from Kacy’s desk

The first thing I spotted at Kacy’s desk was the giant ant on the cabinet behind her. But when I asked her to pick an item, she chose this giant flower. The story is she was doing an event that needed decoration, but balloons weren’t allowed. She got these flowers, and liked them enough to keep one.
November 19 2009

from Tim’s desk

Tim and I used to share an office. It was his first, and when I moved in, I pretty quickly got used to the huge collection of odd things in there, including some that were living. Tim is in a smaller office of his own now, but he still has some unusual things around. I expect nothing less.
November 18 2009

in Paul’s office

Paul is bit of a geek (which is kind of like saying Everest is a bit of a mountain). He’s well aware of and proud of this fact, and happens to be a really nice guy. It’s not all that surprising that he’s got the Enterprise in his office; what I found amusing was that he felt it necessary to point out that the Enterprise is deliberately positioned over Canada. I’m not really sure what that’s about.
November 17 2009

net

I got hold of this black plastic netting. We’re going to use it to block off access to the little ledge at the very top of our stairs. We don’t want the kitties getting out there; if they lose their balance it’s a two story drop. We’ve been using a cardboard box for this purpose, but I think this stuff will work out just fine.
November 14 2009

kitchen science

How to Make Cabbage Juice pH Indicator

Boil about 4 quarts of water.
Shred a small head of purple cabbage
Pour boiling water over cabbage
Let stand for an hour or so
Remove cabbage

The purple water (top left) will indicate if something is an acid by turning pink (right), or a base by turning blue or green (bottom left) when you add it to the cabbage juice.
November 13 2009
ain’t science cool?

strings

Today was Boston Ballet Day at work. It was madness. One of the activities was an “instrument petting zoo” where kids could get a look at different musical instruments, and try handling some of them.
November 11 2009
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BONUS PICTURE
On days like this, the staff gets punchy. Here is Bridget, demonstrating an easy way to check if your packing peanuts are the cornstarch type–if they stick to your tongue, they are.
November 11 2009a