Blood Bank

Sarah was feeling better and school wasn't canceled today even though the temps were still in the single digits and below zero wind chills. I am waiting for people to start ripping the school board since the last time we had weather like this (about two years ago) they kept school open and people had fits that they had to send their kids to school. Apparently the wind chills now freeze the school rooms.

But Sarah and Alison got to leave school early today to help with a blood drive. Sarah's scout troop organized it for whatever award they are working on at the moment (I don't recall exactly which one it is). but things went pretty good. About 80% of the people who registered actually showed up, but apparently not everyone was able to give blood. They ahd lots of requirements relating to various diseases and asked lots of questions regarding stuff like visiting the Caribbean in the last 12 months (apparently making you a risk for having been exposed to malaria). But I think they still did pretty good.

I actually donated a pint myself. I was all set to donate platelets as well but apparently my hemoglobin level wasn't high enough. The guy seemed bummed out when I told him my blood type was O+. Maybe next time. I think I'm going to schedule myself to donate blood again in the spring. I have to wait until at least 2/16, so maybe the early March time frame will work.

Powderpuff Results

Last night was the first Riverside Girl Scout Powderpuff Pinewood Derby. After a long design process for both girls, we managed to settle on the car style, color, and adornments. What a hassle! I think next time if we do it I’ll present (2) or (3) choices and that’ll be it.

Once I had the cars painted and assembled, wheels and all, it was time to add the weights. We took the cars to the hobby store to be weighed and figure out how much weight to add. Ali’s car weighed in at 3.7 oz. and Sarah’s was an even 4.0. We got 1 oz. of weight for each car. The weight limit was 5.0 oz. so Sarah wanted to go just under that since we didn’t want to get DQ’d for being too heavy. Ali’s we didn’t have to worry about since we were more than an ounce off. Sarah’s car went pretty good, though I messed up the clear coat (it was still a little soft) when I was holding it to drill the holes for the weights. On Alison’s, I ended up drilling THROUGH the car and messing up the paint and stickers. I WAS MAD! Luckily the damage wasn’t too bad and I was able to repair it and get it pretty close to the original condition. Can you see the repair?

In the end, both cars worked pretty well. They both averaged in the neighborhood of 2.380 seconds per run. Awards were given for first through 10th place. Alison took 10th place and Sarah took 4th. Both girls received medals. Sarah was .007 seconds away from getting a trophy. While they were happy (relatively speaking) with their awards, it was fun just making the cars with them and seeing how they reacted watching their cars race.

Powderpuff Derby

We finished up the Powderpuff Derby cars this weekend (pictures below). The clear coat made the color on the numbers run (bum deal, but nothing I could really do). The race is Tuesday night and all I need to do is adjust the weight. Hopefully they have a good time. I know Ali really wants to win, and Sarah wants an award, whether it is for one of the categories they are going to give out like Best Design, Most Original Design, etc. or an actual winning car. I did my best so we’ll see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for them.