Bud Needs A Holiday

I am struggling today with this.  I have not had the luxury of a pot tea and time to write. My schedule has changed and I feel guilty. Funny! No reason to feel that way but when I get comfortable with the adventure I am on I feel guilty about that. It is all totally irrational. But even that causes me to be fussed up and what is really odd about the whole thing is that I am extremely calm. Acy had a Déjà vu yesterday at the hospital. I was part of it. That was very comforting because it tells me we are all doing exactly what we are supposed to do.

Les is a longtime friend of Nomie’s and he has faithfully been coming to the hospital to visit and sit with him. He does something with Uranium. He tells of his adventures out measuring hole caps and getting an exact GPS co-ordinates for the holes. Now, other than this could be an interesting job wrought with danger, such as rattlesnakes, I have never so much as given uranium a thought. Have you? What exactly is it? Why do we want it? Where does it come from? Those sorts of questions are now in my head. You know what that means? Uranium class.

Here is what I know about uranium. It is a metal. Ta---daaaaa!!!

The chemical symbol for uranium is U.

It is a naturally occurring radioactive element. (Radioactive - being a property of certain elements, of spontaneously emitting radiation resulting from changes in the nuclei of atoms of the element). In case you were unsure. It is one of the heaviest elements.

Uranium can be found in rocks, soil, water, plants, animals and humans.

It was used in its natural form to add color to glazes for pottery. The colors can range from orange-red to lemon yellow hues. For those of you who collect pottery uranium was used to create the brilliant colors of Fiestaware.   Mostly to create the brilliant red but was also found in other colors. This practice has been discontinued.

It has been used as a coloring agent since 79AD.

In 1841 it was discovered to be a metal.

It is commonly found in phosphate based rock structures.

It was named to honor the planet Uranus.

After it is refined uranium looks like a silvery white metal.

99%of the uranium that enters your body whether by breath or ingestion leaves the body through your natural excretion process, through the kidneys and flushed. The remaining uranium enters your blood steam where it will be deposited in your bones and remain for years. 

To simplify the energy from uranium process here it is. Inside a nuclear reactor Uranium is “burned” the heat from this process is made into steam and the steam is converted into energy.

It is used as ballast in ships and aircraft. It is a shield against radiation. It is used in some weapons as ammunition that will penetrate heavily armored structures. It was used in photographic materials which mean my house is probably very radioactive. Especially those old photos starring back at me from the bookcase.

All of this led to wonder what kryptonite was.  It was introduced in June of 1943 on the Superman radio series as having arrived on earth in a meteorite from Krypton.  It was used in the plotline to injure voice actor Bud Collyer time off. Since I have no interest in Superman; that is all I have to say, except. When Superman needs help he called on Batman.

Speaking of all of this…. As I was watching Daredevil I spied with my own little eye…. Stan Lee.

My favorite Kryptonite was made by Three Doors Down.

Enjoy your day!