Saturday, October 27, 2007

SciQuest






Step One - Enter Teleportation Chamber
Step Two - Close Chamber Door
Step Three - Enter Teleportation Coordinates
Step Four - Energize Teleportation Chamber
* Warning - Ensure that no other biological entities are in chamber prior to energizing.

Dog Gone - I guess we should have read all of the instructions prior to pushing the go button. Oh well, It's really not that noticeable is it?

To see some additional photos from our trip to the science museum click here.

Tate Farms

The Pohicks headed to Tate Farms in Meridianville, Alabama today. We all had a great time. While there we jumped in hay, jumped in cotton, took a hay ride, picked pumpkins, petted goats, petted pigs, petted bunnies and got lost in a hay maze. To see some more great pictures from the day, click on this link.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Monday, October 08, 2007

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

No Pohick adventure would be complete without a little toe-tapping Alabama Music. The group swung by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was opened in 1990 to honor the many contributions made to music by Alabamians. The Hall of Fame inductees include: Tammy Wynette, Lionel Richie, Emmylou Harris, the group Alabama, The Commodores, Nat King Cole, W.C. Handy, and Hank Williams.

Helen Keller Birthplace

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Today's adventure took the Pohick Clan to Tuscumbia, Alabama and the birthplace of Helen Keller. Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf blind person to graduate from college. The story of how a remarkable teacher broke through the isolation the lack of language had imposed on the child, who blossomed as she learned to communicate, are staples of American folklore. What is less well known is how Keller's life developed after she completed her education: she became a radical campaigner for workers' rights and an advocate for many other progressive causes.

Here are some additional photos from our visit.

We were very excited to see Helen Keller's birth home having grown up watching the classic movie Miracle Worker. In the movie, 7-year old Helen Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy. She has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch the only tool they have in common and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Update (5 Mar 2008) - Researchers have located a rare unpublished photo of Helen Keller.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Corn Maze Craze

Once again our band of intrepid adventures journey into the unknown. Seeking out new civilizations. Going where no man has gone before. Well, no man except for the guy who cut the path through the corn maze. The Pohicks journeyed to a nearby town and took a hike through a corn maze. It was fun but as the weather was still in the 90's today, it just didn't seem like a good day to be participating in Fall activities. Who wants to drink hot apple cider when it's 90+ degrees out I ask you? Anyway, the gang still had fun and Jake got to prove that he is not as directionally challenged as Molly sometimes likes to portray him.

A Bug In Your Ear

How to Safely Remove a bug from your ear.

A little over a year ago, I did a blog entry entitled, "A bug in your ear." Little did I know that this particular entry would become the number one source of traffic on Pohick. I was at the time, using the phrase as a figure of speech or an idiom, and not an actual bug in the ear. Apparently however there is not a lot of qualitative information on the web concerning what to do if you actually get a bug in your ear. I have been amazed at the hundred of queries for "bug in the ear" information. Queries have included:
  • What do I do if I have a bug in my ear?
  • Can a bug live in your ear?
  • How long can a bug live in your ear?
  • How do I know if a bug is in my ear?
  • How do I get a bug out of my ear?
  • Removing bugs from ears?
  • Types of bugs that live in ears?
  • Ear bug removal
  • Put a bug in my ear
I feel bad that there are so many folks dealing with bug in the ear issues. As a public service, I have compiled the following list of references for what you can to do if you have or believe that you may have an actual bug in your ear.
  • Having a live insect in your ear can be extremely uncomfortable.
  • People are often desperate to get the bug to stop moving.
  • If you do not have a known hole in your eardrum, it is usually safe to place a few drops of mineral oil into the ear. This will kill the bug and allow you to calmly and safely continue with additional care. Click here for detail instructions on safely removing the insect from your ear.
  • Removal of any object from the ear can be very difficult, and should only be attempted by a doctor skilled in the techniques of safe removal. Usually this can be done in the office, but sometimes general anesthesia must be used when the object is lodged deeply in the ear or if the patient is uncooperative, such as with a young child. It is important to remember that the most common reason that an ear is injured from a foreign object is because of inadvertent damage occurring during the removal of the object. (Source: www.medicinenet.com)
Here is what it looks like when you have a bug in your ear.  Video.



(** Jake Pohick is not a medical doctor, nor does he play one on TV. This advice is provided as a public service and you should seek competent medical advice as soon as possible.)

How to Safely Remove a bug from your ear.

The GamePlan/Ditto Landing


It was another great day for the Pohick family. First they went to see the movie The GamePlan starring The Rock. The movie was a surprisingly good family movie and it received 4 thumbs up from our reviewing staff. Since they were already out and about, the crew drove down to Ditto Landing and walked along the Tennessee River while enjoying the great fall weather.