It’s been a rough couple of weeks. What I thought was going to make my back issues better seems to have exacerbated the problems. Trying to sit for very long or do anything is impeded by excruciating pain in my low back and legs and upper back. So this has not been very fun, which is disappointing.

Learning about the washing machine and it’s origins and creators has been interesting. I’m trying to organize everything in my mind to make it seem logical on paper, so to speak.

I’ve learned how to use my Word bibliography more this time around instead of relying on cutting and pasting and hand writing my sources. That seems to save me time.

The information about why the process of washing clothes developed into a machine, specifically for the purpose of eliminating the cost of several people doing the work, and the love of one man for his wife, was eye opening and yet not surprising. Streamlining work to eliminate cost is something that is not unfamiliar.

I’ll get it all up when I can sit here for more than a few minutes, or when I can drag my son into helping me.

I am excited to have the subject of washing machines. That may sound strange, but to me, while it seems like an innocuous product, I am excited to dig into the gender aspect of it. I have spent time as a volunteer with Yamhill County’s historical museum, and I am going to go back out to see if I can find some examples of early washing tools. I know they’re there, because I taught 4th graders about them. I want to get pictures to show if I can.

Thus far research has been successful and I usually just use my word program to keep my sources, but I am curious about Zotero and may try using that too. I have not had to access the librarians as of yet, but if I run out of resources I will do so. My last attempt to get a book from the OSU library was unsuccessful, so I am hesitant but will push forth if needed.

I found that loading images and embedding them was both fun and frustrating. Often time it is hard to find the actual producer of the image, and I didn’t use several I found because of that issue. When I embedded a link and used the APA method of citation, I was crossing my fingers that it was the correct credit.  Re-sizing images can be frustrating too, I wish there was a way (and there probably is, I just don’t know it yet) to use the whole page so the images can be as far over to one side or the other as possible. I am sure I will learn in time how to master this, it just takes time.

This was such a great experience overall I am very pleased with what I have learned and plan on doing some blogging in the future! I am also going to talk to the local high school about Girls Who Code to see what’s being done to encourage our young girls to get involved and learn.

Regarding Legos, I didn’t have them as a child, but my children have all had them. My younger son who is 20 holds on to his Legos dearly. He is pursuing a degree in Aerospace Engineering, so maybe Legos helped inspire that. My only complaint is that they don’t feel good when you step on one in the dark!

Looking ahead at the next few weeks, this should be another challenging project. I hope to get my desired subject- Washing Machines, and get to work!