Put on your jealous pants, I'm in Miamisburgh!

[mailman]

I'm going to the lower end....I'll say 100.

[Jack]

I don't actually know the answer, so my guess is 500.

i bet johnm doesnt know either lol it was probably more concerning as to volume than quantities at the time with something of such import

[JNeff]

Pretty sure its 92.

[johnm]

A pretty good range of guesses but of course Jack is correct.

i bet johnm doesnt know

But by weight the block is about 1.2 lbs + - 0.1 lbs  (or 545 grams + - 45 grams) (big scale and forgot to get a better measurement before they left  ) and 25 bags is about 135 grams so just 101 bags + - 8 bags.  Well done mailman and honorable mention to JNeff.

[MarkHayward]

Wow, I am shocked! That's WAY less than I thought. Very interesting.

[the Earl of Whirl]

On Saturday I tried to figure it out from information from the internet.  I was stunned to see it was not nearly half of what I thought.  When I held it in the air I was sure it was 1000 bags or more!

I did take the block of plastic to Sunday School and asked the kids what they thought.  After lots of guesses I was surprised to hear one young boy say "grocery bags".  Mostly they got a kick out of how the top of it looks like dog excrement. 

Grocery bags are a big topic of conversation in the church office because it seems we always need good ones for our food pantry.  So often we get ones with holes in them or people tie them together (for some reason?).  I will leave the block of plastic in there for a while and get some interesting comments from the older ladies.

[mailman]

A pretty good range of guesses but of course Jack is correct.

i bet johnm doesnt know

But by weight the block is about 1.2 lbs + - 0.1 lbs  (or 545 grams + - 45 grams) (big scale and forgot to get a better measurement before they left  ) and 25 bags is about 135 grams so just 101 bags + - 8 bags.  Well done mailman and honorable mention to JNeff.

Yay!  It was a wild guess, but apparently a good one!

[MarkHayward]

Well, the fun in Cincinnati didn't stop with giant chunks of poop-colored plastic! Eventually John mentioned that we should take a look at a couple of boxes in his office:


That took a while! I left with this 5" beauty:

The color scheme is called "Coke vs Pepsi" since it is made from 2-liter bottle holders from both manufacturers.

Then it was time for dinner!

[mailman]

Those tops are gorgeous!  Are they terribly expensive?  I'd love to have one like that someday....

[jim in paris]

ah ah !! great recycling sheme and superb photos of John's boxes

jack : it's not that they are expensive tops , but to get one , you have to go physically to UC physics lab

mark : thanks for sharing your visit with us


jim

[the Earl of Whirl]

I was there and ran my hands over all those tops.  I picked them up.  I held them and tapped my fingers on them.  And still, after looking at these pictures, I can't help but want to get my mitts on them again!!!

Great photos, Mark.  Great top making, johnm.  Great salivating, Earl.

[MarkHayward]

That's so true Mike! I feel the same way! I keep thinking, why didn't I sell Mike's car so I could buy more tops?

[MarkHayward]

By the way, Mike was so happy about the plastic bag wad that his face got stuck that way for a while:


PS: We didn't really eat at Chipotle twice in one day. (Although I think Mike would've been glad to if John and I had been into it.)

[the Earl of Whirl]

We did drive by a new Chipotle only a mile or so from the UC campus.  Rats, it could have been the trifeca of Chipotle meals that day!!!

By the way, I did go ahead and sell my car for the last of those johnm tops.  It was a sweet deal.  He threw in another wad of plastic bags!

[ta0]

Mark, are you proposing that photograph of Mike for the photo contest? 

If 100 bags weight 1.2 lb, I need to withdraw my assertion that Mike could not lift 1000 bags with one hand and still smile . . . specially in the shape of a 12 lb top! But, John, have you made tops out of recycled grocery bags?