Non Sequitur Box

I've been juggling a few books recently, so for my March-April-May book, I read Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer. I borrowed this book from a co-worker who has a phD in biology. One day, we started talking about cats, and he mentioned toxoplasma gondii. He told me this tale about a parasite that gets on rats, makes the rat hang around cats, and the parasite gets onto the cat. This parasite is also found on humans who own cats, and it has connections with neurological disorders (schizophrenia) and other psychological effects. This tale was true, and I was intrigued, so he lent me this book. I absolutely loved this book! I kept stopping to tell my boyfriend about parasites. I had my opinions about parasites change as I read the book. When I started reading Parasite Rex , I realized how dangerous parasites can be. Zimmer explains how a simple parasite can cause sleeping sickness or river blindness, as he has seen in Africa. I even avoided pork for a short time while I was reading ab...

One of my favorite socializing activities is discussing how or why something is (basically, trying to talk to the scientist in each one of us). I'm an introvert who doesn't interact with people often, so I try to make it easier for myself by inserting science and/or math into the socializing equation. Car Talk puzzlers are great for this; sometimes it's the only thing my boyfriend and I talk discuss on long drives. This week I had two hot topics for discussion. Frozen Balls for Scotch Last Sunday, I went to buy my boyfriend a birthday gift. I decided to go to a cocktail store and get him some spherical ice molds (for whiskey). The lady informed me, "The trick to clear ice is to use hot water." I thanked her and went home. I passed this information to the recipient of the gift, who agreed we should do an experiment. Round one was done without me, and I thought he didn't use enough control, but my boyfriend used hot tap water and room temperature filter...

One thing I have not discussed on this website is my love for classic point-and-click adventure games. I wasn't a true gamer like my brothers, but I loved games with puzzles. I enjoyed jigsaw puzzles, logic puzzles, science, mysteries, and these games with challenges. What started with Myst and Riven expanded to the Broken Sword series (I've only played the first two) and Adventure Game Studio, a game engine created by Chris Jones ( http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/ ). In high school, I tried to make my own game, which was soon interrupted by college and other responsibilities (How did I have so much time to draw so much, learn a new program, run, do my homework, and complete all my chores while going to school 45 minutes away from where I lived? When did I sleep?). Now, on sick days, all I do is play adventure games if I feel well enough to sit up and think. In this month, I've played through quite a few games (for cheap, mind you). Available for download on GOG.c...

In November, I read It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. I had bought this book earlier this summer, but I am just now getting into reading it. It's an informative book promoting a healthy, clean approach to eating (The Whole30). Another resource is their website:  http://www.whole9life.com/itstartswithfood/ The Hartwigs explain their rules for good food (what your food should/should not do to your body), which foods are less healthy (and WHY), which foods are more healthy, how to complete The Whole30 (30 days or more of eating protein, vegetables, and some fruit), and even has some recipes. They do not give a 30 day exact meal plan, nor do they tell you how many calories to eat each day or to weigh your food or to weigh yourself. They promote educating yourself by reading their findings (and even suggest to read opposing viewpoints), read other people's success stories (what worked/didn't work for them), and to self-experiment. I am glad they mentioned...

As a disclaimer, I suck at math, I suck at swimming in currents, and I am not a math teacher. At the Patriots Half this weekend, we were challenged to come up with an easy way to explain swimming in currents. This is my attempt. Also, please note that some things are not drawn to scale/properly. I'm attempting to explain the idea of swimming in currents while avoiding math/numbers. Below is an example of a swim route. The wiggly yellow man is the finish. The yellow triangles are turn buoys and the orange circles are sighting buoys. In aqua is the current. The dashed lines are the vertical and horizontal motions of the current, and the solid line is the resulting current. In this example, swimmers have to swim at about a 45 degree angle to the current on the trip out to the third buoy and back to the finish line. We will address the final leg back to the finish line. In the dashed red line below, the swimmer is just thinking, "I have to swim straight to the wiggl...

I enrolled in a local community college course (Biology I, BI107 and BI107L) this summer at Montgomery College (MC). It was 3-4 hours per night for 4 nights per week for 5-6 weeks. I enjoy biology very much. I spent most of my time in July-August reading my biology textbook and studying for class. I passed the class and will continue my biology studies in BI108 this fall! Why Biology I? Many people know that I received my B.S. in General Science from the United States Naval Academy. I took a biology class back then, and I wanted to take Biology II now, but Montgomery College said my credit was not sufficient and that I would have to take Biology I at MC. It would cost me another $593+, but I was fine with that. Did I learn much? YES! I learned so much! I think it is easier to go back to school once you've gone to school, gone into the workforce, and are going back to school. I also had great professors. I know a few students who are stubborn to having teachers with accents of a...

Back in first grade, I had to write a report about birds. This "report" was really only four sentences long, but I remember having a terrible time with it. I remember getting frustrated, writing my facts, erasing until the paper was worn through, and rewriting new facts until I decided that the report held the most significant information about birds. Mind you, that is difficult to do in four sentences! Birds have different bills to survive in different environments. Birds have lightweight bones and wings to help them fly. Birds evolved from dinosaurs. Birds chew their food for their babies. I'm sure that's what I wrote. I decided that I will continue these short science "reports" that I had to write in my early career as a scientist. Here are my first two "reports." Bees There is so much information about bees. Here are my four sentences. Bees are a special type of wasp. Bees feed on nectar and pollen. All bees have two sets of wings (a larger...

Many times in my life I've had to convert feet to meters or vice versa. The blame is on America, who decides to use the foot over the meter. Such is one of the prices we pay to live in this country (I do love America, in all sincerety, though). Using the foot brings rise to many questions in my head. How tall was Napoleon? What determined the length of a foot? Why can't we all just use the same system? Who decides that 1 foot is equal to 1/3 yard or 12 inches or 0.3048 meters? I went online to investigate. It's sad that I do a lot of my research of these things via the Internet now instead of going to the library. The library isn't always open when I need it, though! Okay. What does the Internet say about the foot (unit)? According to Wikipedia ( Wikipedia's page about the foot ), the foot across time and space has ranged from 250 mm to 335 mm. Apparently, there was an international yard and pound agreement of July 1959 (among the United States and the Commonwea...

I hate working with isocyanates. I was warned. I was told to wear gloves and goggles. I was given the MSDS to the isocyanate. I wore the basic PPE, but I still reacted to it, and now it's gotten worse. My health feels like it is in steady decline at my job. Just two weeks ago, I took three days off because I was dizzy, nauseous, exhausted, and didn't feel well enough to work. Now, today I take my second day off work this week. Yesterday I was sick because of work. Unreal. A little science background on this chemical. Isocyanates are organic compounds with the functional group R-N=C=O. Compounds with two of these groups are di-isocyanates. You can react these with a polyol to make a polyurethane (a polymer). There are different types of isocyanantes, and I work with one of the more commonly produced types that is supposedly less dangerous. When I first started working with this stuff, I broke out in a red, itchy rash on both of my arms. I took photos of it, and I tried eve...

As a warning, this blog post is really out there. Recently, I was given the privilege of traveling to Memphis, TN for work. What's in Memphis, you say? I'll tell you---lots of barbeque, rock and blues music, and Beale Street! I tried to order a few salads, those weren't really healthy. While in Memphis, do as they do---eat BBQ pork sandwiches, drink sweet iced tea (when they bring you that instead of your lemonade), and listen to blues music! Every day I ran or walked around town. I saw... - Beale Street (good food, good music) - Westy's (A MUST!) - the minor league baseball stadium - the Lorraine Motel (where MLK, Jr. was shot) - the Pyramid - the horse-drawn carriages - the Fire Museum - the Orpheum (old opera house, still in use today) - a classic car show on Beale Street one night - statue of Elvis (and we did a quick drive by Graceland) - Riverboat Rides on the Mighty Mississippi - a few parks and memorials around downtown and along the waterfront...

This post is a little embarrassing, but I think it's a funny learning lesson...in hindsight. Once upon a time, I was given a task. At the end of this task I had to give a measurement in "mils." Me, having never worked in a lab or with science or engineering in the real world (college was a few years ago, and I was more focused on the military than my studies), thought perhaps this meant "millimeters." The man who asked me this is a very smart man. Sometimes I felt like he asked questions he knew the answers to in order to test me. He can do math in his head like a genius, so when he asked me to convert this millimeters into mils, I was baffled. What the %#*@ are mils?! An hour or so ago, I had sat down with my measurements, converting my inches to meters to millimeters. What where mils?! I told him I would figure out the "mils" and get back to him. It makes me nervous when he stares me down while I'm trying to do math in my head. This conver...

Here is another book for the month of March. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg discusses how habits are formed and how they can be changed. I sped through this book because I found the topic interesting. It almost reads like a self-help book at parts. It delves a little into the tactics of marketing and advertising, another topic I find intriguing. I enjoy finishing a book feeling as though I have learned something. Let me share with you some quotes and what I've learned. "...First there is a cue , a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine , which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward , which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future..." This is the basic habit loop. Cue - Routine - Reward. That's a pretty simple loop, but Duhigg gets into the loop deeper. It is not a one-si...

The Adidas shoe making a buzz around the running community is the new Energy Boost. People have claimed the shoe actually gives them an advantage while running. Displays in stores allow you to drop two separate steel balls straight down on the Boost material and the more widely used EVA material (PU is another material used). Pause. EVA? Ethylene-vinyl acetate (a copolymer of 10-40% vinyl acetate and the rest ethylene). It's the material that is used in many shoes these days. In fact, it has a massive range of uses. Adidas even uses it to manufacture the Adidas Jabulani football/soccerball. EVA works well in low temperatures, is stress-crack resistant, and is UV radiation resistant. PU? Polyurethane. I've heard some old Adidas shoes and Ecco shoes use this material. I hate polyurethanes because they are made using an isocyanate and a polyol. Isocyanates irritate my skin, lungs, eyes, you name it. I am sensitized to that terrible stuff... When I went into the s...

"Hello World." That's what my first webpage read. Back in middle school, I was a part of the Geocities, Angelfire, and Tripod generation. I'm not sure if they still exist or are as popular as I perceived them to be. I just remember that they offered free hosting, always had advertisements, and allowed me to express myself to the world. I went from the click-and-drag version of Geocities to learning HTML and using Notepad to design my websites. I loved learning HTML. It was the perfect blend of technology and art. I was a bit of a nerd-artist. I became a jock-nerd-artist when I learned the amazing outlet of running in high school. Become a jock-nerd-artist gave me little time to maintain a website, so I deleted my online presence. Now, as an adult jock-nerd-artist, I continue my life as a athlete-scientist-artist. I run marathons, lift heavy (relative) items, rock climb, try to cook, and work as a personal trainer. I read science fiction, play point-and-click adven...