bi-polar bears for a shoemaker

Somehow, when I wrote about this shirt in July, I had thought I had written about the meaning behind it.
Now, I find that I had not.
Let me remedy that.
You see, this shirt is not a mass-produced item, available at a store near you.
That's because the design on this shirt is unique and has only been printed on a few shirts.
I know because I know the artist and I know how much this design means to him.

Kevin Crabtree created The Bi-Polar Bears design to bring attention to the Shoemaker Psychology Scholarship.
Aubrey Della Shoemaker, his teacher and advisor at Walters State Community College in Tennessee, died unexpectedly on March 8, 2019.
Almost immediately he sought to create something that would help others while also honoring her memory.
The scholarship at his alma mater seemed to be a fitting tribute.

Now, how to fund it?
Clearly, a mascot was needed to draw attention.
The mascot needed to be appropriate to the subject matter taught by Professor Shoemaker, but also should bring a smile to the faces of the observers.
In other words, he needed something humorous to attract a spotlight to a serious topic.
The Bi-Polar Bears, modeled after a classic king of hearts (get it?) playing card, filled the bill very nicely.
Colorful, richly detailed, and with a comic twist - superb!

That brings up the next issue: how to garner attention to the cause?
The Ride On Ryan Sprint Triathlon was held on May 9.
By that time, Kevin had the design created and printed on t-shirts and stickers and a banner.
Barely two months had elapsed since Professor Audrey Shoemaker's death and he had completed all of that.
Moreover, he had found two men to complete the team for the three components of the triathlon, to be the swimming bear and the biking bear to his running bear.
They even won their division, as I recall, so that was especially good for catching the public's eye and imagination!

Tonight, I had the pleasure of meeting the biking bear, Chris.
I had worn my Bi-Polar Bears shirt and Kevin had worn his, to double the attention, so to speak.
We had traveled across the Savannah River to pick up his half-marathon race packet for the Rock'n'Roll Marathon this Saturday.

Kevin ran into several folks he knew, of course.
That was hardly surprising, as this is his sixth year with this race series.
Along the way, he talked about the scholarship, distributing stickers and buttons and smiles.
Folks were very interested in helping to spread the word, naturally, and had one question.
They wanted to know how they could contribute.
Well, let's go ahead and settle that question right here and now.

Walters State Community College, like all educational facilities, has a foundation to handle financial gifts.
Contact can be made with the staff there through this link.
Here is the address for checks and money orders.

Shoemaker Scholarship
c/o WSCC Foundation
500 S. Davy Crockett Parkway
Morristown, TN 37813

I know Professor Shoemaker's family will be grateful, as Kevin will be, too.
I wish I could have met the woman, but I never had the opportunity.
She was just a few years older than I am and I think she and I would have become friends.
I think that partly because of what I have heard from Kevin, but also based on a peek into her life, through a video released by the Greeneville Greene County History Museum.
The museum had interviewed her just a short time before her unexpected death, so the video truly does capture her spirit and joy of life.

wns, chem-nerd style

A week after the National Chemistry Week event I'd organized, I still had so much science to share!

Sherry Moore told me her students at Southwest Middle School would love to have some of the materials for their class, too -

so, tonight, I met up with her, to pass along three tote bags full of knowledge!

One bag held two hundred of the self-inflating balloons, as well as my instructions about the chemistry of that neat trick.

Still another held two hundred of the "Marvelous Metals" books from the current edition of "Celebrating Chemistry" from ACS, outlining several lab exercises that were perfect for middle-school class rooms.

The third tote held two hundred of the "Saving Savannah's Water" activity books, courtesy of Laura Walker and her office with the city.

And, topping off those three bags, the materials to construct two hundred uv-detecting armbands, carefully organized and with explicit instructions written by me.

Sherry was thrilled to have all of that for her students!

 

I should note that I also gave mi amiga Barbara thirty sets of all of these items for the science teacher at Rambam.

She's a math instructor there, but she knows the value of sharing science with youths!

So does Ruthie Deffley, at my church, who has asked that I reserve some of the kits and books for sharing with the middle-school aged children at Asbury Memorial.

(That will probably not be on her schedule until the spring, though, so I'll have that bag of goodies in my living room closet - aka "the gift closet" until then.

Oh, which reminds me that I'll be dropping science in outgoing Christmas packages destined for Alabama and Louisville this year.)

Plus, I'd made special gift bags for the children of those at the Office of Special Events, Film, and Tourism, as treats - for their minds! - for this Halloween!

Everyone at that office had been so helpful with the NCW event.

(smile!)

Now, what about that WNS?

Well, I have been taking full advantage of having someone else cooking for me once a week!

These Wednesday Night Suppers not only give me a good variation of foods, but also plenty of company, too.

I had thought Sherry and I would get a chance to talk, but she didn't stay for the meal.

More roast beast - I mean, roast beef, lol - for me!

(smile!)

byop, chem-nerd style, take 2

Fresh from the success of last night's sharing of science with others, I was ready for more!

This time, I knew I would be holding court and leading demonstrations, so I left the armbands to be made on the spot by the participants, but I brought the etched-copper stickers - with cool stuff like "BOO!" that I'd written - as giveaway treats.

In all, I brought fifteen sets of goodies!
 

I didn't end up with as many children at Robin's party.

Only Asher, her grandson, was really old enough to get craftsy with chemistry, but he did so quite enthusiastically!

Once Monique and Betsy heard my patter, they came over to make uv-detecting armbands, too, and play with self-inflating balloons, and admire the copper stickers - Betsy is even wearing one of those!

And here's Asher, proudly showing off his armband that he made all by himself!

Notice, please, that none of the beads are white.

That means it's working!

The beads that were white are now lavender and pale blue and pale orange, indicating that sunblock should be worn, even though the sky is partly clouded.

He particularly liked that his armband worked and that I gave him the leftover materials to share with his classmates.

I particularly liked that he had such curiosity about chemistry.

Robin took this shot of me talking early on with him about tungsten, my favorite element - because it's found in wolfram! 

Now, he likes that element, too!

What about pumpkins at this carving party?

Well, there were plenty of those!

Here's my biggest little brother, Smitty, with his contribution to the frivolity: Wicked, ain't it?

I doubt he's ever seen the musical; he just thought the pattern was cool and that's why he did it!

Yet another permanent pumpkin to add to his growing collection!

My littlest little brother, Tony, chose to do a more traditional design on a more traditional surface - that of the real vegetable.

Still, it looks pretty wicked, too, and will be great on their porch for Halloween!

As for me, I didn't carve a gourd of any kind this time around.

Pumpkin guts are icky!

LOL!!

I came to drop some science...

and I did!

To paraphrase the conqueror's famous Latin phrase:

Veni.  

Vidi.  

Ego stillantur quaedam scientiae!

(smile!)

byop, chem-nerd style, take 1

Bwah ha ha, y'all!

The day had finally arrived for this mega-big party of the year out in north Jacksonville -

oops!

I mean Georgetown, of course!!

It just feels like heading off to Florida for a vacation, which is always a good thing!

And here are the host and hostess of the event!

Chris the Koz has truly outdone himself this year, with a new family of creepy clowns on the lawn and other new sights all around.

Nope, the rain didn't stop him at all, either!

 

He had been setting up here while I was doing so for the NCW event at SERMACS.

Dawn has always said to just bring myself, but I know their party as a huge kid magnet.

I knew those thirty uv-changing bracelets, as shown in the bowl, would be a hit!

I hoped the 30 "Hooray for Chemistry" bags, each with two science books, would also tempt curious minds.

I would have brought the self-inflating balloons, too, but I was double-booked and had to fly off for a while.

The wedding shower for the bfe and The 'Cole was being held at Suzy Carpenter's house at the same time as this annual pumpkin-carving blast... yikes!

So, as it was for the physicist most dear, I had to appear.

I'm so glad Yvonne was there, too, to welcome me!

Almost three hours after my departure, I was back at the BYOP and the party had moved from the house to the back yard.

Yeah, that sounds like a long time to be gone, but between drive time and an hour or so at the shower, I did good at hustling back here so quickly.

Plus, I knew from years of experience that this party would be going until the wee hours!

(smile!)

I even caught Bunny and Steve still there!

My former sister-in-law had actually been looking for me so she could tell my 'bye -

they were leaving by the time of my return.

Good thing I'd put some hustle on it!

(smile!)

 

As I said, I had known there would be plenty of partying still to come.

There was pool-playing on the rain-soaked table -

and 100 little Krystal burgers to be eaten by all -

and the shooting of a potato-launcher -

and a crazy tricycle race in the driveway, with the loser shucking clothes for a chilly dip in the pond!

As for the bags of goodies I'd left, all were gone.

Every last one of them!

Thirty minds enriched with knowledge!

Not that the bags held only books, as Dawn's dining room table full of goodies to take home was completely wiped out, for the first time ever.

I guess if you give a kid a bag, they'll fill it up!

A guess that's some kind of lesson for next year's event, right?

But here's the highlight for me!

See this child, posing in her costume?

Well, my thanks to whoever took the photo, because what's that on her right arm?

One of the bracelets I'd loving made!

Woot woot!

Nor was she the only one!

Here's a little boy, posing by the 'menu' of horrible treats (none of which were available - lol!).

And what's that on his right arm?

Could it be...?

Yes, yes, it could be, and is, one of the thirty uv-bead bracelets I'd added to the party!

Which reminds me: I have to stop calling them bracelets, as that is out of vogue.

Very well, then!

Arm bands they are!!!

And everyone loves them!

So... hooray for chemistry!

Hooray for Chris and Dawn, too, not only for another awesome party but for letting me drop a little science!

(smile!)

things i got wrong about recycling

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

I've had that mantra inscribed into my brain ever since I was a child.
I thought I was pretty savvy about what it meant, too.
But today I've learned that maybe I wasn't quite as hep to it as I'd thought.
Here's what I learned at the RCEC's "Putting Recycling Rumors To Rest" session.

MYTH: Electronics have to wait for Earth Day to be recycled.
The truth is that those items - computers, laptops, monitors, printers - are accepted at the Chatham County center on Eisenhower Drive at any time of year.
You bring it, they keep it until their recycler comes to pick it up.

MYTH: Bottle caps are not recyclable and must be removed from plastic bottles.
I had known that the caps and the bottles were two different kinds of plastic... and that is true.
I had thought that the caps were already recycled and could not be recycled again.
That is false, false, false.
The high-density polyethylene (HDPE or HDLPE) caps can be ground up and recycled repeatedly.
Likewise, the polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) bottles can be ground up and recycled repeatedly.
When they are ground up together, the one can easily be separated from the other due to their different densities. Simple immersion in a water bath will have one plastic floating while the other sinks to the bottom, allowing a physical maneuver - such as scooping - to separate the two for processing into new materials.
The use of chemical properties to benefit the Earth, y'all!

MYTH: Receipts should be placed in the recycling bin.
No, not really.
Once upon a time, receipts were printed on paper.
However, a plastic film is more often used, and that is not recyclable.
Just have that receipt sent to your email for later verification of the charges.

MYTH: Glass cannot be recycled anymore.
Here's the problem with that one.
Glass certainly can be recycled, but not here in Chatham county.
That's because the nearest glass recycler is located in Conyers and the cost of the gasoline to transport such a heavy substance as glass would make the recycling cost prohibitive.
However, for those who are going to be around that town, you can take your old glass there and they will be glad to take it off your hands.
Likewise, large cities, such as Atlanta, typically have glass recycling centers nearby.
So, the next time you travel, think about what items you can offload at those recycling venues.

MYTH: Recycling is the "R" that has the most impact on living "green".
This is so false, yet it is the most pervasive myth.
Why?
Because it allows us to shift responsibility onto "them", not "us".
Check the man in the mirror, please.
YOU and I are the only ones that can control this issue.
YOU and I are responsible for reducing our usage of materials. When given a choice between an item with a lot of packaging and an item in minimal wrappings, choose wisely. Why pay for stuff destined to be discarded?
YOU and I are responsible for reusing materials that are purchased and to maximize the benefit of that produced good. Those plastic plates can be washed and used more than once!
YOU and I are responsible to choosing to buy only those items which are packaged responsibly, in materials which can be recycled and which utilize post-consumer recycled matter.
That is the true power "we" wield over "them".
Manufacturers follow the money trail laid by the consumers. Manufacturers will only use post-consumer recycled matter if they see it as beneficial to their bottom line. It is truly up to us to make better choices, one day at a time, and to support those businesses which are also making better choices.

Did you know that Georgia is second in the nation in the number of manufacturers making use of post-consumer recycled matter? Only California out-ranks us.
Here are several manufacturers in Georgia that are acting now to preserve Earth for tomorrow.
Shaw Industries - carpet
Pratt Industries - recycled packaging
Novelis - aluminum containers and car parts
Ball Container - metal containers for food and beverages
Rehrig Pacific - plastic pallets, bins, and containers
Erth Products - compost and soil

I'll be looking for their products in the future.
I support those who support my future.
What about you?

ode for Jinx

For a grouchy old lady cat...
and mind, i never called you that...
you certainly had a lot of love
and could curl to fit any hand
better than a glove.
When i heard that hyperthyroidism
had nested in your butterfly gland,
thoughts of my dear Contessa leapt into my mind
and i knew your departure was near at hand.

Sadly, we did not have but fleeting moments to share
since that news months ago,
no time for more cuddles on the couch while we
watched a television show.
Those languid hours had only existed for us during Christmas holidays, though,
when the running bear would return to his native den and we could savor a pace much more slow.

Remember that four-hour binge of "Sex And The City" after i finally figured out the remote?
That was 2017, our first holiday together, when i brought turkey in my coat.
You sure did like that meat!
So much better than the usual treats!
And playing with the baggie was rather neat!

But my endless scratching of your ears was especially sweet...
for both of us.
Let me repeat -
for both of us.
Touch is as important and necessary for a human as it is for a cat.
Hugs are good, but they tend to be so fleeting,
petting on the go is okay when we are leaving -
however, only if a lengthy cuddling time has preceded such an act.

Although i was only recruited to handle the food and water,
i couldn't resist the invitation of your eyes
to stay for a while and do more than i ought to.
As an older lady, too, i could completely sympathize.
A house can become too quiet and fail to be a home
with no one there to greet you when you cease to roam.

A home becomes a building, just four walls and a door
if love is not within its bounds, walking on its floor.
You shall be missed, dear Jinx, but not by me alone.
For two Christmases i called you mine, but you were just on loan.
The running bear for your whole life was all you had known...
and my heart aches for his loss, as well as for my own.

mole day at sermacs!

Happy Mole Day, y'all!!!
I began mine in true chem-nerd style: drinking
my morning coffee in my brand-new beaker mug!
Cheers!
(smile!)

My sole event at the Marriott on this fourth and final day of the conference was the SERMACS Award Luncheon.
And guess what?
I managed to sit not only at the same table as one of the award winners, but right next to him.
Yes, I felt rather honored!

Here he is, up at the place of honor, receiving the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences!
What a mouthful, right?
And, just think: he teaches at Murray State University,
a small college in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

His name is Bommanna G. Loganathan and he is a Professor of Environmental/Analytical Chemistry.
His wife had traveled to visit family in India and had not been able to accompany him, but I made sure to take plenty of photos for him to share with her!
(smile!)

During the meal afterward, he asked if I knew Cathy MacGowan, as he would like to thank her for all her help.
As good fortune would have it, she was sitting at the far side of our table!
Later, I took him to the SERMACS office to retrieve the box to ship his award safely to his home.
Right place, right time!

As for the meal, it as certainly the ritziest by far!
First was this gorgeous wedge salad with blue cheese - glad I brought some Lactaid!
The entree was a tender chicken breast with potato and vegetables - so good!
But the crowning glory was cheesecake with raspberry swirls and twirls...
I gladly gave up two Lactaids for that rare delight!

And, justthatfast, SERMACS 2019 was over and done.
No more seminars or poster sessions or anything.
I took advantage of the beautiful day to revisit
The Waving Girl, a friend of mine since she was first erected in 1971.
I was only 13 years old and her sea-lore story, and her image with her faithful dog, enchanted me.

Time to put the badge away as a souvenir of this "Chemistry On The Coast" event.
I had adorned the badge holder with several of the pins representing the different ACS sections that I had joined last year in Augusta.
(smile!)
Now, back to my regular life as a busy, vibrant woman!
i thank You, God!

diversity and more fun with fruit

Well, here I was at the third day of SERMACS 2019
and my second luncheon...
only it wasn't just a luncheon, but also a workshop.
Drats, I should have found out more about it!
That's okay, I was easily at the most-diverse table
of the bunch.

I had my 61-year-young self, Brandon Quillian (black, former sailor, mid-40's, and still teaching), and Rashad (a young Indian researcher at AERI).
Diverse in ethnicity, age, and sex, at the very least.
(smile)
The other tables were all vanilla or all chocolate...
at a diversity luncheon.
There's some irony, n'est-ce pas?

The workshop urged us to acknowledge inherent biases, including those of the leader, Rochelle Williams.
As for the meal, it was a notch above yesterday's.
Again, I created my own variation, placing the grilled onions, peppers, and portobello onto my salad greens, then adding some sausage and peppers on the side.
Had to leave room for black and white tiramisu!
(smile)

Afterward, I was wandering about in the expo area when what to my wondering eyes did appear but the tortured orange.
The woman there motioned me over.
I'd asked yesterday about hooking up other fruit...
and she'd fetched an apple from breakfast so we could look at it in action as a battery!
How absolutely, marvelously, fun!!!
The apple was actually more of a powerhouse than the orange!

What might tickle my fancy after that bit of joviality?
How about some far-out "Astrochemistry in the Southeast and Beyond"?
Well, surprisingly, that was just the ticket!
The three speakers I heard had wonderful senses of humor and one of them even talked about my favorite comet, the Hale-Bopp of 1995.
I sure did like seeing that one in the night sky on my drive home from campus!

Then it was time for the headliner talk on my radar
and of the day: "The Past, The Present, And The Future Of The Periodic Table"!
Except I had gotten my wires crossed (get it?).
Instead of it being a single talk, it was a the title of a collection of presentations!
And now it was almost 4 PM and I had missed almost
all of them - ack!

However, I needn't have been concerned.
I was right in time for the entire talk by E.B. Fox.
Remember him, at last year's SERMACS in Augusta?
He was the one presenting The National Historic Chemical Landmark for the Savannah River Site's work with Plutonium-238!
How enchanting to hear about that again!
i thank You, God!

Now, I'm home again and I'll soon be having my "Tina Tuesday" with the running bear.
Hooray for me!
And we'll be feasting at Olive Garden before "Zombieland: Doutble Tap"!
But before I put away this third day of the conference, let's flash back to Sunday.
Well, kinda sorta.
(Hey, ask the bear... lol!)
See that box in my hand?
It also appeared above, by my plate of delectable dessert.
(smile)
It's a new coffee mug, beaker-style, given to me by Patti in thanks for my weeks of work preparing for the National Chemistry Week event.
How very kind of her!
I look forward to using it tomorrow morning... on Mole Day!
Woohoo!

women, an orange, and a steamship

Subtitle: SERMACS 2019, Day Two

Who is that ultra-relaxed person?
That would be me, responsibilities for NCW d-o-n-e!
The Undergraduate Lunch & Learn with Women in Industry was the first item on my radar today.
Remember how much I loved being a lunch lady in Augusta?
That's why I paid to attend all three luncheons here at our SERMACS.

The meal today, designed to attract the younger crowd and to fit their budget, consisted of nice five-inch sandwiches and plenty of salad greens.
I had the grilled chicken wrap and the turkey club,
both sans bread.
That certainly made a mighty fine luncheon salad!

There were nine women on the panel.
From the left, the specialties of these women are medical research, pharmaceutical chemistry, forensics and court cases, public outreach, plastics manufacture, and production of textiles.

Again from the left, the specialties for these three panelists are pine-based products, wood products from utility poles to pulp, and quality assurance and control of imported goods.
(Hi, Erica! Good to see you here!)

All nine strongly recommended to the students the need to take classes outside of their science core.
Take a business class, they said, to better understand how to be a manager.
Take a speech class, to be more prepared for presentation at meetings.
They also echoed the same message of gender bias to the young women in the audience.
The two oldest women, working in a "man's world" for

almost thirty years, had only slightly easier experiences than mine as an electronics tech in the Navy.
That was forty years - or two generations - ago.
However, all agreed that treatment in the workplace has greatly improved in the past ten years, as the older generation retires and takes its biases with it.
As I've mentioned before, change requires the passage of multiple generations, if it is to occur at all.


After the lunch, I was off to the riverside for a walk in the sunshine - ah!
That put me in mind, naturally, for the afternoon session for "Advancements in Environmental Chemistry"!
("Naturally", right? Get the pun?)
I caught the ones on uranium in the marshes; the toxic chromium+6 and ways to reduce it; the puzzle of how technetium was oxidized to +6; and a very interesting look at cloud droplet formation from ocean spray particle size and shape.

Time for wandering around and exploring the expo!
And guess what I discovered?
An orange in need of rescue from torture?
Nope, this orange had volunteered to be a battery!
I had heard of using a potato for such things, from Professor Proton's tv show (get it?).
But using an orange was certainly a new twist.
Quite interesting... and fun!

This was very interesting and fun, too!
Labster is a new virtual reality tool for students to gain lab experience without using chemicals.
They still had to wear goggles, though!
Well, actually, it was a virtual reality helmet, but it still served as eye protection, so that counts - yes, it does!
It made me a bit disoriented and dizzy, but the students just loved it!

The students loved the ice cream social, too!
I had almost decided to allow my lactose intolerance to take the win, but... no.
Leopold's had brought Mint Chocolate Chip as a choice, so I chanced it.
So much tasty fun I had, mining for chocolate in the mountains of creamy mint!

T last it was time for the evening's featured presentation, starring... the Steamship Savannah!
The same groundbreaking vessel that had been lauded on National Maritime Day was in the foreground once more!
John Laurence Busch had written a book about her, "Steam Coffin: Captain Moses and the Steamship Savannah Break the Barrier", and has a website to spread the word to all.
To encourage interest, he had crafted several different talks.
For us chemistry nerds, the topic was prevention of corrosion of metal in a sea water environment.
(smile!)

Why had the man gone to such lengths to spread the word about this 200-year-old ship?
As he explained, she represented high technology.
Specifically, she was "an advance that moved people through time and space in a way not natural".
Until steam power proved its usefulness for transport of people and goods across the ocean, sail power and good old-fashioned use of an oar were the only methods.
Steam allowed a much faster and more reliable transport.
What a nifty way to share his knowledge!
(smile!))