Not that kind of cobalt.
Not that kind either. Nor was I an element in the "so-called Cobalt real estate scam" in which three men were "convicted of defrauding more than 250 people of $23 million" (read it here).
No, I was a different kind of element--the cobalt that appears on the Periodic Table at number 27.
Yes, that kind of cobalt. In the inaugural 6K Mole Day Fun Run (and walk) last Saturday, an event sponsored by the college's Chemistry Club to raise funds for student scholarships in honor of a retired professor, participants were labeled not with numbers but with elements from the Periodic Table. I proudly represented cobalt, fending off advances from a retired professor who lusted after my label. He had spent his entire career studying cobalt but carried the carbon card in the race. (An inorganic chemist representing carbon--just a little chemical humor there.)
I gave him my cobalt card after I completed the race. At that point I was so relieved at finishing the course that I no longer cared what element I carried--carbon, cobalt, carborundum, whatever. I'm pleased to report that I didn't come in dead last. A few emeritus faculty members and a mother pushing a stroller ambled in behind me.
But winning wasn't the object (for me, anyway--some of those race-walkers looked like they were taking the event pretty seriously). They tell me that cobalt appears naturally only in combination with other chemicals, so I followed cobalt's example and mingled with other elements to see what sort of reaction might occur. We shared some conversation, honored a retired colleague, and raised a nice little pile of money. See what nice things can happen when elements work together?
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