The Best $2 You Can Spend!

Some where at some time at some point I heard mention of a thing called a "marshmallow gun."  Turns out you can make a mighty fine one for about $2!

Basically you need some 1/2-inch PVC and a few other bits.  Get "Schedule 40" PVC... typically marked on the PVC as "SCH 40".  It's the most common stuff you'll find at Home Depot.  ...what I'm saying is don't buy sprinkler line or anything like that... just get SCH 40 PVC.  You can buy a 10-foot length of 1/2-inch  PVC from Home Depot for a dollar and change.  A 10-foot length piece will yield five guns... or you can buy a 2-foot length of 1/2-inch PVC for $0.87, but clearly the 10-foot piece is the better deal.  In addition to the 1/2-inch PVC, you need the following PVC pieces for each gun:

• 2 - 1/2-inch "90s"
• 2 - 1/2-inch "Ts"
• 2 - 1/2-inch caps

For cutting the PVC, I used a PVC cutter (because I happened to have one).  You could use a hacksaw, or something similar, but every house should have a PVC pipe cutter--it can cut hoses, PVC, rubber tubing, etc... and it's only $13 from Home Depot.  It looks something like this...

... and if you use a saw, you have "burs" you have to sand clean, yada yada... (just buy a cutter... you'll use it for lots of things).

As I mentioned earlier, you can get five guns from a 10-foot length of PVC.  To make things easier, cut a 2-foot length (24 inches) off the 10-foot piece.  Take a tape measure and layout the following marks on the 2-foot piece PVC you just cut... 3"... 6"... 9"... 12".... 15"... and 19-1/2"... then cut the PVC at these marks with your PVC cutter.  This will yield the following pieces:

• 5 - 3-inch pieces
• 2 - 4-1/2-inch pieces

Now you're ready to assemble...

I annotated this picture to show you where everything goes...

Don't use any sort of glue... you don't need it... it's probably not safe to put in your mouth... and you'll need to disassemble the gun to either remove stuck marshmallows or to put the disassembled parts into the dishwasher from time to time to clean 'em.

You "shoot" the gun by blowing into the open end of the 4-1/2" pipe.  The most effective way to get the maximum "punch" from the gun is to load the marshmallow into the hole where you blow--just insert the marshmallow into the hole and push it in an inch or so... then BLOW!  Make sure you inhale prior to putting your mouth on the PVC or you'll suck a marshmallow into your throat and risk death!

1. The gun is pretty darned accurate for what it is!
2. A bag of bullets is super cheap!
3. Your dog will find and clean up any unfound bullets!
4. And most importantly... you get BIG smiles!

Enjoy!

Details...

I purchased a new book from Borders... because I had a 30% off coupon. The book is Understanding Close-up Photography. You can always learn something new... and I liked the title, since it said “close-up” instead of “macro.” If nothing else, it inspired me to get the camera out this morning and play around a bit. The following image is the result:

The image above was produced from the image below...

I LOVE the details you see going in close.  I don't think most folks typically take the time to “zoom” in...

I added these pictures and more to the Flowers photo album on BillMallinPhotography.com (you can find it here).

My Hipster Bike is Complete!

Following up on my post below about my Hipster bike...

I completed it!

Mas details, etc. can be found here: http://billsbike.blogspot.com/

Two Pie Are...

I ran today... first time I've done so since I hurt my foot.  Like a good patient, I've stayed off of it since my last run on September 30.

I ran 9.01 miles just under an hour and 20 minutes.  If'n you're interested in the run, you can find the yada yada about it here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17084336.

I don't usually run the loop at Memorial Park, but I decided I would today... in case my foot started acting up, I'd be no more than a mile and a half away from the car.  The loop is three miles.  At least that's what everyone says, but in reality, it's about 2.9 miles (according to my Garmin 305, that is).

I ran one loop clockwise... one counterclockwise... and the final one clockwise.  (Of course I had to run a little more than three loops to get my nine miles).

Anyway, during my run, I noticed a sign that said, "Stay to the right."  Well, if you're running clockwise, that puts you on the inside of the loop, and obviously running counterclockwise puts you on the outside of the loop.

Since I had all of this random information in my head, I wondered how much further you ran if you ran counterclockwise (on the outside of the loop) as opposed to running clockwise (on the inside of the loop).  I said to myself, "Self, you should calculate that when you get home."  Followed by, "You really are a dork!"

Well, dork or not, I calculated it...

The following are some assumptions and some constants:

• the width of the trail is 12 feet
• the loop is a circle
• you run clockwise on the inside of the path for the entire loop
• you run counterclockwise on the outside of the path for the entire loop
• π = 3.14159
• the formula for the circumference (C) of a circle is C = 2πr, where r = radius
• there are 5,280 feet in a mile

(I sure hope you appreciate the accuracy of these calculations!!!)

We know the circumference of the inner circle--3 miles.
3 = 2πr
so r = 3/2π
Plug in the numbers...
r = 0.477464829821269 miles, or if we convert it to feet we get r = 2521.0143014563 feet.

Since we assumed the trail is 12 feet wide, that makes the radius of the outer trail 2521.0143014563 + 12 feet, or 2533.0143014563 feet.

Well, now it's simple to solve for the circumference of the outer circle...
As before...
C = 2πr; therefore,
C = 2π(2533.0143014563)
C = 15915.3982236 feet
And since we know there are 5,280 feet in a mile, the outer circumference is 3.01427996659091 miles.

That's a difference of 0.01427996659091 miles... or 75.3982235999985 feet. if we think about it in football terms, that's equivalent to 25.1327411999995 yards.

And let's say you run 9 minute miles... running counterclockwise will take you 0.128519699318179 minutes... or an additional 7.71118195909075 seconds!  The following table lists some pace times and the additional time it'll take you to make it around:

Pace (mins/mile)	Extra time (seconds)
7	6.0
8	6.9
9	7.7
10	8.6
11	9.4
12	10.3
20	17.1

So if you want to save 7 or 8 seconds, run clockwise on the inside of the path!

DORK!!!

My Hipster Bike Project!

I have a new project... a Hipster Bike...

I created a blog for it... here: http://billsbike.blogspot.com/

:-)