OK, N6 has been made. That will change the second year inorganic textbooks. My supervisor always said prizes mean you have friends but changing the textbooks means you have respect.

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I was past due for my next donation (every 56 days) and I had some time at lunch so I dropped into @canadaslifeline Moncton to see if they had an opening. I was in and out in just over half an hour. Service was exceptional, like a reverse Hallowe'en where the vampires push salty snacks at you.

Years ago I asked our resident sugar bush expert if he ever overcooked a batch of syrup if I could have a sample for the Chem lab.The very next week he presented me with a bottle of dark liquor. I have yearly harvested precipitated maple sugar that we have used as an unknown in our polarimetry lab.

Hooked On Phonics has not served my first year Chem students well. I mean what do they think I have been saying the past two weeks?

I tell students that the rules of math determine correctness. I cannot fault the student for their set up, just a calculation error leading to a wrong answer (sig figs issue too). I grade this as 7.25/10 (sorry for returning the marked work 3000 years late).

(www.livescience.com/archaeology/...)

We had an Open House for prospective students and their parents last weekend. I was manning the Science table and brought some visuals. I also made some magnetic water molecule- fridge magnets that were well received.

Our campus sits on 200 acres with 2/3 of it woodland. It is bordered on two sides by the Trans Canada Highway and a major street. In the winter we take the Intro Chem students out to sample snowbanks, ice, snow and stream to see if we can detect a seasonal increase in salt using Vernier probeware.

Canadian concepts: Driveway Laminate: when a sequence of snowfalls, that individually are not significant enough to clear, accumulate and go through freeze/thaw cycles to form an impervious amorphous concretion anchored to the driveway. AKA: Old Man Killer. Solution? Salt.

I have taught chemistry to engineers at 2 different universities and this captures their attitude. "We are all failing but I'm failing best".

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Fritz Grein saved me during an exam at UNB and I try to honor that kindness by giving each of my students a Kinder Egg during exams. I also provide a pack of tissues to each student. Comment of the semester, student picks up the tissues and asks "is this in case I cry?"

Found in the hallway outside my classroom.

"Venlafaxine is used to treat general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder."

Dear Lord, bless my students, give them a centering peace that will allow them to do the best they can under the circumstances. And help me teach them.