Homely Scientist

Thanks again to Laura for this really cool link (she fessed up she got a calendar for Xmas with a cool link a day).  Ever want to know more about snow and snowflakes than you ever thought possible?  This is the place.  I haven’t scratched the surface of the site, but I’m sure there will be cool (ha ha) projects and stuff to do.
Speaking of snowflakes, on CSY:NY last night one of the CSIs fix a snowflake to a slide with superglue to look at its structure and then be able to set a time.  Okay, I know CSI is …read more

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So my last post was on the 24th that I made the top five of the CBAs, then nothing.  What happened?  Snow.  10+ in of it, and we lost power at noon on Sunday (the whole freakin’ Island).  Just got power back on about a couple hours ago.  So, when I dig out from about a ga-billion feeds, I’ll start posting again.
Tags: snow, no power

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I submitted two of my blogs to the Canadian Blog Awards … they are in the same category, Sci-Tech.  So, A View from the Isle (my bloggy homebase) and Homely Scientist are up there.  While I see now that is was stupid for me to submit both in the same category (I didn’t think both would be accepted), how about this … you, dear readers, choose which one you like and read more and vote for that one.  Haven’t read HS but like VftI, vote VftI (and vice versa).  You can vote more than once, just not more than once …read more

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My process to quit smoking took a major leap forward yesterday, I bought a nicotine inhaler!  I had tried one at Lorraine’s brother’s house and thought it was pretty good.  But since I couldn’t find one right off the bat I continued with the cold turkey routine.
No, it hasn’t been easy.  No, I haven’t slipped.  But the nicotine cravings were still pretty intense and I really missed the whole smoking habit thing.  The nicotine inhaler handles that all really well for me.
Here’s how it works (and it’s really cool).  The nicotine (with a little touch of menthol) is in …read more

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Yes … it’s been almost a week.  Yes, I’m a little jumpy and tense.  Yes, I am also eating everything in sight.  But I haven’t smoked.

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From Real Tech News and Fast Company I found a great list of reasons why you should use compact fluorescent bulbs (CFCs).  Personally just about every light in my place has a CFC.  Only exceptions are a couple ones I can’t reach without a tall ladder and a light that has a dimmer switch on it (CFCs don’t work with dimmers).  And if you think you can’t put a CFC in an enclosed light, you can!  You do have to look for bulbs that allow it (read the fine print) and it will shorten the life of the bulb (so …read more

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Yes, and in a new house, in fact. That’s why I’ve been, ummm, rather absent lately. I didn’t think I had gathered so much stuff in such a short period of time! Regardless I’m in my new place on beautiful Pender Island (here’s my Flickr photo set of various Pender pics). One of the coolest things about Pender is that beach access points are everywhere. This means that there are tons of opportunities to see wildlife. Lorraine took this amazing picture of a sea anemone (note the cup sponge to the right as well). So, that’s it. I’m pretty much …read more

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Our dependence on petroleum is a huge problem.  Let’s get beyond the whole greenhouse gases and global warming thing and just look at the bare fact: it’s running out.  And remember it isn’t just gasoline that we get from oil, it’s plastics, drugs, dyes, and a myriad of other critical things in your lives.  Sure, we’re finding ways to squeeze more oil out of the Alberta Oil Sands, but this is a short term fix, what we need is a solution.  So we’ve been looking at powering our cars on gas and electricity (hybrids), hydrogen fuel cells, just electricity, and …read more

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So where have I been?  I mean my last posts were May 12 on CFS awareness day, mammoths, and the impending summer hot spell coming our way.  Well I’ve been Meshing.  Huh?  Yeah I was at the Mesh 2006 conference in Toronto.  I’ve been wearing my Qumana Blogi Master hat all week so posting about science hasn’t really been possible.  I have been blogging my fingers to the bone about Mesh, though, so if you’re interested you can wander over to my "other" blog and read about it (sorry no beakers of coffee there).
So, weather.  I’m experiencing some "weather" at …read more

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As you all know I’m in the process of quitting smoking.  I say process on purpose because it isn’t an overnight thing.  Myself, I opted to use the patch, which gives my body the nicotine it craves through my skin.  I had a check up (more like check in for a refill) with my doctor today and he had some really interesting things to say about the patch.
While he thinks the patch is good for starters, there is a flaw in it.  The lowest dose available is 7 mg (miligrams).  I’m on the 14 mg right now (and will be …read more

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