08:38 – We made the 31 August deadline to start shipping forensic science kits.

Barbara had a relaxing day off yesterday, and was delighted when she arrived home to find the new deck complete. We downsized significantly. The old deck was 16×20 feet (about 4.9 x 6.1 meters). The new one is 10×12 feet (about 3 x 3.7 meters). That’s big enough, because we very seldom have more than one or at most two other couples over. Mainly, Barbara just wanted room for a gas grill and and small table and chairs. She likes to sit out on the deck and read during pleasant weather.

I spent some time yesterday roughing out a couple of new science kits. I’ll have to write manuals for both, which will be the major time commitment. Mary Chervenak suggested our next kit should be one that focuses on advanced biology, with an emphasis on recombinant DNA, gene manipulation, and so on. That’s tempting from an intellectual point of view, and I suppose we could position it as an AP Biology kit, but I have to think through all the implications before we proceed with it. But it’s definitely a candidate, along with AP chemistry, first-year physics, earth science, and physical science (which is basically a combined introduction to biology, chemistry, and physics).