Friday, June 22, 2012
Pepper!
(4)
(Back from the fridge with beer #6 at 1705. Sip. It's hot. Kootch is taking a cool shower. But wait! There's more!)
About three days ago I entered the kitchen. Kootch had made the happy mistake of leaving the fawcett dripping. It must have dripped for an hour or so before I arrived on the scene. The light next to the sink was on. The scene in the sink was utterly mezmerizing: Hundreds of (mostly small) pools of water covered the sink bottom, illuminated by the bright phosphorescent light about 45 degrees above/right. The scene resembled a 'modernist painting.' I was instantly hooked. I leaned over the sink and watched the process taking place below me. Each 'pool' was actually a 'bulge' of water with steep sides, separating each bulge from the other bulges. Surface Tension! (Kootch has hit the sack and I am working on beer #7 at 1732. The news is on.) I watched. Five minutes... Ten minutes... (I am easily amused). The entire magical scene was slowly changing in front of me as various 'bulges' merged and either grew larger or disappeared in mergers as the water found its way to the drain.
I experimented with the flow. I eventually decided that the best flow rate (of cold water) was about one drip per second. The 'splat' could be seen all over the sink as tiny droplets formed on the floor and walls of the silvery sink.
Then I noticed a tiny dark object in one of the droplets as it moved from one 'bulge' to another as they merged. I followed it all the way to the drain. I wanted to duplicate that 'movement' in order to understand the flow process.
'Pepper!' I thought.
(Back from the fridge with beer #6 at 1705. Sip. It's hot. Kootch is taking a cool shower. But wait! There's more!)
About three days ago I entered the kitchen. Kootch had made the happy mistake of leaving the fawcett dripping. It must have dripped for an hour or so before I arrived on the scene. The light next to the sink was on. The scene in the sink was utterly mezmerizing: Hundreds of (mostly small) pools of water covered the sink bottom, illuminated by the bright phosphorescent light about 45 degrees above/right. The scene resembled a 'modernist painting.' I was instantly hooked. I leaned over the sink and watched the process taking place below me. Each 'pool' was actually a 'bulge' of water with steep sides, separating each bulge from the other bulges. Surface Tension! (Kootch has hit the sack and I am working on beer #7 at 1732. The news is on.) I watched. Five minutes... Ten minutes... (I am easily amused). The entire magical scene was slowly changing in front of me as various 'bulges' merged and either grew larger or disappeared in mergers as the water found its way to the drain.
I experimented with the flow. I eventually decided that the best flow rate (of cold water) was about one drip per second. The 'splat' could be seen all over the sink as tiny droplets formed on the floor and walls of the silvery sink.
Then I noticed a tiny dark object in one of the droplets as it moved from one 'bulge' to another as they merged. I followed it all the way to the drain. I wanted to duplicate that 'movement' in order to understand the flow process.
'Pepper!' I thought.
