As the final activity of our electricity unit, the students bring in broken, old, and disused electric machines. I remind them to scavenge the neighbors' garbage for perfectly good appliances and drop that old disc-man in the backpack for the ride to school.
I bring tools from my personal collection
and they get together and take stuff apart. I award bonus points for bringing something in to disassemble since there's nothing like extra credit points or gold stars to motivate a high school student.
Some devices have a bunch of gears that they almost understand.
With others we can override the safety switches and practice making ground meat.
Some students seem quite happy with the project
while others demonstrate teen 'tudes.
This is the first oscilloscope brought in for this occasion - it was a $5 yard sale purchase.
Some not only disassemble, but show their love for the earth by re-tasking items for Halloween. I hope to see this mask at my door at the end of October.
All in all, a fabulous day - never a complaint - and sometimes the reassembly results in a functioning device.
I broke my left foot and spent three months on crutches. As soon as the crutches went back in the closet to await my next accident, I promptly threw out my back and dragged myself around like a twisted assistant to a mad scientist.
But that was nothing compared to Plantar Fasciitis. My first experience was in that same foot less than a year later. I finished that 5K in debilitating pain but I couldn't walk so I pulled out those crutches again. Two days later I was walking with a pain that was to persist for months.
Nothing worked. I changed my shoes, stretched, performed strengthening exercises, slept with a boot, never walked in bare feet, and put insoles in every shoe I wore. Unlike my broken foot, there wasn't a foreseeable end to the discomfort. I taught all day but sat as much as I could. Prior to standing up, I would stretch my calf, hamstring, and foot to avoid the shooting pain of those first steps.
I got a cortisone shot that had no effect. I wore a boot during the day. I didn't walk much. Or run. Or stand. I'd return home from teaching all day and just lie on the couch with my foot elevated. I endured pain with every step.
Then one day the pain just disappeared. I walked around gingerly for a few days, knocking on wood, avoiding black cats, and rubbing my lucky rabbits foot but it stayed away.
Until it came back - in both feet. Then it disappeared in the right foot but persisted in the left. And last year I developed achilles tendinitis in that same left foot.
I noticed that I had more pain when I didn't drink much water. When I was well hydrated, the severity of my pain decreased. That may just be my imagination by I drink much more water now.
Then I acted upon the athletic tape idea I had read about. One big strip of duct tape across the arch of my foot actually worked pretty well but the adhesive ripped up the foot and the edges rolled off during the day. Then I bought some athletic tape and experimented with various taping techiniques until I came up with this:
It works. I don't even know if I have plantar fasciitis any more but I tape it just about every day. I've gone without tape for a few days and sometimes I feel some pain so I just go back to it. I've noticed that when I walk good distances consistently, my foot seems to do better - I can actualy walk with the tape but the three kids and the house painting and the basement repair and life keep me from making that a priority.
The compression socks seem to demonstrate that the achilles tendinitis and the plantar fasciitis are affected by poor blood flow from the extremities. I have worn compression socks to bed and I awaken with no achilles discomfort.
So I tape my foot and wear old man socks for support and blood flow. I drink plenty of water. I wear good shoes with homemade arch supports that fit my feet. No stretching, no shots, no exercises, no surgery. I should walk more but I don't.
Now I sometimes get up to pee at 3 am just to celebrate the lack of pain on those first steps. Anybody want to be part of my medical study? Once I figure out a waiver I'll get you enrolled.
That's what I say any time a student asks "Are we gonna learn about ...?" because anything they want to learn just ain't part of the curriculum. I'm glad I teach Nuclear Science because we have the opportunity to study things that hardly anybody understands. But there are only 10 students in the class.
All the good physics we see on TV is modern physics. All the physics we see in school is ancient physics. And that goes for college too. In my pursuit of a physics degree, we touched on a couple of "modern" topics sophomore year but Quantum and Special Relativity and Nuclear weren't until junior year.
So I have to say that the physics we study in class, although eminently practical, is just a tiny bit b#*ring compared to all the amazing modern physics out there. Here's a video on the topic from minutephysics:
So what do we do? Some have suggested that we change the curriculum but I say we just spice it up. Let's spend 10 or 15 minutes once a week with a quick video and discussion on some mind-blowing physics topic we won't ever study in class. Let's be honest - we all waste at least that much time every week so let's get more efficient and fill these minds of mush with the amazing world of modern physics.
"Funky Fzx Fridays" was a student suggestion so we'll go with that for now.
Hopping curbs, riding sidewalks, running lights, and heading the wrong way on one way streets - totally illegal but great on a bicycle. They let you go faster, see more, and sometimes be safer. That's how I usually ride fast in a city but I didn't need to do that on Saturday in Detroit. The city is so empty and the streets so wide that a bicycle can often just take up a lane without interfering with traffic.
Some downtown scenes before we hit the waterfront:
"The arena is empty except for one man still driving and striving..."
Windsor, Canada - just across the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit:
General Motors:
The Waterfront:
Belle Isle is the green space in the distance
Views from Belle Isle:
The bridge to Belle Isle. A tree.
That which once was
Wedding:
I used the bike as a ladder to get my box back from the locked dumpster enclosure. Disassembly was far easier than assembly and I leaped aboard the bus at 5 for the return trip. I actually wanted a coffee before I boxed the bike so I rode in circles for blocks and never did find a Starbucks - strange because they're every two blocks in NY.
My friend picked me up at 10 pm at the Convention Center in Pittsburgh after less than 24 hours away from home. The maps were a great idea but I need a smaller bike with smaller wheels that'll fit into a bag I can carry with me. It's not so convenient if you have to travel by Megabus and leave the box somewhere.
I want to pedal more cities. Detroit was wonderful.
I honestly considered not including part 3 since the waterfront and Belle Isle are so fabulous. The next time you're in Detroit to see the Red Wings and the Penguins, ride the waterfront and Belle Isle but don't forget to head out Gratiot to 8 Mile. It'll open your heart as it opens your eyes. It'll also begin yet another addiction - Netflix Detroit.
Eleven dollars one week in advance. That's all it cost for the Megabus to Detroit on the middle day of a good three day forecast. I kissed the kid and the wife goodbye, tossed the bike box in my friend's car, and got dropped at the Megastop downtown for the redeye to Detroit.
The Rosa Parks Transit Station is an interesting place on Saturday at 6 am. About 30 locals populated the benches even before the buses start running. There was this smelly homeless guy who talked to me as I worked, wiping away his drool with an old T-shirt every few seconds. I still have no idea what he was saying so I just carried on a conversation with his gestures and glances.
It took me way too long to assemble the bike but I got a standing ovation when I started pedaling. Riding away, box in hand, one gentleman stood up and applauded. "You came in with a box and rode off on a bicycle." I tossed the box inside a locked dumpster enclosure, hoping it would be there when I returned.
Here's the bus station from later in the day - Morning darkness does not do it justice and I just wanted to get moving. Speed is safety...
Here's the first picture I snapped on the way to Gratiot Ave. "Low Winter Sun" is essentially a tour of modern Detroit on Netflix and this building is center stage.
And here are some building details from later in the day with good sun. Click on any image for the big version.
Then I headed northeast on Gratiot Ave.
Trinity Lutheran Church
Gratiot is a wide, five lane street with lots of empty space and zero Saturday morning traffic.
The sunrise over the empty Detroit plain was interesting.
These two houses make a perfect image of Detroit. The new and the abandoned, house by house, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood. I found one four block area that had one occupied home on each street. Every other house was abandoned. Some streets have lines of houses that have all burned. Arson is rampant. Sometimes the city comes in and razes an entire block while the next block is well-occupied.
More from Gratiot Ave.
Elmer's tags were everywhere and I wanted to borrow one of these bikes.
I stopped for breakfast at McDonald's and took lots of little side trips.
"Section 8 OK"
Bulletproof Burger King
I rode along 8 Mile and thought of Eminem and his Momma in the trailer park. Supposedly it gets better north of the border. South of 8 mile it's often pretty rough.
Heading back toward downtown on Woodward was Wayne State University. Highland Park, Hamtramck, and this university were like separate countries that seemed unaffected by Detroit decay except at the edges.
Along a highway a couple blocks west I found art
a new housing complex, and an important public service announcement.
