10-10-10

It is the tenth day of the tenth month of the year 2010 - as our High School physics teacher would have said, a full house!

I am spending the weekend, once again, preparing my teaching for next week. The first quarter is my most intense teaching quarter, with two classes and lots of students.

We bought two Siberian hamsters for Anders for his birthday and he and all of us are having a lot of fun playing with them. Their fur looks kind of like a huskie - white with grey/black patterns. They are very active and chase each other around and play games. I just helped Anders build them a slide, and he and Fredrik are in the workroom making a little wooden jungle gym.

Working at home

Hi I am at home editing some papers this morning, and this afternoon I will go to the World Energy Solutions conference in Copenhagen. The University has asked me to be at their booth to demonstrate the air purifier invention. They are setting up an interview for the TV news - I feel ambivalent, it takes time and is hard to get right. It helps my research only very indirectly. Also I will sit on a panel to discuss Energy Efficiency. I got a letter today from a doctor in San Francisco wondering if we would be able to remove anaesthetics from the air in operating rooms - and I think the answer is yes, we can. Anders was home yesterday with a sore throat but is back in school today. Fredrik is also back in school, but his voice is still scratchy and recovering from the laryngitis. Best wishes! /mj

Pappa Likes Food

Anders gave me this picture tonight, it's called, 'Pappa Likes Food'. That's a bottle of hot sauce above the plate.

Goodby cruel words

I am writing a lecture on Scientific Writing. Here are some of my notes:

Let's eat, Grandma!
Let's eat Grandma!

Man eating shark
Man-eating shark

Brevity is the soul of wit
Omit needless words
Less is more

Camp Food

Top Ten Foods for Camping and Hunting Trips.

1 and 2, tied, Fried fish (any species) and blueberries (fresh)
3. Corned beef hash with eggs
4. Pancakes with canned corn and fruit cocktail
5. Bisquick dumpling stew
6. Peanut butter and jelly
7. Scrambled French toast
8. Popcorn
9. Toasted marshmallow
10. Trail mix

Weekend

The weekend is here which means its time to prepare for next week: Write lecture for Scientific Writing; make lessons for Environmental Chemistry; Write a talk for high school students in Gladsaxe; Make presentation for World Climate Solutions meeting; Review a paper on laughing gas. But I did have a chance to bring in the year's harvest of cayenne peppers and tomatoes.

Wednesday

Anders was really excited because they printed his birthday in this month's Bamse comic. He showed me - Pappa! Its my name! And there it was, October 31, Anders Johnson. Karin sent his name in.

I've noticed that its getting harder to focus on things that are nearby - like books and computers, and so the optrician recommended that I get progressive lenses. They arrived today. I am still getting used to them, they say it takes a couple of weeks. Everything is swimming.

Still no result in the Swedish election - they are counting and recounting some of the votes. Maybe tomorrow we will know.

Things continue to be busy at work. I have some quizzes to finish correcting tonight, and then assignments to write for next week.

/m