He does get excited about the treats though and makes them disappear before I finish putting the gate up.
When I left to run some errands this afternoon though, Wylie’s reaction was something I’d never seen before — He waved goodbye! He immediately started sniffing at the treats, but then he waved a second time. And again! Just a short flapping of his left paw, the sort of “goodbye” wave that children give.
Genuinely surprised by this new behavior, I went to give Wylie a quick skritch on the head to let him know the gesture was appreciated and that I’d see him again soon. Wylie waved goodbye yet again, and now I was able to see what was going on.
That little clown had somehow got his dewclaw hooked on his collar and now he couldn’t get it loose! What I’d been seeing as a series of “waves” were actually repeated attempts to get himself untangled.
I got him unhooked in short order and knowing what happening does take something away from it. But I’m sure Wylie would have waved anyhow if he knew what it meant.
Getting By With A Little Help From My Friends
When you’re healthy, the idea of taking a day off sick seems like a lot of fun. Spend the day napping, no responsibilities, just relaxing and watching TV. But man, when you really are sick, there’s not a whole lot of relaxing going on and the responsibilities keep on coming.
Sunday morning was the start of Day 4 of the current illness and I wasn’t having a bit of fun. I was doing great at following the doctor’s instructions to get lots of sleep, but some responsibilities can’t be put off. The folks at work understood that they wouldn’t be seeing me for a while, but there really wasn’t a practical way to tell Wylie, “Sorry dude, no walks till I get better.” Instead, the walks got a lot shorter, but even then, it was taking me 45 minutes to recover from a walk that only took 10 minutes. On Sunday afternoon, AJ came by to pick up Wylie and take him to Camp Barkalot for a few days to play with Riley.
One bit of luck going into this mis-adventure was that the freezer was pretty full. The only catch is that the only comfort food (aka “stomach friendly”) in there was chicken. By Tuesday, I’d had chicken for dinner four nights in a row (the nights I could actually bear to eat dinner) and although there were some possible non-chicken dishes in the freezer, I’m still not sure my stomach was up for anything as exotic as tomato sauce, never mind broccoli or any sort of stir-fry. Tuesday evening, right at dinner time Z. stopped by with a piping hot roast beef au jus sandwich, accompanied by a side of fries and coleslaw. It was the best dinner I’ve had in a long time.
Living alone, I sometimes get to thinking about how there’s nobody around to pick up the slack if something goes wrong. And then there are times like this. At this very moment, AJ is conveniently failing to notice the croaking message on her answering machine asking when I can come over to retrieve Wylie.
I think someone’s got my back after all. 🙂
Thanks guys. And let me know when I can help you.
Email from work
Back when I used to work at the “Shakespeare at Sand Harbor” festival, we used to do a few quick announcements before the show started. Welcoming VIP sponsors, reminding people about the no photography rule, and the one guaranteed to bring in a laugh: “And what festival would be complete without an announcement such as this? ‘Will the owner of the white Toyota Corrolla, Nevada license HOT4U please come to the parking lot? Your headlights are on.'” (The alternative, “Your car is in a no-parking area and is about to be towed” would also get a few chuckles, particularly when it was a BMW or – once – a Rolls.)
Checking in with the office to let them know I’m still alive and they’re gonna have to pay the sick leave after all, I found this beauty which had been sent to the entire office:
Beige Toyota Sienna your windows are down. and its going to rain
The classics never get old.
Day 5 – No Mud for Me!
I just had a call from the doctor’s office a little while ago with the results of the lab work. The good news from the phone call is that it’s not swine flu. (I’m slightly disappointed by that one; I was kind of enjoying the novelty of being the first person I know to get it. If I’m gonna be miserable, I at least want something unique!)
Also good is that my energy levels seem to be a little up from yesterday and my voice is working a little better. I’ve been concerned about a repeat of “The Great Silence” of 2002-2004, so it’s comforting to have my voice working a little better.
Bad news is, all the symptoms are still there. Still coughing up a storm, still generally sore (though not quite as bad), still running a fever. Stomach’s still not sure about food, but it’s willing to go along with the concept.
I was in bed asleep by 10 last night. The only difficulty is that with all the rest I’ve been getting, when I woke up at 4:30, I couldn’t fall back to sleep.
Catch-22
I’ve been sick for the past few days, but after a visit to the doctor’s office on Friday afternoon, I now have medicine that should help me get well a little faster.
But today got off to a heckuva start. Around 7:00 this morning, I took the day’s first batch of pills, one of them was an anti-nausea medication. About 10 minutes later my I found myself sick to my stomach as the pill tried to escape.
One of the stickers on the bottle says that if the medication causes an upset stomach, you can take it with some crackers or a small meal. Great advice I suppose, except the reason I need anti-nausea medication is that I can’t keep food down.
It's a Dog's Life
Yes, it’s true, The Chicks Dig the Fuzzy Guy. Here’s Wylie with two of his admirers, Courtney and Katie:
Recreation through Re-creation.
(Yeah, I changed the title.)
I was at Shore Leave this weekend and ran across this little guy.
OK, it’s not really R2-D2 (not quite the right colors, much less the actual droid – plus, this one is still under construction), but it’s a pretty good re-creation nonetheless.
I was similarly impressed with this re-creation of Indiana Jones. (And quite surprised upon discovering that I’d managed to capture an image of the whip in mid-crack!)
I’m not really sure what to make of this one. I think he’s some sort of space marine from the Halo video game. There was evidently some sort of speaker system built into it, as everywhere he went, there was music playing (presumably environmental music from the game).
Happy Convenience Store Day
Celebrated every year on this date.