Extra Special Bonus: Time Warp!
Hey, guys. As you may know, the weather in Texas this past week was a little wild. Jim and I both spent several days with inconsistent power, inconsistent water, and inconsistent Internet. It was hectic, but don't worry. We're and our families are all safe now, and life is starting to return back to normal.
Melissa:Unfortunately, the weather and power outages caused us to be unable to record a new bonus episode for this month. Luckily, we have 1 in our back pockets. This is an icebreaker episode that Jam and I recorded way back a year ago when COVID was on the horizon. We are worried about what the transition to recording remotely would look like. And just in case, we made this extra bonus episode.
Melissa:Please enjoy it, and be on the lookout for next month's q and
Melissa:Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:And I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist. And I'm not. And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Except this week, we're not gonna do that.
Jam:Are you sure?
Melissa:I'm positive. Actually, I'm not positive. This is all very much up in the air.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So Jam doesn't know what's going on. I surprised him with an extra episode recording today.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Because I'm a little worried that in the next few weeks, Texas is gonna go on total lockdown. Oh. Only leave your house for emergencies or necessities
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Because of the current outbreak.
Jam:That's smart. And To be fair, I don't know what's going on most of the time. Mhmm. Now normally, I do expect that we're gonna talk about chemistry.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:So I guess this is She mostly did succeed in pulling the rug out from under me, the very small rug of certainty that I have about the recording of each time we meet up. Mhmm. Being about chemistry is It's the only thing that's changed, but normally, I don't know anything. So it's kind of normal for me.
Melissa:It is kind of normal.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So I totally changed the format, and I did a quick tell me your favorite icebreaker question.
Jam:Oh.
Melissa:And so we're gonna do that, and we're just gonna hold this episode in our back pocket. And if it so happens
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That we get shut down, total lockdown, you'll get this instead of a regular episode when we run out of our episodes.
Jam:So if you're hearing this in the future, if you're hearing this
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:It's too late. Mhmm.
Melissa:No. The alternative option is if we all make it through and we never go completely down
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And have to be on lockdown Uh-huh. You'll get 2 bonus episodes in April.
Jam:Oh, nice. Okay.
Melissa:Sweet. So that's what I've decided. That's what I came up with for today's episode.
Jam:I like it. Let's do it.
Melissa:Okay. The first question is a throwback question to friend of the show, Adam b.
Jam:Nice. Adam b.
Melissa:Adam b, a long time ago. It's been a while. And when Adam, b, and I were in a campus ministry together in college Uh-huh. He asked the question, what dessert best describes you? Not what's your favorite.
Melissa:And his answer was a sopapilla cheesecake, and it was so thoughtful. He was like, so would be a cheesecakes. On the outside, have this layer that makes them seem hard, but you get in, and it's just So soft and sweet. And I was like, that's a good, very thoughtful answer. So now that's my question for you.
Jam:Wow. Yikes. Man, Adam.
Melissa:And then I'll answer it too.
Jam:Did he ask the question also, you said?
Melissa:No. He didn't ask it. It's just one of my favorites, so I wanted to
Jam:include it. Answer. I was gonna say, man, Adam, we'd ask a question that you also have
Melissa:a perfect
Jam:answer for.
Melissa:He did ask a question and also have a perfect he was Oh. He was, like, leading a group.
Jam:What Yeah.
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. And so
Jam:he made them do that. Yeah. It's cheating. But I love you, Adam. Okay.
Jam:I can do this. This is really hard. You know me. Do you have any can you give me a hint about what dessert I am? Even a slight hint.
Melissa:You stick pretty rigidly to your moral code,
Jam:so
Melissa:that makes me think you're something like a brownie.
Jam:Okay. I I also feel like I'm not crazy sweet.
Melissa:Not crazy sweet
Jam:That and kind
Melissa:of sub subversive. So maybe you're a brownie with, like, a salty caramel thing going through it.
Jam:Okay. What if I don't even seem like a dessert? What if I'm cereal?
Melissa:That's a good one. It's like That's it. That is it. Mhmm.
Jam:It's like yeah. You might think of cereal as just like a breakfast or whatever. But if you put it in the category of dessert, it's like Mhmm. Pretty awesome.
Melissa:That's great. That's a really good answer.
Jam:But why is it me though? Maybe because I don't smoke a dessert, and I'm not trying to rock the boat in these really flashy ways, but I am trying to mess up your categories a little bit.
Melissa:Yeah. That is perfect. You're subtly pushing back against the system and the man constantly.
Jam:Right. There we go. Pushing back against the system. Mhmm. But I'm also just serial.
Jam:So it's like Yeah. I'm not crazy radical Right. Or anything. Yeah.
Melissa:I don't know. Popping up radically in unexpected places. Yeah. That's a good one.
Jam:I'll take it.
Melissa:Mine is much more traditional
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:As am I. I think I'm key lime pie.
Jam:Dude, that's a good one.
Melissa:Because I seem like I can be kinda mean Uh-huh. Come off a little, like, sour at first. But if you really get to know me, I can be pretty sweet. Aw. And but every once in a while, I've got that, like, tartness.
Melissa:You know? The sweetness doesn't completely take over. It's not like a like, a Sour Patch Kid where it starts out sour and then in sweet, I'm like, a little of both most of the time.
Jam:Right. Right. The flavor is both things. The whole yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:Yeah. I think that's me. And it
Jam:wouldn't be Kayla and Pia if both things weren't present. Yeah. I like that. That's a good answer. I
Melissa:think that's I think that's my answer.
Jam:Strong feeling I'm gonna Think of a really way better answer later, and I'm gonna be really That's
Melissa:always how these things are.
Jam:So everybody bear with me. Sorry about my answer. If you guys all think of a better one too, I'm really sorry.
Melissa:Okay. Next one is from Nikki in
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:You're quarantined. Who do you pick to be stuck with, and what is 1 item besides a cell phone that you would bring. Your person is obviously your wife, Emily.
Jam:That's a that's a given. So the hard thing is in the item. So it's like You
Melissa:you already have a cell phone.
Jam:Here's a double whammy though. I'm quarantined. Obviously, gonna pick my wife. If you're married to somebody out there and you're not gonna pick your spouse, then Got some stuff to figure out. But, my wife is a medical professional, so huge bonus.
Jam:If whatever's going down is crazy
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:I mean, we are in under a quarantine of sorts, but in this hypothetical, if no matter what the quarantine is, I'm picking
Melissa:Oh, a 100%.
Jam:My wife for more more reasons than one. I would I
Melissa:think my one object would be a TV. Right?
Jam:But you got your phone already.
Melissa:Yeah. But if I'm with someone, I'd wanna watch it together.
Jam:Yeah. You can, though, on your phone.
Melissa:Yeah. A puzzle?
Jam:Something yes. Something that occupies your time, that's analog would be good.
Melissa:Mhmm. A a nice book you can read out loud to each other.
Jam:Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Melissa:I mean, your phone is pretty much everything. Maybe a good board game?
Jam:Four games are good. Yes. A dog.
Melissa:Is that an object?
Jam:I don't know.
Melissa:Not almost as a person.
Jam:Okay. I'm try I'm not trying to be like A I'm not trying to be a parody of myself, but I am trying to figure out how to pick coffee. Oh, just pick coffee. But, like, it's not just 1 object. Like, I could pick just a jar of coffee beans, but then I don't have my stuff to brew.
Melissa:I guess I assumed if you're quarantined, you're quarantined in your house. It didn't say you're quarantined somewhere else.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So maybe you can your one object is your coffee setup.
Jam:If if I can pick that, Nikki, Please let me pick that.
Melissa:Okay. Your wife and your coffee setup.
Jam:Yep. That's all I need.
Melissa:Dang. This is harder for me. I feel like my instinct is to pick my significant other.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:But he and I are not married.
Jam:Right. So it
Melissa:might be a little uncomfortable to spend our time together
Jam:Right. Right. Right.
Melissa:At this stage.
Jam:Yeah. Be a serious test. It would be Yikes. Captured him by fire.
Melissa:Right. And then it becomes a test of who's my friend that I want to spend the most time with, which is really not a fun game to play.
Jam:Right. Right. Right.
Melissa:Currently, I'm quarantined with my roommates when I am home Yeah. And not with taking care of my mom, so I spend a lot of time with them.
Jam:Right. What if you were like, k. If I had to pick a friend and you're like, hey, Jane Doe, plug yours real quick.
Melissa:I think I think I would still pick my main man right now. Uh-huh. Because that seems like it'd be fun, and it's the least dangerous answer.
Jam:That is pretty yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because you don't have Other main dudes to be competitive about.
Melissa:So Exactly. That would be bad.
Jam:Yep. Yeah. It's a good point. It's a good one.
Melissa:So I'm gonna go with him.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And it'll be a good test to figure out if we're gonna stick it out for the long run or if we're gonna end it up immediately.
Jam:That's true. You know, we're
Melissa:Word. Be really awful, though, if it ends quick. I saw something about a couple breaking up on the plane. Oh, nightmare.
Jam:Yeah. Nightmare. Yeah. We're in this stage of life. I mean, you don't wanna waste time if you don't have to.
Jam:Why not just get quarantined together, and then you'll find out fast if it's gonna work out or not.
Melissa:Okay. So that's my that'll be my person. It'll be, an interesting quarantine for sure.
Jam:Yeah. For sure.
Melissa:And then my one object, I don't have a beverage like you oh, Spindrift. But I'll be at home. Right?
Jam:Yeah. He picks Pinder if you can't, a koozie. So
Melissa:sorry. No.
Jam:You gotta pick pick 1 object. Sounds like
Melissa:Oh, are we, like, in a box, or are we in our homes?
Jam:I don't know. I
Melissa:think I'd want my bed set up. So if you have your phone, You have a lot going on there. It would be hard not to have, like, some board games or some puzzles. I do love those, but you can only theoretically do them once. Right.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:I guess some board games, you could play a lot, but I think you'd get tired. Anything you'd get tired of, but the comfort of your bed, that's a good one.
Jam:That is a good one. And, like, if you I mean, if you cooped up for a while, knowing that you can get a good night's sleep or whatever is that's a huge there's a lot of value there.
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. I really love sleeping in my bed. Oh, no. I figured it out.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:I think the other object I would bring is my headphones.
Jam:Oh, interesting. I didn't think about not having those already.
Melissa:Yeah. So if I have my phone, but I wanna listen to podcasts and I wanna do it alone sometimes.
Jam:Yeah. And so
Melissa:I could just go to another room of the house or Whatever. Area of the box, whatever we're quarantined in
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And have my own feels like time by myself. I think I would really like that.
Jam:Great point. Good answer. I like that.
Melissa:I think that's what I'm going with. This is from friend of the show, Renee Collini. Okay. Renee c. She asked, what is your favorite outdoor place?
Jam:Like, a specific place or, like, generically, like, the beach or mountains or lakes or whatever?
Melissa:You get
Melissa:to do whatever you want. This is our show. Clean. He's just living in it. That doesn't make sense.
Jam:I like that. Okay. Okay. Because the way that I first thought of it in terms of Yeah. When you asked it, I just thought generically.
Jam:I love being on lakes, like lake house kinda thing. Mhmm.
Melissa:I love
Jam:that you can be right on a lake. It makes you a little nervous to be, like, right on the ocean. Yeah. And I don't enjoy sand just like that as much. Mm-mm.
Jam:I love the peacefulness of, like, being right near some water. Makes everything so nice. Like, just drinking cup a cup of coffee on the balcony of, like, a lake house or whatever.
Melissa:Yeah. That's a good one.
Jam:Just love it. So I could I could absolutely live on a lake.
Melissa:I think my favorite place is I can think of 1 specifically in Nashville that I love, but any waterfall
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:In the middle of hilly or mountainy tree covered areas.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Those that's where I wanna be. That's where I feel the most at peace, and it's just so beautiful. And I love trees. I don't love the sun, so I love trees. I love mountains.
Melissa:I think that's my number one.
Jam:I knew that. I remember that. And when Em and I were seeing waterfalls in New Zealand, we were kept being like, oh, Most would love this place.
Melissa:Oh, that's okay.
Jam:There are, like, so many waterfalls. And as soon as it would be like these little ones you didn't expect, it'd be like, oh, okay. Cool. There's a little waterfall. Hi.
Melissa:Oh, is that why you brought me back a New Zealand cup?
Jam:Yep. Because
Melissa:you couldn't bring back the waterfall?
Jam:Yeah. They would not let us. We did try, though.
Melissa:I I appreciate that.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I would expect nothing less from you. This is from Chelsea Deep.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Would you rather every night before going to bed, you must soak your sleeping clothes in water and then wear them to bed, or You have to wear full winter gear to bed. Jacket, hat, gloves, snow pants, and boots. Oh my gosh. I think I would pick the first one.
Jam:Dude, that's So hard.
Melissa:I hate being hot.
Jam:Yeah. Me too. Absolutely do. I could not fall asleep if I'm wet, though. So I can fall asleep with shoes on.
Jam:I can fall asleep with jackets on, stuff like that. I would probably get hot, which would be super not fun, But I think I could could actually get some sleep. Being wet, I don't think I could. No. I'd just have to wait until they were dry, which would Break the rules, I think.
Melissa:I would be hot and angry. One time I woke up and my roommate, she woke up and she was cold. Mhmm. And she'd turn the temperature up to 76 degrees in the middle of the night, and I was on a loft bed Oh, no. Almost parallel with the vent.
Melissa:Yeah. And I have never been more angry. I woke up so hot and so mad.
Jam:I hate that.
Melissa:And I think that would happen to me every night. So I'm gonna go with the soak your sleeping clothes, and I'll just sleep somewhere hot,
Jam:I think. You just wake up at prune?
Melissa:Because it doesn't say it has to be in cold water.
Jam:Yeah. That's
Melissa:true. Could just jump in the bath. You don't have to get wet either. Just your clothes.
Jam:Yeah. Oh, gosh, though. So I mean, I just
Melissa:jump in a warm bath.
Jam:I know that for me, I made the right choice even though it's gonna be not fun no matter what. Mm-mm. I
Melissa:don't think you did.
Jam:I did.
Melissa:What is the coolest thing you've done in the shoes you're wearing right now? And that's a question from Abby h.
Jam:Abby h, great question. The shoes I'm wearing right now have taken many places. I think the coolest thing I could think of that came to mind just to be specific, these are Red Wing in, copper rough and tough, full grain leather, chukaboos. So I took these to Zimbabwe when I went there, which actually is funny because we talked about Zimbabwe a couple weeks ago when I talked about the sun looking really weird there.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Same trip. I brought these there because, I need I wanted to look it's norm it's good to look as nice as you can for church services. It's still a really important thing if you're gonna go to church service while you're in
Melissa:a country
Jam:like that. Mhmm. And we went to this church they met in the school building and had a really nice, like, acoustic nature to This church, it was smallish, but the the songs that they sang in the language there, Shona, was so, so pretty. I even have some recordings if we wanna share that with people.
Melissa:Wow.
Jam:Just the audio. So pretty, And I wore these shoes there. And I filmed that whole thing, recorded the whole thing just because I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna use this for my work, but I can't be here and not try to capture the whole Right. Deal. So, Yeah.
Jam:It was awesome.
Melissa:Well, the coolest things I've done in these shoes
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:I'm wearing rain boots. I got them from Target.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:They're Chelsea style boots.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:They had a small defect in the rubber, and so they actually gave it to me for a discount.
Jam:Nice. Which is
Melissa:always the way to go.
Jam:For sure.
Melissa:And I wore them around Paris. I went with my mom to Paris last spring break. It was, like, 1 year ago today, the day we're recording. And
Jam:That's crazy.
Melissa:I know. It was maybe 1 1 year and a few days, but it was this week.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And walk. We walked all around Paris
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And looked for secret gardens Uh-huh. Because Paris has all these really beautiful gardens just in weird places, and we found 1 up high above what used to be a railroad. Uh-huh. And it's just this hidden walkway just elevated above the city, and it was So beautiful. And I took a cool picture of my mom walking away down it, so I'll post that.
Melissa:So walking around Paris speaking French to the guy at the pastry shop. I got the best croissant I've ever had in my life
Jam:Nice. There.
Melissa:So that's what I did in these shoes.
Jam:Dang. That is awesome and very sweet memory.
Melissa:Both of those are really
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:We're wearing adventurous shoes today.
Jam:I know. For real. I'm glad I didn't wear diverse shoes. I had no idea we're gonna I have this question. Did you already know?
Jam:No. Okay. Good.
Melissa:I just got it when I got here to my office.
Jam:Okay. Good.
Melissa:You think we have time for 1 more?
Jam:Yes. Absolutely.
Melissa:Actually, let's do 2 more. Okay. We just got 2 in on Instagram that we can do real quick.
Jam:Perfect.
Melissa:From Tori m, what's your favorite bible crush?
Jam:What? What?
Melissa:I don't even know what a bible crush, and it doesn't say who. This is what?
Jam:Man. Okay. So my answer
Melissa:to this, I don't think I have any crushes on anyone in the Bible Uh-huh. If that's what she's asking. Okay.
Jam:I do
Melissa:have a crush On a Bible. There's this really cute Bible I got called She Reads Truth, and it's Mhmm. Hard brought back and has these little illustrations. And I I actually saw your wife had it first, and then I wanted it. So, that's my Bible crush.
Melissa:It my Bible crush is on that Bible.
Jam:That is cool. It's a different way to interpret it, but I think it's I think it's loud. Also, I got my wife that bad one.
Melissa:Well, it said what, not who.
Jam:What is your yeah. That's true. I don't
Melissa:think I have a crush on a story.
Jam:I mean, I feel like
Melissa:that fig tree that Jesus shrivels? Yeah.
Jam:There's some pretty There's a really good selection of potential crashes in the Bible, I think. I mean, you got Esther. Pretty awesome. You got Ruth. You can
Melissa:have a man crush too.
Jam:That's true.
Melissa:Wow. I'm really into Boaz.
Jam:Yeah. It was pretty sweet.
Melissa:Maybe on Mary.
Jam:Mary. Who is that that who helped them? Like, lowered them in the basket or whatever? Was that Lydia or Dorcas?
Melissa:Or Don't remember.
Jam:Rahab. That's who it was. It's a lot of options, man.
Melissa:Oh, she was like a spy. Right?
Jam:Yeah. Totally.
Melissa:Dude, yeah. Do you
Jam:you know what kind
Melissa:of man
Jam:spy. That's pretty exciting. Do you know what kind of man
Melissa:Boaz was before he met his wife? No. I don't care
Jam:about Boaz. He was ruthless.
Melissa:No. Okay. I'm done with this question. That was all you get. You don't get to answer it.
Melissa:Next question.
Jam:Did you ever see Prince of Egypt watch that movie?
Melissa:No. I didn't.
Jam:Moses's wife was pretty pretty.
Melissa:Okay. That's your crush. It's a cartoon Moses' wife from Prince of Egypt.
Jam:You don't know other I mean, we don't know what the other ones look like. So it's just based off their coolness of their stories, which there's plenty of that too.
Melissa:While Love is Blind. You've seen that new Netflix show.
Jam:I have not. Seen that. I have. And I never will.
Melissa:Okay. Last but not least, from Erica d, what is your all time favorite TV show?
Jam:Erica, that's a really good question. You didn't make it so hard, though.
Melissa:Do you know what I just thought of? What? Maybe our maybe our crushes in the bible should have been Jesus. Damn. Non romantic spiritual crush.
Jam:Yep.
Melissa:We I think that was a test that we failed.
Jam:Mandatory. Well done.
Melissa:Okay. So let's go back now that we know that we failed the test.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:What is your all time favorite TV show?
Jam:Okay. I think there's only 1 answer I can have.
Melissa:What's that?
Jam:Oh, I don't know. Just a little amazing show called Twin Peaks.
Melissa:Oh, no. I watched the 1st 2 seasons of it and loved it, and then the new season came out and I was out of there.
Jam:I, I love dumb peaks. I think my favorite show of all time. I think I could watch it over and over. There's so much to love about it. But also, I think what's hard about it is I don't know if there's other shows that I have watched that I've loved as much.
Jam:Like, I fell head over heels for Twin Peaks When I first, like, stumbled across it probably about 5 or 6 years ago. And I was just like, I don't think I've had experience with shows before, really. Though even though Interesting. It's super not your typical show, it's definitely not for everybody. It's weird to have, like, fallen so hard for a show.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:Well, I don't know that I have an all time favorite TV show, but I'm gonna go with the classic. Okay. One that has been my favorite for the longest, and that would be Gilmore Girls. And I know there are some issues. They there are some things that it came out in the early aughts.
Melissa:You know? Uh-huh. It's questionable choices.
Jam:Totally.
Melissa:But I just loved it in high school. And every once in a while, I just go back and do a rewatch, and I just love it. I mean, I know the characters are very flawed.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:It's not great in a lot of ways in terms of political correctness or sensitivity or making wise choices or things that are frustrating. But
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I am I just think I grew up with it. I love it. It's a It's a show that is in my heart forever. Yeah. I'll never not love it.
Jam:I mean, even if there are some things that are dated about it or Mhmm. Shortcomings with it, You can just always take sauce knowing that it's not Grey's Anatomy.
Melissa:No. Don't say that.
Jam:We've always got that.
Melissa:Gonna have an uprising. You're gonna have an rising of all of our listeners who love Grey's. It went on for 30 years for a reason. People like it even if you and I don't. And on that note, we hope that you guys enjoyed this weird icebreaker question game.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And, hopefully, we get to use it for a fun random bonus episode.
Jam:Yeah. Hopefully, we don't we are not forced to use it, but you know?
Melissa:That's just extra fun. But if if we do close down, we've got this ready and waiting for you, and hopefully hopefully, it's fun and will kinda brighten your mood up a little bit.
Jam:Yeah. Yep. And if you really like any of these icebreaker questions, please message us your answers if any of these Questions really jump out of you. We'd love to hear from you and, especially if we're all even more quarantined than we are right now. It'd be super awesome to to get to chatting with you guys and talking about shows and a lot more small talk fun kind of stuff.
Jam:So
Melissa:Oh my gosh. Yes. That would
Jam:be so fun. Yeah.
Melissa:Please reach out. I would really enjoy that. I would have a great time hearing y'all's answers to these. Okay. Well, thanks for coming to my office and having that fun chat, Jam.
Melissa:Sorry I blindsided you.
Jam:It's okay. Take your time.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Coleenie and Jam Robinson, and we'd like to give a special thanks to E Robinson who reviewed this episode.
