Update: Check out the comments for all the math you need to know.

Quiz time boys and girls. Who here remembers my post about two and a half weeks ago about putting flow monitors into manholes? Give up? Ok, you can find it here.

Anyway. Today was the day that we were going to pull the meters out and see how the data looked. Well, the first one came out ok. The data looks good. I have to figure out how to get all the info I want and how to put it into usable form, but it is all there. The second manhole we ran into a problem. We pulled the monitor out of the hole and I noticed that it was off. No problem, the batteries run out quicker than you would like. But it looked like they stopped running a week after we put it in. Again, no problem. But then I start looking at the data and I noticed that the only thing it measured was depth of flow.

I am depressed.

As you guys all know, you need four things to measure the flow rate (gallons per minute or gpm) in a pipe. First you have to know the type of pipe. This is a concrete pipe. Second you have to know the shape of the pipe. No problem, it is a 15”pipe. Third you need to know the depth of flow. Check, I have that. And fourth you need the flow rate (ft/s). Doh! It did not measure that! I think the sensor is broken.

Oh sure, I could send the survey crew out to get the invert of the upstream manhole and this manhole. That coupled with the distance between the two manholes would give the slope of the pipe. Working the equation backwards you can use shape, slope and depth to find the flow rate. Great that is what I will do!

But…

That would assume a free outfall at the manhole I am monitoring. If the next manhole downstream became surcharged then the water would back up into the manhole I am monitoring. If that happened, the depth of flow would go up, but the actual flow rate could drop close to zero. So assuming a free outfall would give flow rates that are too high and I do not know if the line becomes surcharged. A high depth of flow coupled with a low flow rate are sure signs of a manhole being surcharged. But, the only way I can salvage ANY of this data is to find the slope and to assume a free outfall.

Not exactly how I wanted to start my day.

Good morning. How are you today? I am a bit tired and worn out from doing real work yesterday.

I have now been blogging for 6 months. It is hard to believe it has been that long. Reading back through my achieved posts it can be hard to remember all that was going on and all that I wrote about. Good times.

I wanted to take the time to thank my loyal readers. You know who you are, all 6 of you! I am serious, thanks for taking the time to stop by here everyday. I know that some days things around here are a bit slack. Trust me, it bothers me too. But some days I have nothing in the world to say. In fact, some days I get tired of politics and the world in general and wish to pull back into WunderWorld. That is my alternate universe where all my debts are paid, my kids are healthy and happy, Republicans actually restrain spending, the MSM has imploded and WunderWife and I are sipping Mai Tai’s on a secluded beach.

Reality comes back rather quickly though. But it is all good.

Blogging has been a great outlet for my frustrations and anxieties. I have also learned a lot about myself. I’ve had to question why I believe what I believe. After all, if I am going to be writing it down for the world to read, I better have my thoughts together to rebut any comments that I receive. That has helped sharpen my beliefs.

I still get most of my traffic from my sound files. After all, that is how this site started out. Blogging came as an after thought. But everyday I notice that more and more are stopping by and reading this blog because of what I have written. That is very gratifying and makes me want to forge ahead to make this blog even better. So thank you again to my readers. Thank you for passing my name around the blogsphere and sending more readers my way.

To those of you who are new here, make sure you check out the “About” section of the sidebar. I also have an essay section where I have converted some of my longer posts into essays. There are also older essays from before I became an official blogger. If you want to submit an essay for my “Guest Essays” section, please do. I really enjoy reading essays. Sometimes a topic can not be properly covered in a blog entry. So send your essays to me.

If you really get bored, look under the “Archives” section and go check out the “Really old stuff” and see my pre-blogging er…blogging. That is how my front page used to look. Yep, it was black with yellow writing. The first week of the actual blog, I used the same format until someone who I was begging for a blog roll link told me they would link to me if I did something about the God awful color scheme and layout I was using. It was either Viking Pundit or Willisims as they were the first to link to me. They were right. So I changed to the green layout and now WunderKraut v2.0 is up. I think most everyone agrees it was a good change.

Well I will stop blathering on about my blog and all. Just know that I really do appreciate the support you guys have given me. I hope that my writing will continue to increase in quality and that I can provide some value to the blogsphere.

Take it easy.

I am feeling a bit burned out with politics today. So sit back and enjoy today’s “Off Topic Post”.

We have three children. Their ages range from 5 to 1. Needless to say, we have a bunch of videos and DVD’s for the kids to watch. Two of the favorites in our house, and thankfully least annoying, are Toy Story and Toy Story 2. It does not matter that I have seen them at least 100 times, they are still a million times better than Barney, The Wiggles, Dora or Bob the Builder. For some reason we have never bought Toy Story 2. So every time we head to our local Blockbuster to rent movies, WunderKid 2 makes a bee line over to Toy Story 2. That happened Friday night when we went out to find some family entertainment. WunderKid 1 got Shrek 2 and WunderWife and I got The Life Aquatic. Don’t ask about our movie. I am a huge fan of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, but this one just did not add up. Anyway, back to Toy Story 2.

I watched it for the 101st time that night and I began asking the same questions and pointing out the same problems with the story. That brings me to why I am writing this post: Toy Story 2’s storyline does not make any sense.

In Toy Story you figure out that when toys are in their boxes they are in some sort of sleep mode. Once the package is opened they become self aware. The other toys know they are toys but Buzz thinks he is the real thing. The movie revolves around the other toys, Woody in particular, trying to convince Buzz that he is just a toy.

Toy Story 2 picks up the story but adds a twist: Woody is taken by a toy collector and the rest of the gang set out to rescue him. The deal is that Woody is a rare doll from a 1950’s TV show called “Woody’s Roundup” and he meets the other members of his “Round Up Gang”. This is where things fall apart for me.

All we know about Woody is that he is “an old family toy” and that he has been Andy’s “favorite since Kindergarten.” From all the information that we have been given, Woody has no memory of a life before Andy in the 1990’s. Andy is the only owner Woody has ever had. Ok, that can be explained away by assuming Woody stayed in his box from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. While in the box, he was not aware of what was going on around him.

But here is the next plot hole. Stinky Pete is still in his box and has never been opened, but he is aware of what is happening around him. He says that he sat on a dime store shelf for years watching while all the other toys were bought and taken home. That is why he is so bitter towards children. He was never chosen. That is all fine and dandy, but if Stinky Pete was aware of his surroundings for the past 40 years, why wasn’t Woody? This is the first time that Woody has even heard of “Woody’s Roundup”. He has no memory before Andy. How is it possible for Stinky Pete to have a memory and for Woody to have none?

I know it is just a kids movie, but there needs to be some rhyme and reason to the story. Either toys are aware once they are made or they are aware after being opened by their owner. You can not have some toys being aware from creation and other toys only being aware after being taken out of the box.

I will not rest until this mystery is solved.