Wednesday 23 May 2012

The Heatwave and the swimming pool


Well yesterday I said it was hot and it was, but today is very hot in fact I think it is safe to say it has been very *********** hot. As I write this it is fifteen minutes past five in the afternoon and I have just been to look at the outside thermometer (kept in the shade and is trusted to be accurate) it says at present it is 31C or 86F (in old money). Now I know in some parts of the world that is quite normal but not here in the Shropshire hills in May, after all only a week ago we had frost in the evening.  What makes us British grumble is the fact one day it can be near to zero and raining then it will be bright sun and hot and humid the next. It is why we talk about the weather all the time (see look what I have just done)



In order to help we were doing maths and science in the swimming pool at school with the caretaker ordered to make as much ice as possible and keep putting it in the deep end. It is not easy to do maths in the deep end of the swimming pool and anyway the headmaster had moved his office into that end of the pool. It is one advantage of using traditional old fashioned solid wooden desks, they float and will not fall apart after a few hours of being submerged in chlorinated water with passing ice cubes.  On the subject of passing ice cubes I did warm Freddie that carving Titanic into the top of his desk was tempting fate and sure enough he ended up having to share my desk all afternoon.  But it did give the history teacher something to talk about while he trod water near the springboard.

We ended up having to do all our maths the old fashioned way (long hand) because we have discovered that Casio Economy Scientific Calculators do not really like swimming pools much, nor do iphones, I knew they were rubbish. The Steam Powered Electro-Magnetic Speech Communicating Device that dad made me was fine, all that water kept in cool; and in the water it weighed less that its normal eight pounds three ounces. This, the science teacher said was due to the water displacement and the differences in specific density between the distilled water in the Steam Powered Electro-Magnetic Speech Communicating Device and the chlorinated water in the swimming pool.

Luckily by the time we all got home after school everyone’s uniform had dried out so we did not drip on the carpet which I know some parents might have got a bit upset about. But when I complained about the heat at home the dog turned the hosepipe on me. That sounds like it would be nice and cool but water that has spent all day heating up in a black hosepipe can be rather hot, still hot water does take your mind of hot air………

Taking of hot air I must go I have a head to make, I am not going to tell you whose head because you really should know by now.  



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6 comments:

  1. In case you are wondering why displacement is so heavy, it's because in the end it is cement. I noticed this similarly in another cement ending word at the restaurant on Sunday far far away. Oh, now I remember, it was the word "commencement", on a banner. After sitting through a three hour commencement ceremony, we seriously moaned that we had now become men and wo-men who felt like our backsides had turned into cement.

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    1. Sorry I was unable to respond earlier, lots to do and the like, I have never
      seen the cement in displacement or commencement before but it explains much. I must remember to tell builders that the commencement of cementing involves two types of cement but misplacement of the cement would involve yet more cement and they would find it far easier if they stuck to concrete (not got stuck in concrete)

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  2. Pool cool non sinking desks...great luck.

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    1. One must always be aware of the undercurrents and try and go with the flow in school and avoid making waves

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  3. sounds like your day was a one hot adventure!! just the thought of desks in a swimming pool is fun!!
    I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

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    1. Thank you very much for following I have had a look at your blog and was amused by the story of about counting steps. We live in a bungalow now and have two, so that is not quite the same.

      But the thing that struck me about your blog is you have well over two thousand followers..... WHAT......HOW...... O MY GOD. I think that is very impressive but scary. So just for the moment I will leave following until you are one of the regulars here.

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