Family Tradition: Manly Fire

When I was a kid, we had a charcoal cooker in the backyard. On burger night, my dad would make a pile of briquettes in the cooker, douse it with lighter fluid, and light it with a match. But as it was getting going, he employed another tool; he would use a hairdryer like an electric bellows to accelerate the combustion process. Many times I saw him out on the back porch with mom's hairdryer, whipping the coals into a raging inferno. It works unbelievably well.

In my first years of marriage, The M thought I was nuts for using her hairdryer on the Old Smokey. Heck, I thought everyone did it! What do you mean your father never used a hairdryer on the hibachi? It must have taken forever to cook anything.

I remember having a cookout with another newlywed couple and showing them the family trick. Steve thought it was great! Elizabeth was not impressed. That reminds me of a necessary warning. Guys, if you get her hairdryer too close to the fire, the tip will start to melt. And also, the next time she uses it to dry her hair, she may have a pleasant smokey aroma. No kidding.

Just for this post, I went and took a picture of our hairdryer. Sorry the quality isn't the best. If you look at the rim, you can see the left side is bubbly and melty, while the right side is still smooth and relatively unmaligned.

Well anyhow, I have this tree stump in my backyard that I have been trying to get rid of. Today was the third day I tried to burn it out. As I sat there watching it smoulder, an ancient voice spoke to me out of the traditions of my forefathers. "Plug it in, Luke." Something like that.

At this point, it would be reasonable for you to think that I used a hairdryer to fan the flames. And you would be close. Instead I used a leaf blower, and MAN! was it cool! We could get the "coals" glowing a very bright color orange, as you can see. They boys helped me out and together we filled the backyard with smoke. It was indeed good.

Jono takes a turn.

D comes in from upper angle. Can you see the smoke in the air?

If you held the blower right on the coals, they would glow like... like... something really bright!

And lastly, here is some video that D shot with his camera. It's a bit shaky, but he was excited. You can clearly hear Jono say "Papo, can I do some?". D says "Oh gosh." when the smoke gets in his eyes. And oh yes, the fellow with the good lookin' legs in the knee-high rubber boots is yours truly.

Wind Turbine Project Part 3

Students from the Engineers with a Mission PIT Crew (Project Implementation and Testing Crew) continue to move forward with our wind turbine project. These pictures are from work done on winding coils. They kobbled together a coil winding gizmo to help them with the many, many loops of wire that needed to be held tightly together.

Tayo is in charge of the alternator construction, and the first step is winding the coils. Tayo and Karen are shown taping the wound coils so they don't unwind. Sproing!

Eventually, these coils will be placed near rotating magnets in the turbine. The rapidly changing magnetic fields will induce electrons to course through the coils like blood through a beating heart. I couldn't "resist" posting a little edu-tainment video on magnetically induced currents.

Looking on the Bright Side

We told Jono that we intend to have him repeat first grade today. It went something like this:
The M and I sat down on the couch with him and she said
"Jono, guess what? You get to be in Mrs. W's class again next year!"
"Am I being held back?" he says.
I didn't even know he knew what "being held back" meant. But he knew.
The M says, "Well, yes. Your papa and I think that would be best for you, and we always want what's best for you. And Mrs. W is excited because she loves you and is happy that you get to be in her class again next year. You will be her special helper because you will know how her classroom operates and you can help all those new kindergartners coming in next year."

We went on to explain that he was not being forced to repeat because of his grades, but we thought it would be better for him to improve his reading and handwriting before moving on to second grade.

He said, "I really like that idea, and I'm never going to change my mind."

Well. I couldn't ask for more than that.

We went on to do some role-playing with him to help him deal with anyone that might tease him. I think he is confident and prepared. I am relieved it didn't upset him.

A New Blog Persona for my Wife

In order to try and protect our privacy from stalkers and the paparazzi, I have referred to our family by nicknames and abbreviations. My wife has been M, my oldest son D, and my youngest Jono. I refer to myself only as "The Middle-Aged Fat Guy".

I have decided that M needs a new name. Something with more snap. Here are some of the names under consideration:

"The M" like the guitar player for U2, "The Edge",

"Wife M"

"M Unit" or perhaps just "MU" for short.

"Mama" which is what she is often called around the Orangehouse anyway,

"Genvieve" because my grandmother always thought she reminded her of an old friend by that name,

"M-ster",

"M-theory", short for "master theory", which is what physicists are now calling string theory with a view towards unification,

So what do you think? Shall we put it up to a vote? Give me some new ideas.

Jono's Reading Problem

Jono had two significant appointments yesterday. One was with his pediatrician (a check up) and one was with the school councilor (an IQ test and a test for dyslexia). It's mostly good news. He is average height for his age, but below average in weight for his age. I'm not surprised by this, the boy eats like a bird. Everything else is just fine.

The tests at school showed that he has a high IQ, but that he is not reading on par with his IQ. We knew that already. So what's the problem? The tests show he does not have signs of dyslexia! She did say he was "kind of wiggly". Ha! No surprise there either.

His wiggliness may be reflexive of a lack of maturity, or of ADD. I don't really think he has ADD because he can focus when he wants to and doesn't show some of the other signs. So I think it's just immaturity.

This is resulting in his teacher having to reteach him things she has already shown the class. He doesn't ask questions if he doesn't understand. Instead he just sits there and does his own thing until she notices.

"Jono, do you understand what you're supposed to be doing?"

"Umm... no, not really."

With all this, we have decided to go ahead and have him repeat first grade. We're going to have one more conference with his teacher, but I'm pretty sure that's what we're going to do.

We are having some angst, however, about telling him. We obviously want to put a positive spin on it, like "Jono guess what? You get to be in Mrs. W's class again and be her helper next year!" or some such. Can I get some advice from the blogosphere?