Hello Dear Readers! It’s Friday which means it’s time to fish out an old post, dust it off, change a few words here and there and trot it out again.
A Scientific Afternoon with Dr. Barbara Buh
“What makes some of us smarter than others? Or put another way, why am I smarter than you?” Dr. Barbara Buh, Distinguished Professor of Kumquat Mechanics at the Salt and Pepper Institute in Fairbanks Alaska took me by surprise with this question while we were setting up our display table at the Compass, Watch and Egg Timer Scientific Summit in Uppenappen, Switzerland.
I momentarily stopped lining up the egg timers so that I could give her question some focused thought.
Before I had a chance to answer, Dr. Barbara Buh, also Director of the Gollygenome Project at Poly WannaCracker Tech in Nome, Alaska pulled her rhesus monkey, Pieces, from beneath her top hat and began asking it rapid-fire questions to prove her point.
“What is the square root of seven?”
“What is the formula for gum?”
“If a train is traveling at 60 mph and another train is traveling at 40 mph going the opposite direction, what time is it now?”
Pieces just sat there looking glum. After four minutes and 13 seconds of silence, I suddenly realized that Dr. Buh, also Chief Board Adviser of Bioenginerding at the Goggles Institute in Anchorage, Alaska was directing these questions towards me and not her Rhesus, Pieces.
Dr. Barbara Buh contemplating Kumquat Mechanics.
I tried to nonchalantly keep winding watches but I could feel her piercing gaze penetrating me like tiny daggers or, failing that, very large needles.
“Am I allowed to google?” I finally asked and was instantly angry at myself for detecting a quiver of fear in my voice.
“If you must.” Dr. Buh, who was also Senior Research Analyst for Scientific Cookie Crumbling at the Ketchasketchcan Scientific Center in Kethican, Alaska, replied.
“In that case the answers are:
Minus 27
HC3–>2HOCI
And about a quarter past eight.”
But Dr. Buh didn’t respond. She was too busy performing the Heimlich Maneuver on Pieces who had managed to choke on one of the egg timers while I was googling.
Which seemed like as good a time as any to break for lunch.
“I don’t know about you, but I could really go for some egg timers.”
* * *
Until next time . . . I love you
You continue to amaze and amuse me….Poly Wannacracker Tech??? Diane
Ah thank you so much Diane! That is so nice to hear!
Alas, the correct answers were
-James Dean
-Peanut Butter
-Navel Lint
It’s obvious your confusion is to the high concentration of chocolate fumes in the air of Uppenappen
Ha! I get a little bonkers in chocolate infested air. And then when you combine high altitude — well as you can see my googling skills are worthless under such circumstances!
And to also be allowed to use Math.com to help your son get the correct answers on his algebra…because gawd knows I don’t have a clue!
Oh Debra, what I would have given for Math.com when I was trying (emphasis on the “try”) to help my kids with their math. Talk about the blind leading the blind!
I guess I know enough to stay clear of people that ask, “Why am I smarter than you?” If you have to ask, then clearly your not smarter! Thank goodness for Google! Haha!
Haha! Well I have to say, you don’t come across as many know-it-alls anymore, have you noticed that? Or maybe I’ve just quit listening. HA! I’m so glad I lived to see the day when Know-it-alls have become obsolete! At least I hope they are. And it’s all thanks to the Goog (As Lily might say.)