Halloween (Samhain) is the beginning (and the end) of the pagan year. As we enter the dark portion of the year, preparations must be made for the coming of winter. In stone-age societies, this meant finding or preparing suitable lodgings for the coming cold, perhaps even migrating to a warmer area. In agrarian societies, it meant harvesting the crops, storing seeds for next year, slaughtering animals and salting away the meat.
In Caveman Chemistry, we too must make our preparations. The semester is 2/3 gone and the end looms before us. Have you been putting off working on those projects? Do you feel young and immortal? Do you really think you can cram it all in at the end? Beware! The end is near. Therefore, prepare yourselves for the coming of the dark time.
Since I hate having a lot of grading crammed into the first week of December, I offer you an added incentive to start early passing your projects. If you manage to pass seven projects (a magical number) by 5:00 PM on October 31, I will give you credit for an eighth project, the Halloween project. Not only will you have a guaranteed* PASS for the course while your buddies are still taking mid-terms, but you will be more than half-way to an A.
So start working early and get yourself eight projects for the work of seven.
* Guaranteed, that is, unless you get yourself WF'd from the course for poor attendance.