A kilogram just isn’t what it used to be.
The 118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric mass, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight — if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies.
More here.
A surfer rode a wave on his stomach to rescue a struggling dog that had been swept off a pier and into Lake Michigan.
Matt Smolenski, 25, said he grabbed the pooch’s collar just as the exhausted, black-and-brown mixed breed stopped dog-paddling on Tuesday.
“He put the dog up on his surfboard, and the dog rode the surfboard in to shore,” said Royce Rodgers, an off-duty Muskegon Heights police officer who witnessed the rescue.
As the dog crouched on the board, Smolenski held on from the water, fighting large waves and a strong current all the way to shore.
“I’ve watched the dog about a million times,” said Smolenski, of Grand Haven. “He barks at the waves and then jumps back when they wash up on the pier.”
Rodgers, who had started walking his own dog on the pier but turned back around after seeing the size of the waves, said the other dog wasn’t on a leash when the wave swept it over the side. The same wave knocked the animal’s owner off his feet, Rodgers said.
“The dog was trying to swim, but the waves were very large. It was struggling,” Rodgers said. “The owner was screaming for the dog.”
Rodgers said the owner thanked Smolenski and gave him a high five. The owner then “left so fast, I couldn’t get his name,” he said.
Today was my last day of work in my old department. I stayed in this position three years longer than I should have, but did so because the schedule gave me the flexibility to care for my mother. It got to the point that I was really bored, not so much bored I guess than just really burnt out and the lack of advancement in my career was really starting to eat at me.
For the last six or so years I’ve been though a lot with my coworkers. When you stop to think about it, in most cases you spend more time with the people you work with than you do with your own family. During my time in this department I earned an MBA, got married, gained 20 lbs, lost 20 lbs, lost a best friend and my mother. I was thankful for having some great coworkers to go through those times with. It was a small way of saying thanks, but I actually brought in breakfast for my team which is something that never really happens for this group.
I’ve been looking forward to this last day of work for quite a while – a validation that I was finally going to move on.  Most of it was spent going through old materials and packing up. The day ended with a meeting, and at the end each person in front of everyone shared a story about me and wished me the best of luck in this new chapter of life.
As I said good-bye and walked out, I could hear them applauding. I looked back and they all stood and waved me off. That really warmed my heart. I’m gonna miss seeing those folks everyday.