Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Introducing us

SWilkin676 - 7-4-2010 at 04:02

We are a couple in our 50's who are more like kids about age 8. I am a systems analyst with a strong interest in phytochemistry, herbal medicine, nutrition and other kinds of science too. (Have read books on quantum physics just out of curiousity)

My partner is a geek with ADHD and Aspergers. He has been playing with chemistry since he was a kid in Philly making napalm in his basement. He's teaching me - sort of.

Together we experience much weirdness - Macgiver is a verb in this household also used for a label on weird but potentially useful stuff. I dumpster dive sometimes - Best chemistry related find was a brand new stainless steel sink.

I am a witch and my particular magic talent is shopping - I went to the local mine supply store to buy 5 gal of methanol and wound up with 4 partially full 5 gal drums for $30. (no we're not selling the extra nor are we making illegal drugs - i work for the police dept!!)

We don't watch tv (it's upside down on top of a cabinet somewheres) or go to movies or read the newspaper etc. We're in our own little world here. I wanted to share with someone the following:

Doesn't everyone spend a Wed night trying to figure out who had the small egg stirbar last and where did they put it?
Doesn't everyone have passionate arguments about whether the vapor trap would be better between the vacuum and the glassware or where the solvent recovery vessel would have been on the Savant Gel pump?

Doesn't everyone spend hours fiddling with a random assortment of swagelok, parker, home depot and Ace and other assorted plumbing-like fixtures in the vain hope of finding an arrangement with all the pieces you need?

I've been reading a lot of posts on here - hoping to make my own magnetic stirrer. I have a thermolyne, but I want one to put under my Fry Daddy.

BTW does anyone have a users manual for a Perkin Elmer Series 4 HPLC - I got it for 25 bucks but it's a really big paperweight without a manual.

Suzee

us.bmp - 324kB

hissingnoise - 7-4-2010 at 05:06

Great first post Suzee. . .
Sorry I can't help with the UM.

PS

SWilkin676 - 7-4-2010 at 08:11

Regarding me working for the pooo leeess dept. I am a systems analyst and have rather progressive viewpoints on things like what we should be allowed to do in the privacy of our homes and bodies.

I find the current atmosphere regarding home chemistry and all the restrictions even more troublesome than perhaps most would because I have to avoid even the appearance of doing anything illegal in order to keep my job.

It's kind of scary the way even people close to me react the same way the first time I mention my interest in chemistry - even my boss said "oh setting up a meth lab huh?"

Sighhhh

Panache - 7-4-2010 at 09:57

Quote: Originally posted by SWilkin676  

We don't watch tv (it's upside down on top of a cabinet somewheres) or go to movies or read the newspaper etc.
amazingly the average australian watches 2.5hrs of television a DAY!@!!, i used my tv as a stereo, don't have an aerial, best thing i ever did was deciding tv was shit, lol

Doesn't everyone spend a Wed night trying to figure out who had the small egg stirbar last and where did they put it?
the u-trap in the sink or the vacuum cleaner bag or in that goop in that flask you have left til later to deal with (some months ago)

Doesn't everyone have passionate arguments about whether the vapor trap would be better between the vacuum and the glassware or where the solvent recovery vessel would have been on the Savant Gel pump?
Sadly most of us probably work alone, i do argue constantly with my dog though.

Doesn't everyone spend hours fiddling with a random assortment of swagelok, parker, home depot and Ace and other assorted plumbing-like fixtures in the vain hope of finding an arrangement with all the pieces you need?
Ha, fuck yeah.


Suzee


nice one!!

SWilkin676 - 8-4-2010 at 04:12


>>Sadly most of us probably work alone, i do argue constantly with my dog though.>>

Don't worry unless he starts arguing back...

(and working alone is probably a good thing with chemistry, no distractions!)




Ozone - 8-4-2010 at 05:46

Working alone, while efficient, can also be dangerous. I recommend either picking your experiments very carefully or making sure your partner can drag you out to fresh air if you pass out, knock your jerking body off the wire with a stick, put you out if you are on fire, neutralize you while you are undergoing liquefaction, etc.

Cats...I talk to the cats.

Welcome and...

Cheers,

O3

hissingnoise - 8-4-2010 at 05:52

Yeah. . . I can't see a pussy without reaching out to stroke. . .

len1 - 8-4-2010 at 18:31

Its good to see the forum finally leaving sublime territory and heading straight into the ridiculous ..

Panache the U trap is all very well but dont forget to check the rubbish bin ..

SWilkin676 - 8-4-2010 at 18:34

Quote: Originally posted by Ozone  
Working alone, while efficient, can also be dangerous. I recommend either picking your experiments very carefully or making sure your partner can drag you out to fresh air if you pass out, knock your jerking body off the wire with a stick, put you out if you are on fire, neutralize you while you are undergoing liquefaction, etc.

Cats...I talk to the cats.

Welcome and...

Cheers,

O3


Cats sound dangerous to have in a lab - but I suppose a very enthusiastic doggy tail could do damage too.
Suzee

JohnWW - 8-4-2010 at 19:10

Have a canary with you in the lab. They can detect the buildup of poisonous gases, or explosive mixtures of inflammable gases with air, much earlier than humans. That is why miners used to bring them down into mines with them in cages. I wonder if those 25 miners killed in that recent gas explosion in a coal mine in West Virginia might be still alive if this had still been done.

Panache - 8-4-2010 at 23:50

One of the problems with having a canary is if it died from natural causes you wouldn't really know and as such it could freak you out enough to induce your own death. In this regard i think it better to get stuffed one as its more reliable (and cleaner).

The WiZard is In - 9-4-2010 at 12:22

Quote: Originally posted by JohnWW  
Have a canary with you in the lab. They can detect the buildup of poisonous gases, or explosive mixtures of inflammable gases with air, much earlier than humans. That is why miners used to bring them down into mines with them in cages. I wonder if those 25 miners killed in that recent gas explosion in a coal mine in West Virginia might be still alive if this had still been done.



Or a cigar.

"HCN is a colorless gas or a colorless or bluish-white liquid with a faint characteristic odor of bitter almonds perceptible to some people. Kirk and Stenhouse [5] reported 88% of 244 person tested could smell hydrogen cyanide but in fourth of the these,
determination was made only with difficulty."

If you are among the 12% who cannot or the 25+% who have problems smelling HCN is has been recommended that you smoke a cigar while working with cyanides. As HCN's breakdown products can be tasted in the smoke.**

[5] Kirk,RK, & Stenhouse NS: Ability to smell solutions of potassium cyanide. Nature 171:698-99, 1953 In: NIOSH criteria for a recommended standard .... occupation exposure to HYDROGEN CYANIDE AND CYANIDE SALTS (NaCN, KCN, and Ca(CN2) UD Dep of Health Education and Welfare October, 1976

** Guttermann, Ann. 357, 318 (1907)
(Cited in: Organic Syntheses Collective Volume I. Pg. 315)

SWilkin676 - 11-4-2010 at 08:52

[rquote=175185&tid=13604&author=Panache
or in that goop in that flask you have left til later to deal with (some months ago)

[/rquote]

Funny you should say that, last night was having trouble getting a very dark green extract of skullcap to stir - stirbar kept going crazy. Well when I went to change to smaller flask and low and behold there were two eggshaped stir bars. (we stopped having arguments when I found 3 on ebay for 3$ each)
So it was in the goop on the shelf, I'll call you next time we're missing something...
Suzee

JohnWW - 11-4-2010 at 13:37

Quote: Originally posted by SWilkin676  
Regarding me working for the pooo leeess dept. I am a systems analyst and have rather progressive viewpoints on things like what we should be allowed to do in the privacy of our homes and bodies.
In spite of being only a civilian employee, do you still get called a "Pig" very often? BTW Your online ID had better not give any clue as to your real name, in case your employer is watching this forum.

SWilkin676 - 15-4-2010 at 12:50

No one calls me a pig unless they see me around chocolate....

And since I'm NOT a cop, I'm a civilian they wouldn't have any call to call me anything except the computer lady.

Why would I hide what I'm doing? I told my boss what I'm up to - he's like oh setting up a meth lab huh? I rolled my eyes!! You can't mention anything vaguely chemistry related without getting that reaction.
Suzee

SWilkin676 - 15-4-2010 at 12:52

Oh you mentioned I'm a civilian...
Again though I don't have any contact with the public - and the guys stay in my good graces in case their laptop goes bump in the night and they need my help.

Funny one when I first started - they were using word perfect app to approve reports and some clown got funny and changed all the colors to black. So I got called out on a Saturday to fix - was NOT amused!!

Suzee

entropy51 - 15-4-2010 at 17:26

DNFTT

Magpie - 15-4-2010 at 17:51

Why starve our trolls? Why not just cultivate and enjoy them? :D

Panache - 16-4-2010 at 05:59

i didn't know what a troll was, thanks for that link entropy, i might try a few troll-type posts out, see if you guys can pickup on when i'm in troll mode.

Panache - 16-4-2010 at 06:00

i love beetroot, i think it is very tasty grated fresh then sprinkled with salt, pepper and olive oil.

entropy51 - 16-4-2010 at 17:37

Quote: Originally posted by SWilkin676  

Again though I don't have any contact with the public - and the guys stay in my good graces in case their laptop goes bump in the night and they need my help.

Funny one when I first started - they were using word perfect app to approve reports and some clown got funny and changed all the colors to black. So I got called out on a Saturday to fix - was NOT amused!!

Suzee
An acquaintance who watches television pointed out that this fantasy scenario is lifted straight from the TV show Criminal Minds.

DNFTT.

Magpie - 16-4-2010 at 17:50

Entropy, are you implying that we are being schmoozed by supertrolls? :D

psychokinetic - 17-4-2010 at 15:12

o.o <-- This is my caring face.

SWilkin676 - 17-4-2010 at 22:53

Huh?

Never even heard of the show Criminal Minds. (Last time I had the tv on was an Obama/Clinton debate )I'm sure if you watch enough tv you will find even your life there.

The incident with Word Perfect happened in 1994 when the officers were using Tandy 102's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100 (closest I could find)

They uploaded their programs to a bbs and the supervisors retrieved them into a program someone wrote in Word Perfect. They had a whole 17K memory so if it was a long report they had to upload it in the middle and then do another report. In those days I was the only computer support they had. Some clown changed all the colors to black. In those days I knew all the command keys by heart and could reset the colors without seeing the screen. Now I'm a systems analyst in a section with a programmer and a network technician and the laptops are handled by the centralized IT section.

I am getting the impression you don't think I'm real. Surely my other posts were genuine enough? I spent the afternoon applying copper gasket RTV to the bottom of a 1 liter flask, If it works I'll tell you why.

Suzee