fun with science

This weekend I went down to Newport News to visit with Emily and Greg. I had a great time seeing my two best friends. The weather was beautiful the whole time I was down there and Greg and I took full advantage by playing a little frisbee. Mostly the three of just just hung out in Emily's apartment or at the bar or a restaurant.

The most exciting part of the weekend was the science experiment we performed. On his way out here, Greg was listening to NPR and heard that putting Mentos inside of a two liter of soda makes the soda shoot out the top of bottle. Sounded like fun to us, so we gave it a try and it was worth it! We used Diet Coke because that supposedly produces the best results. Check out these pictures (you can click on the picture to see all four).

As you can see, the experiment was a big success. You just drop as many Mentos in at a time as you can and back up, no need to shake the bottle or anything. I don't understand the science behind this; all I know is that it's incredibly cool. Give it a try.

people watching, part 2

Interesting thought: if the metro had a bar, everyone would be social.

people watching

As I am sure you are aware, it can often be interesting and entertaining to observe people and their behavior. For example, on the metro yesterday I watched a woman who changed seats every time the metro stopped. She never sat in the same place twice and didn't seem to care if she was sitting next to someone or not. She did this for five or six stops, until she finally exited the train.

What was going through her mind as she moved from seat to seat? Was there some sort of purpose or pattern that I could not detect? Am I giving too much thought to the odd behavior of a crazy person?

To me, the most bizarre behavior on the metro is the lack of any conversation. The tourists are always easy to spot because they are the only ones talking (and usually about what stop they are getting off at and their general confusion with the metro system). In my two months of metro travels, I've managed only two genuine conversations: one with a guy wearing a Lions jersey and the other with a girl talking about hockey.

Possible conclusion: the only subject I'm comfortable talking to strangers about is sports.

overheard at work

I walked into the men's room at work today just in time to hear one guy standing at the urinals say to the other guy standing at the urinals, "Yeah, but that's too small for the office."