09:21 – We did a lot of work on science kits yesterday. More today.
We’re down to four containers of ninhyrdrin crystals for forensic kits, so I ordered more ninhydrin late last week. It’s supposed to arrive today, so I’ll have Barbara labeling and filling ninhydrin containers. Same thing on ascorbic acid (vitamin C) tablets, which are included in all our kits. We’re down to five containers of those in stock, so I just ordered 5,000 more 500 mg tablets. We normally maintain at least 2,000 of these in stock, either refrigerated in their original bottles or repackaged for kits. Yet another example of a science kit inventory item that’s also a useful prepping item. I also need to make up another batch of Kastle-Meyer Reagent, which involves refluxing (simmering) a caustic brew to convert the bright magenta phenolphthalein to colorless phenolphthalin.
Barbara and I are re-watching Heartland. We just started season six the other night. There was a story thread about fostering children and the rules for that in Alberta. I decided to check the rules in North Carolina, not that we’re considering fostering/adopting. About the only requirement in North Carolina is that an adoptive parent must be at least 18 years old and, bizarrely, that a fostering parent must be at least 21. So, they’ll give you a kid if you’re at least 18, but they’ll lend you one only if you’re at least 21. Hmmm.
While I was on the North Carolina fostering/adopting website, I also looked at their gallery. I expected it to be almost exclusively black and Hispanic kids, but there were a fair number of white kids as well. Some of those were no doubt orphaned, but I suspect a lot of them came out of nightmarishly abusive homes. The young kids at least have a chance of being adopted. The ones I really feel sorry for are those in their mid-teens, like this one, who have little chance of finding a new family.
And I’m still wondering what emergency the German and Czech governments are telling citizens to prepare for. I doubt they seriously believe that Putin is about to invade, and the only other thing I can think of is that they’re expecting a widespread muslim uprising.