Magnetic Fields

I have two meetings a week for my project. These meetings, as with all meetings, sometimes get tedious. One of my interim solutions is to bring some of my office toys into the meeting. (I suppose that I should mention that my tendency to keep stuff in my office has resulted in me filling my office with so many knick knacks and "flair" that I've had to start moving some of it out to the lobby because it was getting to the point where people would come into my office and just play. All day long.)

Perhaps the most fun everyone had was with Magnetix, a series of ball bearings and magnetic tubes which can be settled into different shapes. I brought them into today's meeting, and P.G., almost upon sitting down, immediately snatched some up and started playing. The things he made were so abstract. I've never seen one man giggle so much at watching magnets hang over the side of a desk.

The best moment? We were on a conference call, and A.M. asked a question. P.G. rolled a few magnets past the phone, and M.M. was forced to respond "I'm sorry [A.M.], I can't hear you when [P.G.] and [K.T.] are rolling magnets past the phone." Yes, these magnets were strong enough to kill the speaker from six inches away. Or, to put it in an old-school fashion, I HAVE THE POWER!