Phriendly Phil's Velociraptor Pharm n' Pettin' Zoo » Me me me!

The Story About the Water Balloons

Phillip — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:53:37 +0000

Back when I was in graduate school, there was a Foucault pendulum hanging in an alcove outside the physics building. This was a rather large affair, stretching from the tenth floor to the third floor, which was at ground level. At the bottom was a heavy three-foot brushed-aluminum ball, and an electromagnetic device to keep it moving. This device did not work, and all the time I was there, the pendulum hung straight down.

I was studying for my final exam in Really Hard Differential Equations (better known as Classical Mechanics) one night, when a fellow student and I decided that a nice study break would be to try and get the Foucault pendulum moving again.

From the tenth floor.

With water balloons.

It turns out that a 3-foot metal ball is a lot harder to hit from 70 feet with a water balloon than it sounds. Before long, the alcove looked like the surface of the Moon, as the water balloons made craters in the gravel covering the ground. No problem, making the craters was fun, too — so much fun that when we ran out of balloons, we went out to buy more.

Eventually, though, we figured it would be best to get back to studying, so as a finale, we made the Queen Mother of all water balloons. I’m certain that it wasn’t actually a foot in diameter as I seem to remember, but it was big enough that we had to carry it up to the tenth floor in a bucket.

We dumped the bucket over the ledge, and watched it fall to the ground, at which point the safety glass separating the alcove from the building’s lobby went totally white. When we went downstairs to see what we’d done, there was a hole in the glass about ten feet above the ground.

Partly because we wanted to be honest, and partly because we figured we’d get caught anyway, we went to the campus cop shop and told them something along the lines of “there’s some broken glass at Stevenson Center. That was us, sorry. Send us a bill.”

We never got a bill, but I was talking to the department administrator a few months later, and he made sure to mention that they were pulling out the pendulum and putting in a picnic area because “you never know what sort of hijinks students are going to get up to next.” That was the last I ever heard of it, except from my sisters, who seem to remember the incident more distinctly than I do.

Wii Fat

Phillip — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:12:02 +0000

So I climbed on Lori’s Wii Fit last night. Dang am I obese, and the yoga routines were embarrassing. I used to be able to do this stuff, dang it!

Still, I guess my balance is pretty decent; I tend to lean back a little too much, but other than that, I do okay.

Overheard at home after watching The Iron Giant

Phillip — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:32:31 +0000

Mr. Man:

Can we watch Dave and Becky now?

Daddy:

I don’t care what we watch as long as Daddy doesn’t have to struggle not to bawl.

Image upgrade!

Phillip — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 13:25:33 +0000

I guess it was buying a microscope and subscribing to
Make (which I count as a science mag of sorts) that did it, but I have become even more nerdy than previously, if that is possible.

Pad my score? Me?

Gittin' corporate

Phillip — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:19:00 +0000

Before…

… and after

The long hair was such a pain in the ass that I would have cut it even if it looked worse. Fortunately, I think it looks better.

Propping Up My Flagging Nerd Cred

Phillip — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 23:03:46 +0000

It seems that my nerd score has been weighed and found wanting.

Well.

Suck on this,
you “nerds.” Chicken soup for the nerd soul.

RAmen!

Phillip — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 14:56:58 +0000

I am older than DIRT

Phillip — Fri, 06 May 2005 09:39:11 +0000

On the train into work this morning, I was listening to MP3s and it hit me: the song I was listening to (Sitting Still by REM) was older than I was when I first heard it.

*sigh*