random thinks

Made it to South Carolina!

Beaker and I made it safely to South Carolina. 11 hours, 680 miles, and 6 states (MI, OH, KY, TN, NC, SC). Beaker is pretty comfortable in a long haul, although I think I will have to do some tweaking (seat adjustment, etc.).

Warm down here (nice, but I can imagine it will be sticky tomorrow). I woke up in MI with the temp in the 50's.

Gas down here: $1.79. In MI: $2.09.

I'm Blowin' This Popstand...

I am packing and cleaning and getting ready to get out of town for a week. Travel? yes. Vacation? no. I am heading down to Clemson SC to meet up with about 125 other chemistry teacher geeks to read (grade) the 2004 Advanced Placement Chemistry Exam. Do I lead an exciting life or what?

I will spend seven 8 hour days, reading thousands of exams, grading one question over and over (and over and over). More fun than one man should be allowed to have you say? Actually, it is not that bad. The money is always good, and I have made some good friends among the chemistry geek-erati.

After a full reading day, there will be such things as golf, minor league baseball, the new Harry Potter movie, and if I find the time and a connection, blogging.

I am taking Beaker the wonder Element for her first big road trip, and leaving Shrunken Stuffed Patrick in charge of the house/dog sitter and the pooches whilst I am away. We'll see if fun and hilarity ensue in either place.

New Car Name....

Well, the contest to name my new car ended last night. It has taken me a while to decide what name best suited my new Element. There were several great suggestions...my favorites are below:

Cu -- by mysteryhouse
Randompod -- by gypsytda
Orangeonium -- by Nanook
Celeste -- by James
Bunsen -- by erika's daddy
pumpkin/punkin -- by JoeBoxer and dogonets
Heisenberg -- also by dogonets
Marie -- by schwemmdog

The entry that best suited my new car was actually submitted by three different people. Two of them came at essentially the same time: one via my post on elementownersclub.com, and the other via email. So... I decided to split the prize between the two of them. I will be contacting gemini and madskier to let them know that "Beaker" was the name I chose for my little SOP (Sunset Orange Pearl) Element.

I have always thought that Beaker was one of the coolest Muppets there was, right along with his cohort Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. He fits the image of my new car pretty well (even though he is a "he"): orange, a little unusual looking, and surprisingly resilient, and the science background works for me as well.

I am now looking to purchase a set of these little figures to grace my dashboard in honor of my name selection:

Name My Car contest ends at midnight.

See 2 posts down for details.

I've been quite busy lately. I apologize for the dearth of new and novel posting here, as well as seriously delinquent Words and Quotations of the Day. I am trying to get back up on the horse...honest.

It seems as if I am not the only one though...the blogosphere seems to have a bit of Spring Fever these days.

More soon. Now out to get some yard work done before the rain...

Help Me Name My Car: A Random Thinks Contest

Well, I have had my car for 6 days now and I still cannot think of an appropriate name for her, so I decided to have a naming contest. Please help me think of an appropriate name for my new Honda Element.

This is the first pic I have snapped that shows off her Sunset Orange Pearl color.

My thoughts have been running in several different directions for names. Some info to maybe help you:

- I am a chemistry professor, now driving an "Element", so science puns/names may work.

- She is a quirky, boxy kind of car, so there is always room to improvise there.

- She is very versatile, utilitarian, and fun to drive.

- She is a rather pretty orange, so color themed names might work as well.

I will leave this contest open until Midnight Sunday. Enter your suggestions/entries (a rationale for your choice will be helpful as well) into the contest as comments to this post.

The prize for the winning entry: a $25 Gift Certificate to amazon.com, and my gratitude for playing along with this contest.