A Year of Blogging: October 23, 2011

October 23 is 'Mole Day'. Although this isn't a day about the blind rodents who dig tunnels in your yard. Nor is it a day to honor those who are spies. No, this day is about the chemistry mole. A mole is a unit of measure that measures the atomic mass of a single molecule (at least according to holidayinsights.com). The purpose of Mole Day is to get people interested in Chemistry. That's my cue to check out. I did not take chemistry. I have never been a science person. In fact, my lowest grades always came in science. In my high school, juniors took chemistry. The problem was, chemistry was held the same time as Creative Writing. I had already taken my required two years of a lab science, and didn't see the point of taking more only to bring down my GPA. I planned to be a writer. I was fairly certain I wouldn't need science. But I needed the chemistry teacher to sign off on my drop slip. He terrified me. I don't know why. I nicely explained to him that I planned to be a writer, and therefore felt Creative Writing would be much more beneficial to me than Chemistry. He was extremely nice and understanding, and said he totally understood. And that ended my high school science career. I just quizzed Erich, because one of his many degrees is in Chemistry (I'm thinking one of the Bachelors, but he has so many degrees I get confused). Once I told him that Mole Day didn't refer to the animal or the spy, he figured it out and proceeded to recite the formula and give me a detailed explanation. I kind of zoned out. This happens often whenever I make the mistake of asking him a science related question. Instead of giving me just a simple answer, he goes into all the procedures and explanations. I get lost almost every time! If you're into Chemistry, today's a great day for you! If, like me, you aren't a chemistry person, perhaps you'd rather celebrate Mother-in-Law Day. Then again, maybe not.