The Watering Machine: The Failure Log

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DRAWING NO. 1 SHEET 3 OF 3

THE FAILURE LOG

[ BACK TO THE WATERING MACHINE ] [ THE 47 STEPS ]

This is the clipboard that hung on the garage wall all August, typed up. Every full run of the machine from the day it was all hooked together, with the step where it stopped (see The 47 Steps for the numbers) and what we changed before the next try. We only counted full runs. Testing one station by itself doesn't count, or this page would be a mile long.

I'm putting it up because when you see a machine like this work, it looks easy. It is not easy. Here's the proof.

RUN	DATE	STOP	WHAT HAPPENED / WHAT WE CHANGED
1	Sat 7/31	16	First run ever. Made it past the dominoes and everybody started cheering too early. The car fell off the top of the loop. Raised the Big Drop six inches with two more coffee cans.
2	Sat 7/31	17	Made the loop! Then the track came apart at a joint on the floor. Tape under every joint.
3	Sat 7/31	30	The Elevator swung into a shelf bracket halfway up and dumped its marble behind the freezer. Moved the rope out two inches. The marble is still behind the freezer.
4	Sun 8/1	6	Long Row stopped at domino 41. One gap too wide. Valerie cut a cardboard spacer so every domino goes the same distance apart.
5	Sun 8/1	12	The marble bounced right back out of the paper cup. Put a clean sock in the bottom of the cup. VALERIE: My idea. CLEAN sock.
6	Sun 8/1	23	Mousetrap went off fine, but the string slipped off the clothespin. Switched to fishing line, tied with a real fishing knot.
7	Tue 8/3	1	The start string broke. Nothing happened at all. The most embarrassing run of the summer. New string.
8	Wed 8/4	10	The vinyl tube in the Corkscrew sagged in the heat and the marble stuck in the low spot. Rewound it on the handle of the old mop, which is fatter, and taped it every half turn.
9	Wed 8/4	27	Skateboard went off the side of the plank. Added rails made of paint stirrers.
10	Fri 8/6	21	Golf ball came out of the Duct too slow and stopped an inch short of the mousetrap. Put another paint can under the high end.
11	Sat 8/7	21	Now the golf ball was too FAST and jumped right over the trap. Took the paint can out and used a stack of three old magazines. Just right.
12	Sat 8/7	18	The cat got in through the side door during setup and lay down in the middle of the Snake. Nobody noticed until the dominoes ran into her. She's fine. Rule 3 went on the wall that night.
13	Sat 8/7	33	Marble got wedged between two golf tees in the Plinko. Moved one tee over a hole.
14	Sun 8/8	36	Drawbridge came down but landed short of the lever. Made a new drawbridge two inches longer.
15	Sun 8/8	39	The pin hit the Dump Tub, the tub wobbled, the tub stayed put. Valerie rebalanced it with 43 marbles instead of 40 so it sits right on the edge of tipping.
16	Tue 8/10	14	97 degrees in the garage. The masking tape on the popsicle stick went soft and let go, and the yellow car took off by itself while we were still setting up the far end. Duct tape from now on, and no more runs before supper.
17	Thu 8/12	25	The Tower fell the wrong way, away from the Gate. Folded an index card and slid it under the back of the bottom box so the stack leans a hair toward the Gate.
18	Thu 8/12	30	The Elevator made it to the top and just sat there. Basket never tipped. Bent the nail down more.
19	Sat 8/14	16	Car slowed down at the top of the loop and fell off. Turned out somebody had been playing with the yellow car at lunch and there was grape jelly on the wheels. Washed the wheels. New rule: the yellow car is not a toy anymore, it is a machine part. JASON: sorry.
20	Sat 8/14	43	Slide card came out, and the sand didn't pour. It was damp from the humid week and had clumped up in the neck of the bottle. Dried the sand in the sun on a garage-sale cookie sheet. (A garage-sale cookie sheet. See Rule 2.)
21	Sat 8/14	46	So close. The bucket went down and the rope pulled, but the watering can slid sideways off the board instead of tipping. Water went on the step stool, the floor and my shoes. Nailed a block in front of the can.
22	Sun 8/15	41	The fourth lumber domino hit the fifth and the fifth didn't care. Too big a jump. This was the night the kids tested blocks on the garage floor for two hours and figured out the half-again rule. I cut a whole new set.
23	Sun 8/15	18	Never got to pull the string. Jason was hanging the bucket and backed into the Snake, and everything from Step 18 on went off by itself, right up through the Dump Tub. Since then we set up from the END backward.
24	Wed 8/18	32	Marble hopped off the side of the xylophone on the fifth note. Taller cardboard rails.
25	Sat 8/21	16	The loop again. This time the loop piece pulled loose from the track at the bottom. New connector, plus tape, plus a brick to hold the loop down.
26	Sat 8/21	28	The rope snagged on the corner of the cinder block and the skateboard stopped halfway down. Ran the rope through a screw eye so it can't wander.
27	Sat 8/21	47	EVERYTHING WORKED. All 46 steps. The can tipped, the water came out, and it landed eight inches to the left of Frank. On the floor. We all just stood there. Turned the can a little to the right.
28	Sun 8/22	5	After a week of working fine, the steel ball came off the bell at a funny angle and rolled right off the bench. Put two strips of cardboard along the bench to steer it.
29	Wed 8/25	18	First week of school, everybody tired, the Snake set up in a hurry before supper. A gap at domino 88. That's when we made the Inspection Rule: Valerie checks Jason's dominoes and Jason checks Valerie's.
30	Sat 8/28	38	The green car crossed the drawbridge, drifted left and missed the bowling pin. Paint-stirrer rails again. Paint stirrers are the duct tape of this machine.
31	Sat 8/28	24	The Wrecking Ball swung and missed the Tower by about an inch. I think the fishing line stretched a little. Re-tied it and put a chalk X on the floor where the Tower has to stand.
32	Sun 8/29	DONE	6:52 P.M. ALL 47 STEPS. FRANK GOT WATERED. 1 MIN 53 SEC.

WHERE IT STOPPED, BY STATION (Valerie counted)
A. The Bench (14 steps)	6 times	Runs 4, 5, 7, 8, 16, 28
B. The Floor (16 steps)	16 times	Runs 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 23, 25, 26, 29, 31
C. The Shelf (10 steps)	5 times	Runs 13, 14, 15, 24, 30
D. The Fern (7 steps)	4 times	Runs 20, 21, 22, 27
TOTAL	31

JASON: my station broke the most because it had the most steps. that is just math. also the cat was not my fault.

VALERIE: Run 23 was his fault though.

RUNS SINCE AUGUST 29
33	Mon 9/6	DONE	Labor Day, for Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa said he'd like one that mows the lawn.
34	Mon 9/6	16	Encore for Grandma. The loop, naturally.
35	Sat 9/11	DONE	For the neighbors across the street.
36	Sat 9/11	DONE	For the neighbors' in-laws, who heard about it.
37	Sun 9/12	39	Dump Tub didn't tip. Somebody took a marble out to look at it. We have our suspicions.
38	Sat 9/18	DONE	Valerie's friends from school. Valerie narrated.
39	Sat 9/18	6	One of Valerie's friends leaned on the bench to get a better look. Long Row, gone. Everybody was very nice about it.
40	Sat 9/25	DONE	Jason's friends. Much yelling.
41	Sat 9/25	DONE	Jason's friends again, by popular demand. Frank is looking very green these days.

[ BACK TO THE WATERING MACHINE ] [ THE 47 STEPS ]
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