My sister and I judged a Science Fair at a middle school. I got the exciting (not) category of botany while she did biochem. One of the projects sent her on a wild good chase because a kid quoted a Web site in his research. He claimed — because of the web site — there was a styrofoam plant.

The questionable web site: The History of Styrofoam. Would you believe this site if you were doing research for a science project? This is a more reliable source for styrofoam information.

Moral: Can’t believe everything you read on the Internet, kids.

Can you help this Mom-and-Pop style bakery grow and survive the world of Mega-Marts?

It may not have “Tycoon” in its name, but Cake Mania runs like a Tycoon game. You’re Jill (sorry, guys, no Jack), the owner of a bakery who just graduated from culinary school. Jill’s grandparents’ bakery closed thanks to the new Mega-Mart nearby. The goal is to operate a new bakery and earn enough bucks to re-open Jill’s grandparents’ bakery.

Every level requires meeting a financial goal prior to moving to the next level. You can watch your progress at the bottom of the screen, which indicates how much cash you’ve earned in the level and the goal you need to reach. The game has over 45 levels (months) and four different styles of bakeries. As you earn money in each level, you can use it to buy more equipment and operate faster.

You don’t simply take customer orders. You also give them a menu, bake their cakes to their requirements, serve customer, and collect money. Some customers require faster service than others. When you get a new kind of customer, the game tells you about the customer. One example customer is the college student who doesn’t have a lot of money, but has more patience than most customers.

Every cake must be baked in a certain shape and frosted with a specifically requested color. You may need to add decorations, but it depends on the customer’s request. Cheer up customers who lose patience by turning on the television to a favorite station or giving them a cupcake. Of course, you have to earn enough money to buy the television and cupcake microwave.

Levels are represented by the months of the year. Level one is January. As you go through each level, you’ll see characters reflecting that month’s holiday. Expect heart-shaped cakes and cupid in February, a bearded Easter Bunny in the spring, and Dracula. These folks may appear another time of the year as they take vacations, too. Serve Dracula as soon as possible because he scares customers away. These characters keep the game interesting and non-monotonous, a problem that can afflict these types of games.

The superbly designed interface makes those cakes look yummy. As you progress through the levels, you get more customers and the game gets more frantic. The early levels are easy and great practice in preparing you for the advanced levels.

Cake Mania comes with well-written documentation and guides the player throughout the game as new elements enter. Oh, and Jill must do everything as she can’t afford to hire help. As you get more practice, you’ll find a rhythm that works for you. However, once you reach a level where you start losing lives (not earning enough money for the level), it’s going to be tough to survive the level, as all lives were lost in one level.

The game just misses on one point. Once you get stuck on a level, it seems impossible to get through it with all four lives intact.

Sandlot Games has successfully created an addicting game with enough elements to avoid boring the player. Be prepared to work fast and come up with a routine to make it happen. Thank goodness those cakes can’t be eaten, otherwise we’d be in trouble. There’s a handheld version of the game, but better stay away or else real work won’t get done.

System Requirements
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Pentium II 400Mhz or better
128 MB System RAM (256 MB recommended)
3D Hardware Accelerated Video Card with 16 MB Video RAM
Internet Explorer 5.0+, AOL 5,6 or MSN browsers
Direct-X 7 or above
Keyboard and mouse required
Joystick and game pad are not supported

Cake Mania doesn’t have an official rating, but it qualifies for E (Everyone) by ESRB standards.

Download the free trial. The regular price is $19.95.

The wallpaper border in the bathroom has been peeling, so finally got motivated to remove the wallpaper. I talked to a friend and did research online to see what method would work best. Turns out it’s a combination. The wallpaper is from 1996 — so the method may not work with older wallpaper.

We started with scoring (using Papertiger: a rolling tool that pokes holes in the wallpaper for easier removal) so liquid could go through to soak the wallpaper. However, we stopped using the scoring tool as we modified the process. My friend suggested using water with a few drops of fabric softener. This article had a similar method except it states to spray each area three times and wait 30 minutes.

I tried this first and it worked OK. The wallpaper’s outer layer (gray) was stubborn in a few spots. Since this is in the bathroom — the wallpaper was tougher on liquid. I even used a steamer we have (for clothes). Later Paul discovered we could just scrape the wall without wetting it. But I hit a lot of areas that wouldn’t budge using Paul’s method.

I noticed the gray was harder to get off with liquid, but easier to peel when dry. The layer behind the gray, however, came off easily when wet. So, we peel off the gray with a little help from something like a joint knife. While peeling, you might want to hold a grocery bag with your arm to dump the paper in for easier clean up (once in a while I missed the bag).

Spray the wallpaper’s second layer with warm water and let it sit for a few minutes. With the joint knife, it peels right off. The areas using the first method have more scratches and dents than the ones using the improved method.

Letting things go — what is done is done is a recurring theme this week. In today’s Early to Rise newsletter, Robert Ringer talks about Dale Carnegie’s How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, a book a read years ago as I’m a worrier (thanks, Grandma).

Ringer writes that some of the book’s content are outdated while some points still apply. I was surprised by this as I thought the book was timeless. We’re human and unlike the things around us — our nature rarely evolves. But Ringer makes a valid point about acceptance. I may have accepted my hearing loss years ago, but it doesn’t prevent me from aspiring to hear and speak better. I would think getting the cochlear implant three years ago demonstrates this.

I also found this article Rule of Life #3: Accept What Is Done Is Done and I wrote an article last night for PSJ to answer the reader’s question of the month listed here — the response comes in issue 4.41.

I’ve been struggling with something that happened over a year ago. I want to forget about it and move on. What is done is done. Yet, it creeps up every now and then and bugs me again. I accepted it and that’s it. End of story. But not to my human nature. What works in letting things go?

As previously reported, I went back in the hospital on Friday due to severe bleeding. Had to go to the OR for stitches to stop it since other measures did not work. Apparently, a blood vessel had broken open and sprung a leak. Stayed over on Fri and Sat nights. They wanted to watch me to see if I needed a transfusion.

My hematocrit count was 40 before surgery (36 – 44 is normal in women), 30 when admitted to ER, 27 three hours later in ER prior to an attempt to stop the bleeding, and then 22 on Saturday (before and after the surgery). I would’ve had a blood transfusion at 18 or earlier depending on how I was behaving.
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Back in the hospital. Severe bleeding yesterday. Surgery again to stop it since other measures did not work. Stayed overnite. Trying to determine whether or not I need a transfusion. Ay yi yi.

Had surgery late last week and lost more blood than expected. Thankfully, no transfusion. Considering I have low blood pressure, I’m very tired. The pain is not bad – it’s the tiredness that got me. Thanks for all your well wishes.

Update: I did neglect to mention the surgery reason. Trust me — not something you announce on the Internet. I hope this is it for surgery for a long time. I had three of them last year. 0 before that unless you count LASIK. And this was the fourth. I do have to have another as part of this one, but it will wait a few years.

Just have to drop a note to say Happy Anniversary to my husband and partner in crime of 15 years. Here’s to many more!

Plagiarist to sue university is pitiful. Though the Internet can open doors for students, it also opens doors for plagiarism as I’ve witnessed as a teacher’s assistant at a major university. It’s unbelievable. [ Link Nico ]

I wish Christine and Mike all the best on their special wedding weekend. Here’s to many, many years of happiness and memories.