Date Night at the Drive-In

Earlier this week we had a "cultural" date night.  While that was fun and educational, this past weekend we decided to ramp up the fun quotient for our dates beyond a lecture at the library.  We went on more of a "throw-back" date.  One of my co-workers had mentioned going to a drive-in theater that weekend.  I have always want to go to a drive-in but have never go yet and it is definitely on my bucket list.  We started the evening with hamburgers and shakes at a restaurant called Bogey's after the actor Humphrey Bogart and has lots of movie decor.  After a few other shopping stops we drove down several back country roads to get the the drive-in.  It was a beautiful night for a drive and everything still looks so green for this time of summer thanks to all the recent rain (sorry to the farmers who are trying to get wheat out of the fields).  We really enjoy taking drives together (we must be a little old fashioned at heart) and on this drive we discussed the details of the NBA collective bargain agreement that determines salary caps, etc.  Lets just say I really enjoyed looking out the window.  We got there about an hour before show time but enjoyed the cool evening watching other families with kids running around, listening to fun oldies music, sitting and chatting or reading while we waited.  The movie playing was How To Train Your Dragon 2.  This is a little bit of a joke in our home because at work I use dictation software for all my paperwork that is called Dragon.  I spend quite a bit of time trying to train my dragon to type what I say and Dragon and I am constantly at odds.  One day started out with me trying to get Dragon to type my name but it put "Lower than Scum, PT" instead-- that day went downhill from there.  Anyway, the dragons in the movie seemed much easier to train.  It was such a fun experience to watch a movie under the stars with the love of my life.  Omnia Vincit Amor.

An evening of culture

On one of our recent date nights we had what I like to term an "artsy fartsy" date.  Certain aspects of our evening were more cultured than others.  Dinner was 'campers in a sleeping bag' (hot dogs rolled up in crescent dough).  I had had enough with attempt to make nutritious some-what upscale dinners so I reverted to what I do best which is quick and easy.  I do happen to have the reputation of making some stunning creations from crescent rolls.  After dinner we began our evening at the library for a lecture on the life and work of Henry Varnum Poor, a somewhat famous artist who was born in a nearby community.  (Interesting side note: His uncle, also Henry Varnum Poor, was the founder of the company that become Standard & Poor's.)  The lecture focused on his artwork during WWI and WWII.  He was primarily a painter but also practiced a wide variety of mediums including ceramics, murals, sculpting, and even architecture since he design and built a handful of homes.  I found it interesting the role that artists had in the wars.  One job he had was to design and paint camouflage.  On the front lines in WWI cameras were not allowed so he had a side business of doing portraits for fellow soldiers for them to send home to their families.  Even in WWII cameras were not reliable enough for the action of battle, didn't work in many weather conditions, and didn't shoot in color so artists could better depict the scenes of battle through their work than film could.  Poor's role during WWII was in Alaska helping arm the natives in case of a possible Japanese invasion.  (I often forget Alaska was one of the spots in the US most at risk for invasion.)  After the lecture it was such a nice evening we went down to the park to listen to the city band concert for awhile which we really enjoyed.  Following the concert our evening became less refined as one of us was anxious to watch the NBA draft. Omnia Vincit Amor.

Metrology

This past week, I (Arthur) left my dear Alex in the heartland to venture to Niagara Falls, NY.  Friends and family have expressed much sympathy for Alex since she didn’t get to go, and I’d have to say their sympathy was well placed.  I would have loved to take Alex with me, but alas, business and pleasure on this particular occasion could not be made to mix.

The reason the Northeast called me from my beloved was for training on a machine we’ve been using at my company for about a year now, known as a CMM (I call it Pythagoras).  The reason I’m just now getting training on a machine I have been successfully operating for a year now is asked about as frequently as what a CMM is, and while timing for training, a delay here and a delay there is hard to explain, the latter question is a lot of fun.

A CMM is a $30,000 ruler.  It measures distances on components down to 0.0002” accuracy and distances you frankly couldn’t with your feeble handheld devices (imagine trying to eyeball the center of two holes within a thousandth on an inch.)  Furthermore, it’s programmable; if you do it right you should be able to set your part in place, hit go, and come back a half hour later to find a report listing hundreds of discrete measurements nicely formatted for you.

Many of our readers are perhaps still scratching their heads, wondering why in heaven’s name anyone would want to measure anything down to a thousandth of an inch, and why anyone would pay $30,000 for the privilege of doing so.  These readers might find the answer “So that your company sends you to Niagara Falls” about as satisfying an answer as can be provided.  The truth, however, is that as difficult as it is to imagine, gears pushing off other gears, a circuit board aligning well enough with its enclosure so it can be screwed into place, or a rod held in place with a bushing so perfectly fitted that they keep out water are all examples of applications where the difference of a fraction of the width of a human hair mean the difference between success and failure.

 

All of this delves grandly into a field that has slowly evolved into a burning interest for me: metrology.  Metrology is the science of measurement, a fact which, upon hearing, causes most people to add a new word atop their list of most boring subjects of which they’ve ever heard.  This is truly unfortunate thing; I would contend that metrology, along with pure mathematics and statistics, comprise the foundation of all good science.  After all, how can you test scientific hypothesis if you cannot with a high degree of certainty and accuracy, measure natural phenomena?  

 If you’d like to see how some of the most difficult problems in metrology are handled, check out the video below:

In other news on the trip, I did indeed go to the falls, and they were magnificent.   Perhaps I'll expand on that subject in a later post, but for now, I think I better end this post in keeping with the given subject.  Thanks for reading, and remember, Omnia vincit amore.

Rodeos

Last week was our church's vaction Bible school week.  I (Alex) have been teaching VBS for over a decade-- I really wonder what parent thought it would be a good idea to send their 5 year olds to VBS when the teacher was still in Jr. High.  This year I served as an "adult guide" for 25 2nd and 3rd graders.  Basically I was crowd control.  I had to round up and herd kids up and down the hallways to snacks, games, songs, etc.  There were a few times a cattle prod would have been helpful.  The thing I dread most about Bible school or any children's ministries activities is the singing.  I don't like singing anyway and children's songs always have a boatload of actions which is somewhat challenging for us who are lacking in coordination.  I have participated in Zumba classes requiring less physical activity than Bible school songs.  This year all the songs had a superfulious amount of actions.  When the word "of" gets its own action they have gone to far.   My favorite thing about Bible school has to be the snacks which just happened to be directly after song time and good motivation for my to push through singing so I could get a rice crispy treat.  I haven't been around many elementary aged kids in the past year or so and here are some things I noticed:

- They get really excited about even the simple things.  We exploded Mentos in Diet Pepsi one night and it was the coolest thing ever as far as they were concern.  I think this is why Jesus said we have to be like little kids to enter His Kingdom-- full of wonder and awe about His Glory and so excited we can't sit still.

- Kids just don't sit still.  Granted I do spend most of my day around adults and many have difficulty moving at all.  As a physical therapist I would also amazed once again by how flexible kids are-- how can they sit with legs bent back behind them comfortably?  Or why would you want to put your foot to your nose or bear crawl down the hallway- I don't know.

- Kids are also loud.  I think I have aged enough that my vocal cords cannot withstand the rigors of the enthusiatic yelling and shouting required of VBS.

For the weekend we headed out to Arthur's hometown.  Over the past few years it has become tradition to attend the Professional Bull Riding competition at a nearby town.  Another tradition is also eating dinner at the Chubby Pickle before hand.  Watching the bull riding was fun-- the bulls probably had a better night than the cowboys.  As a physical therapist/athletic trainer I have a few comments: Core stability and balance is key for bull riding (actually I wold argue that core stability and balance is important for almost anything).  Also, bull riders should wear helmets.  Most of them did give up the cowboy hat for a helmet with a face mask.  The cowboy that won the competition previously won the designation of bullriding's sexiest cowboy.  He didn't wear a helmet and it looked like he took a pretty good blow to his head and face during his last ride.  Maybe broken noses and head injuries are considered sexy.  Not for this gal which is why Arthur has promised to wear a helmet if he ever rides a bull. 

Our other activities lately have include watching the NBA finals.  I was told that the Spurs' win in Game 3 was "more than watching basketball-- it was beautiful, like watching the symphony".  On the gardening front we had an invasion of caterpillars that demolished our cilantro.  Another gardening lesson learn was to put tomato cages around plants when they are first planted.  I spent awhile wrestling large tomatoes and squash plants into tomato cages-- it reminded me of trying to fit a sleeping bag back into the tiny bags they come in.  As for Dennis the worm(s), he is still doing what worms do so nothing to exciting to report there.  Omnia Vincit Amor.

Not cheaper than dirt

Gardening season is upon us and nothing can be more disappointing than not having any dirt to garden in.  There is a country song in which the lyrics are something like “The only ground I ever owned was sticking to my shoes”.  I have felt that way this spring.  We a currently renting and share a yard so it probably won’t be good if I started digging it up.  Therefore my dreams of gardening are relegated to the front steps and the square of concrete at the backdoor where our trash can sits.  But if there is a will then there is a way.  My goal is to grow a garden and actually use the produce for cooking (that a completely different adventure but we will cross that bridge when our plants actually have veggies.)  I went to a class on container gardening a few weeks ago and decided that maybe I could make my garden a reality this year.  The past week I have been busy finding planters, getting seeds and plants, planning what will be grown and where, and planting everything.  This has led me to discovery what the price of dirt is if you don’t have any of your own.  Actually I have been buying potting mix that is “soilless” so I’m not even getting any dirt in the bargain.  Some women are compulsive when it comes to buying shoes.  This week I have been hunting around for the best deals on dirt and hauling it around to and fro.  I actually ran the numbers comparing the price of potting mix to buying an acre of irrigated land.  I was quoted the price of an acre of irrigated land at $6000.  If I were to buy enough potting mix to cover an acre it would cost $62,000.  That's a 10 times increase.  I guess since I only have about 10 square feet it is about 1000 times less work.

My other project has been building a self-watering planter.  Gardens in containers need watered fairly often and I don’t have access to water at our back door.  Also I would like our plants to have a chance at surviving if we are gone during the summer.  I watched a few YouTube video and then went hunting for the supplies—yogurt containers and a storage tote.  One evening while making dinner on the stove I was also using an utility knife to cut through the storage tote and had the power drill handy for making about 100 drainage holes.  I just got these planters finished and put in my tomatoes, squash, and zucchini—we will see what happens.

As for other experiments, Dennis, our worms, is doing quite well.  They survived our honeymoon and have really been going to town eating our food scraps.  There has been a noticeable increase in the compost material in the container. 

I find myself looking at gardening ideas on Pinterest, swapping gardening ideas with patients, and looking forward to checking on my plants each day.  Arthur probably thinks I’m crazy but hopefully he knew that before he married me.  So for the next few months I will be happily digging around in my containers with dirt under my fingernails because it is my dirt. Omnia Vincit Amor.