Good morning, and welcome to the latest installment of "Poes' Pals"! Today I present to you...Ms. Bobbitt:
We have known Ms. Bobbitt for several years; in fact, members of her extended family have been friends of the Poe family for longer than Mr. Poe and I have been together. She has two furry "babies," Sophie and her daughter Sally - some of the cutest and sweetest black labs you ever did see.
Ms. Bobbitt has been another very helpful friend since we moved to "the big city." She has provided encouragement, companionship and wheels as our "Rapid Transit" driver to and from services during the week. And she makes a mean bowl of turkey-vegetable soup!
I would say that Ms. Bobbitt embodies the well-quoted line from A Midsummer Night's Dream - "and though she be but little, she is fierce." Although smaller in stature, she is a giant in heart. She does everything with impressive intensity and fervor - from work to Bible study. She is extremely successful both as one "of the world" and one "in the world" would count success. In her can be seen a shining example of patience, meekness, and agape love that I appreciate and admire.
Good morning and welcome to "Thesis Tuesday" on the blog! Today we're going to be investigating pressure variation in a static (or motionless) body of fluid with as little math as possible. If you do happen to be interested though, this relation can be derived by examining Newton's Second Law, which states that the sum of all the forces acting on an object is equal to the object's mass times its acceleration.
In a static fluid, pressure is a function of depth ONLY. This means that if we look at two points in a body of fluid (such as the ocean) that are right beside each other like this:
* *
the pressure at each point is the same as that at the other point because they are at the same depth. But, if we look at two points like this:
_______________*_________________________________*
_______________________________or this:
_______________*___________________________________________*
the pressure at each point is NOT the same as the one above or below it, respectively.
We also know that pressure is not just a function of depth, but that it actually INCREASES with increasing depth. If we think about our experiences, this physical reality should make sense to us. Why was it so much trouble to fix the Deepwater Horizon oil spill? "Every day" tools and equipment could not be used in this instance because the water pressure at the leak depth was SO great!
The pressure at a given depth in a given (incompressible) fluid can be calculated by multiplying the specific weight of a fluid by the depth. For instance, the specific weight of salt water is 64 pounds/cubic foot, and the depth of the oil leak was 5,000 feet, so the pressure at the leak was 320,000 pounds/square foot. The average surface area of a human is 18.6 square feet, which means that a person located at the oil spill would experience a force of 5,952,000 pounds on his/her body. The 2010 Mississippi State Football team weighed 25,357 pounds collectively...this means that the pressure force that a person located at the leak would feel is equivalent to taking this entire team:
cloning them approximately 233 times and setting ALL of these guys on top of him/her. Pretty crazy huh?
To conclude Money Monday, I'd like to share with you some great deals available at CVS and Walgreens this week!
From CVS:
Revlon nail polish: $4.99, get $4 ECB (limit 6)...$1/1 coupon from SS 4/10 makes it FREE
Green bag tag: FREE with coupon printed at price check kiosk
Stride gum: $0.99, get $0.99 ECB (limit 1)...$1/3 coupon from SS 5/15 makes it $0.33/pack
From Walgreens:
Scunci elastic hair bands: $2, get $2 RR...makes it FREE
Sugar free raspberry drink mix: $0.59
*If you're unfamiliar with some of these abbreviations, make sure to read next Monday's post. See you tomorrow!
As I posted earlier today, Mr. Poe and I just became debt free. One of the ways we have been able to eliminate the small about of debt that we had accrued is by couponing. While I am by no means "the" expert on couponing, I am very excited to share with you what I have learned in the past year and a half.
In essence, "couponing" is learning how to match coupons with sales at your local store(s) to get items that you need for the lowest possible price. You can make the transition to savings easier and quicker by laying some ground work before you get started; here are a few things to consider:
- Goals - Why do you want to save money? Are you saving for something big? Something small? Trying to get out of debt? If you take some time to consider your financial goals, it's much easier to stick to your decision to save money (and avoid "impulse buys"). With our debt settled we are now saving for a down payment on a house and for a newer family car.
- Coupons - Where will you get your coupons? There are websites where you can add digital coupons to store savings cards, websites that allow you to print out paper coupons, and Sunday newspaper inserts with coupons. If you decided to purchase newspapers, which paper in your area contains the best coupons? How many will you get? (Several gurus suggest 1 paper per person in your household.) We purchase two papers on Sunday mornings and supplement those with coupons we find online.
- Organization - How will you organize your coupons? How much time can you spare to coupon? Where will you keep your couponing "stash"? We keep the inserts from each Sunday in a single slot of an expandable file folder; loose coupons are kept in a small index card organizer (more on this later). We typically go to 1-3 stores a week, typically on our way to other places, and we keep a very small stash of items in our spare closet.
- Base Price List - What is a "good price" on items? How much are you paying for items that you buy now? By taking the time to make a list of the items you frequently purchase and the prices you regularly buy them at, you'll better recognize when a sale or a coupon or both is actually benefiting you.
- Brand Loyalty - Why do you buy the brands that you buy? Do they really work/taste better? The fewer items you are brand loyal to, the greater savings you can have. Note: Just because you have to use a specific brand of one or more items does not mean that couponing will be no use to you. We will buy the cheapest just about anything.
Be sure to stay tuned for more beginner couponing tips next Monday!
Happy Money Monday all! I would like to start today with some news...we wrote our last college loan check this weekend.
Mr. Poe and I are DEBT FREE!
Praise the Lord! He has so greatly blessed us!
The girls were all about Grandad this morning. They act like they don't ever get any love.
Mama and Papa Poe are here for the weekend! The girls are extra happy :)
I don't really put much effort into the way I look on a day-to-day basis. In fact, my typical attire is jeans and a t-shirt, no make-up and hair pulled back in a ponytail. While maintaining a "relaxed" look doesn't bother me, the greasy, pizza-pie face that I have "maintained" since I was about 13 has caused me a world of emotional difficulty throughout the years.
In the past twelve years, I have been through just about every acne medication (oral, topical, prescription and over-the-counter) that has ever existed. I have only found two items that worked for me during all that time - Acutane...which can also cause depression and deformed babies...and a topical sulfur ointment...which is only available by prescription, smells terrible, and is rather pricey. In the past month, however, I have found AcneFree:
which is simply fantastic. I wish that I had taken before pictures to show you the difference in my skin...I have virtually no bumps what-so-ever. Plus, it's topical (no crazy side effects), over-the-counter (no doctor bills), and available at Walmart (one of the cheapest solutions). So even though it's definitely not necessary to have clear skin, it makes me feel more confident and like I'm actually out of high school. Have any of you had experience in this area? What worked for you?
So good news from the garden!
It looks like our first pepper will be making an appearance soon!
Although I've never been clinically diagnosed or taken any medication for it, I have issues with anxiety. I am easily stressed out, and I can worry about things all day if I let myself. As you know, I attempt to be a very organized person, which adds to the struggle, because life almost never happens 100% according to my plans. So for this Theology Thursday, we will be examining what the Bible has to say about anxiety.In Phil 4:6-7, Paul encourages the Christians at Philippi - "Be anxious for nothing, but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." You may be thinking to yourselves, "Well that's nice and all, but it seems like it's much easier said than done!" And you'd be right.
The key in the passage above is "with thanksgiving." What are we thankful to God for? In the sermon on the mount, Jesus says, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matt 6:25-34)
God takes care of us. He has given us all that we need and much, much more. And from this passage in Matthew, we can see that if we are seeking first the kingdom, all our needs will be met. While this doesn't mean that we won't go though tough times (2Tim 3:12), it does mean that God is looking out for us. When something (big or small) arises in our lives, we should "give it to God" in prayer. As we leave it in His hands, we should also remember what He has done for us in the past...as well as for others who have believed on His name. Never forget that we serve a living and powerful God who created the world in six days, caused the great plagues in Egypt, and who conquered death through the resurrection of Christ. He is more than capable of helping us with our struggles!
Here are some things that have helped me combat anxiety:
*pray more often about specific things that I'm struggling with
*read the Bible more often (especially Psalms)
*write anti-anxiety scriptures on mirrors throughout the house
*seek wisdom on decisions/courses of action from older Christians
*slow down (much of my "everyday" worry comes from being way too busy)
What have you found helps you in this area?
One of our favorite favorite Asian dishes that I make is a little something I like to call Asain Chicken. (How original...) I got the original idea from a recipe for a shrimp dish somewhere in my mother-in-law's kitchen. One note - I never measure the ingredients in this dish, so precision is not important for a tasty result (3-4 servings).
First the ingredients: 2 Tbs butter (not shown), 2 Tbs flour (not shown), 1 can pineapple chunks (with juice), 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 green bell pepper (cut into approx 1" chunks), 8 oz chicken breast (cut into approx 1" chunks), 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 Tbs chili powder, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 1/2 Tbs soy sauce, 5 Tbs sugar (not shown), 1 tsp salt (not shown), 1 tsp pepper (not shown), and cooked rice (not shown).
Melt the butter in a 10" skillet on med-high heat. Add flour and whisk together to form a roux. After cooking the roux for 1-2 minutes, add pineapple juice and vinegar. Whisk these ingredients together until smooth.
Add remaining ingredients (except peppers, pineapples and chicken), and whisk to thoroughly combine. Allow to thicken for 1-2 minutes, whisking occasionally.
Add in peppers, pineapples and chicken. Stir with a heat-resistant spoon.
Cook 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked and peppers are softened.
Serve over cooked rice. Yum yum!
Yet another aspect that I intend to periodically include in the blog is a segment on book reviews. Since "book review" inherently does not adhere to the rules of alliteration, I've decided to denote these segments as: "Reading Review". I've technically already reviewed one book on the blog, but as the official first Reading Review, I present to you...Desire by John Eldredge.
Although I did not take away as much from this book as I did from the other book I've recently read by the same author (see link above), this one did present a few good thoughts. The subject of the book is desire (obviously) and about genuinely building our desire for God and heavenly things (vs things of this world).
The author points out that there are typically two viewpoints of desire. The first view is that taken primarily by those who are "of the world"- our desire is paramount. We do what we want because it makes us feel good. The author notes that we are essentially trying to fill ourselves with earthly desires for alcohol, drugs, sex, wealth, etc. instead of acknowledging that God is the only thing that can truly satiate our desire.
The second view is that taken primarily by those in the religious world who tend to view Christianity simply as a list of dos and don'ts - desire is inherently evil and must be suppressed. Those possessing this viewpoint consider desire to only exist in the forms of the carnal/earthly desires listed above; therefore, this desire must be exterminated.
There is, of course, a middle road that the author tries to encourage the reader to take. We must rid ourselves of the earthly desires that we possess when we are a slave to sin and instead harbor deep in our hearts a desire for God...to know Him and to emulate His Son.
There are three main things that I did not particularly care for in this book. The first was that several comments/examples the author gives/makes are contrary to what the Bible teaches. The second is that the book as a whole seemed very repetitive (not in a reinforcing way). The third is that the author provides no suggestions as to how to improve/grow our desire for God, which I personally would've found helpful since my super-organized nature often causes me to struggle with a "check-list" mentality. (Please note: the commands of God are very important and should be followed; however, the motive behind adhering to these commands should be love of God: Jhn 14:15, 21).
The next major concepts that we will discuss as far as fluid mechanics goes are related to pressure in fluids. So as a brief introduction and my final post for today, I leave you with a few terms more pressure-related terms to remember for our future discussions on the topic.
pressure - in a stagnant fluid, pressure is defined as the normal force (force perpendicular to the fluid surface) divided by the area over which the force is acting on (similar to the definition of shear stress)
atmospheric pressure - pressure of the atmosphere in a given location
absolute pressure - exact pressure of a fluid in a given location relative to a vacuum
gage pressure - relative pressure of a fluid in a given location; the pressure that a pressure gage inserted into the fluid would read at a given location
absolute pressure = gage pressure + atmospheric pressure
In solid mechanics, stress and strain are often discussed; however, in fluid mechanics, shear stress and shear strain rate are investigated. Shear stress is the stress due to a shear forces on the fluid and is equal to the shear force divided by the area that the force acts on. Shear strain rate is the rate at which the fluid deforms due to shear forces on the fluid. As with solid mechanics, the shear stress and shear strain rates are proportional to each other; the functional form of this proportionality determines which of the following types each fluid belongs to.
Newtonian Fluids - have a linear relationship between shear stress and shear strain rate; viscosity is the proportionality constant in this relationship
Non-Newtonian Fluids - have a non-linear relationship between shear stress and shear strain rate; there are three subcategories (see below)
shear thinning fluids - viscosity decreases with increasing shear rate; also known as pseudoplastics (ex: hair gel)
shear thickening fluids - viscosity increases with increasing shear rate; also known as dilatants (ex: cornstarch and water mixture)
Bingham Plastics - neither fully solid nor fully fluids, but have properties of each; sitting still they behave as a solid, but they flow like a fluid as soon as a shear force is applied (ex: toothpaste, may)
Good morning all! Today we'll be defining certain fluid properties that are key to fully understanding fluid dynamics.
density - mass of fluid per unit volume of fluid; liquids are typically much more dense than gasses; in liquids changes in pressure and temperature have little effect on density; in gasses changes in density are related to changes in pressure and temperature through the ideal gas law
specific volume - volume of fluid per unit mass; the inverse of density
specific weight - weight (mass x gravitational constant) of fluid per unit volume of fluid; equal to density x gravitational constant
specific gravity - ratio of density of a given fluid to the density of water at 39.2 degrees Farenheit
viscosity - (also absolute viscosity or dynamic viscosity) resistance of fluid to flow; fluid friction
kinematic viscosity - ratio of viscosity to density
bulk modulus - describes the compressibility of a fluid; fluids with large bulk modulus are considered incompressible (no more mass of this fluid could be forced in a given volume, i.e. the density of the fluid is constant)
These fluid properties that are dependent on the amount of mass present (mass, volume, energy) are called extensive properties; those that are independent of the amount of mass (density, viscosity, temperature, pressure) are known as intensive properties.
