Friday, April 13, 2012

Building a two man boat out of duct tape and cardboard

 This weekend we are having an exciting event.  I kind of made this up off the top of my head.  This is the first (hopefully annual) cardboard/duct tape boat race.  Teams have to make a boat only using cardboard and duct tape that has to carry 2 people across a very small pond.  The teams will go one at a time and the team with the fastest time wins.
 My son has decided to make his team boat like a "John Boat" where it has a flat bottom, flat sides, and of course a flat front and back.  He used smaller boxes as side support and they also double as seats.  A few years ago I was out running around a lake and saw a bunch of high school kids jump out of a truck and drag behind them a cardboard/duct tape boat where they went to the water and began to paddle around this lake.  From then on I thought how fun it would be to make a competition out of something like this.  Hopefully it all goes well.
 Notice how one side is higher than the other.  There is little engineering with this boat and more tape and play it by ear.  The goal I am shooting for is to have the boys work as a team to create something that should not really work but can work if they think through the process, and also to think out of the box.  Get it, think outside the box, cardboard is usually boxes.  Sorry, I had to do it.  Any way I was thinking about this and how much it is the same with diabetes.  We all know what the goal is (just like the two boys need to make it to the other side of the pond) but what we have is inferior and just a bunch of guessing.  Hopefully we are thinking through the process with our guessing and making rational choices.  Then you have to do this disease with everyone in your team from parents to spouses and even children and co-workers.
In the end their boat looks nothing like a boat but they are proud of it and are eager to get it wet.  I think us diabetics need to strive our best to have the same attitude and work to do our best every day.

Remember also to support my diabetes camping group: Team Testing Limits where the funds go to help pay for a youth go camping with an adult type 1 diabetic mentor.  I need your support and that means if you have five dollars to donate please do.  Any amount helps.  Thanks in advance for your support.

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