. . . And the Rube-Goldberg Machine
Hold a cup under the faucet. Turn the knob so the water flows. Let the cup fill with water. Turn the knob so the water stops flowing. It’s simple and elegant. All that’s needed is a working faucet and a cup. Yet, it is not exciting.
Remember how PeeWee Herman awoke and had his breakfast made via a series of actions done by a machine he created? I loved that and I thought I would want to have things like that when I was an adult. I could be an adult, but I could have fun, too. Sometimes I wondered why my parents didn’t have anything like that in our house.
It’s my senior year in high school and it’s not a friendship that somebody would think would’ve happened. I’m the daughter of a chemistry professor and a stay-at-home or student mother. We don’t have a lot of money. We buy clothes from second hand stores. We don’t take family vacations because my Daddy works during the summer.
She is the daughter of some rich lawyer or doctor. She goes all over the world on vacations. She always has pretty new clothes from the most expensive stores. She goes out to eat. The only two things that seem to connect us are that we are smart and she is in love with a guy who is not rich. However, he is also not smart like we are, so that is confusing. The whole school knew that they were in love, though.
It’s a test day and we were talking before class. We got caught up in our conversation and kept talking when the test began. The teacher caught us, but thankfully she realized what had happened and it was just a reminder to be quiet.
Her name? Anna.
So, our teacher announces that we are going to have to make a Rube-Goldberg machine that will fill a cup with water. Of course, we wonder what a Rube-Goldberg machine is. However, that is quickly learned via descriptions of comics and PeeWee Herman’s breakfast routine.
Is there really a better way to fill a glass of water than the simplest ways possible?
Anna and I meet in my Daddy’s chemistry lab. It’s easier for us to work there. We have wood and plastic, cups, balls, and other small items. My Daddy helps us to piece things together when we figure out where we want them.
That piece of wood could push that and the ball could slide down a ramp and . . .
Discussion after discussion took place when we would meet.
Somehow we did it. We had a great structure full of actions and reactions. Finally, the ball hit a cup of water that filled another cup with water.
The idea seemed pointless, but we did learn. After all, we were in physics class.
Yet, the simple way of filling a cup with water still seemed the best.
Disclaimer: This entry was written for LiveJournal Idol (therealljidol). The topic given was “Build a Better Mousetrap.”
Remember how PeeWee Herman awoke and had his breakfast made via a series of actions done by a machine he created? I loved that and I thought I would want to have things like that when I was an adult. I could be an adult, but I could have fun, too. Sometimes I wondered why my parents didn’t have anything like that in our house.
It’s my senior year in high school and it’s not a friendship that somebody would think would’ve happened. I’m the daughter of a chemistry professor and a stay-at-home or student mother. We don’t have a lot of money. We buy clothes from second hand stores. We don’t take family vacations because my Daddy works during the summer.
She is the daughter of some rich lawyer or doctor. She goes all over the world on vacations. She always has pretty new clothes from the most expensive stores. She goes out to eat. The only two things that seem to connect us are that we are smart and she is in love with a guy who is not rich. However, he is also not smart like we are, so that is confusing. The whole school knew that they were in love, though.
It’s a test day and we were talking before class. We got caught up in our conversation and kept talking when the test began. The teacher caught us, but thankfully she realized what had happened and it was just a reminder to be quiet.
Her name? Anna.
So, our teacher announces that we are going to have to make a Rube-Goldberg machine that will fill a cup with water. Of course, we wonder what a Rube-Goldberg machine is. However, that is quickly learned via descriptions of comics and PeeWee Herman’s breakfast routine.
Is there really a better way to fill a glass of water than the simplest ways possible?
Anna and I meet in my Daddy’s chemistry lab. It’s easier for us to work there. We have wood and plastic, cups, balls, and other small items. My Daddy helps us to piece things together when we figure out where we want them.
That piece of wood could push that and the ball could slide down a ramp and . . .
Discussion after discussion took place when we would meet.
Somehow we did it. We had a great structure full of actions and reactions. Finally, the ball hit a cup of water that filled another cup with water.
The idea seemed pointless, but we did learn. After all, we were in physics class.
Yet, the simple way of filling a cup with water still seemed the best.
Disclaimer: This entry was written for LiveJournal Idol (therealljidol). The topic given was “Build a Better Mousetrap.”