The Pony and I stopped by The Devil's Playground after work to pick up a sweet treat for my teaching buddy, Mabel. Her birthday is tomorrow. And she LURRRRRVES her some buttercream icing. I'm not worried that she'll spoil herself with knowledge by reading this, because I think she's given up on this little personal blog that I write just for her. Or so thought her husband.
Of course The Devil never has what you're looking for when you make a special trip. It was just like the time I walked all the way to the far corner, only to discover that The Devil had only one ball. Farmer H and #1 were on their way to a special Cardinals game, and needed some signing material. Too bad, so sad. I called them, but for some reason they didn't want any softballs. But I digress.
The Devil was fresh out of cute cupcake puppies with flowing buttercream fur. I fought back the urge to gift Mabel with a dozen full-size cupcakes. The mini-cupcakes did not have enough buttercream. Which left me with two choices. Both were mini cakes. One green and brown camouflage, the other blue with a fairy on top. Mabel's getting a fairy.
I sent The Pony to the back of the store for a case of water. He swore he would not look at the beer while he was in that area. Sweet Gummi Mary! I swear that boy has turned into a Duggar. We have no aversion to beer here at the Mansion. Anybody of age is welcome to imbibe if he so desires. It's just not for me. The Pony acted like I regularly put blinders on him when passing through that section. Not so.
Before getting in the short line, I picked up a box of Cheeseburger Mac Hamburger Helper for the #1 son. He was craving it last week, and the cupboard was bare. The checker rang us up. We left the water in the cart. She put Mabel's cake in one bag, and the Hamburger Helper in another. While I was scanning my debit card, The Pony grabbed both bags. He's helpful like that. I turned away from grabbing my receipt to catch him in the act.
He was swinging that Fairy Cake like the classic centripetal force experiment of windmilling a bucket of water over your head. All the while, he was cradling that Hamburger Helper like a premature newborn. I was a bit sharp with him. There WAS a fairy involved, after all.
(And don't be thinkin' "Doesn't Mrs. Hillbilly Mom the Physics Teacher mean CENTRIFUGAL force?" No. Look it up. Somewhere besides wikipedia. Centrifugal force is an imaginary force. Centripetal is the real deal. The bucket keeps that water pulled toward the center of the spin. That's centripetal force. Centrifugal force is imaginary, just the water trying to fly off in a straight line, while being thwarted by the bucket bottom and sides.)
3 comments:
Dang ifn' ya ain't right 'bout that! I looked 'er up and found out tha truth girlie! I dun got me sum learnin' today and dint even hafta pay ya!
Do you know how hard that was to write???? :-D
Okay. I have been thinking about the whole centrifugal/centripetal thing. Do you think that centrifugal started because of a centrifuge and how fast it spins?
So, when explaining how centripetal forces work, you could use this. My brother was a site manager for a very LARGE carnival from my 7th grade up. They have a ride called a roundup which is like a centrifuge for people.
You step into a cage standing up and the ride begins to spin around. When it gets to a certain speed, it begins to raise so that the floor is vertical to the ground.
Are you ready for this???? Are you SURE???
If you barf at the top of the circle, it will meet you at the bottom. It is true! I have seen it several times!
This illustrates the centripetal dynamics at work wherein the centripetal forces of the centrifuge type ride are driving the people in a circle but the lack of centripetal force on the vomit cause it to continue in a straight line which ends in--well, a rather stinky surprise at the bottom.
I bet that would be an illustration the kids wouldn't forget! LOL (just trying to be helpful...)
labbie,
Kids always appreciate the gross-out factor.
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