Bottle Rockets and Snow Gnomes!

Break in the weather means More Snow Sculptures!

  The Cold weather has finally given way to warmer temps and Sunshine!   Yeah!   I was a little worried yesterday, when it dumped an additional 2 inches of snow on us!  The temps had crept up to almost 30, but wind and clouds kept the outside uncomfortable.  But today!   Sunshine and temps above freezing...  I'll take it!

Running outside is fun again!

So what to do on such a pleasant day after having to hole up and hide out in our small 600 sq ft apartment...   Well, obviously something outside!    Originally, I had planned a science experiment  involving plastic bottles, warm water, and air pressure.  With those ingredients, what could go wrong? 

Water provides the "fuel."

Well,  the extreme cold prevented any outside trials.  The theory is to fill a bottle slightly with water and then fill it up with a high level of air pressure.   I recently replaced my tire pump with a new one, and decided to donate my old pump to science... rather than throw it away. (Because blowing things up in the name of science never goes out of fashion.) 

Cork things up!

I had to deal with the problem of the "release valve"  and found that a simple cork top seems to work out nicely.   Mostly because it fit inside the plastic bottles.   Let's fill these bottles up and get to launching!

Snow provides stability!

The snow actually provided a some-what stable launching platform.   I could bury the air hose in the packy snow and it would hold the bottle at the proper angle away from my face.  (Safety first.. and all that stuff.)   Actually,  to  be the MOST safe..  I should try my best NOT to BLOW THINGS UP to begin with...   but humanity will never progress if they don't accept any risks. Am I right? 

Launching and filming, not easy!

The launch was pretty cool.   Not as far as I had hoped, but Further than I had thought.  I couldn't film any of the launches with only myself acting as camera man  AND launch control. But imagine a bottle flying into the air like a Saturn five rocket.. and you will understand the fascination. 

An old idea, in toy form!

How the Professionals do it.

This idea is not a new one.  I had a similar rocket launcher "toy" back when I was 8 years old.   The pump came with a little "trigger" that would launch a toy rocket up into the sky with minimal mess and fuss.   Of course, we kids broke it eventually,  pumping ever more and more pressure into the rocket in the hopes it would fly higher or further.    I can't remember if it was the rocket or the pump that broke first.    I can imagine a plastic rocket hitting the ground one too many times will eventually crack.   But... since when do science toys ever last anyway?  NASA blew up every single Mercury rocket they made.  I'm just following their path. 

"Helpful" munchkin filling the bottles.

Trouble launching the bottles.

Even the side-kick neighbor kid got in on the act.  As usual.. he was mostly useless.   He is too short and weak to manly pump up the bottles to he required  launch pressure.  So the bottles fizzled out about half way into the yard.    I imagine adding fins and  a cone to the top would help with stability, or add too much drag to get any distance.  Either way,   we both got bored and called it for the launch cycle.   

But with a surplus of sunshine left in the day,   I wanted to make another snowman.  The last one has lasted almost a MONTH!    BU I have a feeling the current heat wave will shorten the life of my next creative sculpture.    So why not keep the short  theme and make a gnome...

Snow gnome... ready to sweep winter away!

Mostly, the snow dictated the terms of my artistry.  The snow is like a heavy sugar.   It is packy, but heavy and fragile when I pick it up.   As it is, I see one of the gnomes eyes have fallen out all ready.   Even with the temps hovering just below 30, it appears the sun is doing a fine job melting the model.    But hey!  At least I got a few pics for the blog!    And having something blog-worthy is always a good thing.  

Remember the Cold Snap in Florida?

Hope everyone else is enjoying this "heat wave".   Really?  Since when is 33 degrees a heat wave?   Well,  Only if you have been dealing with negatives up to this point. And you DON"T live in Texas.  

(Poor Texas....  It never snows there... so what the heck are they supposed to do when it actually does?   Just like Florida back in the day... Remember the 80's Florida Orange Industry disaster?) Well,  Keep calm and keep warm.   Spring is coming soon.. It always does.   And then we will complain about the rains and flooding.   Because what are humans if they are not constantly complaining about something.   Am I right?   

Thanks for stopping in.