My design for the Mentos/Diet Coke thing

My design for the Mentos/Diet Coke thing, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

I think I know why this phenomena caught on. It's a lot of fun. The variety of generic diet sodas make for a great parameter to experiment with.

This design takes a few minutes to assemble and costs about a dollar in materials. Other versions of this cost at least $5. Steve Spangler science sells a nice one. Mine's better. The kids enjoyed it.

Grasshopper arrives (from Netflix)

This is Kwai Chang Caine just recently released from his Shaolin monastery, celibate, about to kick some redneck's ass while barely missing a sip of his tea.

This guy could would give Sonny and Chuck Bronson a run for their money. Hooray Netflix.

From the kindergarteners to moi

From the kindergarteners to moi, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

We ate all the Mentos

This afternoon's shopping list

Mentos, 150-200 pieces
diet Coke, 10 x 600 mL
diet colored soda from Aldi, variety, 20
diet Coke, 5 x 2L
1" i.d. tubing for inexpensive drop tube
smaller tubing to restrict flow further
28 pairs of goggles

Guess what we're doing for the season finale at school tomorrow?

Preparation: Tonight, Frankie and I tried a few diet Pepsi (600 mL), diet Coke (600 mL) and a Kroger Diet K Cola (big 2 L). Pepsi was ok, Coke much better and the 2 L generic - awesome!

Regardless of the findings of Savage and Hyneman, I chose a variety of diet sodas, caffeinated and decaf and all colors and flavors. Formulations change the bubbliness of one soda vs. another can only be known empirically. Should be a fun day tomorrow.

A well deserved break after a grueling season.

A well deserved break after a grueling season., originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

Frankie muscled out a couple seasons as a Mustang in the tiny tots Whetstone soccer league. Towards the end, she actually started to play well and liked it. She even signed up for next season.

Towards the end of the last game of the second season, she sauntered away to sit among the dandelions for a break.

Another sign I'm getting wretchedly old

Last night I finally ended a week long battle over payment on an Ebay item. Ebay is an odd place. Sellers guard their feedback score with their lives. The item I sold was 99¢. The buyer was confused about the terms clearly described in the ad. The interesting thing about Ebay, that I actually like, is people execute transactions - no matter the cost - as if they were dealing with an organ to transplant.

I asked for information needed to complete the sale, the buyer didn't want to give it up, I asked again, they resisted, I paused for several days, I asked again, they resisted, I tried the highest court in this arena, Ebay Dispute and Resolution Center, they resisted the terms of the negotiation. I fumed. Late last night they gave in, transferred the information and the deal was done. Feedback to me: "Great transaction, Great Communication, A++++ Ebayer!"

My response? In my earlier days, I'd have hunted this person down. Now ... "Lightning fast payment, thanks!" Painful, but I closed the deal. After commissions, probably walking with 67¢.

A darn good plumber

I'm fairly certain most men lose their hair because evolution has taught them it's the best way to keep the plumber away from their home. Plumbers are good, but expensive. One of my part time jobs is guarding the bathroom drains of hair, hair pretties, bobby pins, barretts, rubber thingies, scrunchy thingies, combs, brushes, coins, dolls, sandwiches, etc.

Today, we had a plumber do a spigot replacement. Fast job well done and cheap. Second time we've used them. Good local resource.

Jack L. Woods Plumbing, 614.882.9700

New Auction Site (Homegrown)or The Legalization of the Dollar Auction

4 "entrepreneurs" from Ohio started Swipe It Up.com, looks interesting.

looked interesting
I get it. The site buys stuff to sell. Bidders put up bids that cost $0.50 but bump the price up only 1¢. Snipes don't work because the clock gets an added 15 seconds per bid.

I just witnessed an auction for 40 $0.50 coupons ($20 value). SwipeItUp earned $0.68 PLUS $34 for the bids. The bidders at the end of the auction are insane. It's more irrational than Ebay.

All those bidders pay but don't get the prize unless they win. Wow. This is legal?

Dollar Auction Wikipedia entry

The new generation of soccer moms are wearing badass tattoos these days.

at N Broadway & Indianola

Estibot Domainer ProThe most fun I've had with words in a long time

I subscribed as an Estibot Domainer recently ($5/month). It's frigging awesome. I've been using it to see if I can model Ebay sales. Ebay is so chaotic, I don't think there's much rational behavior there at all, but it's still fun.

Even better! I went to the library to see an Oxford English Dictionary. Wow. There are TONS of single word dot coms not yet taken. However, they may be 500 years old and haven't been used since King Louis. Still, interesting to submit to the Bulk Domain Tool to see the corresponding metrics.

A while ago I bought splendidious.com because I thought it sounded cool, easy to spell and was simply a neat word. No great occurrence or search volume but still nifty. I'm still holding it for a while and somewhat hopeful I can turn a few dollars on it. I actually submitted it to Urban Dictionary and they accepted it. Apparently, their "editors" don't care much about etymology. I thought it might help boost its popularity and hence its investment quality. We'll see. Another weird experiment of mine.

Pierce the Prophet

Pierce the Prophet, originally uploaded by Seligmans Dog.

Always a good bit of advice on this sign. Read it or go to hell.

Eggs and Density

Typing that expression into Google will deliver a video result of 2 minutes and 53 seconds. I was Googling these terms not to see my own video, but to try to make this observation into something more interesting. I have about 14 hours to figure out something more interesting to say. Once again, the pressure of 28 pairs of peering eyes is making me a bit nervous. Wish me luck.

I'm blogging this ...

I ran to Panera this morning to try to finish a lesson plan and start a new one for the budding Kindergartener/Scientists. I'm running behind.

Now, I'm distracted by a group of 3 loud-talking icky bankers. They're not icky because they're bankers. A woman manager and two underlings, all clad in Chase emblazoned-clothes and shiny gold nametags are yucking it up gossiping about everyone in their branch. I know it may not matter, but if I had money there, I'd consider taking it out. The least they should do is take their badges off.

Find a teacher of small children and thank them.

Yesterday's activity with the Kindergarteners was intense. A modified version of a catalase activity experiment (http://tr.im/catalase) that involves lots of decomposing hydrogen peroxide with concomittant and copious production of bubbly soft soapy water. Because of my schedule, we did the activity at the end of the day.

The end of the day is a special time for schoolchildren. It occurs twice. Once at the end of school and once before bedtime. In both instances, they are most likely to be strangled by the adult in charge. At the end of the activity, which they enjoyed, they were getting ready to leave the building for the bus. Many of the children were brandishing their umbrellas, jumping up and down and screaming. Frankie's teacher took this in stride and was still able to line them up in orderly fashion as calmly as if he were peacefully listening to music sipping wine.

I was sweating, about to explode and smelled bad.

Frankie and I proceeded to Chuckie Cheese afterward and I actually fell asleep sitting at our table. The staff was looking at me funny and Frankie was bounding up to my table dumping tickets. She had accumulated several hundred tickets (she usually earns about 20 under my watchful eye) and was ready to cash out.

It was some day.

Unless you've been there, you can't possibly imagine what it takes to teach these little ones at this most formative stage in their development. Cheers to you Frankie's teacher. Have a restful weekend - you deserve it.