A Hippo Ate My Deck Storage Box

The tulip tree in our front yard. I thought it was named that because of the tulip-shaped leaves, but it has little flowers, too.

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A lot of good, fun, ugly, and yummy things happened in the last week. Here’s a rundown, with some pictures.

I got a new battery for the old grass trimmer, and it’s running great. The old battery, despite my initial successes, didn’t last. I bought a replacement online and wired it up to the trimmer’s switches, and it was off and running. Maybe I can use it instead of the lawnmower to save gas?

Saturday night, J and I shipped the kids off to Aunt Laurie’s house, and went with our friends, Jeff and Ann, to see Kathy Griffin at the Fox in Detroit. She’s an actress and comedian. She is not exactly known for family-friendly comedy, and what we saw was considerably more, er, adult than the TV versions of her stand-up. Before the show, we went to a restaurant nearby called Small Plates, which was wonderful and delicious. There was a Tigers game that night, which started after we arrived for dinner, and ended after the show was over, so driving in and out was a breeze. It was fun to walk near the stadium at night on our way out of the Fox, with the lights and the cheering crowd.

On Sunday, the boys had a party at their piano teacher’s house, then we went to Grillin’, which is Food Gatherers’ annual fundraiser picnic at the fairgrounds. We had great weather, and we saw several other families we knew. They have live music, a silent auction, and lots of food, including food donated by a lot of local restaurants. There are also activities for the kids, inside and outside. I ran into someone I knew who was dressed as a carrot (which is the Food Gatherers’ mascot of sorts) and I asked her how she came to be a carrot. She said there was a big sign-up sheet for volunteers, and “Carrot” was a choice. I don’t know why everyone wouldn’t want to be a carrot – I know I would. Her job was to be a goodwill ambassador and say “Hello” to people coming in and “Thank You” to people leaving, as well as smile a lot. I think I could handle that.

Images of Destruction

What animal do you suppose is biting chunks of plastic off our deck box? At first I thought it might be a deer, but we have narrowed our choices to chipmunk, red squirrel, or hippopotamus. (We have had chipmunk and red squirrel problems in the past, and I’m really hoping the hippo thing doesn’t turn out to be the answer.)




We may not know who is eating our deck box, but we do know a deer has been munching on the hostas in our back garden. We noticed one a few days ago at our neighbor’s garden, looking at us with a big mouthful of hasta leaves and stems sticking out of its mouth.

Lots of links
A very interesting article about science education and careers – is there truly a “shortage” of graduates in science and engineering in the US? I don’t know this magazine or any political agenda it may have, but it’s an interesting article.

A couple of things I’d like to build in the parallel universe where I have infinite time available to me - a Gear Ring and a bicycle sidecar.

A few space travel-related links
The first is spacecraft made from plywood. These are great, and are in full scale.

The second is a picture of an F-15 at a recent shuttle launch. Incredible picture – you should have seen the ladder the photographer was using.

Second Grade Career Talk, Sportsmanship, and Links

Please note there is another new post below this one, with some Science Olympiad information. I'm posting twice today because I've been saving up, and I don't want anyone to miss the Science Olympiad post.

Career Talk
I recently had the opportunity to talk about programming as a career
with K's second grade class. I wanted to find a way to get the kids thinking about computers they use in every day life, and understand that computers are everywhere.

I brought in a box of toys and other items from around the house.
These included an iPod touch, electronic keyboard, a magazine,
Nintendo DS, a stuffed toy that talks when you squeeze it, a pen, a BlackBerry phone, a calculator, and a toy car.

When I held up each item, I asked the students if it had a
computer in it. If they said yes, I asked them what the computer
did. A few items, like the electronic keyboard, confused them - most
thought it did not have a computer in it. They understood that the
BlackBerry and iPod had a computer, and they were not sure about the
stuffed toy that talked. The toy car didn’t have a computer in it,
but we talked about a real car, which has numerous computers in it – I
asked them what kind of computers were in a car, and they knew some of
them -radio, GPS system, etc. I also said there were other computers
as well that kept the car running, such as fuel injection control. I
think it was important that I brought in things that did not have a
computer in them to create a contrast.

Input, Instructions, and Output
At that point I told them a little about input and output from a
program. A program, simply put, has three parts: input, instructions, and output.
A program acts on the input by following some instructions, then
outputs something to the user as a result.

We talked about a calculator – input is when you press the number and plus/minus/multiply/divide buttons, and when the equal sign is pressed, instructions execute. The output (result) is shown on the screen. With this in mind, I brought out the items from the box again, and we talked about the input to each of
them, what instructions they might execute inside, and what the output
is.

We listed our inputs:
* Mouse click
* Keyboard typing
* Touch screen
* Voice
* A signal from a cell phone tower that tells the phone it’s receiving
a call
* A motion that causes an accelerometer to act on the current display
(such as turning an iPod touch on its side)
* A camera that tracks the eye motion of a physically handicapped
user, and moves the mouse pointer in response.
* A computer that acts when a timer goes off, such as an alarm clock.
In this case, the input to one program is controlled by another
program.
* Etc.

Then we listed the outputs we could think of:
* Screen changes
* Sounds
* Program changes (a menu selection changes what the program is doing,
or closed the program, etc.)
* Sometimes no output means we did something right (we didn’t get an
error message)
* A mouse pointer may change to an hourglass to tell us something is
happening.
* A signal out of a phone, telling the cell phone network that it is
making a call.
* Etc.

I had a lot of fun, and I think this time the kids had fun too. I
could tell that some of the kids never thought of these toys and
devices containing computers, they just think of a Mac or a PC as a
computer. Now they see these things differently, and I hope they will
start to think of inputs and outputs when they use one.

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Sportsmanship
There are so many inspiring stories about athletes who, individually or as a team, show outstanding sportsmanship by allowing the win/loss statistics to come in second to basic human decency. For example, we occasionally hear about a high school team who allows a mentally handicapped student assistant to take a handoff and run the ball during a real game. One event I heard about had the players from both teams form two parallel lines running from the line of scrimmage to the end zone, and they applauded the student as he ran between them for a touchdown.

This story, about a top-notch high school softball team, is pretty amazing. What they did is the kind of thing I hope that my kids will do someday for someone else when they have an opportunity, either in sports, or in some other part of their lives.

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A Few Fun Links

Semicolon usage

The same newspaper prop is used over and over in films and TV.

Please buy this Les Paul guitar before someone else does. Gorgeous.

Science Olympiad results

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Science Olympiad
June 5 was the Science Olympiad competition at Ann Arbor's Skyline High School. Kids from about 19 Washtenaw County schools competed in events covering map reading, water rockets, architecture, math, chemistry, anatomy, and more. The second and third graders competed in the morning, and the fourth and fifth grades competed in the afternoon.



K won a fourth-place medal in Map Reading with Tomoki, his teammate, friend, and across-the-street neighbor. Map Reading requires the students to understand and read a map, such as asking what the distance between two locations on a map, or whether a location is north, south, east, or west of another location. K also competed in Mystery Architecture, an event where they are given a bunch of random building materials such as popsicle sticks, newspaper, pipe cleaners, and paper plates, with which they were to build the tallest structure that would support the weight of a tennis ball. Map Reading and Mystery Architecture were among the most popular of the events, so winning a medal in one of these says a lot.

M competed in Estimania and "A is for Anatomy". The former requires the students to estimate weights, measurements, and mathematical calculations to get the closest possible answer. For example: "A TV at Best Buy costs $247, and it is on sale for 22% off this week. How much is the sale price?" The students would typically round to 20% off $250, then make a small adjustment down to account for the estimating error. This is a three-person event, but fourth grade this year was only able to send two competitors, which put M his teammate at a disadvantage.

"A is for Anatomy" is an event where the students learn about the body - the heart, lungs, digestive system, and so on. M can tell you the parts of the heart, and the order in which blood flows through them as a result of his training.

All of these events were coached by very dedicated parents at Lawton, and because this is such a giant event, there are many volunteers that work behind the scenes to put it all together.

I spent most of the day in the area where the bulk of the competitions were held, and it was my job to make sure all the kids got to their rooms on time and to clear up any problems getting to and from those rooms. There were lots of volunteers in the area that helped with these tasks, and I kept the trains running on time, as they say. I sort of stumbled into this position because my neighbor is on the board of directors of the competition, and she asked me to help. It's nice to be trusted to do something as difficult as this. I'm sure my check is coming in the mail any day... (no, it's not.)

The website for the Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad is here.

The boys worked very hard and practiced at school and at home for their events, and they both did very well. Their school won the overall grade awards for 2-5 grades, which happens to be all the grades. The school always does well, as we have more students than any of the other schools, and we have a long history with the Olympiad. We also have great parents, volunteers, and coaches, and we have kept strong over the years.

I'm so proud of their hard work and patience. They've learned so much, and they're so fortunate to have such a great school and great friends to team up with.
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Gardening Update

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Our Garden

K, left, and M, at the Project Grow garden. Not pictured: Me, J, J's green thumb

Ann Arbor has a gardening program called Project Grow. They provide space for people to plant their own gardens. There are several sites in Ann Arbor. Their website is here.

Our friends, the Kennedys, reserved a garden through Project Grow, and offered to let us have a small part of their plot this year. They also are letting us borrow some tomato cages. Last night was the first time we were there as a family, and we planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, and carrot seeds. We also covered the rest of our area with straw to help keep the weeds down. The boys helped plant the seeds and remove some of the weeds, and we all watered the plants and put cages up. Project Grow provides hoses at the gardens, and we watered our plants while we talked to the people who were tending the garden next door. We're hoping to add a pumpkin to our space, the idea for which we stole from the Kennedys, who are also growing a pumpkin.

We had beautiful weather, which made our first family trip to the garden a really nice evening.

Science Olympiad
Next week is the Science Olympiad competition. We are all ready for it, the kids have studied and practiced, and J and I are prepared to spend basically the whole day there since K's competitions will be in the morning, and M's will be in the afternoon. I am also working out a volunteer position with a neighbor of mine who is in charge of part of the Olympiad. Since we're going to be there all day, I might as well do something useful.

Not much else to report this week - we're doing some gardening at home as well this weekend, replacing some dead and/or dying hollies in the front garden with some new junipers and hastas which we think will thrive in that space a little better. A few new red twig dogwoods in the back to fill in some empty spaces, and we'll be all set. Now if we could just get the deer and bunnies to leave our plants alone - I tried to train the squirrels that visit J's bird feeder to scare off the bunnies, but they are not good listeners.

Holy Cow

Not much to say about this, just look at the pictures.

Piano Recital Today!

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Recital and Make-Up Soccer Games
Don't miss the piano recital today - if you're coming, you know when and where.

I've talked a lot about soccer lately. We had a game rained out yesterday, and we've had other games rained out. Today we have two make-up games to account for the previous rain-outs, and one of them is on a field that is so muddy and wet, it is also being cancelled. I expect the other field to be pretty wet, since it was one that was closed yesterday due to mud and water. Looks like I'll have more shoe cleaning to do.

Lawn-Care Update
We have two electric lawn care devices that have not been working properly this year - one is a battery-powered trimmer (weed whacker) and the other is a sidewalk edger. We were pretty sure the battery in the trimmer was dying, so I went to the local Toro shop to order a new one. It would have been $66, so I decided to wait.

I came home and took the trimmer apart - the motor, line spool, handle, battery, switch, and everything. I cleaned it all up and charged the battery on my workbench in the basement. After putting it back together, it seems to be working much better, although still not as well as it did when it was new. J typically does the trimming, and she likes this trimmer a lot, so it was worth the effort. If it still runs out of juice, I'll see if I can find the battery cheaper somewhere else.

The sidewalk edger has worked well for us for about 9 years, and is suddenly not putting out much power. I also disassembled it and cleaned it, then put it back together. Like the trimmer, it seems to be better, as it doesn't give a high-pitched whine like before.


Sidewalk edger

These projects gave me a chance to get outside and take some things apart, which can be relaxing, and it also allowed me to be seen in the driveway with tools laid out around me, looking like I knew what I was doing.

There Will Be Blood
On May 5, I was scheduled to give blood at the kids' school, but I didn't go because I had a nagging sore throat that was about a week old, and I didn't think they'd want me to give. Last week at work we had a blood drive, and I donated a pint to bring my lifetime total to 9 gallons.

Links
I like this Savage Chickens cartoon. It's funny because it's true.

This is a neat idea - globes that have local maps, instead of world maps.

Ray guns! I'm collecting pieces for my first ray gun right now. I hope to have someting assembled by the time I'm 50.

Mud, Hair Gel, Corn on the Cob, and more

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The Week In Review
We had a pretty big week. Besides the normal piano lessons, Science Olympiad practices, and soccer practices, we had the annual Science Olympiad Night at the elementary school. All the kids got a chance to demonstrate what they have learned in their practices, and it was a lot of fun. The kids (and parents that helped with it) did a great job.

We had a few soccer games yesterday, each with its own story. We played on the field that had all the standing water last week, and it was very muddy and still had a large puddle at midfield. The ball hardly rolled when it was kicked, it just went a few feet and blorped to a stop. (Blorp is a word, look it up.)

Here are my boots, and K's shoes, after that game. I was tempted to just burn them but that would be wasteful, so I cleaned them instead.



M's game was on a field that was dry, fortunately. His team played well, but wasn't able to hold off a more talented team. Before the game, M wanted to put gel in his hair and make a miniature mohawk. I got some pictures of M actually playing soccer, and this one of him concerning himself with his appearance.


In other more mundane news, we had hamburgers on the grill and corn on the cob for dinner tonight. I don't know where the corn on the cob came from but it was pretty good. On Friday, the boys were eating pizza at a neighbor's, and J and I decided to get some sandwiches from Zingerman's. Great, as usual.

Some Links
There are probably some people who believe the "science" on this page and want to teach it in schools. It reminds me of the lie you tell little kids when they ask where wind comes from - it comes from the tree branches, waving back and forth.

This is a neat concept for a folding table. The website notes that this is not a real table (yet) but maybe someone can make it happen.
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