Idea for Improving Culture

At a recent brainstorming session, I came up with an idea for improving corporate culture.  This idea has yet to be rejected, and I haven't heard any criticism of it yet.  I don't know if it will make it through the winnowing process.  Let me know what you think.

"Free Lunch Program"
Give everyone an amount on their corporate travel accounts ($50-$100/year) that they can use to go out and have lunch with colleagues.  It could be a single lunch at a reasonable restaurant, or an order of subs from the local sandwich place.  This helps build camaraderie and adds to brainstorming time.  It also reduces the relentless cost-cutting that seems to be part of corporate life these days.

There's Antimony, Arsenic, Aluminum, Selenium...

The link of the moment comes from Slate. During the work week, Sam Kean is excerpting his book on the history of the elements.  I enjoyed the entry on nitrogen and phosphorus and how it pertains to future toilet design.  Kean mused that men may have to sit down to use the future toilets in order to collect phosphorus.  I think he missed an obvious solution: use public uranials as a collecion point.  Anyone who stands at a urinal will contribute to the solution.

(The title of the post is the opening line of Tom Lehrer's The Elements.)

What a Drag it is Getting Old

Most of my recent work has involved concentric cylinders and vanes, so loading a sample is a snap.  Recently, I've had to run some parallel plate samples, and I realize that I'm over the proverbial hill, and accelerating downward.  It's harder than I remember to focus on the sample to make sure the gap is completely filled.  It's just another sign that bifocals are in my future.