Comments for Important Advice.

Important Advice.

2006-02-17T07:08:58Z

Basic Flying Rules: "Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there."

Just to reiterate, right click here and save as (2 meg file).

*Note to self: When flying in trees, wear jeans.*

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-18

2006-02-18T17:55:56Z

Ry, --- was just about to start a discipline war with some snark about chemists --- reboot filther between brain and screen --- Can't wait til we get to exchange tall tales. But methinks it better not be around the campfire!

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-02-18

2006-02-18T15:22:29Z

That's every bit as scary as 'that's the biggest tracer I've ever seen comming off that mountain over there', Ry. The only difference is it hopefully wasn't a daily/weekly/monthly experience!

Comment from ry on 2006-02-17

2006-02-18T04:39:54Z

Oh, people want to hear more of the dangers of the chemistry building? Last one 'til we have a Castle Blogmeet in Meatworld. As an undergrad my organic chem prof made us do unknown identifications at the end of the year. Well, one of the tests for aromaticity of a given substance is an ignition test. So, you haul out a burner, a bent 12 gauge copper wire to hold your unknow, light up and watch for thick sooty flame. Only problem is other people are working on different stuff all the time. One of the extraction liquids often used is methylene chloride. So I'm standing next to a fume hood waiting my turn to draw some methcl, we were using the big brown reagent bottles you get straight from the chemical warehouses(5 gal), and the guy ahead of me dropped it. Out side the fume hood. Right in front of me. So now I'm coated from the waist down in methcl. And half the class is doing ignition tests since it's one of the first tests you do on the unkowns. No, it's not bad enough that I'm drenched in a serious carcinogen and terratogen, but I might just be auditioning for the Fantastic 4. I may not have a drill sgts lungs but I made sure I was heard that day. Not quite as dramatic or interesting a story as 'that's the biggest tracer I've ever seen comming off that mountain over there', but I'm not crazy enough to be a helifloppter pilot(nor do I see well enough, damit).

Comment from Punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-18T03:13:52Z

My pink rita was raspberry this evening. Yum.

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T23:20:44Z

Hey it's 5 o'clock HERE! Pink ritas all round. The best boss I ever had would come around on Friday afternoon with a bottle of ethanol, a graduated cylindar and beakers and give us all our aliquot and tell us it was quiting time. Who says scientists don't know how to have fun?

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T23:09:47Z

Why?

Comment from Neffi on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T23:05:41Z

That machine is errr- was- a Quicksilver MX. The motor would be a Rotax 447 or 503 two-stroke, they always sound like that on tape for some reason but aren't *quite* that obnoxious in reality. Our Junior Birdman violated a cardinal rule of two-stroke flying, to wit; Never Fly Over Anything You Wouldn't Land On I've had two 'engine-outs' over the years; both ended in smooth landings (and one got me invited to a party). Back to the TINS of Academia...

Comment from Punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T22:36:17Z

Lab accidents. Life on the edge Ry! Kinda like the day the senior prof came in while I was doing a benzene extraction and asked if I minded if he lit up. I told him no problem, just give me a 5 minute head start.

Comment from ry on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T22:10:26Z

I got one: Back when I was a TA at a JC(SAnta Ana College) there was a lab where they had to perform a degredation reaction to generate pure O2(CaCO3 with manganate as catalyst, like close to 3lb of carbonate went into the ignition tubes), collect it after bubbling trough a water trap, and then subtract the partial pressure of the water at ambient temperature--to give them experience with real world uses of both the reactions and the use of partial pressure calculations. Well, one chick decided to do her calculus homework while doing this lab. Bunsen burners blazing, student about 2 feet away from each other(not to mention to each others fuel hoses leading to the methane piping that ran thru the whole science building). She wasn't paying attention, despite me telling her to do so repeatedly. They were supposed to move the burner to avoid slagging the ignition tube. She slagged it. Enough O2 had built up to generate an oxygen torch when a whole developed in the ignition tube. She, and eveyone around her, froze in panic. Luckily her calculus book laid atop the fuel line to her neighbors burner, meaning it caught fire instead of the fuel line providing a few seconds for me to run out and yank hoses out of the blow torch apparatus and then trow the burning book into a sink. She couldn't understand why I was sweating so bad and so angry. Do you? Who says there's no danger in academia?

Comment from Punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:53:21Z

It is. Except for some folks who are actually reading the student code of conduct when the coach calls.

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:42:22Z

Heh. Thought *that* word was as defunct as Olde Middle Englishe in contemporary academia...

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:24:43Z

Expell

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:17:48Z

...which prompted you to use the E word in a conversation... Education? Economics? Ecosystems? Ecdysiast? Egads?

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:09:12Z

Would some one get this PG-17C off my ankle?

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:07:47Z

...wait'll ya hear about the french press...

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:06:25Z

and didja ever notice how once you give an academic (even a recovering one) permission to talk they never shut up?

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:04:52Z

Punc - Three words: Beginning. Middle. End. *rolling under the desk to avoid unbalanced centrifuge rotors*

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:04:07Z

Ever been in a room with a bunch of drunk athletes twice as tall as you who are on the edge of starting an alcohol fire which prompted you to use the E word in a conversation with the coach of said athletes all the while knowing your boss is a big fan of the sport? OK, the GA patrol didn't sweat that one, but there was some adrenaline involved never the less.

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:03:09Z

... and you obviously never met the editor of the school poetry magazine (who did have the good sense to not only publish two of my works but to ask me to read for an on air ad campaign!)

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T21:00:27Z

Ever seen what an unbalanced rotor can do? Of course you have. Put it in an ultracentrifuge and you'll find it two walls over.

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T20:58:06Z

Hey, as I always explained to new faculty who did not teach in labs or studios, a pencil in the hands of some students is a sharp object so don't be so smug and make sure you know where the emergency phone is and plan your escape route. They thought I was joking, but then many of them think the WOT is a Bush plot to...

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T20:53:47Z

Ahhhhh. Yes, that's better!

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T20:50:08Z

Gotcha. "...nothin� between me and sudden death but steel support beams, prestressed concrete, rebar, linoleum, asbestos ceiling tiles, scattered desk-chair combinations, assorted wiring conduits, several slightly-built sociology students and the androgynous, waiflike editor of the school poetry magazine..."

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T19:53:35Z

�There I was, fifty feet in the air (okay�the fourth floor of the Humanities Building) with nothin� between me and sudden death but steel support beams, prestressed concrete, rebar and linoleum...� Ya forgot the asbestos ceiling tiles, Bill. Oh, and the *students*.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T19:52:29Z

Really, Punctilious? Then put yer keyboard where yer mouth is!

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T19:41:38Z

Heh. TINS! �There I was, fifty feet in the air (okay�the fourth floor of the Humanities Building) with nothin� between me and sudden death but steel support beams, prestressed concrete, rebar and linoleum...�

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T19:26:04Z

Hmmmpf I was referring to where we live in relationship to said buildings and trees and things... Besides there are plenty of life-on-the-edge moments in academia... Never as interesting or as close to the edge as yours... but still TINSworthy.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T19:13:07Z

Ah, but Bill - she's married to an employee of a Big Defense Contractor... you know what kind of excitement *that* entails!

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T18:30:04Z

Hmmmpf. First time I've ever heard of a scholastic calling it a life "on the edge"...

Comment from punctilious on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T16:45:53Z

Might I remind you that most of us live on the edge of the air. And ouch.

Comment from jim b on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T15:56:09Z

I am just tryin to decide whether that thing is powered by a motor that sounds more like a Lawnboy GT or a small shotgun with diarrhea.

Comment from FbL on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T15:40:35Z

Wow, you must have great sources to get that video of Neffi in action! *grin*

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T15:14:34Z

First lesson: If your lift vector does not equal or exceed your gravitational vector, you will faw down, go boom! Second lesson: If your thrust does not equal or exceed your drag DOWN, PG-17C! you will faw down, go boom! Third lesson: If your fuel tank is empty, you will faw down, but *not* go boom! Fourth lesson: When you�re flying an ultralight, all that nylon above you is *not* a parachute. Maggie � Compared to some heliflopper prangs I�ve seen (in person and on video), this guy learned the lessons quite inexpensively...

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T13:04:25Z

I blame Bill.

Comment from Maggie on 2006-02-17

2006-02-17T12:08:11Z

Warn about the sound too, lol. I was still asleep in bed when I opened it! LOL I see it's filed under "I think its funny"........you're twisted.