Sunscreen SPF

There seems to be some misunderstanding regarding the SPF number on sunscreen bottles. Many people have said to me that the number is an indicator of how strong a sunscreen is when in fact it’s a measurement of time – how long the sunscreen should last. Let me explain. The simple math is like this:

How to make a Weather Stick

A weather stick can be used to show you the relative humidity. It’s a very simple project as well as a very useful tool. I find mine particularly helpful in the mornings when the temperature is still cool. It may be a comfortable morning but if the humidity is high I’ll know that I should shut my windows or choose lighter clothes to wear. As well, a weather stick, when used in conjunction with other weather inputs (temperature, cloud cover, wind), can be very useful to predict upcoming weather.

Okay now to the construction of the weather stick. A weather stick is made from

Spring Ice

You know, we hear the commercials on the radio every spring about ice safety. "Stay Clear, Stay Safe". To me that was an obvious message but it still didn't really sink in. Until last spring. Nothing tragic happened but I did witness the lake that I live on go from ice covered to just water in 3 hours. I'm not joking!
Each year the ice begins melting away from the shore first. And last year it was about 30ft. from shore to

Build me a Quinzee

A quinzee eh. What's a quinzee? It sounds like a tv show from the 70's. Really, it's a snow shelter. Now, most of us know what an igloo is right?. It's a dome shaped shelter typically seen in the arctic. While igloos are built using blocks of ice, quinzees are constructed by hollowing out a big pile of snow. The concept is the same for each shelter, it just depends on whether enough snow is available to build a quinzee.