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Back around 250 BC when Archimedes invented the screw pump, he likely never envisioned the modern marvel it would become - the chocolate fountain.

I own a ½ interest in a chocolate fountain.  I did not know this until recently when my lovely wife co-hosted a wedding shower for a neighbor.  When the fountain returned home after the party, I was quick to move in for a chocolate covered snack.  When it was time for clean up, my lovely wife began to disassemble the fountain’s various tiers exposing the simple machine that enables the whole show.  An Archimedes’ screw lifts the molten chocolate from the basin up through a hollow tube where it then flows down over the shaped tiers.  When the fountain is taken apart all that is left is a bowl of liquid chocolate and a vertical screw.

I’m not sure how to explain why I did what I did next.  In my Polish mind I decided to further investigate the still chocolate covered device.  I pressed the on switch.  Okay, I’m not nearly as smart as Archimedes because obviously the whole screw pump mechanics don’t work without the surrounding hollow pipe.  I also failed to fully appreciate the speed at which this machine operates.  What happened next was like turning on a chocolate sprinkler system in the middle of the kitchen.  In about two seconds I splatter painted a very large area = r² • Π of our kitchen.

I don’t know if I’ll ever outgrow my dumb childlike curiosity for how things work.  This lesson only cost my about 30 minutes of wiping up the kitchen.  Delicious.

– steve

My first ever CD was sadly Luke Skywalker and the 2 Live Crew and a tamer MC Hammer featuring Can’t Touch This.  What may be even better than that was the hardware on which I played it.  This took some Google searching to come up with, but I located a photo that very nearly matches the huge Magnavox console stereo that I was given by my parents to use.  This thing was as probably 4 foot wide by 2 feet deep by 3 feet high.  That’s right, about 24 cubic feet of stereo goodness.

As you can imagine, this beauty did not include a CD player as standard equipment.  It had an AM\FM radio with the smooth analog dial to tune in Casey Kasem’s  American Top 40 on Sunday morning (pre Ryan Seacrest kids).  It also featured a dual speed record player, complete with pennies taped to the needle to keep skips to a minimum.  It even had an 8-track player.  I only recall listening to two songs on 8-track:  1) Puff the Magic Dragon and 2) Double Vision on K-tel record label.

The real treat on this was the auxiliary RCA connections on the back.  I purchased a used Sharp brand single tray front loading compact disc player from a neighbor for around $75.  Once connected to the 24 cubic feet of Magnavox sweetness with those 10 inch paper woofers, that thing hit.  CDs came on the scene just as super-loud bass was all the rage.  Man did I have the fever too.  I shook the house and rattled pictures off the wall.  My mom used to get upset with the ‘noise’ and crooked pictures.

It’s amazing I can hear anything as an adult after what I’ve subjected myself to.  I could go on to document the crazy stereo system my brother’s car once sported, but I’ll leave that post for him to write.

Check out the other Magnavox console style stereos of the day.  I bet Chuck had one.

– steve

* Thanks Travis for the inspiration for this post.

Tonight, I rocked my son to sleep with the lullaby that is Mississippi Queen courtesy of Guitar Hero III - Legends of Rock (for the Nintendo Wii).  Awesome.  I’ve been wanting this game ever since my lovely wife and I played it at a friend’s house during the holidays.  We couldn’t take it anymore, and since the federal income tax return check is securely in the bank, why not treat ourselves?  I’m barely able to type this — as my left hand is severely cramping from the past two hours of non-stop play.
I rock.
— steve 

I start my day a little earlier than the rest of the family. This means two things. 1) I must be quiet as a mouse so I don’t wake anyone. 2) It also means getting dressed in complete darkness as to not disturb my lovely wife’s slumber.

Born from this comes what we affectionately refer to as the “good husband sock finding light.”  It’s the only way to wear matching socks and get to work on time. I used to think this was a unique occurrence at the Dunning household, but alas — I’ve now heard from others that they too respect the rest of their spouse and peer through drawers with tiny flashlights.  Some even use the warm blue glow of a cell phone backlight.  (I don’t recommend phones, as the colored light doesn’t always help match socks)

I’m curious, anyone else have a light tucked away in their sock drawer?

– steve

The iPhone is fixed.  Apple support replaced it, while I borrowed a loaner iPhone they overnighted to me.  Scuba still needs to be called into support.  I’m beginning to rethink owning a vaccum that requires tech support.  All Christmas decorations are down, and stored in the attic.  This is a big deal for me becasue I hate going up into the attic.  I can again see my garage floor which I’m happy about.  I’ve installed Lepord on my Mac at home and upgraded it to 2 GB of memory.  It’s now faster than ever.  I finally got Windows XP on Mac to talk to my wireless network.  Travis called into question whether I’m a blogger at all due to my lack of posting recently.  I’ve got lots more, but I’ll try to save them for another day.

– steve