Epsilon Exploits & Familial Foibles September 2009 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec Blog Archive: 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 Video Archive Wine Glossary Physics Glossary Thumbnails Shutterfly Links are good as of their posting date. Comments should be directed to bradley@wogsland.org.

To hear Cara tell it, you'd think she was working in a restaurant back in the kitchen. I'm a dishwasher, she says modestly of her new job, and to start off I'll just be preparing reagents. Cara started off back to school last month studying biochemistry with the lofty mom goal of one day finding a cure for Maxwell's food allergies. Next week she'll start working in a research lab that studies human allergens in food.

19 September 2009 - Cub Scouting Maxwell first heard about Cub Scouts a few weeks ago at school. He heard that Cub Scouts got to shoot beebee guns and bows and arrows and decided this was definitely for him. Here in Nebraska they don't mess around in scouting - Maxwell attended his first pack meeting earlier this week, and today he got to fire the proffered weaponry. Having joined ROTC in high school to be able to fire a beebee gun (among other things), I could totally relate. Afterward he tried very hard to convince Cara and I that he needed a beebee gun of his own. Later his performance was repeated to try for his own bow and arrow. Of course, saying that "a wooden arrow wouldn't really hurt Zinny" probably hurts your case more than helps it....

For all the Monty Python fans out there John Cleese has produced a nice film tackling the basics of enjoying wine while avoiding all the pretentiousness often associated with the subject. Wine for the Confused is not a big budget blockbuster (the locations are all not far from Cleese's Southern California home), but it's still quite entertaining and informative. To judge for yourself I suggest you watch

I think I would have done better today if I was actually being chased by buffalo. As it was, the buffalo were safely on the other side of the fence and my feet hurt too much to take much note of them. The highlight of the morning was the fact that I still managed to finish the race in under an hour (56:57) after walking most of mile 3 and 4. There was no timer at mile 3, so when the timer called out 46:38 as I finished mile four I was mighty surprised. Knowing as long as I ran I could surely finish the last mile in under 13 minutes I found the strength for a strong finish. Cara's knee started giving her trouble not long into the 2nd mile, so she finished in 1:12:32. We need to train more . . .

Now that he's back in school, Maxwell's exploded with an urge to write about his world. He likes to make books and then read them to us. Here's the book he made today. Maxwell was very excited for me to put it online and said "Make sure to tell them I can read it, too. I want Poppy to see how smart I am!" It's great to see how confident he's become! It brought back memories of Brittan and her Hracn Book, which was one of her first writing attempts in the first grade not so many years ago...

If you've ever read a biography of someone who's achieved success in America, be it Richard Feynman in academia, Jimmy Carter in politics, or Warren Buffett in finance, there is never any talk about an "allowance" which they received as children. In the examples just mentioned they fixed radios, sold Coca-Cola and delivered newspapers for money as children. If children are to really understand the value of money, that it is merely a medium of exchange for our labors, then they must use their labor to earn it. This is the reason my children have never and will never receive an "allowance" from us. We are very supportive of such money-making schemes they think up though. These past few weeks Alora & Brittan have hit upon their most lucrative idea yet - door-to-door sales of homemade cookies. They call their business "Twinnies" and make about forty bucks every weekend. We supplied the start-up materials which they reimbursed from their earnings and now they buy their own supplies (which they jealously guard in a separate cabinet). They allocate a portion of each week's earnings to pocket money, supplies and savings. Who knows what they're saving up for...

On Tuesday Obama will be broadcasting a message for children K-12 and his Dept. of Education has instructed teachers on how to properly indoctrinate the children with the president's propaganda. They are to write about what they can do to help him achieve his goals and increase the power of the state (see announcement). This first message is not mandatory, and schools like Alora & Brittan's are "reviewing" it and giving parents the opportunity not to have their children subjected to it: Message sent - 9/4/2009 President's address and Flu update Dear Parents, On Tuesday, September 8, President Obama is planning to address all K-12 students at 11:00 central time. Our social studies teachers have decided to record his message and review it to see if it is appropriate for our curriculum and our students. After the review, it may be shown to our students on Wednesday. IF YOU WOULD PREFER THAT YOUR STUDENT NOT SEE THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS, PLEASE REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. Flu Update: Although our absence rate is slightly higher than our usual early September rate, our numbers are by no means alarming. On Thursday Lux had 36 students absent due to illness and on Friday there are 29 absent due to illness. Just a few reminders: *Keep children home who have flu symptoms-sore throat, fever, cough, runny nose *Encourage lots on hand washing *Make sure your children get plenty of rest *Drink lot of fluids Sincerely, Bill Bucher, Principal I suggested watching Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph des Willens as a more classical example of the genre that kids would find easier to dissect.

As we enter September with record lows in August at our backs here in Nebraska I am eagerly anticipating the first snowfall of winter - er, summer, as in record years it falls before September 22nd. On average I'll have to wait much longer though, until November 16th...

from www.hprcc.unl.edu