Tuesday, September 25, 2007

An interesting phenomenon

We're heading to Boston tomorrow for a conference, and I spent a good bit of time this afternoon printing and researching clues for that area. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I just peeked inside my letterboxing backpack for the first time since arriving in Maine...and to my surprise, I discovered something lurking in there even more interesting than a cootie...

I'd like to get your opinions about what it might be...

My first clue was a blue sticky substance on my fingers as I got near the bottom of the main portion of my backpack. I then noticed this substance on some of the contents I had just pulled out. Oddly, it wouldn't come off when I tried to wash my hands...it just spread out as it was smeared around. I went back to the backpack and continued to empty it, and one of the last items to surface was my can of Off bug repellent. That's when I noticed the second clue...a sickly smell accompanying the stickiness on the can. My assumption was that the can of Off had leaked, although that didn't explain the blue color.

As I tried to clean the stickiness off my backpack with baby wipes (unscented, of course), I discovered it wouldn't come off, just as it hadn't come off my fingers. I got a sponge and a bottle of Soft Scrub and started scrubbing, and that's when I noticed the third clue...there appears to be a hole in the top layer of material in the bottom of my backpack, about 2 inches in diameter.

My theory is that the Off leaked out of the can and ate a hole through the blue backpack material, which created the sticky blue substance I encountered. If my theory is correct, the potency of this chemical boggles the mind!

I'm curious to know what you all think about this.

3 comments:

ahistory said...

very interesting indeed. Got any pictures?

Monkey Mom said...

Of Course she does! Let's see it, Sandi.

Grace to You said...

You know me too well, McMonkeyMom. :)