11-2-99 Mr. Lewis assigned the roller coaster project today. Chad and I decided that we would work together and continue our winning tradition from the previous two projects. We laughed at how simple this project will be.

11-3-99 Did absolutely nothing.

11-4-99 Looked at some roller coaster stuff. Decided to forget copying design and just make it and hope it works.

11-5-99 Did the preliminary sketch of the roller coaster. Once again laughed at the simplicity of the project.

11-6-99 Thought of ways to "bend" the rules given to us.

11-7-99 Did nothing.

11-8-99 Decided that we might want to build this thing. Set tomorrow at Chad's house as the day and time to do it. Discussed possible materials to use. Decided to follow Lewis's suggestion of linoleum.

11-9-99 Showed up at Chad's house at approximately 3:30. Found some boards that we could use and cut them to length. Then we attached the base to the vertical support with an "L" bracket. Then we then added the ramp. Searched for more materials. Found a brass kick plate to make the loop out of. Played with the kick plate trying to bend it and making funny noises by shaking it. Eventually got out some a nifty air powered metal cutter and sliced it half. After much struggle we made a loop with the brass and got it screwed down. Laughed that if this thing broke, someone would be hurt. Then we cut the linoleum tile and placed it on the track with hot glue. Tested the car and found that the track needs walls to hold the car and ball on. Our basic layout proved to be very erratic in results. We began to make modifications to the track to try and keep it on the loop and not fly off and hit someone. After about 6 sticks of hot glue and much frustration we were left with nothing but one heck of an ugly roller coaster. Decided that enough was enough and departed Chad's house at 5:35.

11-10-99 Did nothing.

11-11-99 Got approval by Mr. Lewis of our hotwheels.

11-12-99 Did nothing.

11-13-99 Met at 9:00 at McD's to go work some more. When we arrived at Chad's house and saw the ugly beast before us. Decided to scrap the first design and make a new one. I tore the old one off and it made me feel better to see it go. Since Chad's house is power tool heaven, we bent some aluminum and cut it. Then we formed two inclines and a loop. Propped it up on our boards and got it to work. Decided that we might as well make it look good so we spent the next 90 minutes painting the boards and aluminum to make it look sharp. Then we spent the next 20 minutes admiring our work. Then we mounted the track and moved it around until we had a good design. Then we tested the egg and results weren't quite as good as expected. Finally bent up the edge of the incline to "ramp" the car on top of the egg. Egg survived several tests with this modification.

11-14-99 Did nothing.

11-15-99 Talked to Lewis about our modification. It seems we have found a way around his rules and that he'll have to change them for future classes. Drew final sketch.

11-16-99 Tested the coaster some more and decided that in order to go for the gold, we need to make a few more mods. The incline was raised about 1/4" to slow down the car more. The change proved to be good and now very confident about our design.

11-17-99 Bugged Lewis some more about designs, etc.

11-18-99 Yep, you guessed it, nothing done today.

11-19-99 Talked about it, but basically did nothing.

11-20-99 Did nothing.

11-21-99 Did nothing.

11-22-99 Brought in the roller coaster and laughed as people made comments like "Wow!" and "Good Job!" Then laughed as they ran cars on theirs and watched them fly all over the room. Ran our car and all is good, it made the trip very well.

First Attempt after I ripped it off the board.