perldiver

Just now I was working on something fun and interesting.  I suddenly thought "ooh, time is passing and this isn't actually on my task list for today.  I should knock off something I'm supposed to be doing and then come back to this."   So I went and cleaned the kitchen.

Go, me!

So I decided to bleach my sink, because that's the first step in the Shine Your Sink recipe from FlyLady.net, a website that yummygirl pointed me to on how to get the household side of your life under better control.  (Yeah, not too much backstory in THAT sentence!)

So I get the sink filling, I fill a 1-cup measure with bleach, dump it in, and then start to put the cup measure in the dishwasher.  "Ah," I think.  "The dishwasher is full, I'll run it."  Then Mr. Minopoli's voice drifts back to me from 11th-grade chemistry saying "Hey! Chlorine bleach leftovers on the cup, plus dishwasher detergent...chlorine gas ring any bells?" 

All things considered, I'll wait until the sink is empty, then clean it by hand before sticking it in the 'washer for double surety.

Two thoughts remain: 

• I can't actually remember what the active ingredient in detergent that causes the reaction.  For that matter, is it even dishwasher detergent?  Can't quite recall.
• Thank you, Mr. Minopoli.  As much of a pest as I'm sure I was with all my questions, you were a wonderful teacher.

[Update:  Ammonia!  That's it!] 

My Dad's annual meeting was today.  He runs a hedge fund based in CT; the meeting was at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel here in the city; my grandmother (Frances, but we call her Gogo because even at 96 she's still a dynamo) came in, along with my aunt Ginny.  Dad had some high-powered speakers (most notably Professor Feldstein), and the presentation was, as always, great.  The amount that I know about finance could be straightforwardly etched on the head of a pin, and would still leave room for an overstrength battalion of angels to dance the fandango around it.  Nonetheless, Dad and his team do such a great job of communication--not just lecturing or speaking, but communicating--at these meetings that I always come away feeling smarter and better educated.

Plus, hey...free food.  :>


In other news:

Carrots:  8
Sticks: 0