Chocolate Malt O'Meal

I walked into my office this morning to a strange sight and unusual smell.

Tuesday I did not have time to eat breakfast. I put some chocolate Malt o'Meal in a stainless steel thermos and added hot water. The thermos had a solid, screw-on type lid.

I threw the thermos in my pack, brought it to work and placed it on my desk. I never got around to eating the Malt o'Meal.

I am a home brewer so I am aware of what happens during the fermentation process. Perhaps I should have thought about that.

It is now four days later. This morning when I entered my office, things weren't quite the same as I'd left them.

Some time last night the lid of the stainless steel thermos, despite being screwed on, blew.

It seemed the mess was strangely isolated to only a few inches surrounding the thermos and a bit on the floor.

Now the question was, where was the lid? I looked around and did not see it.

I looked up and saw the light fixture and ceiling had been hit by a volcanic blast of chocolate Malt o'Meal.

Later I found the lid across the room. It smells like someone threw up in the office.

My co-worker was unappreciative does not find this funny.

I cleaned up what I could, but the job was too big for me. Fortunately I was in a meeting when the building maintenance people cleaned up the ceiling and light fixture. I have no idea how they removed it because it had already solidified and adhered like concrete.

Today I tip my hat to the maintenance people of the Plymouth Building.

Lucy and the Incredibles

This is Lucy, age just barely four years old.

One of Lucy's favorite books and movies is "The Incredibles." Her favorite scene is when Mr. Incredible comes back from a mission. He is so energized and happy that it reflects in how he treats his family. There are scenes of him playing with each of his kids. Lucy has had me read those parts over and over.

When Mr. Incredible is on a new mission he learns that the bad guy Syndrome has destroyed several other super heroes. There is a computer display showing their names followed by their status. Mr. Incredible is shocked.

Gazerbeam: Terminated
Blitzerman: Terminated
Downburst: Terminated
Vectress: Terminated

I had to explain what ‘terminated’ meant. Maybe I should be more judicious about what Lucy reads or watches, but is it any worse than any other fairy tale or Disney story where the parents are killed off or children are eaten by a witch? Have you ever wondered why Disney is trying to destroy the family unit? Here are some examples of who dies: Bambi (the mom), Lion King (the dad), Cinderella (both parents), Tarzan (both parents), Finding Nemo (the mom), Babar (the mom). The list goes on and on and on. Can anyone think of a fairy tell where a parent doesn’t get killed or simply does not exist?

The Incredibles, on the other hand, work together as a family to fight crime. The parents live!

Lucy came to my office yesterday and asked me, "Dad, is 'terminated' a long word or a short word?"

I said, "It is a long word."

Often Lucy likes me to write a word and she will then copy it. In this case she only had me write it. I gave her the sheet and she went back to her room.

I did not know, at the time, that she was mad at her mom who was busy on the computer and had told Lucy that she would play with her later.

This was Lucy's response to that: