Times have changed.

When I was a kid, 1600 was a perfect score on the SAT. Now there's a new SAT test and a perfect score is 2400. Ok, I can accept. But on March 12th, students took the new test, and 107... ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVEN, achieved perfect scores! Holy Moley! Makes me think of those times on Star Trek when you see little kids in class doing calculus.

Then, I read about a school closing for fear of mercury poisoning after a thermometer breaks, and I think back to seventh grade... My teacher passed around a small amount of mercury (a few drops) in a folded piece of paper. She said, "Look at it. See how it looks like water, but it doesn't soak into the paper? It's metal, but it's liquid at room temperature." Today, we worry about the slightest exposure to an unseen, odorless vapor. Back then, I think there was more worry about losing the sample.

Damn! I TOUCHED that stuff!! Am I going to die? (my kids LOVE that commercial)