The nice thing about microwave cooking is that it is hard to burn something.
If you put a pot of water on the stove, set it to high and walk away to study for a while, forgetting that you left a pot full of water on the stove, you could end up with the pot boiling dry and possibly melting.
True story. My husband did this back when we were dating. Luckily there was snow on the ground outside, so when his room-mate found the re-hot misshapen pan on the stove, he opened the kitchen window and thew it outside into the snow. Funny, he was using a potholder to toss it out, and it, too ended up out in the snow.
If you leave something in the oven and forget about setting the timer, you could end up with a pan full of charcoal.
Nope. I've never done that. Certainly never cooked chicken to the point where even the dog refused to eat it.
But, microwaves were supposed to stop that. You set the food into the microwave, choose the cook time, and voila! The food is cooked, with NO burning! Granted, if you cook your food too long, it gets rubbery and gross, but it doesn't really burn. Even metal in the microwave doesn't burn. It sparks, but it doesn't catch things on fire.
Oldest child will be entering his last year of college this fall. He has decided that he needs to learn how to cook for himself, as he is tired of eating peanut butter and jelly last night.
He has mastered the grilled cheese sandwich.
Over the weekend, he decided he was going to master pancakes.
Husband helped him, and he did make a very good batch of blueberry pancakes.
Last night, when I was making dinner, oldest child decided to help me make dinner. He announced that he was in charge of the veggies. He pulled a bag of frozen peas out, put them in a glass bowl, and set the timer on the microwave.
You know, I didn't ask any questions. I figure the kid, who is 21 years old, and going into his last year of college, is old enough to read the cook time on the back of the bag.
That is where I made my mistake.
You know, frozen peas weren't really meant to be microwaved for 10 minutes.
They actually don't burn.
Instead, they explode, and/or catch fire.
After you finally get the smoke detector to stop howling, you have a giant green mess to clean up in the microwave.
The good news is, as soon as you stop the power, the peas stop exploding.
The bad news is, it's a hell of a mess to clean up. 1 pound of peas. Most of which exploded over the interior of the oven.
What happened to the handful of rubbery, gross peas that were left?
Oldest child ate them. Why?
"These are better than the last batch I made"
Monday, July 7, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Menopause - A Cautionary Tale
Today's post is serious. I attempted to inject some humor into this post, but this is a serious topic that affects (or will affect) us, or someone we love.
You know, as women, we don't talk much about menopause. We talk about childbirth, we talk about breast cancer, we walk for breast cancer, we're aware of uterine and ovarian cancer, but we don't talk much about menopause.
I think we need to break that habit, and I'm going to start right here, right now.
I am in the beginnings of menopause right now, and let me tell you, it is a joy.
I have pimples! God yes, pimples like I had when I was in high school. I have rediscovered the wonders of the acne products section of the grocery store.
My cycle is unpredictable. It is currently varying anywhere between 21 and 36 days. (after decades of 28 day cycles, this has been a little difficult to get used to.) It sneaks up on me everywhere. I keep supplies in my purse, in the trunk of my car, in the trunk of my husbands car, and a stash behind the information desk at work.
The flow of my cycle is heavier than it's ever been before, too. Where before it was 3-5 days, now it's 1-2 very heavy days. I understand why so many women seek out their OB/GYNS for help with this.
Hair is growing in places it has never grown before, and it looks like man hair. My Mom tells me it's because my female hormones are cutting back, and the male hormones are finally getting their say. Who knows if this is true or not?
And the night sweats. Dear God, the night sweats. You wake up at 3 in the morning, and you're as sweaty as if you've just run a marathon.
There is tons of information out there on the Internet about how to control the symptoms of menopause, so I will not go into them here. What I am going to talk about is something that I am hearing more and more about recently - probably because most of my friends are either my age or older, and they are getting the word out about this.
We all know that at the end of menopause, our period stops. One day, whoosh! It's finished! After a period of time when our cycles vary wildly from weeks to months apart, it suddenly stops, and we are relieved.
The official diagnosis of menopause is when you haven't had a period in over a year.
What we don't hear is that if, after a year, your period comes back, you need to see a doctor IMMEDIATELY.
Can I highlight that again? If your period has been gone for a year and it starts up again, this is a BAD THING! Don't rationalize, don't self-diagnose, get thee to a doctor NOW.
So, a year ago, a friend of mine who's period had been gone for 5 years started her period again. She went to the doctor the same day. 3 weeks later, she had a full hysterectomy. She had ovarian cancer. The blood was the only clue she had that there was a cancer - and one of the most deadly cancers, because there is no early detection for it and it is so hard to find. She was fortunate - it was still a stage 1 cancer.
Earlier this week, I went to lunch with a friend of mine, and she told me this story. I'm going to write it down here as best as I can remember it:
She began menopause at age 49. It had been a year since her last period.
One year later, a little after her 50th birthday, she started bleeding again. She self-diagnosed and told herself that it was okay. She really wasn't done with her period, so she thought nothing of it. That was in October.
In February, she went back to her weight loss group. She began losing weight - everywhere but in her stomach. Her stomach seemed to harden up a little. She was a little concerned then, but not concerned enough to check in with her doctor.
One day in early May, the pain in her stomach was so bad, her co-workers had to call an ambulance and have her taken to the hospital. Her stomach was distended, and hard as a rock.
An MRI revealed a massive tumor inside of her stomach, centered around her ovaries.
2 weeks later, she underwent surgery to have the mass removed. It was a 22 pound tumor that had been growing on her ovaries. 22 pounds. Can you imagine? That's like carrying 3 babies around inside of your stomach. The doctor told her that the tumor looked like a bag of oranges.
The pathology from the lab came back, and she was very fortunate. There was no cancer in the tumor. If that had been a cancerous tumor, chances are that it would have metastasized, and we would have been crying at her funeral instead of enjoying lunch with her.
The doctor told her: make sure you tell everyone you know. If your period stops for a year and then comes back again, see a doctor immediately.
I'm now keeping track on my kitchen calendar. I want to make certain that I know when I've stopped, and not have some vague notion of "it's been a while". I will keep track of when my period finally stops, so that if this ever happens to me, I will know to do something about it.
When we were having lunch last week, my friend mentioned that this is something we need to be shouting from the roof tops to all women, the same way that we shout about Breast Self Exams and Mammograms. I am so glad I still have both of my friends here with me. We are our own advocates. Our doctors don't know what's going on inside of our bodies unless if we tell them. We need to get over our inherent discomfort and shyness and share this information with everyone.
You know, as women, we don't talk much about menopause. We talk about childbirth, we talk about breast cancer, we walk for breast cancer, we're aware of uterine and ovarian cancer, but we don't talk much about menopause.
I think we need to break that habit, and I'm going to start right here, right now.
I am in the beginnings of menopause right now, and let me tell you, it is a joy.
I have pimples! God yes, pimples like I had when I was in high school. I have rediscovered the wonders of the acne products section of the grocery store.
My cycle is unpredictable. It is currently varying anywhere between 21 and 36 days. (after decades of 28 day cycles, this has been a little difficult to get used to.) It sneaks up on me everywhere. I keep supplies in my purse, in the trunk of my car, in the trunk of my husbands car, and a stash behind the information desk at work.
The flow of my cycle is heavier than it's ever been before, too. Where before it was 3-5 days, now it's 1-2 very heavy days. I understand why so many women seek out their OB/GYNS for help with this.
Hair is growing in places it has never grown before, and it looks like man hair. My Mom tells me it's because my female hormones are cutting back, and the male hormones are finally getting their say. Who knows if this is true or not?
And the night sweats. Dear God, the night sweats. You wake up at 3 in the morning, and you're as sweaty as if you've just run a marathon.
There is tons of information out there on the Internet about how to control the symptoms of menopause, so I will not go into them here. What I am going to talk about is something that I am hearing more and more about recently - probably because most of my friends are either my age or older, and they are getting the word out about this.
We all know that at the end of menopause, our period stops. One day, whoosh! It's finished! After a period of time when our cycles vary wildly from weeks to months apart, it suddenly stops, and we are relieved.
The official diagnosis of menopause is when you haven't had a period in over a year.
What we don't hear is that if, after a year, your period comes back, you need to see a doctor IMMEDIATELY.
Can I highlight that again? If your period has been gone for a year and it starts up again, this is a BAD THING! Don't rationalize, don't self-diagnose, get thee to a doctor NOW.
So, a year ago, a friend of mine who's period had been gone for 5 years started her period again. She went to the doctor the same day. 3 weeks later, she had a full hysterectomy. She had ovarian cancer. The blood was the only clue she had that there was a cancer - and one of the most deadly cancers, because there is no early detection for it and it is so hard to find. She was fortunate - it was still a stage 1 cancer.
Earlier this week, I went to lunch with a friend of mine, and she told me this story. I'm going to write it down here as best as I can remember it:
She began menopause at age 49. It had been a year since her last period.
One year later, a little after her 50th birthday, she started bleeding again. She self-diagnosed and told herself that it was okay. She really wasn't done with her period, so she thought nothing of it. That was in October.
In February, she went back to her weight loss group. She began losing weight - everywhere but in her stomach. Her stomach seemed to harden up a little. She was a little concerned then, but not concerned enough to check in with her doctor.
One day in early May, the pain in her stomach was so bad, her co-workers had to call an ambulance and have her taken to the hospital. Her stomach was distended, and hard as a rock.
An MRI revealed a massive tumor inside of her stomach, centered around her ovaries.
2 weeks later, she underwent surgery to have the mass removed. It was a 22 pound tumor that had been growing on her ovaries. 22 pounds. Can you imagine? That's like carrying 3 babies around inside of your stomach. The doctor told her that the tumor looked like a bag of oranges.
The pathology from the lab came back, and she was very fortunate. There was no cancer in the tumor. If that had been a cancerous tumor, chances are that it would have metastasized, and we would have been crying at her funeral instead of enjoying lunch with her.
The doctor told her: make sure you tell everyone you know. If your period stops for a year and then comes back again, see a doctor immediately.
I'm now keeping track on my kitchen calendar. I want to make certain that I know when I've stopped, and not have some vague notion of "it's been a while". I will keep track of when my period finally stops, so that if this ever happens to me, I will know to do something about it.
When we were having lunch last week, my friend mentioned that this is something we need to be shouting from the roof tops to all women, the same way that we shout about Breast Self Exams and Mammograms. I am so glad I still have both of my friends here with me. We are our own advocates. Our doctors don't know what's going on inside of our bodies unless if we tell them. We need to get over our inherent discomfort and shyness and share this information with everyone.
IF YOUR PERIOD HAS STOPPED FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND STARTS UP AGAIN, SEE A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
My Accomplishments
It seems as if most of what I've done over the past couple of weeks
has been to drive my daughter back and forth to camp. Wait.. she's been
driving, and I've been white knuckling the ride over and back again.
She really wants to have her license by the end of summer. I'm trying
to be a supportive mother, and she really is a good driver, but....
wait, if you've taught teenagers of your own how to drive, you
understand what I'm talking about!
My Book Blog:
I managed to make two new entries on my YA book blog. If you're interested in such a thing, you can check it out here: http://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/.
Considering that I'm now reading more adult fiction, and some fairly interesting titles at work, I'm beginning to think I might start an adult book blog, also. I'll might just add a book page onto this blog. I'll have to think about it some more.
Blueberries! The blueberries are in! We went out this afternoon and picked our own blueberries from our local pick your own place. They are currently in the fridge. I really want to make triple berry jam this week, I'm just waiting for the black raspberries in the back yard to come in. They're still red, so I've got a few more days to go before they're ready!
Library;
I checked out a pile of 20 books from the library. When the due date was coming up and I knew I wouldn't be able to return them in time, I renewed them online. I have also put several movies on hold that I want to see. I currently have 10 movies that I have requested, and I am anywhere from number 50-175, depending upon the movie.
I had lunch with a group of friends. I was able to use a gift card my mother had given me to pay for my own lunch, so the price was basically free.
The weather has been nice enough this past week to keep the a/c turned off completely. What an awesome, easy way to save some extra cash!
I've spent more time cleaning out under the stairs this week. I threw away 10 tubes of caulk that had hardened and would never produce a bead of caulk ever again. I also found a box of picnic supplies my mother in law left here when we bought the house from her. I'm not sure how old things were, but I did note that the very yellowed and disgusting plastic forks (100 of them) had a price tag of 10 cents.
I've scheduled appointments with the vet for both cats next month. They'll get a general health check, and their annual shots at that time.
We've been line drying all of our clothes outside this summer. Most mornings, I've been managing to get everything out on the line before I leave for work. They're nice and dry by the time I get home. (But, if it rains, they have to stay out a little while longer!) Oh, someone did ask me how I manage this, since I walk out the door at 7 am. I put the clothes in the washer late at night - before I go to bed, when the energy rates are cheaper. I get up at 5:30, shower and get dressed for work. After I eat breakfast, I run down and grab the clothes and then hang them on the line outside before I brush my teeth, fix my hair, and head out on my way.
What have you accomplished this month?
My Book Blog:
I managed to make two new entries on my YA book blog. If you're interested in such a thing, you can check it out here: http://librarynut-booksforteens.blogspot.com/.
Considering that I'm now reading more adult fiction, and some fairly interesting titles at work, I'm beginning to think I might start an adult book blog, also. I'll might just add a book page onto this blog. I'll have to think about it some more.
Blueberries! The blueberries are in! We went out this afternoon and picked our own blueberries from our local pick your own place. They are currently in the fridge. I really want to make triple berry jam this week, I'm just waiting for the black raspberries in the back yard to come in. They're still red, so I've got a few more days to go before they're ready!
Library;
I checked out a pile of 20 books from the library. When the due date was coming up and I knew I wouldn't be able to return them in time, I renewed them online. I have also put several movies on hold that I want to see. I currently have 10 movies that I have requested, and I am anywhere from number 50-175, depending upon the movie.
I had lunch with a group of friends. I was able to use a gift card my mother had given me to pay for my own lunch, so the price was basically free.
The weather has been nice enough this past week to keep the a/c turned off completely. What an awesome, easy way to save some extra cash!
I've spent more time cleaning out under the stairs this week. I threw away 10 tubes of caulk that had hardened and would never produce a bead of caulk ever again. I also found a box of picnic supplies my mother in law left here when we bought the house from her. I'm not sure how old things were, but I did note that the very yellowed and disgusting plastic forks (100 of them) had a price tag of 10 cents.
I've scheduled appointments with the vet for both cats next month. They'll get a general health check, and their annual shots at that time.
We've been line drying all of our clothes outside this summer. Most mornings, I've been managing to get everything out on the line before I leave for work. They're nice and dry by the time I get home. (But, if it rains, they have to stay out a little while longer!) Oh, someone did ask me how I manage this, since I walk out the door at 7 am. I put the clothes in the washer late at night - before I go to bed, when the energy rates are cheaper. I get up at 5:30, shower and get dressed for work. After I eat breakfast, I run down and grab the clothes and then hang them on the line outside before I brush my teeth, fix my hair, and head out on my way.
What have you accomplished this month?
Friday, June 27, 2014
Problems With Rice
Rice is a tricky thing. It's so small, and seemingly innocuous.
But a little goes such a long way. Take 1/4 cup of dry rice, cook it, and you end up with 3/4 of a cup, cooked.
Yesterday, I had lunch with a group of friends. We got to talking about the disasters we've had with rice over the years. You know... those mistakes you only make once.
I thought my own experience of cooking 6 cups of dry rice (18 cups cooked) took the cake, but I was wrong.
Susan's husband had to make rice for a work event. Someone had given him a recipe, and told him to double it. Now, the recipe called for 2 pounds of rice. (It must have been an old recipe, because it's not often that you see recipes written in pounds anymore.) So, he took four - yes 4- 1 pound bags of rice, added water, and put it on the stove. Within 10 minutes, the rice had expanded enough to have pushed the lid off of the pan, and rice was beginning to pour down the sides of the pan. Unfortunately, he had decided to take a shower while the rice was cooking. By the time he heard the smoke detector over the noise of the running water, and run downstairs, he found that the rice had run down the side of the pan, onto the heating element and was smoldering away. Total time from the minute he put the lid on to simmer the rice until the time he found the disaster downstairs? 12 minutes. (There was still 8 minutes left on the timer.)
When Carol got married 50 years ago, people we still throwing rice at weddings. She wore a strapless dress, and one of those long, waist length strapless bras. It was a very hot and humid day. They left the church to go to the reception, and people threw rice. By the time she got home and took everything off that night, the rice had COOKED inside of her dress!
And lastly, Sharon. Her husband decided to clean out the kitchen cupboards. He found 10 boxes of Rice A Roni that were past their expiration date and decided that he was going to run them down the garbage disposal. Not throw them out, mind you, run them down the garbage disposal. With hot water. I think you might already see where this is going. By the time he got to the tenth box, Sharon could hear him flipping the disposal on and off and on and off. "What's going on?" she asked.
"The disposal seems to be jammed. Could you bring me a plunger?"
Well, no amount of plunging was going to clean 10 boxes of rice a roni out of the kitchen pipes. It had gone down the drain, and it had expanded, and it had completely blocked the drain.
The next morning the plumber came out with his roto-rooter to clean out the pipe.
As he rotored, the rice began flying back up out of the pipe and all over the kitchen - the walls, the cabinets, and the curtains.
Rice can be a heartless bitch.
But a little goes such a long way. Take 1/4 cup of dry rice, cook it, and you end up with 3/4 of a cup, cooked.
Yesterday, I had lunch with a group of friends. We got to talking about the disasters we've had with rice over the years. You know... those mistakes you only make once.
I thought my own experience of cooking 6 cups of dry rice (18 cups cooked) took the cake, but I was wrong.
Susan's husband had to make rice for a work event. Someone had given him a recipe, and told him to double it. Now, the recipe called for 2 pounds of rice. (It must have been an old recipe, because it's not often that you see recipes written in pounds anymore.) So, he took four - yes 4- 1 pound bags of rice, added water, and put it on the stove. Within 10 minutes, the rice had expanded enough to have pushed the lid off of the pan, and rice was beginning to pour down the sides of the pan. Unfortunately, he had decided to take a shower while the rice was cooking. By the time he heard the smoke detector over the noise of the running water, and run downstairs, he found that the rice had run down the side of the pan, onto the heating element and was smoldering away. Total time from the minute he put the lid on to simmer the rice until the time he found the disaster downstairs? 12 minutes. (There was still 8 minutes left on the timer.)
When Carol got married 50 years ago, people we still throwing rice at weddings. She wore a strapless dress, and one of those long, waist length strapless bras. It was a very hot and humid day. They left the church to go to the reception, and people threw rice. By the time she got home and took everything off that night, the rice had COOKED inside of her dress!
And lastly, Sharon. Her husband decided to clean out the kitchen cupboards. He found 10 boxes of Rice A Roni that were past their expiration date and decided that he was going to run them down the garbage disposal. Not throw them out, mind you, run them down the garbage disposal. With hot water. I think you might already see where this is going. By the time he got to the tenth box, Sharon could hear him flipping the disposal on and off and on and off. "What's going on?" she asked.
"The disposal seems to be jammed. Could you bring me a plunger?"
Well, no amount of plunging was going to clean 10 boxes of rice a roni out of the kitchen pipes. It had gone down the drain, and it had expanded, and it had completely blocked the drain.
The next morning the plumber came out with his roto-rooter to clean out the pipe.
As he rotored, the rice began flying back up out of the pipe and all over the kitchen - the walls, the cabinets, and the curtains.
Rice can be a heartless bitch.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
To Rescue A Cat
You know, I always thought that if a cat got stuck up a tree, you would call the fire department, and they would come, use their ladders, and pull the cat out of the tree. Barring that option, I had secret hopes of Robert Downey Jr. coming along in his Iron Man suit and saving the cat for me... (Not to mention perhaps deciding that I was a better match for him than Pepper Potts, but that's another story.)
So, our cat got stuck up a tree. It was a very old, tree, too. A very tall, very old tree. By the time we found her, she was about 50 feet up. Every time we tried to get closer to her, or tempt her down with treats, she climbed higher. We put out a can of tuna for her, and left the scene, hoping she would work herself down, and we went inside.
After 48 hours of her up the tree, crying piteously, we decided that we needed to get a little bit more serious.
We tried calling the fire department, but I was told that they didn't do that anymore.
I attempted to get hold of Iron Man or Batman or Superman, but none of them responded to my repeated cries for help.
So, I did what any normal person in 2014 would do. I Googled "how to get a cat out of a tree".
If you have some time, Google search that phrase. There are some adorable pages of advice about rescuing a cat from the tree.
We called a tree service, and were told that they'd gladly come get the cat out of the tree - for $250.
We all looked at each other, befuddled by what our next option was going to be. My husband said "Well, you never see a dead cat in a tree."
My daughter promptly flounced off to the tree. She put the ten foot ladder up into the tree, and climbed as high as she dared.
Standing there, she called her in her sweet little voice: "Luna! Luna! Come here! Look what I have for you! Treats!"
Luna meowed back at her, and daughter meowed at her and called again "Luna! Treats!"
Slowly but surely, Luna began working her way downwards... face first, walking down a branch, gently and tenderly. She jumped from there down to a lower branch, got her footing, and then attempted another jump down.... and that is when disaster struck!
She missed the branch and started tumbling.
You know the scene in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, where Pooh's balloon breaks, and Pooh ends up tumbling down through the leaves and branches?
Yeah, that's what this looked like. Daughter was screaming, the cat was attempting to right herself, and everytime the cat worked her feet back under her, she'd hit another batch of leaves - enough leaves to slow her descent, but not enough for her to grab onto.
And then, the disaster was over. Luna righted herself and got her feet under her. Husband had pulled a cushion off the sofa when daughter started up the tree, and he neatly caught Luna as she landed - feet down - on the cushion.
Luna's annual vet visit was yesterday. She was checked over by the vet, who could find nothing wrong with her.
Luna herself was thrilled with the can of tuna and the bag of treats that was given to her upon her safe arrival back upon the ground.
She spent her first night back on the ground curled up next to daughter, with one paw stretched out, holding onto her arm all night long.
So, our cat got stuck up a tree. It was a very old, tree, too. A very tall, very old tree. By the time we found her, she was about 50 feet up. Every time we tried to get closer to her, or tempt her down with treats, she climbed higher. We put out a can of tuna for her, and left the scene, hoping she would work herself down, and we went inside.
After 48 hours of her up the tree, crying piteously, we decided that we needed to get a little bit more serious.
We tried calling the fire department, but I was told that they didn't do that anymore.
I attempted to get hold of Iron Man or Batman or Superman, but none of them responded to my repeated cries for help.
So, I did what any normal person in 2014 would do. I Googled "how to get a cat out of a tree".
If you have some time, Google search that phrase. There are some adorable pages of advice about rescuing a cat from the tree.
We called a tree service, and were told that they'd gladly come get the cat out of the tree - for $250.
We all looked at each other, befuddled by what our next option was going to be. My husband said "Well, you never see a dead cat in a tree."
My daughter promptly flounced off to the tree. She put the ten foot ladder up into the tree, and climbed as high as she dared.
Standing there, she called her in her sweet little voice: "Luna! Luna! Come here! Look what I have for you! Treats!"
Luna meowed back at her, and daughter meowed at her and called again "Luna! Treats!"
Slowly but surely, Luna began working her way downwards... face first, walking down a branch, gently and tenderly. She jumped from there down to a lower branch, got her footing, and then attempted another jump down.... and that is when disaster struck!
She missed the branch and started tumbling.
You know the scene in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, where Pooh's balloon breaks, and Pooh ends up tumbling down through the leaves and branches?
Yeah, that's what this looked like. Daughter was screaming, the cat was attempting to right herself, and everytime the cat worked her feet back under her, she'd hit another batch of leaves - enough leaves to slow her descent, but not enough for her to grab onto.
And then, the disaster was over. Luna righted herself and got her feet under her. Husband had pulled a cushion off the sofa when daughter started up the tree, and he neatly caught Luna as she landed - feet down - on the cushion.
Luna's annual vet visit was yesterday. She was checked over by the vet, who could find nothing wrong with her.
Luna herself was thrilled with the can of tuna and the bag of treats that was given to her upon her safe arrival back upon the ground.
She spent her first night back on the ground curled up next to daughter, with one paw stretched out, holding onto her arm all night long.
Monday, June 23, 2014
To Repair an Ice Maker
My Dad was an engineer. From what I understand, he was a really good engineer. He loved to take things apart, find out how they worked, and put them back together again so that they were better than they had been before.
When Dad and my step mom (let's call her Mo) were living in Alexandria, their refrigerator/freezer had a gizmo that we'd never had on any refrigerator before: an ice maker.
This wasn't one of those ice makers that go through the door on a side by side fridge.
No, this was in one of those freezer on the top models. The ice maker was mounted inside of the freezer, on the left side.
The catch all that caught the ice was underneath, and a sweeper bar would come across the top of the ice. If the sweeper bar could fully extend, the ice maker would pop the ice cubes out of the tray and send them popping down into the catch all bin. If the bar could not fully extend, then the ice cubes would remain in the tray until the bar could move all the way out.
Dad was really intrigued by the mechanisms involved in the entire process.
So, one Saturday morning, he took the entire thing apart and figured out how it worked.
He put it back together again, and he gave an extra little "tweak" to the mechanism, hoping that the sweeper bar would, instead of getting caught on one or two ice cubes, it would be able to push more of them out of it's way. Proud of his work, Dad closed the freezer door and went outside to mow the lawn.
Now, Dad was an excellent engineer. However, sometimes, his re-engineering of existing products didn't go quite the way he had anticipated.
Mo started making lunch, when she heard a strange sound from the freezer. Thud, thud, thud, thud, and then the zzzzzzzzz of new water filling the ice cube tray.
Looking inside of the freezer, she noticed the ice cube tray was empty. What had happened to the ice cubes?
Thinking that maybe it was just the sound of the tray refilling after Dad had been tinkering with it,she closed the freezer door and kept making lunch.
A while later, she heard it again. "thud, thud, thud, thud, zzzzzzzzzz". Curious about the thudding noise, she looked inside of the freezer. Again, the ice cube tray was empty.
"That's odd" she thought.
Later that afternoon, when she heard the sweeper bar make the noise that indicate it's moving to check the ice level, she rushed to open the freezer door in order to see what was going on. And then, she saw it.
As soon as the sweeper bar was fully extended, the ice cubes shot out - and I mean SHOT OUT- of the ice cube tray, across the freezer, and hit the wall on the far right side of the freezer, where they dropped down onto the frozen vegetables. Looking down, she saw a decent pile of ice on top of the frozen veggies.
When she and Dad sat down to dinner that night, Mo told Dad about the ice problem.
"I'll take care of it" he said.
Later that night, when Mo heard the sound of ice hitting the freezer wall again, she muttered unlawful things under her breath and walked into the kitchen, shouting at my Dad "I thought you said you were going to take care of the ice maker!"
"I did!" Dad shouted back.
She opened the door and looked inside of the freezer. Sure enough, Dad had taken care of the ice maker. He'd moved the catch all bin from directly under the ice maker to the right side of the freezer. After the ice flew across the freezer and hit the far wall, it fell into the ice bin.
I swear to God this is true. You can't make this stuff up!
When Dad and my step mom (let's call her Mo) were living in Alexandria, their refrigerator/freezer had a gizmo that we'd never had on any refrigerator before: an ice maker.
This wasn't one of those ice makers that go through the door on a side by side fridge.
No, this was in one of those freezer on the top models. The ice maker was mounted inside of the freezer, on the left side.
The catch all that caught the ice was underneath, and a sweeper bar would come across the top of the ice. If the sweeper bar could fully extend, the ice maker would pop the ice cubes out of the tray and send them popping down into the catch all bin. If the bar could not fully extend, then the ice cubes would remain in the tray until the bar could move all the way out.
Dad was really intrigued by the mechanisms involved in the entire process.
So, one Saturday morning, he took the entire thing apart and figured out how it worked.
He put it back together again, and he gave an extra little "tweak" to the mechanism, hoping that the sweeper bar would, instead of getting caught on one or two ice cubes, it would be able to push more of them out of it's way. Proud of his work, Dad closed the freezer door and went outside to mow the lawn.
Now, Dad was an excellent engineer. However, sometimes, his re-engineering of existing products didn't go quite the way he had anticipated.
Mo started making lunch, when she heard a strange sound from the freezer. Thud, thud, thud, thud, and then the zzzzzzzzz of new water filling the ice cube tray.
Looking inside of the freezer, she noticed the ice cube tray was empty. What had happened to the ice cubes?
Thinking that maybe it was just the sound of the tray refilling after Dad had been tinkering with it,she closed the freezer door and kept making lunch.
A while later, she heard it again. "thud, thud, thud, thud, zzzzzzzzzz". Curious about the thudding noise, she looked inside of the freezer. Again, the ice cube tray was empty.
"That's odd" she thought.
Later that afternoon, when she heard the sweeper bar make the noise that indicate it's moving to check the ice level, she rushed to open the freezer door in order to see what was going on. And then, she saw it.
As soon as the sweeper bar was fully extended, the ice cubes shot out - and I mean SHOT OUT- of the ice cube tray, across the freezer, and hit the wall on the far right side of the freezer, where they dropped down onto the frozen vegetables. Looking down, she saw a decent pile of ice on top of the frozen veggies.
When she and Dad sat down to dinner that night, Mo told Dad about the ice problem.
"I'll take care of it" he said.
Later that night, when Mo heard the sound of ice hitting the freezer wall again, she muttered unlawful things under her breath and walked into the kitchen, shouting at my Dad "I thought you said you were going to take care of the ice maker!"
"I did!" Dad shouted back.
She opened the door and looked inside of the freezer. Sure enough, Dad had taken care of the ice maker. He'd moved the catch all bin from directly under the ice maker to the right side of the freezer. After the ice flew across the freezer and hit the far wall, it fell into the ice bin.
I swear to God this is true. You can't make this stuff up!
Friday, June 20, 2014
Affording Pre-School
Since I talked about college yesterday, I thought I'd mention pre-school today.
As my degree is in Early Childhood Education, I do believe that early education is imperative to your child's success.
Unfortunately, so do many people looking to profit off of your desire to get your child the best start possible.
I do understand that many people work full time, and put their children in care that matches their needs.
However, how about parents who work their schedule so that one person is always at home with their children, but they still want a few hours a week of group instruction and play to help their child get accustomed to school, and to be prepared for kindergarten.
I was looking at preschools and tuition the other day and almost had a heart attack when I found a half day program for 3 year olds at an exclusive private school that "only" cost $9,000 for the year. For 9 months of school, that's $1,000 a month. I was thinking that with tuition that high, the student/teacher ratio must be really low, like 1/4. Wow, was I wrong. The ratio is 1:9. That's one adult for every 9 kids. That's the same ratio that every preschool has... something about state guidelines.
When my kids were little, I was a stay at home mom. I did what I could at home to get them ready for school, and then I looked into preschool programs for them.
With our oldest child, I found a co-op preschool. Have you ever heard of these? They are run by a parent board of directors. The board hires the teacher and co-teacher. For every single class, 2 parents are required to serve as an assistant teacher. This means that there are always 4 adults in the classroom. When my kids were in preschool, the co-op schools were a little less expensive than the other schools, and it gave me an opportunity to spend time with my son and his friends.
With the second and third child, I traded my experience as a teacher for a tuition break. I taught the "Mother's Morning Out" class one day a week with the little guys while the middle child was in class. Once a week, I'd take my daughter and 5 other little friends, and we played, read stories, and ran around for 2 1/2 hours. I continued on as the Mother's Morning Out teacher while daughter was in pre-school.
There are some fantastic, wonderful preschools out there run by churches and synagogues. Non-Profit programs, their fees tend to be lower than the chains that dominate the preschool scene these days. Many of these programs are staffed by people who were classroom teachers before they had their own children, and have come back to the profession that they love at the preschool level, where teaching is still "pure".
High Schools, Community Colleges, and Colleges offer lab schools. These amazing pre-schools are offered in the school environment as part of their Early Childhood Education Program. The classes are run by certified teachers. The students serve as aids, each one taking a turn at planning lessons and acting as the head teacher. I think the final ratio in these classes runs about 1:5. That's one teacher for every 5 kids. Sometimes, the ratios are even lower. Because the classes are a learning program for the students, the cost of the program is significantly lower than the other programs out there. I began my teaching at a lab school. We had 6 adults in the room at any given time, and 18 kids. When you work out the numbers, that's 1 adult for every 3 kids. I can attest to the high quality of those programs. The students are enthusiastic, they are learning theory in the class, and applying it in the classroom. And every single lesson plan is submitted and critiqued by the head teacher and the manager of the school before it is allowed to be carried out in the classroom.
If you can't find a preschool program, or don't want to pay for a preschool program, there are other alternatives available. The library runs fantastic story times for young children of all ages. There's been a shift in library story times recently, and programs now offer early and emergent literacy training to the children and parents during the course of the play time.
Keep all of this in mind as you remember that YOU are your child's first teacher.
YOU are the one who will make the biggest difference in your child's success in school.
YOU can help your child get ready for kindergarten without a school.
While you may find yourself sucked into the quest for the perfect preschool that will get your child into the perfect college, remember this: your child is only young once. Allow your child to be a child, to explore, to discover, and to play on their own. This gift is worth so much more than the "right" preschool. Free time to discover how the world around them works leads to an insatiable curiosity to learn more that will drive them towards success.
Don't just turn your 3 year old out into the world! Take a walk in the woods with two magnifying glasses. Stop every so often, look at the ground, the rocks, and tree trunks and talk about what you see. Take a notebook along with you, and let your child draw pictures of what they find, and have them "write" something about it. Go to the zoo, look at animals, talk about what you see, how the animals are the same, how they are different, and draw pictures about what you found. When you come home, go to the library and check out books about some of your favorite animals that you found at the zoo and read them together. Go outside, find some tree leaves on the ground, and take a crayon and make leaf rubbings on a sheet of paper. Talk about the differences in the leaf shapes, the veins in the backs of the leaves, and what do those veins do? Why are the leaves green? Go to the library, and find out why! You will teach your child invaluable lessons about learning, finding new information, and how to learn.
There is no "right" preschool program. Every program has it's strengths and weaknesses. However, I'm pretty sure you don't want to break the bank with a child who is 4 years old... this is the time when you should be investing money in a pre-paid college trust or a 504 to help your child pay for college 14 years from now.
I do believe a program of some kind is beneficial. Take an honest look at your finances and how much you are willing to spend, and then find the best match for your child at that price.
Pre-School should NEVER break the bank!
As my degree is in Early Childhood Education, I do believe that early education is imperative to your child's success.
Unfortunately, so do many people looking to profit off of your desire to get your child the best start possible.
I do understand that many people work full time, and put their children in care that matches their needs.
However, how about parents who work their schedule so that one person is always at home with their children, but they still want a few hours a week of group instruction and play to help their child get accustomed to school, and to be prepared for kindergarten.
I was looking at preschools and tuition the other day and almost had a heart attack when I found a half day program for 3 year olds at an exclusive private school that "only" cost $9,000 for the year. For 9 months of school, that's $1,000 a month. I was thinking that with tuition that high, the student/teacher ratio must be really low, like 1/4. Wow, was I wrong. The ratio is 1:9. That's one adult for every 9 kids. That's the same ratio that every preschool has... something about state guidelines.
When my kids were little, I was a stay at home mom. I did what I could at home to get them ready for school, and then I looked into preschool programs for them.
With our oldest child, I found a co-op preschool. Have you ever heard of these? They are run by a parent board of directors. The board hires the teacher and co-teacher. For every single class, 2 parents are required to serve as an assistant teacher. This means that there are always 4 adults in the classroom. When my kids were in preschool, the co-op schools were a little less expensive than the other schools, and it gave me an opportunity to spend time with my son and his friends.
With the second and third child, I traded my experience as a teacher for a tuition break. I taught the "Mother's Morning Out" class one day a week with the little guys while the middle child was in class. Once a week, I'd take my daughter and 5 other little friends, and we played, read stories, and ran around for 2 1/2 hours. I continued on as the Mother's Morning Out teacher while daughter was in pre-school.
There are some fantastic, wonderful preschools out there run by churches and synagogues. Non-Profit programs, their fees tend to be lower than the chains that dominate the preschool scene these days. Many of these programs are staffed by people who were classroom teachers before they had their own children, and have come back to the profession that they love at the preschool level, where teaching is still "pure".
High Schools, Community Colleges, and Colleges offer lab schools. These amazing pre-schools are offered in the school environment as part of their Early Childhood Education Program. The classes are run by certified teachers. The students serve as aids, each one taking a turn at planning lessons and acting as the head teacher. I think the final ratio in these classes runs about 1:5. That's one teacher for every 5 kids. Sometimes, the ratios are even lower. Because the classes are a learning program for the students, the cost of the program is significantly lower than the other programs out there. I began my teaching at a lab school. We had 6 adults in the room at any given time, and 18 kids. When you work out the numbers, that's 1 adult for every 3 kids. I can attest to the high quality of those programs. The students are enthusiastic, they are learning theory in the class, and applying it in the classroom. And every single lesson plan is submitted and critiqued by the head teacher and the manager of the school before it is allowed to be carried out in the classroom.
If you can't find a preschool program, or don't want to pay for a preschool program, there are other alternatives available. The library runs fantastic story times for young children of all ages. There's been a shift in library story times recently, and programs now offer early and emergent literacy training to the children and parents during the course of the play time.
Keep all of this in mind as you remember that YOU are your child's first teacher.
YOU are the one who will make the biggest difference in your child's success in school.
YOU can help your child get ready for kindergarten without a school.
While you may find yourself sucked into the quest for the perfect preschool that will get your child into the perfect college, remember this: your child is only young once. Allow your child to be a child, to explore, to discover, and to play on their own. This gift is worth so much more than the "right" preschool. Free time to discover how the world around them works leads to an insatiable curiosity to learn more that will drive them towards success.
Don't just turn your 3 year old out into the world! Take a walk in the woods with two magnifying glasses. Stop every so often, look at the ground, the rocks, and tree trunks and talk about what you see. Take a notebook along with you, and let your child draw pictures of what they find, and have them "write" something about it. Go to the zoo, look at animals, talk about what you see, how the animals are the same, how they are different, and draw pictures about what you found. When you come home, go to the library and check out books about some of your favorite animals that you found at the zoo and read them together. Go outside, find some tree leaves on the ground, and take a crayon and make leaf rubbings on a sheet of paper. Talk about the differences in the leaf shapes, the veins in the backs of the leaves, and what do those veins do? Why are the leaves green? Go to the library, and find out why! You will teach your child invaluable lessons about learning, finding new information, and how to learn.
There is no "right" preschool program. Every program has it's strengths and weaknesses. However, I'm pretty sure you don't want to break the bank with a child who is 4 years old... this is the time when you should be investing money in a pre-paid college trust or a 504 to help your child pay for college 14 years from now.
I do believe a program of some kind is beneficial. Take an honest look at your finances and how much you are willing to spend, and then find the best match for your child at that price.
Pre-School should NEVER break the bank!
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