During lunch today (Thursday), we discovered that J.J.’s backpack, containing cash, personal items, and keys to the school, had been stolen from inside the school that morning during classes. The academy is a small, house-sized building with four classrooms full of people and a room for general lecture, and the only doorway to enter or exit is within the fortified garage. Also, this door has a grated metal cover which can be opened only with a key or by someone pressing a button from the inside. Incredibly, despite 30 people in classes, the thieves entered the garage, picked the lock of the door, came inside the house, and took J.J.’s backpack! The classroom closest to the door heard the opening and closing of the door, but assumed that the sound was simply from someone coming or going legitimately. Tomorrow, all the locks are being changed. For tonight, however, we had to remove everything of value in case the thieves should realize what the keys are for.
In lab today we learned how calculate the time, wattage, and voltage needed to correctly charge a given secondary cell (rechargeable battery), since charging certain common kinds of batteries too quickly or for too long causes a hazardous accumulation of hydrogen and oxygen gas. Using one equation and a parameter under our control to find a second parameter’s value to be used alongside a third parameter in a second equation in order to maximize a fourth parameter was quite difficult, and our results were by no means exact. Although there may be some simplification, the problem intuitively seemed like a multivariable calculus maximization problem that would be difficult to solve. Tom and I settled on charging our battery over several hours at 18 volts, though an exact solution could have reduced the time slightly while changing the needed voltage.
After school was the party at Gladys’s house, since she had invited us early in our training for being a well-behaved group. Since her house is some distance from central San Pedro where the academy is, she arranged for a bus to pick us up. The cost of a Mercedes Benz charter bus from 4:00-11:00pm? About one-hundred dollars for the entire group. Gladys’s house seemed quite nice (and was in a beautiful location overlooking the city), and I speculate that the house was designed for hosting parties, since the bathroom was located directly next to the front door. After an incredibly delicious course of corn chips with a homemade dip of refried beans, fresh guacamole, sour cream, and cheese, we had hotdogs on tortillas, cheeseburgers, and cups of mixed fresh fruits.
Arriving back home around 11:45 that evening, we went quickly to bed in anticipation of catching the bus at 6:15 the next morning. Pura vida!
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