Wherein a WWII vet maybe unknowingly helps his granddaughter cheat on her chemistry exam.
My grandfather taught chemistry at the University of Florida. I remember seeing pieces of lab materials on his bookcase long after he retired.
I, on the other hand, do not really love chemistry. Maybe it's because I had such a bad teacher in high school. He was, in fact, so terrible that no matter how we all cheated in class we could not get the answers correct. For the midterm exam we were allowed to use open notes and have a second day to complete the test. I wrote down the questions in my notebook and got the answers from my grandfather over the phone that night - not telling him it was for a test. (This was the first time I cheated. I asked my mom for permission. I am a rules person - this is what we do - trust me). I think I got a B.
When I started making jewelry I was quickly disappointed with the metals I found available at craft stores. I had no idea what they were and the Made in China label did not put my mind at ease. Eventually I found a company right here in the good ole U S of A that manufactures natural brass - just when you thought we didn't make anything in this country anymore! It is nickel-free, lead-free compliant and made by an eco-friendly process. Cu + Zn (85% copper and 15% zinc) - my grandfather would be thrilled.
Back to chemistry class in 1988... on the last day of school one of our classmates stole a cake from the grocery store where he worked and gave it to our teacher. He wrote on it E=MC2. (Which is a physics equation - that's how much we learned that year). Nevertheless our teacher was thrilled! We all got A's on our final exam. Sometimes having cake is better than having all the right answers.