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You know your in trouble when you start worrying about the software in your son's Pinewood Derby car!
This year I decided to give up trying to compete with the "Gear-Heads" in our Cub Scout Pack. There are just too many variables when trying to build a fast car. However, the Gear-Heads always seem to get lucky.
The first year we built a really fast car - I think it was just dumb luck. We placed second overall for speed that first year. That was out of a pack of 50 cars! There is nothing better than winning.
We'll, with a little taste of success under our belts, we thought we could simple do it again. Wrong! I pulled all the tricks last year and put a ton of time into trying to build the ultimate speeder. The reward for all that work was a car that finished in the bottom third of the pack for speed. Bummer! There is nothing worst than losing.
OK, this year is going to be different. To heck with speed. If we can't build a fast car then maybe we can build one to win all the style points. Eight and ten year old boys really go for the styling. A cool car can be even better than a fast car - at least that is what we're telling ourselves. So, what will little boys go for? The Gear-Heads also come up with stylized cars too. What can we EE's do to win style points? Bingo! Lets add some blinky lights to our car! No way the Gear-Heads can keep up with that.
And so the Jimmy Neutron LED Pinewood Derby car was born. There, take that, you Gear-Heads.
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No, sadly, we didn't win. I think there was some ballot box stuffing going on. Plus, it's so hard to predict what little boys are going to like. They just take flashing light for granted. They have no appreciation for all the hardware and software involved.
Thanks again,
Jim