Spaceship Earth

 Selected from Delta's seatback entertainment a documentary called Spaceship Earth about Biosphere 2.  I had wondered why there hadn't been more data released on this project and this helped explain the dynamic.  

What is going on with the funding of this project coming from a family who made their money in oil?  When they have a quote from the ex-Goldman new leader Bannon talking about the opportunities of "carbon enriched" atmosphere and I'm not at all surprised this guy went on to be involved with problematic ventures like Cambridge Analytica and Breitbart news.   

The emphasis on theater (improv?) first struck me as bizarre and cultish at first, but I could see how the idea of "yes, and..." coupled with a beginner's mind might be great for figuring out complex interdisciplinary projects if the alternative is to get domain experts in the room who are mostly focused on defending their ego.  What if we took this idea of life being an act further?  Similar to the Musk and other tech visionaries entertaining the Matrix-like idea that life is just a simulation.  Would that free us up to make more mistakes and try more things?  

Roy Walford struck me as a tragicomic character.  It seems like he was onto something with caloric restriction and longevity, but to make these claims in his 60's about having half a life left just seemed like hubris.  Then to die less than 2 decades later.  I was annoyed by how much weight lifting he was doing while also seeming not to want to do the actual manual labor needed to feed the crew of the biosphere.  

Bananas and whole foods plant based diets struck home.  How crazy the adjustment to minimal refined sugar and even carbs must have been for these folks.  They had animals, but it didn't seem like they would be able to eat them in any meaningful quantities.  I wish they had talked more about that, about the "anecdata" they recalled even if their collected data had been lost in the leadership transition.    

Up, up, and Away purchase post mortem

 The pop up kids consignment sale from the town over relaunched as online with curbside pickup a few weeks ago.  I remember one of the sales of days past inspecting a half dozen huge plastic outdoor play centers with huge mark downs.  We got a wheeled cart for $8 that kept the kid occupied for hours and saved our backs.  So I splurged for a $20 early access pass that let me shop on Sunday when I wasn't 100% on point for keeping the kid safe.  It wasn't worth the early access, but it was still interesting.  

My general observations were that no meaningfully large equipment was posted this time around.  The prices for larger play furniture weren't marked down that much from brand new, for instance, I could get a brand new playhouse kit on Amazon for a little over $200 or pay $180 for one at the swap that wasn't quite what I wanted an might have all sorts of undocumented distressing.  I discovered I overbought in terms of volume because I couldn't really picture all of this stuff physically when it was in my digital cart.  I also found I spent more time browsing online than I would have allowed for just walking the store and heading to check out.  The check out process itself was time consuming and took about 20 minutes of waiting in line for the volunteers to figure out protocol.  

Here is an itemized post mortem

Fisher Price 7 Cars Sit Stand skyway - size 0 × 1 This was about half off new on AMZ with 5 extra cars.  My kid plays with it a lot.  A.    $18.00

Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders - size 0 × 1 There wasn't too much to these games, so even though this was a big markdown off $24 to buy them new, I should not have bought this.  B-. $6.50

Kerplunk vintage 16 sticks, 30 marbles - size 0 × 1 Vs. $15 new, but it was missing 12 sticks which made this pretty much unplayable.  B-. $6.00

Mancala game - size 0 × 1 Vs. $13 new.  Cute and classic.  Came with a loose hinge but that seems easy to fix.  B+.   $4.00

Marble Mania Shockwave marble maze - size 0 × 1 Vs. $70 or the $30 Nat Geo one I had on the wishlist.  But this has been a PITA to put together and I'm not sure we got all the pieces.  D  $20.00

Lego Friends Set 41017 Squirrel's Tree ALL Pcs - size 0 × 1 For some reason I thought this would be new in box and work as a last minute bday gift for someone.  In retrospect, we have no good reason to acquire more Legos.  C $5.00

Pretend Play Campfire Marshmallows/Hot Dog Set × 1 Cute.  Some overlap with Peppa Pig camper van campfire, but she has gotten some play time out of it.  B. $6.00

Radio Flyer Red Wagon w/ fold up seats V × 1 This looks like it once had a canopy, but no longer.  It is bigger and more unwieldy than I expected, but maybe it will be a good utility vehicle for when there is more than 1 kid in our group.  She's played with it a bit already by filling it with stuffies.  Placeholder grade of B.   $35.00

Frozen doll Trolls - size 0 × 1 In retrospect, we have no reason to acquire more random dolls.  Poppy's hair stays wet for days after a sink bath.  C+. $4.00

Disney Frozen castle w. Elsa and pcs. × 1 Cute and impressed original owner kept track of so many tiny parts, but smaller than expected and has now crumbled into a bunch of non-descript pieces.  The camper van is our anchor "doll house" with some support from legos and magnatiles.  C    $10.00

SQUISHY'S 3 small Panda Koala, Chick - size 0 × 1 Per kid's request, but she ripped the head off one within seconds, the dog stole and chewed one within minutes.  F. $4.00

CAT & JACK GIRLS UNICORN SWIMSUIT RAINBOW 4/5 XS - size 4 × 1   Well, they gave us the wrong thing, but the adventure of coordinating with another mom for an exchange was actually pretty "feel good."  She hasn't used it yet, so perhaps I overbought swimsuits?  A-. $4.00

Brand New flower 2 piece Swim suit-lands end - size 4 × 1 Cute, potentially overbought swim suits as she hasn't used it yet.  B. $6.00

swim shirt pink with flowers - size 3 × 1 Have used this.  Wish it didn't clash with the bottoms, but could not find anything on Amazon for under $30.  A $4.00

Step2 Toy Kitchen - size 0 × 1 She kinda plays with this and one of her grandmas loves it.  I don't love that it has stickers stuck to it.  Cheaper than the $100 new kitchens, but also less elaborate or accessorized.  B $20.00

So yeah, if I were doing this over again with hindsight, I would have grabbed the skyway and rash guard and called it a day.