College Students Falling Apart, Thanks to “Helicopter Society”

"We have raised a generation of young people who have not been given the opportunity to learn how to solve their own problems. They have not been given the opportunity to get into trouble and find their own way out, to experience failure and realize they can survive it, to be called bad names by others and learn how to respond without adult intervention. So now, here’s what we have. Young people,18 years and older, going to college still unable or unwilling to take responsibility for themselves, still feeling that if a problem arises they need an adult to solve it."

Theory vs. Hypothesis vs. Law… Explained

"A TV detective may say “I have a theory that the murderer may be someone in this room.” The way he’s using the word “theory” isn’t the way the word is used in science. The words “fact” and “hypothesis” and “law” suffer from the same difference in perception and meaning between scientists and non-scientists."

Notes from a flood

Heavy rains today, and the water table got a little high (click the pics for full size):

 And the storm drain system was overwhelmed:

And this is why they say not to drive into standing water:

 And this is the bad news in the basement (water backed up from the drain in the laundry room, mostly, but also came in through the foundation); those "dry" spots are where the carpet has bubbled up:

And here's the new carpet we just had installed after The Great Flood of August 2013:

Basements are great, until they're not. :-(