I'm working in Portland for a couple weeks. Much more pleasant summer weather than back home. I got here just in time for the company picnic at the zoo. The picnic didn't start until late afternoon, so the temperatures were in the 80's making the animals somewhat lethargic. This black bear seemed to be one of the "livelier" creatures, simply due to the fact that he was sitting upright. If I were wearing a fur coat in 80 degree weather, I probably wouldn't be moving too quickly either.
On the second day, I ran a workshop for 40 physics teachers. I showed them how to build a sensor-driven system. This group was trying to turn on a fan based on the position of their hands above the sensor (much the same way hand dryers work in public bathrooms). It was a pretty successful activity, but probably not as exciting as the one they did later in the afternoon - building rockets to shoot eggs against the side of the building. The rockets were supposed to be strong enough to keep the eggs intact when they landed, but since the teachers were mostly using marshmallows, Styrofoam cups, and duct tape as building materials, there were a lot of broken eggs.
