Week 85 - Arggg

Hannah met the earth this week in a brand new fashion. Out on the hammock she peered up over the side and reached down for the grass. Without the whole family going overboard, she was finally able to get her hands on the grass and just feel it. I think it's a real shame that we don't remember most of our first experiences with things this natural and simple. The first time we touch a tree or the grass. The first time that rain falls on our face and runs through our hair. The first time the warm sun wakes us out of slumber to realize that winter is over and spring is beginning. Or the first time we bite into real food and ponder it - even a silly little Cheerio (which by the way are the best little things ever). So now Hannah accelerates with the warming season and starts experiencing a whole new world. As we begin discussion for new projects and funding new students, I just hope that I can find enough time to be home to see everything.

The ground has thawed up and the rain has started softening it even more. With so much snow over the winter and the sudden influx of rainwater our neighbors' pond has grown dramatically. It would seem that during the construction process over the winter they managed to block the overflow and the pond just continues to grow. I'm not sure when it's going to stop but the slope of the ground tells me that it will eventually overflow right into our field. All that really matters for now is that I finally removed our copper pipe from where the propane tank used to be. This turned into a much bigger project than I expected. Not because of the difficulty but much more because of the length of the pipe. And it was so clean! The pipe looked like it had just been buried yesterday. With copper priced at about $2.30/lb., we are looking forward to lunch from this little gig. I just have to get the regulator popped off and capped...

April fool's day swung around again and it's been a pretty slow week at work. Since my advisor is teaching a lot of class this semester, some of the lab kids thought they would take the chance and prank his office again. Since we just did this last year, I decided to opt out of the project. He seemed to take his office being completely covered in personalized post-its pretty well. He's a good sport about things that form lab "bonding". I think it is reflected in our teamwork about all the experiments we do.

 

Finally, I thought I would share a mind-blowing discovery this week about my own ignorance in this world: the flying spaghetti monster. If you don't believe me, you can Google it, but the fish symbol converted to a frog-like thing that shows up on cars? That's the flying spaghetti monster, started by an over-ambitious dude who wanted to prove that religion shouldn't be forced into schools. Of course, I agree, but I also think that the opposite shouldn't forced either. Religion shouldn't be oppressed out of schools, no matter what that religion is. Even if you want to celebrate "talk like a pirate day" in honor of the all-powerful Italian masterbeast... I guess. But know you're in the minority.

For what it's worth, the same man did some anecdotes on why causation and correlation are not the same thing. I originally got into this subject because someone asked me what I thought about glyphosphate being linked to Celiac's disease. For that, I refer you to ask for my write-up. It's a bit longer than this post will allow and a bit more detailed than you care about. Just know that it isn't true. You can drink a gallon of round-up tomorrow and celebrate survival like a champion. They've tested this stuff and you can't consume enough to kill yourself. If you don't believe me, survival of the fittest will nab you a different way and spare the planet.