MrsDrPoe: "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"

Happy Foto Friday everyone!  Mr. Poe has a rule that we cannot decorate for Christmas or listen to Christmas music before December 1st.  As you know, today is December 2nd, so last night we continued our annual tradition of picking out a tree, eating a sackful of Krystals, and putting up the decorations while watching Elf.  Check it out:

What holiday decoration traditions do you have?

MrsDrPoe: "How Is It That You Have No Faith?"

Welcome to another Theology Thursday on the blog!  As usual, I invite you to open up your Bibles with me as we look into another portion of God's word.

One of the threads running through the book of Mark is that fear causes faith to grow or shrink.  If we look at Jesus' calming of the storm in 4:35-41, we see one particular example.  In this passage, Jesus and some of His disciples are on a boat crossing the sea of Galilee when a "great windstorm" comes up.  The disciples are frantic, thinking they are about to die while Jesus is asleep on a pillow.  (Note: Many of these men were fishermen by trade who had grown up on these waters; this must have been some storm to have seasoned seamen so shaken up.)  They wake Jesus, who calms the storm with three words and then asks, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"

We may think to ourselves, "Isn't that a little harsh?  These people left everything they had to follow Him!"  Indeed they had a great enough faith to leave their old lives; however, when their faith was tested by their fear of the storm, it failed.

This example should be an important one for us- it shows that we cannot be stagnant in our faith.  We can't assume that we have "great faith" because once several years ago we believed in the risen Savior.  If our faith isn't growing, it's shrinking.

Just like we grow in bodily strength through weight-resistance, we grow in faith through resisting temptations.  When we fear ridicule for speaking up about our faith, speaking up anyway builds our faith.  When we don't have time to read our Bibles or pray, making time anyway builds our faith.  As we continue to grow our faith through these challenges, it makes it easier to grow when more difficulties are presented.  And because we are imperfect, we should take comfort in the fact that if we do shrink in our faith at one time, through the grace of God, we can overcome the next time we are tested, just like the disciples did.

I hope these thoughts have been helpful for you, and I hope you have a blessed day!

MrsDrPoe: Turkey Panini

It's another What's for Dinner Wednesday on the blog!  For those of you who have a few turkey scraps left over, here's a great way to polish them off...Turkey Paninis.

Ingredients: turkey, bacon, crescent rolls, provolone cheese, jam, sweet potato casserole.

Cut the crescent roll in half, and spread jam on one side and sweet potato casserole on the other.  Layer turkey, bacon, and cheese on the bottom roll half:

Place the remaining half of the roll on the top of the sandwich, and put the whole thing in a panini press (or George Foreman grill or on a skillet on the stove).  Cook till cheese is melted and turkey is warm.  Enjoy!

MrsDrPoe: The Swan House

For the next Reading Review here on the blog, I present to you another work of fiction, "The Swan House" by Elizabeth Musser:

"The Swan House" is a tale of a young girl growing up in Atlanta in the early sixties, revolving around the real-life Orly plane crash, racial tension, and faith.  The book has something for everyone- romance, suspense, football*, laughter, sadness, life, death...and the list goes on and on.

I really enjoyed reading this work.  I thought it was very well written, and I greatly appreciated the Mrs. Musser's subtleties (simply saying "he cursed" instead of providing full dialog, etc.) which adequately conveyed certain character's personalities without being crude.  I also appreciated the theme that Jesus can comfort all our pains and His truth sets us free.  This story was very fascinating and really pulled me into the story. 

On a negative note, I think that the prologue and epilogue are virtually unnecessary and almost detract a bit from the main story.  I would also caution readers to examine the various forms of Christianity presented in the book in light of the Bible, as many of the ideas portrayed are not in accordance with scripture.  While it is most refreshing to read a novel that places so much emphasis on faith in Christ, we must keep in mind that Christians are to worship "in Spirit and in truth."  


All in all, I would definitely recommend reading "The Swan House" (with a box of tissues handy), and I look forward to the chance to read the sequel.

*Mr. Poe and I learned that John Heisman used to coach at Tech from this book...cool huh?

MrsDrPoe: Dimensional Analysis, Part III

Welcome to the final Thesis Tuesday on Dimensional Analysis.  As promised last week, we're going to go through an example problem today so you can see the Buckingham Pi Theorem in action.

Example: Water sloshes back and forth in a tank as shown in the figure.  The frequency of the sloshing, f, is assumed to be a function of the acceleration of gravity, g, the average depth of the water, h, and the length of the tank, l.  Develop a suitable set of dimensionless parameter for this problem using g and l as repeating variables.

Given: f = F(g, h, l)
Find: suitable set of dimensionless parameters for the given problem
Solution:

Step 1: The variables in the problem are: 

frequency, f

tank length, l

gravity, g

water height, h

Step 2: Expressing these variables in basic dimensions:

f = 1/T

l = L

g = L/(T*T)

h = L

Step 3: Determining the number of pi terms:

k = 4 (f, g, l, h) and r = 2 (L, T) so k-r = 2

Step 4: We will choose g and l as our repeating variables because the problem statement told us to; however, we could work the problem using g and h as well.  Note: we cannot use f at all because it is the dependent variable, and we cannot use both h and l because the combination of repeating variables must contain all the basic dimensions.

Step 5: We will find the first pi term:

Pi1 = f*g^(a1)*l^(b1)

(1/T)*(L/T*T)^(a1)*L^(b1) = T^(0)*L^(0)

for L to cancel: a1 + b1 = 0

for T to cancel: -1 -2*a1 = 0

So: a1 = -1/2 and b1 = 1/2

Pi1 = f*sqrt(l/g)

Step 6: We will find the second pi term:

Pi2 = h*g^(a2)*l^(b2)

(L)*(L/T*T)^(a2)*L^(b2) = T^(0)*L^(0)

for L to cancel: 1 + a2 + b2 = 0

for T to cancel: -2*a2 = 0

So: a2 = 0 and b2 =-1

Pi2 =h/l

Step 7: Since it's easy to make a mistake, we need to check the pi terms:

Pi1 = f*sqrt(l/g) = (1/T)*sqrt((L*T*T)/L) = 1

Pi2 = h/l = L/L = 1

Step 8: Next, we will write the pi term containing the dependent variable as a function of the remaining pi terms:

Pi1 = F(Pi2) or f*sqrt(l/g) = F(h/l)

Not too bad, huh?

Additional Considerations

Our variables that we deal with in this process can be classified into three broad categories: those dealing with geometry (lengths, angles), material properties (viscosity, density), or external effects (velocities, external forces).

It is important to note that there is not a unique set of pi terms that arises from a dimensional analysis; however, the required number of pi terms is fixed.

Common Non-dimensional Numbers

Reynolds Number - (rho*V*l)/mu = inertial forces/viscous forces; applicable to all types of fluid dynamics problems

Froude Number - V/sqrt(g*l) = inertial forces/gravitational forces; applicable to flow with a free surface

Euler Number - p/(rho*V*V) = pressure forces/inertial forces; applicable to problems where pressure or pressure difference are important

Mach Number - V/c = inertial forces/compressibility forces; applicable to problems where compressibility of a fluid must be considered

MrsDrPoe: Cyber Monday

Welcome to the Cyber Monday edition of Money Monday on the blog.  There are all kinds of deals available online today at every store imaginable!  You can check out some of the best deals here.

There are also some drug store freebees (no coupons required)...

CVS has free bottles of Complete contact solution,

and Wags has free cold sore treatment, lip balm, muscle rub, and foot cream.  So get out there (or stay in) and save some money!

MrsDrPoe: Black Friday

Welcome to the Black Friday edition of Foto Friday here on the blog!  Mr. Poe and I went out at 3:30 this morning- we finished our Christmas shopping and found great deals on items we'll be needing in the near future.  After that we took a quick nap, and I joined Papa Wolgemuth in cutting down a Christmas tree at the Merry Christmas Tree Farm:

Later that night Papa Wolgemuth, Mama Wolgemuth, Mr. Poe, and I went to see White Christmas at the Orpheum:

It was a long, wonderful Black Friday!

MrsDrPoe: Psalm 100

Welcome to the Thanksgiving Day edition of Theology Thursday on the blog.  I thought it fitting for today's post to be a simple expression of thanks to God using His inspired word, Psalm 100.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!

Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing.

Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.  Be thankful to Him and bless His name.

For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

MrsDrPoe: Empanadas

Since it's the night before Thanksgiving, many of you are probably busy preparing for your holiday meal and don't want to put much thought or effort into tonight's meal.  So What's for Dinner this Wednesday?  Empanadas- a quick and easy dish that can be altered to use with whatever meats and veggies you have on hand.

Ingredients: 1 can of biscuits, 1-2 cups chicken (cooked and shredded), 1 small tomato, 1/4 cup jalapeno, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 tsp cumin, and salt and pepper (not pictured).

Finely dice the veggies and combine with chicken, cheese and spices:

Roll out the biscuits (I use my fingers) until they're approximately 1/4 inch thick, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Put a heaping 1-2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on half of the biscuit:

Fold the other half of the biscuit over the filling (to form a half-circle), and seal the empanada by pressing a fork gently along the curved edge of the biscuit:

Cook according to the biscuit package directions.  Serve with salsa and sour cream, and enjoy!

MrsDrPoe: The Bullingtons

Good morning to you all, and welcome to another edition of Poes' Pals here on the blog!  This week we're featuring another family from Starkville, the Bullingtons:

We have known this family for many years, and they have been such an inspiration and encouragement to us!  Dr. Bullington (yes, this Dr. Bullington) is a professor in the Industrial Engineering department at Mississippi State.  While neither Mr. Poe nor I have ever had him for a secular class, we have both been in several of his Bible classes and can attest to the fact that he is an amazing teacher with a multitude of knowledge and wisdom.  Mrs. Bullington is pretty fabulous as well- successfully home-schooled all of her children, possessing so much Bible knowledge (paired with a desire to teach others...especially children), and being the couponing QUEEN.

Mr. W. Bullington and Mr. A Bullington are some fantastic guys, who are also some of the most spiritually-minded (particularly for their ages) that I have ever met.  They are very capable song leaders too.  Ms. S. Bullington is sweet and hilarious with a great work-ethic.  She loves to read, is an amazing Bible student, and will make a wonderful doctor one day.  The oldest, Ms. A. Bullington*:

is another dear friend of ours.  We almost always sat with her during Bible classes, and she was such a great help to me when I first started singing alto.  She graduated in 2010 with a double major in Music and Industrial Engineering- she is one smart, hard-working cookie!  She's currently working on a masters in IE at UAH.

As you've heard me say before, we love and miss our Starkville family very much.  And If you ever get a chance to get to know the Bullingtons, take it!

*Photo Credit

MrsDrPoe: Dimensional Analysis, Part II

Happy Thesis Tuesday!  Today we'll resume our discussion on dimensional analysis by further investigating the Buckingham Pi Theorem.

This theorem is applied to a problem through several simple steps:

Step 1: List all the variables that are involved in the problem.  This step is crucial- without properly identifying all the necessary variables, we will not be able to obtain the correct dimensionless groups.  Each of the properties should be independent.  For example, if density and specific weight are important, we could use rho and gamma, rho and g, or gamma and g, but to use all three would be redundant (since gamma = rho*g).

Step 2: Express each of the variables in terms of basic dimensions.  We will be looking at these quantities in terms of length (L), time (T), mass (M), and temperature (theta), since these are the basic dimensions for SI and BG unit systems.

Step 3: Determine the required number of pi terms.  This number is equal to k-r where k is the number of variables in the problem (from Step 1), and r is the number of reference dimensions required to describe these variables (from Step 2).  Note: if k-r = 1, skip to Step 5.

Step 4: Select a number of repeating variables, where the number required is equal to the number of reference dimensions.  Here we should choose r number of variables from our list of independent variables; there are our "repeating variables."  It is best to choose ones with the simplest representation in basic dimensions (for instance: choose a distance, L, instead of a velocity, L/T).

Step 5: Form a pi term by multiplying one of the non-repeating variables by the product of the repeating variables, each raised to an exponent that will make the combination dimensionless.  For example: Pii = ui*u1^(ai)*u2^(bi)*u3^(ci), where ui is a non-repeating variable, u1, u2, and u3 are repeating variables, and a, b, and c are exponents.  Note: it is acceptable for a, b, or c to equal zero as long as at least one is non-zero.

Step 6: Repeat Step 5 for each of the remaining non-repeating variables.

Step 7: Check all resulting pi terms to make sure they are dimensionless.  It's easy to make mistakes through this process; check your work by writing each of the variables in terms of their basic dimensions (or even units) to see if all the basic dimensions cancel out.

Step 8: Express the final form as a relationship among the pi terms, and think about what it means.  For example: Pi1 = f(Pi2, Pi3, ..., Pik-r), where Pi1 is the pi term containing the dependent variable.


While at this point you may not believe what I said about this process being simple, next week, I'll prove it to you with an example problem.  We'll also look at some common pi terms/dimensionless number in fluid mechanics.  Happy studying!

MrsDrPoe: Black Friday Tips

Happy Money Monday to all!  We are so very close to "the most wonderful shopping day of the year," and I can't wait!  As promised here are some tips to help you have a productive, safe, and stress-less Black Friday experience...

Plan Ahead

As with any shopping adventure where saving money is the goal, planning before you go out on Black Friday is crucial.  Make a list of the people left on your Christmas-gift list and their interests, hobbies, and/or needs, and make a list of some items you've been looking for (clothing, furniture, decor, etc.).  If clothing is something you're looking for, make sure you note everyone's sizes.  Then scour through sales fliers, trying to match great deals with people/items on your list.  Stores have already started putting out ads online; hard copies will come out in your local paper later this week.  

Once you've found some deals you'd like to take advantage of, group the deals by store, and list the stores in order of importance (i.e. deals that will likely sell out fastest).  Also check your coupon stash and email for any additional coupons that can be coupled with store sales (for instance: if you've bought anything from JCPenny in the last week, find your receipt and take the store survey to get a 15% off coupon to use) and enroll in any available rewards programs.

If you're going with a buddy (or several), compare your store list with his/hers, and plan your group's route keeping in mind store opening times and deal limits per person.  You may also have a tentative meal-plan in place so you don't end up at a store far away from any affordable food options at lunch-time.

Don't let your Thanksgiving day turkey's tryptophan get the best of you- forgo your after-turkey nap and try to hit the sack (for good) extra early.  If your first stop opens at 4, you'll probably plan to get there around 3 to get a good spot in line, which doesn't allow much time to sleep if you keep your normal bed time on Thursday.  And speaking of standing in line- even in the deep south the temperature on Black Friday are around freezing before the sun comes up, so dress appropriately and in layers.

Stay Focused

When there are monster deals to be had and you've planned your trip well, it's often easier to get in and out of a store purchasing only what you planned to; however, more and more stores are filling up the aisles where you'll be standing in line with outrageously priced stocking stuffers and nick-knacks.  Keep your eye on the prize and stick to your list or the $20 bucks you just saved on the crock-pot for your mother could be quickly blown on something actually worth $1.50.  And always remember, just because something is "on sale" during Black Friday doesn't mean it's the best deal you can get...or even that it's a good deal at all. 

Have Fun

This is perhaps the most important Black Friday tip.  Chances are (especially if you're list is huge) you're not going to be able to take advantage of all the deals that you wanted to.  Instead of stressing out or going crazy (people have literally died because of over-zealous Black Friday shoppers), be polite and enjoy the time with your friends/family, holiday decor and music.

MrsDrPoe: This Week is OVER!

Good afternoon, and a happy Foto Friday to you all.  I don't know about you, but I am very thankful that this week is over!  I thought this bewildered picture* of Layla could describe the last few days best:

I certainly hope next week is much less stress-filled (and much more turkey-filled) than this one!

How was your week?

*Taken by my friend, Ms. Long.

MrsDrPoe: "To Live is Christ"

Good morning to you all, and welcome to Theology Thursday on the blog!  As I do every week, I invite you to open your Bibles with me as we look at portion of God's word.

During this month's elections, I heard someone say, "I hate when people let religion get in the way of politics!"  I found this statement to be particularly ironic since this person would identify herself as a Christian.  This got me to thinking about how we often try to compartmentalize our lives, dividing our focus much like this pie graph:

We spend, say, 33.3% of our time at work or school, 22.2% of our time sleeping, 22.2% of our time with family, 11.1% of our time doing chores or running errands, and 11.1% serving God.  While this seems like a nice, neat way to organize our lives, we are missing the point of being a Christian.

In Philippians 1:21, Paul says, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."  He goes on to explain his statement in the following verses: "But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.  For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.  Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you."  Thus, through death, Paul would "gain" by being able to be with Christ, and continuing in this life is "Christ" as he would spend his time teaching others about Him and continuing to pattern his actions as after the Lord's.

As we "imitate [Paul] as [he] also imitates Christ," (1 Cor 11:1), we too must strive to make living Christ in our lives.  Our focus pie chart should look more like this:

Not that our service to God has been removed, but that it's like a third dimension, permeating every aspect of our lives.  That means that when we're at work/school our actions reflect our Lord- we help others, we don't gossip, we don't lie or cheat, etc.  When we're with our family, running errands, or doing chores, we again make choices that would be pleasing to God- curbing our anger at 'stupid drivers,' examining the media we listen to/watch/read, etc.  Of course, in order to implement this lifestyle, we must know what is pleasing to Him- knowledge that we gain through intensive Bible study and fervent prayer, attempting to conform our will to His.

"To live is Christ," and we should strive to point to Him in every action we take and decision we make- even political ones.

MrsDrPoe: The Ultimate Hot Cocoa

Another week has reached its midpoint, which means it's time for What's for Dinner Wednesday.  Tonight, I'd like to share with you a family recipe that might be useful to you as we forge through the chilly nights ahead...hot cocoa.

Ingredients: 1 cup milk, 1.5 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 3 tsp sugar (or sugar substitute).

Combine cocoa and sweetener in the bottom of a microwave safe mug with a spoon:

Add about 2 tablespoons of the milk to the cup; combine to form a liquid-y paste.  Pour in the rest of the milk and stir to combine.  Microwave for 1 minute on high, then remove, stir, and microwave for another minute to minute and a half.  Enjoy!

I love this recipe for several reasons:

1) It's simple and preservative free.
2) It's easily dressed up- top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings and maybe a peppermint stir-stick and you've got a fancy, festive treat!
3) It fits any diet- if you're watching your weight, use skim milk and Splenda for a happy ending to your day with 100 calories or less!
4) It makes a great gift- if you're looking for homemade gifts or party favors, combine cocoa, sweetener, and 1/3 cup powdered milk in ziplock bags (for individual packets...or multiply the recipe and put in mason jars).  Give as gift along with instructions to add 1 cup water and the contents of the packet (about 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon of mix from a larger container) to a mug and microwave.