Thursday, March 12, 2009

Ketchup - Catsup - Catch UP!

Just Catching Up!

You ever see someone shaking a bottle of Ketchup vigorously trying to get the red stuff out? They shake, shake, and slam the heel of their hand against the bottom of the bottle and then finally, everything comes flowing out - sometimes all over the place. Then they pass the bottle to the next person who easily pours the ketchup for their own use. The bottle is then placed on the table where it sits and stiffens until the next unsuspecting person goes through the same drill.









Over the years, Heinz addressed this property and even ran a series of ads using the song Anticipation, by Carly Simon to mitigate the perceived aggravation of it all before finally coming up with the stand up flip top bottles with the open end on the bottom.



Smart people (hydrodynamic engineers) call this property "Pseudo plasticity."
(Okay, I'm about to get technical on this issue but bear with me)

And about.com defines a pseudo plastic fluid as:

One whose apparent viscosity or consistency decreases instantaneously with an increase in rate of shear; i.e., an initial relatively high resistance to stirring decreases abruptly as the rate of stirring is increased.

That's kind of how I feel in a literal sort of way. I was stuck in trial - It's finally over, You can call me Mr. Foreman! - for about 7 weeks. Meanwhile, all of my other responsibilities continued. I struggled to keep up with Blogging, coaching basketball, eating, drinking, socializing, etc., during this process with about 8 hours out of each day snapped up by my civic responsibility.

Well, I'm happy to announce that I enjoyed my refresher course in the execution of civil law and I'll be taking this knowledge along with my $427.00 (for jury service) and playing Catch - UP for the next few weeks.

It's been difficult getting the fluid moving and finding my grove but I think I'm starting to reach my stride again. I have a new appreciation for the word sluggish, but I feel like the ketchup is slowing sliding off of the glass and ready to drip down all over my juicy burger. I'm getting my creative brainwaves in motion. It's time to travel again and explore some great new ideas! In the next two months or so I'll be heading to Japan, (Go Figure) Miami, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the Caribbean. I may even be appearing in an episode of CSI. So be on the lookout!

Thanks for waiting!

6 comments:

Chris said...

Mr. Foreman, :)

Which CSI? HOW EXCITING!!!

Wait. How will we know who you are? Is this going to blow your "blog cover?" :)

I liked your analogy! Sounds like jury duty ended just in time! What a huge amount of time!

All your travels sound very exciting! It'll be nice to get your "groove" back.

- Chris

Jane Turley said...

Japan, The Carribean, Puerto Rico AND CSI??

Hmmm... I'm confused.

All I've got to say is;

I love tomato Ketchup - No meal is complete without it!

(Unless its got gravy.)

I look forward to hearing about the juicy burgers Mr I; I'll get my napkin ready!

Unknown said...

I can't wait to hear of your travels and adventures!!

BTW, I'm impatient... that's probably why I'm a mayo girl. :)

Anonymous said...

I was wondering about the jury duty experience... Seven weeks is a heck of a long "pause." Way to juggle! Hopefully, you kept up on the eating, drinking and socializing!
 
If any of your travels become too taxing, I'd be happy to go in your stead and send video reports with all pertinent information. Just a thought!
 
CSI? Wow. I don't watch much TV, but even I(!) know that one! (Ummm... will they run a little sub-title, "Look here; this is Intrepid"?)

intrepidideas said...

Hey Chris,

At some point I suppose I will blow my own cover. It's a matter of when - Not if. How are things in your neck of the woods? Thanks for the visit.

intrepidideas said...

Jane,

I have to laugh at your comment. The gravy thing is killing me. And I do make a pretty good burger!

Summer - What's up? How ya been? I'm a mayo guy too. Love it on a burger. I like the spicy mayo in the summertime... Yum.

Heather, I may take you up on your offer. You absolutely take better photos than I do. And you can add an audio track. Wow. You got me thinking. :)