Category Archives: Michael Pickering

Michael Pickering, Random Tangent

Chance Favors the Prepared Mind

“Chance Favors the Prepared Mind” – Louis Pasteur
by Michael Pickering 
Chapter One: Preparation
My father and his four brothers were auto/diesel mechanics.  All the families, including grandma and grandpa, moved to Moorpark, CA during World War II. It’s a small agricultural suburb east of Ventura. Small in this context means few paved roads.  The move occurred when I was about two years old.  Probably just after my brother, who was 23 months younger than me, was born.  
They obtained a property on US Highway 101 in Ventura.  The site had three commercial venues: the “Red Ball Café,” a gas station, and a multi-bay garage with a hydraulic lift.  The men managed the auto business and the women saw to the restaurant.  Grandpa was the gofer and I was his shotgun.  Anyone alive today who ate at the Red Ball during that time will have more than one fond memory. 
By the time I was five, properly greasing a wheel bearing and installing it was something I knew how to do by feel, and how to set the cotter pin.  What I learned is that it is extremelyimportant to expel ALL the air pockets before installation.  It didn’t make any sense to me then, but what five year old is going to doubt a team of mechanics.  Moreover, his father and uncles.  Now that I’m the mechanic, I get it: it’s a concept of Chaos Theory.  (See Figure X)
Figure X: A ball bearing from an improperly lubed auto front wheel.  The balls contact the tapered spindle on the inside (attached to the car) and a wheel race pressed into the drum.  All the balls from this wheel looked like this.  The outer race in the drum looked like a choppy sea, yet the spindle was unmarked.  The air bubbles and the ball orientation were maintained in perfect symmetry by chaos. 
Chapter Two: Chance
By the time I was in middle school, we lived in Highland Park, a small town on the first freeway on Earth – the Pasadena.  Freeways then didn’t have numbers; they were named for their termini (the Santa Anna, the San Bernardino, the Harbor, etc.).  We were the penultimate town before the freeway ended at a light signal in Pasadena at Orange Grove Blvd.  
The boulevard through Highland Park is the world famous Figueroa.  Town was about two miles from our neighborhood and a gradual rise most of the way to the movie theater. Since the movies changed once a week, that was our minimum number of journeys.  There were, however, more trips than that in the summer, because the public pool was further up Figueroa.  
Exiting the movies one day, someone, probably me, suggested that we have a coasting contest.  The rules were simple: one could peddle as much as possible to cross street A, about ¼ mile of the course, then not at all to the finish line at cross street B.  Joe McNeil won the first race, and I took second.  
Well, I decided that if I wanted to win, I’d have to beat Joe.  So I began to think of ways to create an advantage.  After all, we all had three speed (hub) bikes, called English racing bikes at the time. (See Figure Y)  When I realized the race was mostly coasting, I also knew the solution was to reduce friction.  Then I remembered hand packing wheel bearings, which is where I started the project.  I removed and replaced all the bearings, including the pedal hub.  Included in the soup-up job was the most expensive waterproof lube I could find.  It felt more like hand lotion than grease.  While I was preparing the bearings, my mind drifted to other ways to lower friction.  It came to me as an epiphany: any wobble of the wheels would cause friction on the bearings and on the road surface.  
Figure Y: A 1953 Schwinn three speed bicycle.
Although my only thoughts about spokes until then had been to keep clothing and body parts out of them, I had changed enough flat tires to know that they were attached to a threaded nut anchored on the OD side of the rim, and the spoke exit on the ID of the rim was a tension adjustment nut.  So it was back to the bike store to buy a new tool.
My first guess was to tune all the spokes to the same audio frequency.  Since I had no way of knowing the true frequency, my second guess was to pick the highest frequency or tightest spoke.  It also simplified the task to require only tightening.  A jig was prepared in the backyard with two 2 x 4’s so the wheels could be levelly mounted and spun.  The spokes were plucked to find the highest frequency, whereupon all spokes were tuned to match.  When done, the rim (as viewed rotating in the jig from a planar angle, perpendicular to the axle) was ‘S’ shaped.  So, Plan B was hatched. 
 
True flatness had to be established by reference to a fixed point.  Another stick with a horizontal nail through it as a palp or feeler was driven into the ground.  The spokes are anchored in turn on opposite sides of the rim.  As the rim turned, it drifted away or toward the feeler gauge.  So the process was: loosen one spoke, and tighten the next.  The eventual result was two true rims. 
Keeping my head down near the handle bar and centered over the quill, to lower friction even more, I never lost another race.
Michael Pickering, Random Tangent

Good Toys Stimulate Imagination

By Michael Pickering

A sandbox is a reasonably scaled and so infinitely variable a toy that it should be an important consideration for any family with children and the use of about 20 square feet of ground.  The basic design is simple: 1) Make a collar of the depth you want out of rot-resistant material (i.e. heart redwood, cedar, et. al.) and 2) fill to desired level with sand.

That is the most obvious design consideration but not the most important factor by far.  Sand management is the important issue.  Sand is predominantly silica (aka quartz) and as purchased is fine grained and fairly uniform in size.  Thus it packs densely.  The most critical property is the extremely hydrophilic nature of silica.  It can sustain a great deal of water just by surface tension.  So, if you put sand in a blind hole on dirt, once it gets wet it can readily puddle and take weeks or months to dry, depending on where you live.  It rains sometime where most people live.  And to maximize the “toy-ness,” the sandbox must quickly drain so the children can add a dribbling hose to the party.

A design that worked for our four children:
Our sandbox is 6’ x 6’ x 1’ and is filled to 8” deep.  About 25 cubic feet of sand in all.  Although it is simple arithmetic, I’m going to give you the small numbers to inspire you.  Its position on the ground is controlled by gravity.  The mount is three layers:

  1. Gravel, also called drain rock, minimum one inch deep – 3 cubic feet
  2. Galvanized fencing, ¼ inch mesh, 36 square feet
  3. Aluminum screen, 36 square feet
  4. When not in use, protect your sandbox with a screen to keep the local cats out

Play Time:
You can also add a degree of nonsense.  I added marbles, surf tumbled beach glass and stainless flatware from the local Goodwill.  Our children would squirt water droplets into the air and the humming birds would come to collect them.  It was a four-act play that had a long run.

echinacea, herbal products, Michael Pickering

Herbal Remedy

By Michael Pickering
Echinacea purpurea, often called a coneflower, has long been used to ameliorate the symptoms of upper respiratory problems caused by viruses and allergies.  The most common form available in the San Francisco Bay Area is in a tablet called Airborne®.  My wife and daughters always have it on hand.  However, if I ingest a tablet, it worsens my symptoms.  I reasoned that the effect was due to the residual incorporated plant material aggravating my hay fever.  So I decided to test the theory by making a tincture wherein the plant material could be categorically removed. 
When water is the extraction solvent, the product is called an infusion and is taken as a hot “tea.”  My solvent of choice for herbaceous tinctures is potable ethanol (190 proof), although as low as 60 proof may be used.  The Everclear® available in California is only 150 proof.  The same brand in Oregon and Nevada is 190 proof, so I had my Oregonian daughter get me some.  That allowed me to filter out the plant residue.  The experiment provided a useable form of Echinacea that is free of allergic side-effects.  My recommended dose is one teaspoon.  I share the extract with my coworkers, friends, and relatives, who all acclaim its efficacy.  One friend actually claims to be allergy-symptom free.
The flower is an annual which my wife and I cultivate in our garden.  Our two plants provide enough cones per season to make 2 liters of solution.  At Pickering Labs, we recently purchased some Echinacea from an herbal supply vendor as a sample for a multi-mycotoxin study, and rather than cones it was supplied as the plant root, called Black Sampson Root. 
Herbal Tincture Preparation:
–          Put 100 g dried herbs into a sufficiently sized jar.
–          Add 500 mL of 190 proof alcohol.
–          Seal, and place on shaker for three days.
o       Note: Longer contact time is recommended for lower proof alcohol.  Two weeks is recommended for 60 proof, for example.
–          Filter using a 0.45 μm filter.

Echinacea purpurea
Michael Pickering, silk

Silk Stockings

By Michael Pickering
Silk stockings were originally made of a single thread formed into a cylindrical tube.  They were handmade by a process then called tatting and now known as crocheting.  Unlike knitting, which uses two threads and two needles, crocheting only requires one tool, called a hook.  The hook size is scaled to the thread diameter.  In its simplest execution, the process produces a chain-like, continuous series of interlocking loops.  Lace, circular doilies, and rectangular antimacassars were made by creatively interconnecting the chain to form symmetrical patterns.   In the “men’s work – women’s work” divide, tatting fell under the women’s craft and so the products were always useful at home.
Grandma Pickering taught me to tat chains as a preschooler which kept me non-kinetic and silent as I marveled at the ever longer creations while I tried to out-do myself day after day.
 
To make a tube, a mandrill or tool is used with the hook.  The tool consists of a tube with projection pins at one end.  The diameter of the stocking (hose and the frequency of pins controls the symmetry and mesh size.  For each pair of stockings an appropriate length was cut off and knotted to prevent unraveling.  The toe was neatly tied off and a garter, i.e. non-stretchable holder, was sewn or tatted to the top. 
 
By grammar school, I made my own tube tool with a wooden thread spool and headless brads.  I don’t remember the hook, but I suspect it was made from a piece of wire hanger.
The larger ID reactors that Pickering Laboratories offers are made like stockings.  The mandrill has four pins.  The misnomer is that our literature calls them “knitted” because that is the most common description in print and conversation in our industry.  Describing them properly would only create a lot of idle questions.  The necessity for the crocheting is to minimize band spreading.  The post-column reaction occurs after the separation is complete, so when the peaks enter the reactor they are as far apart as they are going to be.  The torturous path eliminates the band spreading of longitudinal mixing by replacing it with radial mixing.
Michael Pickering, Poached White Fish, SAFFRON

SAFFRON – Crocus sativus

By Michael Pickering

Until the late 15th Century, selling inferior or adulterating authentic saffron was a punishable crime. Times have changed. In my neighborhood today, the price of saffron ranges from $1.50/oz (a Chinese medicinal, which is a mixture of saffron and safflower) to $1000.00/oz (certified organic, unit size 0.007oz, sold as a food commodity). At organic prices, moisture would be a significant adulterant. Buyers beware: I have also seen pure Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) pistils sold as saffron at $12.45/oz. The pure pistils are variously referred to as Mexican saffron, Portuguese saffron, or bastard saffron. Though safflower will produce the desired color, it is lacking the distinctive taste and smell of true saffron. Such egregious behavior surely would have warranted the death penalty in the Middle Age.

The North African Crocus is a lovely, lavender bloom in the fall. Each flower bears three outrageously large stamens which must be harvested by hand immediately upon blossoming. The stamens are bright red-orange when plucked and deep red to brown when dried. In trade, they are referred to as threads. Although saffron is cited as a medicinal in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, most peoples of the world prize the threads for their characteristic color and heady, aromatic spice qualities. The spice is considered the costliest in the world due to the laborious harvest and paltry yield (estimated at 13,000 stamens per ounce).

The following are singular dishes that cannot be prepared without saffron: Bouillabaise, Harira, Risotto Milanese, and Seafood Paella.

Since saffron has no ritual significance to me, nor am I royalty, the bulk Chinese variety suits my palate. I just use more to create the effect I want. My favorite personal recipe, using the bulk Chinese saffron, is as follows:

Poached White Fish with Saffron Infused Lime Sauce

White fish filletsThree peppercorns per filletCourt Bouillon:

  • about 4 cups water
  • one-forth cup Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
  • one lime, juice and zest
  • three green onions, chopped
  • one stalk celery, thinly sliced including the leaves if possible

Sauce:

  • Cointreau and lime juice, 1:1 ratio (if you want stronger lime flavor, add the zest too)
  • Saffron 1/8 tsp. per fillet, ground in a mortar (if using certified organic saffron, add three threads per four fillets)

    Garnish:

  •  chopped green onions
  • toasted pumpkin seeds

Using a heavy iron skillet large enough to accommodate the fish without touching, warm the peppercorns until aromatic. Add water and other bouillon ingredients. Simmer 15-20 minutes. Push aside solids and lay fish fillets flat on bottom of skillet – bouillon level in skillet should be even with tops of fillets. Bring back to simmer, cover skillet and turn off heat. Set aside for 15-20 minutes. Remove fillets and set on serving platter, pour sauce over fish, garnish and serve. Enjoy!
organic Saffron, Safflower, and Herbal mix
Photo (l to r): organic Saffron, Safflower, and Herbal mix containing Safflower and trace amounts of Saffron

clean-up, Michael Pickering, pickering, soap

Soap Opera

by Michael Pickering

In the process of washing laundry the cleaning agent is the water, the “universal solvent.” The surfactant (soap/detergent) facilitates the removal of strongly adsorbed and hydrophobic soil from the clothes. Foam, however, is a contaminant. Suds stabilizers added to the surfactant create persistent foam. Unfortunately, most consumers believe foaming to be evidence of a good surfactant; that it is desirable. The truth is quite the opposite. Foam residues are difficult to remove. Notice, after all, that the foam is excluded from the solution/emulsion phase: it floats. Thus the rinse cycle is inadequate to the task of removing it. It is the residue of these suds stabilizers on laundered swim suits that necessitate the frequent exchanging of spa water. Contaminated hot tubs, when set to the ‘jets’ cycle, quickly build up foam on the surface of the water. The foam becomes thicker and more persistent with each subsequent use. Eliminating the use of swim suits, or rinsing the suits with water alone, will greatly increase the life of your spa water.

Foam residues on top of water