From No!No!No! to Swastikas

Weird title, right. I know.  The idea for this post came while I was sitting at a fast food restaurant affectionately known around my house as the Monarch.  As my wife and I waited for our order, i noticed that some jack-ass had carved a Swastika into the table.  This restaurant was located in the heart of suburbia near a large county park and oddly enough not far from Wayne Newton's house (no joke).  All this is to say, I don't think a local chapter of any hate group was having a meeting or burger get together.  So more than likely this was the work or indiscretion of bored suburban youths, kids that actually go to good schools.

So were these ne're do wells actual hate mongers?  Probably not.  Teens often do things to get a reaction or to test the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Teenager feel they don't have much control over their lives, so they rebel.  Anyone read Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.  Holden was a little shit.  Teenagers love that book, and consequently many high school English class doors, desks and other flat surfaces wind up with scribbled message in reference to fornication.

Semi-conductors: A Daily Essential

If you have no interest in how the electrical devices which aid and govern every area of modern life actually work, you won’t know a thing about semi-conductors. Their name is apt, for they are a vital but silent partner in the business of living. Without them, many of our biggest industries simply couldn’t survive. We wouldn’t have cheap, readily available electronic goods. Even life-saving diagnostic tools would be lost to modern medicine without the semi-conductor.

If you’re still on board, let’s get the science bit done. To understand semi conductors – visit RS Components to survey all manner them - you have to understand conductors. Even the technophobes among us can grasp the concept of materials which conduct electricity. In most of our computers and gadgets, conductors are made of metal, while non-conductors are usually made of ceramics. A semi-conductor is a material which conducts energy between conductors and non-conductors. They are either made of elemental materials such as germanium and silicon, or compounds like cadmium selenide. Compounds are made using a process known as doping, in which small impurities are added to silicon, enabling it to properly channel the electrical flow.

Hey, Where Have You Guys Been?

Welcome Back

Where have we been? Good question. Well technically we, The Dads, haven't gone anywhere. Yes, we haven't written an article in a while. We are still experiencing the "joys" of fatherhood each and everyday.  We just haven't had much time to share and write about them.  

Specifically for me, my son Clark became mobile and started to crawl.  My whole life, my whole style of life changed.  No longer could I place Clark somewhere and he would be happy to stay there, while I got a little work done.  He can move on his own and isn't happy unless he's doing so. He's not much of a TV watcher (the opposite of his dad at that age according to grandma).  He's constantly finding new places and things to get into around the house.  He'd must rather explore cabinets that he's not allowed in than to play with any of his toys.  

All this mostly means, chasing what is now a 16 month old boy around all day for fun (and his protection), doesn't leave much time for writing.  He's down to one nap a day (3 hrs, yea!) and an 8 PM bed time.  So hopefully, I'll get a little more writing done in the future.  I look forward to catching up and sharing my stories with you.