Here's a video by someone who obviously didn't have a sprinkler as a child and who noticed an oil rainbow in a parking lot one day and made connections she NEVER would have if she'd taken five minutes to Google "rainbow". She willfully abandoned her responsibilty to see if her crazy idea had any support whatsoever and decided to post the following video on Youtube.
Thank goodness she did though because this is funny stuff!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Water Problem May be Solved
My dad came over today to try to prime the water pump. After dumping large amounts of water down the pipe to the foot valve and the pipe not filling up we marched out to the well (which I'd had a 1000 gallons of water dumped into on Wednesday) to pull out and check the valve to see if it was stuck open.
We looked down.
The water was at at the same level it had been at before the 1000 gallon delivery.
Our well is very likely toast. I have to have someone out to check and confirm but we do live near a mine and blasting can crack a well.
Oh well. It happened at a time of the year when we can get a new well. It happened when Shannon was away and we don't use as much water. It happened when we finally have the money to pay to fix the problem. All in all, I'm glad it happened now.
We looked down.
The water was at at the same level it had been at before the 1000 gallon delivery.
Our well is very likely toast. I have to have someone out to check and confirm but we do live near a mine and blasting can crack a well.
Oh well. It happened at a time of the year when we can get a new well. It happened when Shannon was away and we don't use as much water. It happened when we finally have the money to pay to fix the problem. All in all, I'm glad it happened now.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Wasps are Dead!
I've been very nervous about anyone going down into the basement to prime the water pump. That wasps' next above the door was an unknown quantity. Sure, they've been very good about letting me pass and were downright catatonic when we (first my father-in-law and me and then a friend) tried to prime the pump last night but I didn't know what we might accidentally do that would trigger them.
Today I picked up a huge can of death meant just for wasp and hornet nests while grocery shopping. I read the directions. I was supposed to stand 3 to 4 metres downwind with a clear escape path while spraying them. Ha! They're over the door in my basement! Either I stand a foot away and stand ready to bolt out the door or I stand 3 metres away on the other side of the basement with no escape.
What to do?
Turns out neither plan was any good. Because of the angle I'd have to use to hit them I had to stand about 4 feet away with the door wide open.
The up side?
The nest was jammed between the soffit and a floor joist. Their only route of escape was through my poisonous spray.
It was a massacre. None that were in the nest escaped. A few that had been outside flew back confused but were so concerned with the nest that they didn't care as I turned off the lights, closed the door and walked to the house. I could definitely kill again.
Today I picked up a huge can of death meant just for wasp and hornet nests while grocery shopping. I read the directions. I was supposed to stand 3 to 4 metres downwind with a clear escape path while spraying them. Ha! They're over the door in my basement! Either I stand a foot away and stand ready to bolt out the door or I stand 3 metres away on the other side of the basement with no escape.
What to do?
Turns out neither plan was any good. Because of the angle I'd have to use to hit them I had to stand about 4 feet away with the door wide open.
The up side?
The nest was jammed between the soffit and a floor joist. Their only route of escape was through my poisonous spray.
It was a massacre. None that were in the nest escaped. A few that had been outside flew back confused but were so concerned with the nest that they didn't care as I turned off the lights, closed the door and walked to the house. I could definitely kill again.
Your Next Purchase Will be This...
A CueCat.
What is that you ask? Why it's a bar code scanner that plugs into your computer. Why do I need a bar code scanner you ask? Well, because you can scan the bar codes on your books and catalogue them all at Librarything.com. that's right. No entering ISBNs or worse, titles and authors. Just scan and you're done!
I learned about it yesterday while lurking at The Well Trained Mind forum. I'm not much for classical homeschooling but shucks, those moms have ALL the neatest homeschool gadgets. Now there's a CueCat on it's way to me from Librarything.com.
It's so dangerous to have a Paypal account.
The next toy the WTM women folk have me lusting after?
The Desk Apprentice.
What is that you ask? Why it's a bar code scanner that plugs into your computer. Why do I need a bar code scanner you ask? Well, because you can scan the bar codes on your books and catalogue them all at Librarything.com. that's right. No entering ISBNs or worse, titles and authors. Just scan and you're done!
I learned about it yesterday while lurking at The Well Trained Mind forum. I'm not much for classical homeschooling but shucks, those moms have ALL the neatest homeschool gadgets. Now there's a CueCat on it's way to me from Librarything.com.
It's so dangerous to have a Paypal account.
The next toy the WTM women folk have me lusting after?
The Desk Apprentice.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Why They Shouldn't do Their Work in Front of a TV
So we've been doing the Classical Writing thing this week in a slightly customized way. Monday we read and discuss the fable in the morning and then outline it in the afternoon. Tuesday Catherine rewrites the fable from her outline. This morning I picked out the misspellings and she copied them over several times. This afternoon I edited it with her and she began to rewrite it (tomorrow is grammar and add description and Friday is type the final copy).
Catherine was working quietly on the couch when Harry decided he'd like to watch Rescue Heroes. The only working TV and VCR combo in the house is in the living room so I suggested that Catherine either move to the kitchen or one of the bedrooms.
"I can do it here Mom! I'm just copying!"
I shrugged my shoulders. Hey, if she gets it done, who am I to be the bad guy. Right?
Here's the result (click for larger picture). Keep in mind that the movie started at about the, "my, my..." point.
You can see the point when her brain decided that Rescue Heroes was the priority. Even though she had her edited copy in hand, it just goes all weird.
"...and the Fox and it!"
Wha...?
I mentioned tonight after soccer (they won!!) that she should read it over in the morning and she grinned at me.
"I know I made some funny mistakes but I was too lazy to fix them."
How can I argue when I'm laughing?
I am happy to report that though this approach has increased the amount of writing she's doing dramatically, she does seem to enjoy it. There's variety and none pressure to come up with some story from a story starter or on, "What I Did at Guides Camp." Just straight forward expectations and the learning of a craft.
Ask me again in six weeks and I'm sure we'll both feel differently but for now, Catherine and I are good.
Catherine was working quietly on the couch when Harry decided he'd like to watch Rescue Heroes. The only working TV and VCR combo in the house is in the living room so I suggested that Catherine either move to the kitchen or one of the bedrooms.
"I can do it here Mom! I'm just copying!"
I shrugged my shoulders. Hey, if she gets it done, who am I to be the bad guy. Right?
Here's the result (click for larger picture). Keep in mind that the movie started at about the, "my, my..." point.
You can see the point when her brain decided that Rescue Heroes was the priority. Even though she had her edited copy in hand, it just goes all weird.
"...and the Fox and it!"
Wha...?
I mentioned tonight after soccer (they won!!) that she should read it over in the morning and she grinned at me.
"I know I made some funny mistakes but I was too lazy to fix them."
How can I argue when I'm laughing?
I am happy to report that though this approach has increased the amount of writing she's doing dramatically, she does seem to enjoy it. There's variety and none pressure to come up with some story from a story starter or on, "What I Did at Guides Camp." Just straight forward expectations and the learning of a craft.
Ask me again in six weeks and I'm sure we'll both feel differently but for now, Catherine and I are good.
My Country Song
My well ran dry. My water pump has lost it's prime. The basement door has a ten inch wasp nest above it.
On the brighter side I've got a load of water on order for today, I may be able to ask my father-in-law into priming to pump for me this evening and the wasps seem content to let me go in and out of the basement for now.
But shucks, that coupled with the emotional stuff over the weekend and a family member angry with me...I'm about ready to put down my head and cry.
This week sucks. It has my permission to end now.
On the brighter side I've got a load of water on order for today, I may be able to ask my father-in-law into priming to pump for me this evening and the wasps seem content to let me go in and out of the basement for now.
But shucks, that coupled with the emotional stuff over the weekend and a family member angry with me...I'm about ready to put down my head and cry.
This week sucks. It has my permission to end now.
A Joy to Receive
I got Life of Fred: Fractions in the mail today. I'm posting about it because it was so beautifully shipped. First I took it out of a stiff envelope. Then I took it out of a cardboard slip. Then I unwrapped the paper that had been wrapped around the book 11 1/2 times (you know what that means. Each full section divided into two centuries so I can have an instant timeline to stick on the wall that covers 2,300 years! Whoo hoo!) and then pulled off the plastic wrap. The book was in perfect shape and even autographed by the author in a colur that matched the cover.
Now there's a man that not only loves the subject of math but loves sharing it with people and loves each book he mails out.
Thank you Stanley Schmidt!
Now there's a man that not only loves the subject of math but loves sharing it with people and loves each book he mails out.
Thank you Stanley Schmidt!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)