Big News?

What a day. Before my potential big news announcement, I want to review my day a little. Bear with me.

I did my teaching today at New Lexington HS for our bioscience unit. I decided to get pretty involved with mine and squeeze a lot of stuff into an hour and a half. The whole lesson started yesterday when I made biodiesel in my kitchen in about 10 minutes. Biodiesel needs to sit for about 24 hours to separate from the glycerine, so I had to have some ready for the lesson today.

It was a mad rush to get from Columbus to the school this morning, and also to pick up some supplies at home and at my sister's house on the way. After I got to NLHS, I had my dad take me to the fairgrounds. I stole one of the tractors and took it to the school, then hooked it up to the dyno. After I got everything set-up for my teaching, I learned that I was going to have significantly more students than I originally planned for. I expected to teach about 15 kids two times. I ended up with the teachers combining the classes on me (about 30 kids) and then bringing a science class down to take part as well (another 20), for a grand total of about 50-60 kids. I expected 30 for the whole day! The second go-around, I had two ag classes and the science class again, but there were only about 35 or so this time.

I started with a discussion about biodiesel basics and the chemistry of biodiese. We talked about some advantages and disadvantages of using biodiesel, then moved on to discuss safety and the process of making biodiesel. Finally, we split into groups and the kids made biodiesel. The process of making biodiesel is very simple. If anyone has any questions about it, feel free to ask me (I'm a seasoned pro - I've done it twice now). It is a very cool activity for students to do that they will remember. I used the biodiesel to open a network to other bio fuels and other biotechnologies.

The last activity that we did was the coolest part. I mixed the biodiesel that I made yesterday with some petro diesel in about a 50-50 mix. I pulled the fuel line off the tank and ran it into the bottle of B50 (50% biodiesel, 50% petro). We started the tractor and made a dyno run to get our baseline horsepower. After the system had switched to B50, we made another dyno pull to get our numbers on B50. The tractor picked up 2hp on B50. For the second class, the biodiesel, which was now B75 due to how I mixed it, made 1hp less than petro diesel.

I was very happy with the results. Everything went smoothly and a bunch of the kids really enjoyed this. I have a feeling that when I'm teaching, this will be an activity that I will be doing with my kids. It is simple, works great and really gets the attention of many of the students.

Now for the announcement of my big news! My big news is that next week's blog should be interesting for each of you blockers. If I get the time, I will have something special in my blog. If I don't have time, then I'm sorry you took the time to read this paragraph.

Also, keep feeding the fish. They have been getting neglected lately.

What is red and itchy?

I am.



As much as I look forward to summer, without fail, I end up buring myself at least once in the sun.









It's not so bad for a few days. A little touchy when changing my shirts, but nothing horrible. After two or three days, however, the itching starts. Thats what I hate. I can deal with the pain of the burn and the distinct redness of shame, but the itching is unbearable.
This time, I got burnt spending half the day Friday and all day Saturday working at the fairgrounds. Most of the cause was from Saturday. I worked ground in the horse arena then fixed fence for most of the day. After work Saturday, I went to the New Lexington FFA Truck and Tractor Pull.
This is the second pull of the year for the Chapter. I grew up around the pull, so it seems natural to me that New Lex FFA puts on a monthly pull. When you stop to think about it, however, it is pretty extraordinary. NL FFA members plan for and facilitate their own truck and tractor pulls with some help from their Alumni chapter. It's really pretty amazing.
New Lex FFA partnered with the Perry County Gun Club to put on pulls. In exchange for nearly unlimited use of the grounds and facilities, NL FFA cares for all grounds and facilities. They are in charge of maintenance and handle some upgrades to the Gun Club.
NL FFA built their own transfer sled, uses the school's 4430 JD to pull back, new JD scraper tractor and the school's backhoe to make the pull happen. Students operate the logistics of the pull including sign-up, all money, working the gate, announcing, grading the track and running the pull-back tractor. Mr. Blosser (one of their teachers) runs the sled, and two alumni members handle flagging and teching vehicles.
I think this is one of the coolest activities that an FFA Chapter can put on. If you are free for any of the up-coming pulls, please come to Perrydise and support this great FFA Chapter.

By the way, as you can see the fish are doing well. I didn't name them yet, though. While I like the names suggested by Jena, Shalie knows how special Vanilla Coke is. I don't know what to do...

Feed My Fish

Some of you may notice the fish I recently acquired on the right side of your screen. They are a little clingy to the curser, but for a bunch of fish, they really aren't all that bad. I was unsure about these fish from the start, but they are kinda growing on me. Fish are, after all, pretty gross animals when you think about it. Swimming around in their own filth all the time, eating other fish, smelling like a fish does. Maybe thats why I kinda like these ones - they are clean, have no odor, and only eat the food that you give them.
That reminds me of my first task for you: feed my fish! You'll notice that the fish tend to follow the curser around a little. If you left click in their "pond" you can drop little fish foods for them. The best part is when they fight a little bit to get the food. If only I could get some turtles for my little aquaculture center... (That one's for you, Jed and Brandon.) On the other hand, having turtles around might just attract this guy.
It just doesn't seem right that a guy should have a herd of fish (they're too cool for school) without names. Here's where you come in again. I took the pleasure of naming a couple of them already. The white fish (yes, there's a white fish in there, it's just hard to see) will be named Snowflake, in honor of the greatest fish of all time. The blue fish will be named John. I struggled with whether or not to name a lowly fish after myself, but since it is a blue fish, it is the most deserving of that name. There is still a green fish, a red fish and a gray (or is it grey?) fish that need to be named. Post your comments below and I will choose the best names for these fish.

Forever

The other night during a very competitive game of Balls In Cones, CABS Edition (if you don't know what this is, are you really living life?), I had a pretty deep discussion with one of the drivers/players, Mikey. It's something that I've thought of before, but this time it really has me perplexed.
The Columbus weather was pretty clear, but you could barely see any stars in the sky. Both of us are from the country and we started talking about how a clear sky at home looks. Our discussion turned toward the vastness of the universe and how amazing the notion of never-ending really is. Then Mikey said something that really got me thinking: Forever.
When you stop to think how little you are in proportion to the entire universe, it is overwhelming. When you begin to think about how short your time on earth is in relation to forever, it is absolutely unthinkable. Not just a forever that continues on after you die, but a forever that has always existed. Truely amazing, whether you are religious or not.
Throughout my life in church, I have heard about how God created a universe without bounds and that our time after life will be spent either as an eternity in Heaven, or an eternity in Hell. So why this short discussion during the heat of competition (and intense work if my boss asks) has me thinking so much is beyond me.
I think that there are some things that we, as people, should not spent too much time dwelling on, and this may be one of those things. On the other hand, I think it is good to reflect on this from time to time to help keep some things in perspective.
Thinking of forever can easily lead into thinking about life on earth after you are gone. After I die, what, if anything, will I be remembered for? What did I do on this Earth to make a difference? These concepts motivate me to do more good in my life and leave a lasting impression, however my name will most likely not be remembered for too many years after I'm gone.
Without preaching too much, I think the one answer to all of this is God. By giving your life to Him you have a greater ability and more opportunities to make a difference in so many ways. While your name may not go down into history, you will discover the true meaning of life, and along with it, true happiness. Who knew Balls In Cones could provide so much more than a little entertainment.