Make a Molotov Cocktail

Fire is such a fascinating thing. Kids and rednecks just can't stay away from it. If there is fire, they will be there. It's definitely a guy thing.

That being said, I have always wanted to make a Molotov Cocktail. I remember being 10 years old and thinking how cool it would be to make one and throw it against something, just so I could watch that big ball of flames billow up into the air. This is why it made it onto my bucket list of things to do before I die. Hopefully, this goal wasn't going to be how I died. My wife was worried that this goal might be the last thing I do before I die.

I did this goal with my brother when he and I did our Death Valley adventure. I knew that I couldn't do it anywhere near where I lived. Making a Molotov Cocktail and smashing it against something would surely land me in jail. I think they consider the making and use of Molotov Cocktails a terrorist threat, but I can't say for sure. With all the sensitivity about terrorism it might land me in jail for a very long time. So, when Tom and I were in the desert I figured this was the perfect place to make and use a Molotov Cocktail.

I left our camp site early in the morning so I wouldn't bother anyone. There were several other campers near us including a group of boy scouts, so I wanted to make sure I hiked a good distance into the desert so I could be alone and not bother anyone (and not have anyone call the cops on me.)

When I found a good spot, I stopped and made my Molotov cocktail. It was an easy enough matter to make it. Within a few minutes it was assembled and I was ready to use it. The bottle was an old Coke bottle we found on the road side on our way to Death Valley. I wanted to use it because the glass was extra thick and I knew that when I was done, it would be easy to pick up the pieces. Yes, I was being very careful to clean up my mess and leave the desert as clean as it was when I first got there.

I thought this was going to be an easy 1, 2, 3 and it would be over. Not so. I tossed the cocktail against some rocks, only to have the bottle bounce and land in the sand unscathed. I picked it up again and put some force into the next throw. This time, it bounced three times and unexpectedly landed at the base of a large 7 foot bush. Only then did the bottle smash to pieces. Of course all the gas that made up the Molotov cocktail immediately engulfed the bush and set the lower section on fire. The bush  green and very much alive from the lower third of the bush up to the top so only the dead leaves of the bottom branches and the leaves that had dropped off the bush during the year caught fire but the entire bush was engulfed in flames.

The first thing I thought of was that this must have been what Moses was seeing when he saw the bush that was burning but was not being consumed on Mt. Sinai. It looked so cool. But then I realized that I had to do something fast or those boy scouts back at camp would see the big plume of smoke ascending up into the air and come looking to see what was happening. For moment I thought about how funny it might be if when the scout troop came, I was hidden in some nearby bushes and I spoke out in a deep majectic voice something like, "Stop and remove thy shoes for thou art on holy ground." Ah, that Moses gig always seem funny when I think about it. But it wasn't going to happen on this trip.

Eventually, the gas burned down and went out and the bush didn’t look too bad for what it had just gone through. I picked up the charred pieces of glass and put them into a bag and brought them back to camp with me. Things didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned but all in all, I was pleased with my experience making and tossing a Molotov cocktail. It was definitely worth having in my bucket list. 

Do the 62-62-62 Challenge

OK, so this is how this challenge works. This goal focuses on finding 62 things that I want to do. I then need to do each item at least 62 times or some degree of 62, like 620, 6,200, etc. All of this must be completed before I turn 62. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do enough to do 62 times. Below is the list I came up with. NOTE: It's best to try this goal early on in life, like doing 20 things, each item 20 times before you're 20 years old. The longer you put this goal off, the longer the list gets. Know what I mean?

1.          Make 620 Kiva loans  √  Done

2.          Do 62 competitive running races and marathons  √  Done

3.          Do 62 camp outs  √  Done

4.          Get 62 different people to experience my chocolate 
meringue mushrooms  √  Done

5.           Sign off on at least 62 boy scout merit badges  √  Done

6.           Index or arbitrate 62,000 names in the FamilySearch Indexing  

         program  √  Done

7.          Play 620 games of chess  √  Done

8.          Give more than 62 public speeches  √  Done

9.          Walk more than 6,200 miles  √  Done

10.        Read 620 books  √  Done

11.        Read 620 magazines  √  Done

12.        Discover 6,200 ancestors and distant living relatives while doing my 

         family’s genealogy √  Done

13.        Try 62 new foods I’ve never eaten before √  Done

14.        Taste 62 different kinds of chocolate  √  Done

15.        Bicycle 62 miles in 6.2 days  √  Done

16.        Run 62 miles in 6 days  √  Done

17.        Record 62 of my favorite sayings  √  In Done

18.        Write 62 letters and/or emails to friends and family members   √  Done

19.        Hike 62 different trails  √  Done

20.        Visit 62 new towns I’ve never seen before  √  Done

21.        Write 62 things about myself that most people don’t know about me √  Done

22.        Finance 62 surgeries to improve the quality of life for 62 little children and adults √  Done

23.        Find and post online 62 old family photographs I didn’t know existed  √  Done

24.        Wear out 62 white shirts (for work)  √  Done

25.        Write 62 memories of my father  √  Done

26.        Write 62 memories of my mother  √  Done

27.        Visit 62 cemeteries √ Done

28.        Send off 62 Chinese Moon Lanterns into the night sky  √ Done

29.        Do 62 minutes of public speaking in one standing  √  Done

30.        Throw away 62 different things that I’ve had around the house for more than 1 year  √  Done

31.        Donate 62 pints of blood  √ Done

32.        Plant 620 trees  √  Done

33.        Have 62 adventures with my brother Tom  √  Done

34.        Travel more than 62,000 miles  √  Done

35.        Take pictures of 620 tombstones and submit them to BillionGrave.com  √  Done

36.        Help educate 62 children who might not normally have an opportunity to be educated  √  Done

37.        Identify by sight/song 62 wild birds √  Done

38.        Identify by sight 62 wild plants √  Done

39.        Climb 62 mountains √  Done

40.        Collect 62 natural history artifacts  √  Done

41.        Eat at 62 new and interesting restaurants  √  Done

42.        Provide counseling for 62 people  √  Done

43.        Watch 62 full moon rises over the mountains  √  Done

44.        Personally locate and view 62 original Native American petroglyphs or pictographs  √  Done

45.        Do 62 random acts of kindness in 62 days  √  Done

46.        Sing 62 songs in public (no, this does not mean doing solos)  √  Done

47.        Complete 62 credits of post graduate work  √  Done

48.        Donate 620 cans of food to a community food pantry  √  Done

49.        Donate 620 meals to people who come to the food kitchen in Utah Valley  √  Done

50.        Motivate 62 people to do something good that they were not previously doing  √  Done

51.        Listen to 62 TED talks  √  Done

52.        Buy breakfast or lunch or lunch for 62 people without them knowing who did it  √  Done

53.        Collect at least 62 insects  √  Done

54.        Collect at least 62 butterflies  √  Done

55.        Leave 62 quarters in the change slot of vending machines for people to find  √  In Done

56.        Write 62 articles for the FamilySearch Blog site  √  Done

57.        Get 62 people to start doing their family history research  √  Done

58.        Play 62 games of chess in 1 week  √  Done

59.        Write 62 things I love about my wife  √  Done

60.        Sponsor 62 surgeries to remove cataracts form the eyes of 62 people so that their eye sight can be restored.  √  Done

61.        Buy 62 books and give them to libraries in need of books  √  Done

62.        Leave 62 one dollar bills, one at a time, some place where ever people will find them √  Done