SCEFC Set List: October 2, 2011

On Sunday I’ll be serving as the worship leader at State College E-Free Church. The message title for the morning is “Wedlock or Deadlock?” and is derived from I Peter 3. I elected not to dwell on this as I planned the set list, but rather to focus on the Gospel as the theme. In the main set I’ll be reading Colossians 1:21-23.

Prelude: (A) Nothing but the Blood – Matt Redman
(E) Sing, Sing, Sing - Chris Tomlin | Daniel Carson | Jesse Reeves | Matt Gilder | Travis Nunn
(G) Your Grace is Enough - Matthew Maher
(A) Jesus Paid It All - Elvina Hall | Alex Nafong

This is a communion Sunday, so the main set is one song shorter than usual.

Closing: (E) None but Jesus - Brooke Fraser

Experiments Underway

Both of my rhizotron experiments have now been launched. The past few days have been busy with that and various research-related projects. This morning I collected predawn needle water content data for my rhizotron firs [1].

After teaching a couple of labs I tackled weighing soil cores from my soil remediation site. When I collected the cores earlier this month the soil was wet. I weighed them then, then left them sit a bit before packing them in paper bags and drying them in an oven.

I dry my soil cores in Chipotle bags.

In the time before the samples were dried molds grew on some of the cardboard carrying cases. When I opened them up today I was met with a cloud of spores. I have never had allergy problems, but these spores caused my sinuses to rebel for the rest of the day. Next time I’ll dry my samples promptly. And open the bags more carefully.

Weighing a soil core.

Now I have rows of data that shows me how much water was in the soil and what the soil bulk density of the soil is.

The soil is translated into lead (or graphite).

After weighing the soil cores I washed the materials and weighed all the metal rings in preparation for the next collection. Then I stopped by my flooded rhizotrons to see how they were doing.

The flooded and non-flooded rhizotrons.

So far so good. I’m curious how things will progress.

After a busy morning and afternoon this evening was nice and relaxing, which was a welcome change of pace.

[1] I’ll be collecting needles like this once a week for the next couple of months. Predawn data is not fun to collect. It involves working in the predawn. A time meant for sleeping.

A Vacation, an Experiment, and That Which is Forthcoming

This past weekend was a good weekend. It was the annual family fall weekend at the beach in Avalon, NJ. I did not take a single photo; I was rather preoccupied. At various times I looked around me and thought: I am blessed. I am so blessed. Conversations, laughter, sand castles, good food, walking on the beach, running on the beach, and other good things.

Today reality came back. I fought a vacation hangover all morning, I really wanted to be in a Corona  commercial and not at work. But I prevailed. My task for the day was to set up and launch my junior rhizotron phytophthora experiment with Fraser fir seedlings. This involved culling the plants, setting up the blocks, assigning the treatments, scanning all the roots, evaluating the shoots, measuring the plants, applying the inoculum, watering the plants, and launching dataloggers.

A Fraser fir seedling root system at the start of the experiment.

This week I should be posting a set list for Sunday, a review of a new Pringles flavor (or maybe several new flavors), and thoughts on coupon valid dates.

White Shirt + Gum + Dryer = Problem

Last week I washed and dried a load of white laundry. And a piece of spearmint gum. While folding my shirts I noticed green speckling. I was not impressed. The most blemished shirt in the load also happened to be my favorite shirt in the load; I wanted to save it. So I did what everyone does when faced with a problem, I sought counsel on Facebook and ran a Google search.

One of the things my Google search turned up was a simple method that made a lot of sense to me, so I decided to try it first. I heated white vinegar in the microwave, then dipped a toothbrush in the hot vinegar and proceeded to evict the stains. It worked beautifully.

If you get gum stains on laundry, even if you’ve dried it already, try heated white vinegar and a toothbrush. It worked for me.

Google+ Finally Invites Me: Too Late

If I had been able to sign up for Google+ back when it launched I would have, just to see what it was. But I was not invited. Now an invitation is no longer required, but my curiosity has died off. They’re going to have to win my attention all over again, just opening the door is not enough.

When I saw the Google+ announcement I realized that I had forgotten it even existed.