Sometimes funny, sometimes thoughtful, always a good time
Because it was such a gorgeous day today, we decided to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park for the afternoon. It turned out to be perfect weather for a couple of hikes in the mountains.
Up at altitude (around 9,500 feet) there was quite a bit of snow on the ground, but of course that meant snowballs and sliding on the ice.
Good times.
I’m organizing some photos tonight and found this one, which struck me as funny for some reason.
I’m explaining how a rocket works to my second-grade science class. Notice the hydrogen and oxygen tanks (not entirely accurate, but oh well– these are second graders). Also notice the little astronaut standing in the capsule at the top of the rocket.
They were completely enthralled; I’m not sure if it’s because they were really interested in rocket propulsion, or because they were waiting for me to get to the part about the Diet Coke and Mentos.
“Some say that power comes with responsibility, but this is incorrect. Freedom is responsibility, and if you fail to be responsible for your own freedom then those who claim ‘power’ will become responsible for your freedom, and both will be taken from you.”
— dyfet @ Slashdot
Thom reminded me that today is National Bike to Work Day, which I’d completely spaced. I normally work at home on Fridays, but due to some meeting circumstances it turns out I have to be in the office today.
So I slept in a bit, finished a few small projects, and hopped on my bike for the ride. What a great day for it: gorgeous sunny blue sky with a few fluffy clouds and a fabulous 70 degrees. A little breeze behind me made it perfect.
Courtesy of Craig. Hilarious.
I’m doing some server administration and realized that one of the servers I manage has been running for quite a while…
Hmm, 1172 days is about three years and three months. That’s pretty impressive– humming along 24/7 and still handling requests without even breaking a sweat. Go Linux!
Today was our last science enrichment class. Our topic was “propulsion” and we talked about how rockets work. Our experiments were a lot of fun.
First, balloon races where we show how the air (the propellant) pushes the balloon:
Then we couldn’t resist blowing up a few bottles of Diet Coke by dropping Mentos into them:
And finally each of the kids got to launch an air rocket that uses pressurized air to shoot about fifty feet into the air:
We had a lot of fun teaching the kids and getting them excited about science. Maybe one of these second-graders will end up being a world-famous biologist or astrophysicist!
My latest desktop wallpaper: the Horsehead Nebula. It’s cool to program atop that.
Mmm… bonbons.
I’ve had a hankerin’ for some homemade bonbons for a while, but they’re really tedious to make (compared to, say, chocolate-chip cookies). The other day I was at the grocery store and decided to pick up some Rice Krispies and Skippy, and finally commit to make them. And today I did. Kyra was a big help, although to be honest I think her motivation was more about licking the chocolate-covered spoon than actually doing any work.
Regardless, now I’ve got a couple containers full of them, and can enjoy them with my popcorn tonight when Laralee and I watch our next episode of Heroes.
