Miraculously, I managed to get the first-to-find on the Periodic Table of the Elements Challenge. I owe a great debt to all the cachers who have hidden caches with names containing elements, so I thought I could add to my karma by hiding a few more of my own.
Did you know that rubidium has a half-life of 49 billion years, which is more than three times longer than the estimated age of the universe? It's almost like the universe is mocking rubidium, saying "You can keep existing all you want, but you won't be doing much good to anybody if I'm not around here!" To add insult to injury, I wasn't able to find much about practical uses for rubidium. Apparently, rubidium compounds are sometimes used in fireworks to give them a purple color. I guess that's kind of cool, but fireworks aren't even fully legal in Minnesota, so it doesn't do us much good. Fortunately, in an age of budget crises, crumbling infrastructure, and inadequate education funding, the state legislature is working on the really important issues of the day, like legalizing fireworks, because we have a right to blow off fingers from our hand. I think it's in the constitution, between the interstate commerce clause and the right to a free pack of the McCookies with a Happy Meal purchase. But I'm kind of digressing. In sum, rubidium is awesome!!!!1!!