Crisis Averted

Adam was recently assigned some very interesting homework in his Instrumentation for Atmospheric and Space Sciences class. Using two tiny "iButton" thermometers, his task was to measure temperature changes during several different operations. The information would be transferred from the thermometers onto a computer, then Adam would subsequently analyze the data.

For one of the experiments, Adam left a thermometer in his car outside overnight and another in my vehicle parked inside the garage. He pushed one into a half gallon of ice cream, then left the ice cream out of the freezer to see how long it would take for it to reach room temperature. He set an "iButton" in his bathroom while he showered. He secured one onto the bottom of his laptop computer. He ran another through the dishwasher cycle. And taped yet another one onto a lightbulb.

Mostly to humor me, I think, Adam let me place one of the thermometers in a sock and run it through my washing machine and dryer. I tied the top of the sock shut and tossed it into the washer with a load of clothes. When the laundry was ready to go into the dryer, I checked to make sure that the sock was still tightly fastened. The sock was indeed tied shut, but, much to my surprise, the thermometer was not inside. It was then that I noticed an "iButton" sized hole in the bottom of the sock.

I immediately panicked, thinking that I had quite possibly lost some pricey University of Michigan scientific research equipment. I first checked all of the wet laundry, hoping that the thermometer had inadvertently found its way into a shirt sleeve or a pair of pants. Nothing. I felt underneath the agitator in the washing machine. Nothing. I pulled the washer away from the wall and undid the drainage hose to peek in there. Nothing. (Except water.) I tested the other "iButton" to see if it was small enough to fit down the laundry tub drain, and I was greatly comforted to discover that it was too big. The thermometer had to be somewhere in the washing machine - but where? I called Jim. I talked to Richie. I yanked at the agitator some more, certain that the mini thermometer was most likely wedged beneath it. I went through the clothes again, praying that I had just missed it the first time around. I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to tell Adam that not only was my spectacular washing machine idea a failure, but I had misplaced an "iButton" as well. I picked up the towels that I had set aside to dry later, and the thermometer fell to the floor. I have not been that relieved in a long time!

The pile of towels in which the "iButton" was hiding. I did get to do some dusting behind the washing machine while I had it pulled out from the wall.

Here is what the little bugger looks like, sitting next to an old pencil for size comparison.

Sunday Update: While attempting to remove the data from one of the iButton thermometers today, Adam discovered that the battery was dead, and it had not recorded the dishwasher and laundry experiments. His professor has offered to extend his due date. Sigh.