Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Most Intermediate Adventure: Pre-Polishing the Rocks

What a grand day for an adventure, fellow adventurer!

It has been 3-5 days (time is fairly inconsequential to an adventurer!) since we started step 2 of the rock polishing process. That means it's time to check on our rocks, fellow adventurer! Head down to the basement and grab your cylinder. Inside, there should be a good amount of slurry (or, "icky stuff") as you can see in the photo above. This means you're doing it right (probably)!

But do we want all that residue to stay for the next step? The instructions say, "No!" And as much as I hate to agree with the instructions, that slurry sure is gross. So clean that out!

FUN TIP: Pour the slurry in your toilet and flush it down. Check every ten minutes for a surprise! Remember to wear Boots!

 A perfect shot of three-quarters of our shed, ruined by me washing out the slurry with a hose

Now that you've disposed of all that old grit and grime, it's time to make some more! Dump out the stones in a colander (because that's the first thing you see and it'll siphon off the extra water or something) and check out the work you've already done.

A bowl of damp rocks? Or a bowl of ADVENTURE?

Your rocks will be wet (as a consequence of sitting in water) and will look shiny enough to glue some googly eyes on and sell to your neighbor's kid for obscenely high prices (because he's a kid and dumb enough to pay). But beware! Rocks are tricky. Wait a minute and let them dry off. Now you'll see their treachery! While the grit has worn off the sharp edges of the stones, it has done little to polish them. So shove them back in the barrel for a couple more weeks of beatings.

After you've put the rocks and water into the cylinder, add four tablespoons of pre-polish powder (the book says six, but you'll realize after four that six is the whole bag and you're too adventurous (cheap) to go out and buy more). Swish it around (because, even though the rocks are about to tumble for a week and the powder will inevitably get mixed in, an adventurer likes to feel like he has helped the process along). Now you're ready to start round three of tumbling!

Back to the basement!

Like children, the tumbler should neither be seen nor heard until you go to check and see if they're still moving every other day (that's what my parents did, fellow adventurer!). So sit back, relax, take off your shoes, and go wash your feet, fellow adventurer, because they stink of progress!

Conclusion: Adventure in progress. Also, I'm starting to realize why my parents don't take me out in public.

1 comment:

  1. At the risk of sounding English-teacherish...your writing is polishing nicely along with the rocks. I'm thoroughly enjoying your adventuring!

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