08:02 – It didn’t get as cold here last night as it was supposed to. The forecast was for 2F (-17C), but the actual low was about 10F (-12C). The forecast low tonight is 0F (-18C). We’ll see. Saturday we’re supposed to have more snow and ice arriving.
Colin got his own back yesterday afternoon. In the morning, all four paws went out from under him and he went down. Yesterday, with the ice just starting to melt, we were on the street in front of Kim’s house when I slipped and went down in the gutter. After checking to make sure I wasn’t hurt, Colin mocked me for going down despite being in six-paw drive. It took me a moment to realize that he was talking about my own two feet and my four-footed cane. Kim and her mom came running out their front door to make sure I wasn’t hurt. I told them I was fine. The only damage was that my jeans got a little damp. The worst part was lying there in the gutter trying to get up with my feet sliding out from under me.
I’m still making up chemicals and filling bottles for science kits. When I eventually get through this batch, we’ll have most of what we need for 30 more forensics kits, 90 more biology kits, and 120 more chemistry kits. Then it’ll be rinse and repeat to get ready for the rush in July through September.
11:52 – Wow. I was just washing out the reservoir from one of our automatic bottle fillers when I noticed that the cold tap water seemed a lot colder than usual. So I filled the reservoir and stuck a lab thermometer in. The temperature was 4C (39F). No wonder my hands were starting to get numb. Falling into a pond at that temperature can kill you just from thermal shock. Even if it doesn’t, you’ll be in bad trouble in 30 seconds and probably dead in a few minutes.