The silver sliver

Tonight was our ward's cub-scout pinewood derby. In addition to the scout races, they held an open class race for anyone else who wanted to participate. I had been intending to build a car but had forgotten to purchase the kit. I remembered the race about 1.5 hrs before it was supposed to start. Luckily, Diane had an extra kit so I made a car real quick. I feel I can modestly say it is the ugliest derby car in the history of the event.

In my defense, there was a method to the madness. I learned in a college dynamics class that using conservation of energy laws and placing the weight of the car as far back as possible, you could make a car go faster. The equation

1/2 m V^2 = m g h

relates potential energy to kinetic energy. Basically, the velocity of the car is proportional to the square root of the height of the car's center of gravity at the top of the track. Placing the weight behind the rear axel elevates the car's center of gravity by a small amount. For the benefit of anyone who hasn't dozed off yet, this additional height is equal to the distance from the front axel to the car's center of gravity multiplied by the cosine of the angle the top of the track makes with the ground. Whoa, even I got a little droopy eyed with that one. Anyway, the placement gives the car a little bit more speed.

In addition to the weight placement, I polished the nails using a drill and some fine-grit sandpaper. I also sanded the wheels and coated them with some car wax for extra smoothness. I used graphite to lube the wheels on the axel and that pretty much took care of it. There were some other things I would have liked to have done, but I just didn't have the time.

Anyway, I raced and won 3rd place in the open division. I was really surprised actually to have done that well. And I wasn't that far behind the first and second place finishers either. Pretty amazing considering the short amount of time I had.

I guess I don't know what is more sad, how ugly my car is or the fact that I am so excited about winning third place. But considering how my job hunting has gone of late, its nice to finally succeed at something.

On the subject of jobs, I accepted an offer to go to work in Idaho Falls. The job is an answer to prayers and is just another proof that Heavenly Father is providing for us. I don't have a start date yet but I will be visiting next week and am hoping to find out more then.

So, things are going really well now. We have been blessed and are humble at being offered a job in this tough economy.

We wish you all the best and thanks for your support.