Kiki’s school class has been mummifying chickens. That’s right, they buy a chicken from a store, bury it in salt for two weeks, the wrap it up in approved mummy manner. These mummified chickens are then stored for a year so next year’s class can have the joy of opening a mummified chicken. Kiki got to open one from last year. She says it smelled really gross. And yes the kids always wear gloves for this, I checked. Today Kiki was telling me that they’re doing an extra special chicken that will get stored for 5 years. Along with the mummified chicken this year’s class is including notes and “curses” for students 5 years ahead. It’s kind of like a time capsule, only new and improved with a dead chicken. In case you hadn’t guessed, they’re studying ancient Egypt. I don’t know if mummified chickens are proven to improve absorption of knowledge of all things Egyptian, but I do know that it has Kiki fascinated. She has babbled about mummifying chickens many times over the past few weeks. I never got to mummify a chicken when I was in school. Now I feel left out.
In unrelated news, we now have light. A while ago I wrote about household quirks and I mentioned the light in the girl’s bedroom which won’t turn on at all. With the shorter days of winter the lack of light became increasingly annoying. This particular light has been a problem for years. It flickered a lot and burned out bulbs frequently. We figured it was a bad fixture and replaced it. The new florescent light was wonderful until the day it refused to turn on. We put up with it that way for months until I finally purchased new florescent bulbs. I put in the new bulbs, it still refused to turn on. It sat that way for nearly a year until last week when we replaced the switch. Still no light.
Captain Electric came to our rescue. They sent a nice man who found a shorted wire and informed us that the florescent light fixture was permanently broken. The only alternate available was the basic utility room bare bulb fixture. So now that is what the girls have in their room. BUT they have a switch that makes their room light! We can replace the ugly fixture later now that the bad wire is fixed. He also replaced the motor on one of our bathroom fans, changed a lightbulb on a 12′ ceiling, and put a cover plate on the box that used to hold controls for a swamp cooler. As an added bonus Captain Electric has a policy that if their technician is late, the customer gets free movie tickets and a dinner coupon. It’s a psychological trick that works very well, I was almost glad when they called me and told me he would be late. So lights, a fan, dinner, and a movie. If only it didn’t come with that $400 bill.
My (college) class is doing a presentation on Egypt at a local children’s museum this Saturday, and one of the girls in the class mummified a chicken just for the occasion! . . . sadly, the director of the museum said that we couldn’t bring it in because it might freak out the children. I guess he never got the memo. We’re all quite disappointed. We did get the okay to bring in photos of the mummified chicken, though.
My (college) class is doing a presentation on Egypt at a local children’s museum this Saturday, and one of the girls in the class mummified a chicken just for the occasion! . . . sadly, the director of the museum said that we couldn’t bring it in because it might freak out the children. I guess he never got the memo. We’re all quite disappointed. We did get the okay to bring in photos of the mummified chicken, though.
I never got to mummify a chicken, either! Man, what a ripoff.
🙂
I never got to mummify a chicken, either! Man, what a ripoff.
🙂
When I was in 6th grade we mummified Barbie dolls. I don’t know that I learned anything about Egypt because of it, but I still remember doing it.
When I was in 6th grade we mummified Barbie dolls. I don’t know that I learned anything about Egypt because of it, but I still remember doing it.
With a short, you could have had a nasty fire, think of the peace of mind, not the cost.
With a short, you could have had a nasty fire, think of the peace of mind, not the cost.
In eighth grade my son mummified a stuffed bear. They used little baby bottles for the “innards” and I can’t remember what else. But it was pretty clever. Then they decorated a sarcophagus for the bear. I doubt he will forget the process!
In eighth grade my son mummified a stuffed bear. They used little baby bottles for the “innards” and I can’t remember what else. But it was pretty clever. Then they decorated a sarcophagus for the bear. I doubt he will forget the process!
Just thought I should note – “It’s kind of like a time capsule, only new and improved with a dead chicken.” totally made my day. *giggles madly*
Just thought I should note – “It’s kind of like a time capsule, only new and improved with a dead chicken.” totally made my day. *giggles madly*
I think that’s a wonderful way to bring history, er, ‘alive’. We never did anything like that!
I am wondering about the “swamp cooler”, though. How big a swamp did it cool?
I think that’s a wonderful way to bring history, er, ‘alive’. We never did anything like that!
I am wondering about the “swamp cooler”, though. How big a swamp did it cool?
A “swamp cooler” or evaporative cooler is a machine that sits on the roof of a house and uses evaporation to cool a house. The cool air is generated by blowing the air through a wet pad. This works fairly well in desert climates where the humidity is low. It would not at all work in a humid climate. Unfortunately when the temperatures soar over 90, the swamp cooler doesn’t cool the house well enough. Also one week after we moved in, the water line to our swamp cooler broke and leaked water through our kitchen ceiling ruining a section of hardwood floor. We had the swamp cooler removed and replaced it with central air conditioning.
A “swamp cooler” or evaporative cooler is a machine that sits on the roof of a house and uses evaporation to cool a house. The cool air is generated by blowing the air through a wet pad. This works fairly well in desert climates where the humidity is low. It would not at all work in a humid climate. Unfortunately when the temperatures soar over 90, the swamp cooler doesn’t cool the house well enough. Also one week after we moved in, the water line to our swamp cooler broke and leaked water through our kitchen ceiling ruining a section of hardwood floor. We had the swamp cooler removed and replaced it with central air conditioning.
Ah, thanks. I hadn’t heard of one (we don’t have them in the UK; in fact we rarely have any air conditioning except in cars). I was imagining something which cooled a swamp and wondering how the alligators liked it *g*…
Ah, thanks. I hadn’t heard of one (we don’t have them in the UK; in fact we rarely have any air conditioning except in cars). I was imagining something which cooled a swamp and wondering how the alligators liked it *g*…