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j_sum1
Administrator
Posts: 6335
Registered: 4-10-2014
Location: At home
Member Is Offline
Mood: Most of the ducks are in a row
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So... Operation Cat Army wasn't a huge success then?
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Argentum
Harmless
Posts: 36
Registered: 18-9-2014
Location: El culo del mundo
Member Is Offline
Mood: UV light
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People thinking I am making drugs or TNT
My friends thinking that I waste my money in some useless white powder
My dad thinking that every bit of rust was me dropping some acid
And still here I am
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Zombie
Forum Hillbilly
Posts: 1700
Registered: 13-1-2015
Location: Florida PanHandle
Member Is Offline
Mood: I just don't know...
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You could make exploding drugs that leave rust stains when they go off. 
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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j_sum1
Administrator
Posts: 6335
Registered: 4-10-2014
Location: At home
Member Is Offline
Mood: Most of the ducks are in a row
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Only if they leave a layer of cat hair and dust everywhere.
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Mailinmypocket
International Hazard
Posts: 1351
Registered: 12-5-2011
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Mood: No Mood
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Quote: Originally posted by Argentum  | People thinking I am making drugs or TNT
My friends thinking that I waste my money in some useless white powder
My dad thinking that every bit of rust was me dropping some acid
And still here I am |
Yeah.... "Hmmmm.... So you turned one white powder into another white powder, what for?"
Ugh... My sincere apologies that it didn't jump out of the drying dish to sing a most impressive song for you and then explode into a shower of
multicolored glitter that smells nice. 
Note to self: Tare the damned flask.
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Zombie
Forum Hillbilly
Posts: 1700
Registered: 13-1-2015
Location: Florida PanHandle
Member Is Offline
Mood: I just don't know...
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That's the idea of the rust filled exploding drugs. To blow the cat hair up, up, and awayyyyy.
That was just plain sad...
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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gardul
HAZARD TO TEH CATZ!
Posts: 256
Registered: 18-10-2014
Location: Under the Sun in a beaker
Member Is Offline
Mood: Vivified!
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as if right now now. My soxhlet extractor cracked. Not really sure how or why. but I have to wait until next weekend to order a new one.
I just made you read this very pointless signature. How does it feel?
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Argentum
Harmless
Posts: 36
Registered: 18-9-2014
Location: El culo del mundo
Member Is Offline
Mood: UV light
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I let cats to gardul, they give me a nasty allergy. At least I know who to blame if I see cats flying
[Edited on 11-2-2015 by Argentum]
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Argentum
Harmless
Posts: 36
Registered: 18-9-2014
Location: El culo del mundo
Member Is Offline
Mood: UV light
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| Quote: Originally posted by Mailinmypocket | | Quote: Originally posted by Argentum | People thinking I am making drugs or TNT
My friends thinking that I waste my money in some useless white powder
My dad thinking that every bit of rust was me dropping some acid
And still here I am |
Yeah.... "Hmmmm.... So you turned one white powder into another white powder, what for?"
Ugh... My sincere apologies that it didn't jump out of the drying dish to sing a most impressive song for you and then explode into a shower of
multicolored glitter that smells nice. |
They can make some loud noise -music to my ears- And explode. Not colorful or with a nice smell, though.
BTW, sorry for the double posting, I need to learn how to quote twice in a post
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gardul
HAZARD TO TEH CATZ!
Posts: 256
Registered: 18-10-2014
Location: Under the Sun in a beaker
Member Is Offline
Mood: Vivified!
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| Quote: Originally posted by Argentum |
I let cats to gardul, they give me a nasty allergy. At least I know who to blame if I see cats flying
[Edited on 11-2-2015 by Argentum] |
that would be amazing! Kinda cool too. But their are laws in the States about expeirments like that on animals.
I just made you read this very pointless signature. How does it feel?
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Etaoin Shrdlu
National Hazard
Posts: 724
Registered: 25-12-2013
Location: Wisconsin
Member Is Offline
Mood: Insufferable
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I laughed pretty hard.
My main frustration is lack of time.
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SimpleChemist-238
Hazard to Others
Posts: 147
Registered: 28-9-2014
Member Is Offline
Mood: Chlorine Trifloride Flame Thrower
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I love the comment about cat hair. I have the recurring night mare that my cat will find its way around a double locked door and into my lab so it may
drink all my evaporating solutions, the sweat taste of ethylene glycol has killed many of pets... 
We are chemists , we bring light to the darkness. Knowledge to ignorant, excitement to the depressed and unknowing. we bring crops to broken fields
and water to the desert. Where there is fear we bring curiosity.
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Metacelsus
International Hazard
Posts: 2539
Registered: 26-12-2012
Location: Boston, MA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Double, double, toil and trouble
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I don't think ethylene glycol tastes like sweat. Sweat tastes salty.
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Zombie
Forum Hillbilly
Posts: 1700
Registered: 13-1-2015
Location: Florida PanHandle
Member Is Offline
Mood: I just don't know...
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I attempted to write a "love letter" to a girl once. It started out...
Dear Sweatheart.
It sort of went down hill from there.
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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Funkerman23
Hazard to Others
Posts: 416
Registered: 4-1-2012
Location: Dixie
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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I'll say this much: Nothing is as irritating as constantly being asked if I "cook". Like I want to spend time in the Federal pokey just so Clem,
johnny and Ringo can get a buzz. How I loathe that damn show..
And when I try to clean my glassware and I can't get it clean enough to 'sheet' water. Its especially bad in Sepp funnels( so many **** little beady
droplets!!). I don't know what I'm doing wrong but man does it drive me mad. Don't get me started on OTC product MSDS's...
" the Modern Chemist is inundated with literature"-Unknown
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Chemosynthesis
International Hazard
Posts: 1071
Registered: 26-9-2013
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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As said above and elsewhere, I despise how frequently I had been asked if I "cook" as well. Plenty of pharmacologically actives at work not to want to
do so in my spare time, especially at great personal risk. Who would be dumb enough to show and then tell someone you didn't know extremely well?
I have had people ask if I take work home. That can be weird. As far as what I work on specifically, even if I didn't sign NDA's and other kinds of
paperwork asking not to talk about some things with outsiders.... What business is it of yours unless you are a colleague? Either too nosey for their
own good or attempting some espionage. And if anyone thinks that sounds paranoid, ask your place of employment or any alma maters if they have been
hacked/targeted/etc. just this past year, I saw footage of someone arrested for espionage in a facility I visited over a largely academic piece of
research with health implications. | Quote: Originally posted by Savior | | Wasting money on it. I believe we should earn from chemistry, and not waste even a coin. Chemistry should serve us, not otherwise!
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... Awkward. Troll?
Running a lab of any kind costs money. Resources, including labor, are scarce. Education is comprised of services, and labs of goods. There is no way
around this nor is it servitude.
[Edited on 12-2-2015 by Chemosynthesis]
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Zombie
Forum Hillbilly
Posts: 1700
Registered: 13-1-2015
Location: Florida PanHandle
Member Is Offline
Mood: I just don't know...
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I have to agree withe you Chemosynthesis.
The last statement there... This is a new chapter in my life (chemistry), and the thought of it "earning" is not something that even crossed my mind.
I gained an interest believing this will be an expansion of my understanding of Human physiology. (lofty goals)
"Chemistry should serve us" Yes. That statement I understand, and agree with.
The first sentence however, "Wasting money on it. I believe we should earn from chemistry, and not waste even a coin."
Perhaps that was mis-stated...
All of my hobbies cost money. I never expected this to be any different.
[Edited on 12-2-2015 by Zombie]
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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radiance88
Hazard to Self
Posts: 64
Registered: 18-12-2014
Location: underground volcano fortress
Member Is Offline
Mood: a little less evil than usual
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I don't think that there isn't anything particularly frustrating as a DIY chemist more than just general ignorance of the general population, as
that's where most of all of the other problems we encounter come from. The drug laws, the legal restrictions and requirements, the paranoia, mistrust
and fear all stem from ignorance of the society we live in.
When an average person meets another who says he's a chemist - he'll have no way to relate to him and his chemical formulas. When an average person
meets another who has a personal chem lab, the only things he'd be able to relate to that concept are drugs and bombs. The problem here is the average
person - who really doesn't really know much, has to resort to media skewed stereotypes to comprehend something. It's a societal thing reflecting how
the average person understands these things, and our entire legal system revolves around this familiarity (or rather complete lack of it).
Honestly people don't know any better. So instead of telling them the straight beans, I water it down and make my passion more relatable to them by
also playing on stereotypes. If you tell someone "I'm an amateur chemist" they'll think DRUGS!! BOMBS!!.. but if you tell them you're an "amateur
scientist" they'll think "hey this dude is probably smart and knows some interesting stuff".
When people ask, I don't tell them I'm an amateur chemist and my love for chemistry. I tell them I'm an amateur scientist (which is something that has
a lot more positive and less negative connotations). I tell them I'm passionate about science in all shapes and forms (which is very f*cking true),
and that chemistry just happens to be one of many things I am interested in. I'll show them some of my non-chem science experiments, and if they find
out about the chem, it's always just about your passion for -all- science and not just chem in particular. You have to water this stuff down and make
it relatable to other people. Think Bill Nye the Science Guy, not Jesse and Heisenberg.
We live in a worldwide fear based society. We make laws everytime that something goes wrong, but people don't understand that laws they make are at
best a patchwork to cover up a much larger societal problem. Making shit illegal doesn't deter the people who are fullheartedly set on something, be
it good or bad. But ignorance breeds ignorance. There is just not enough science found in the common classroom or in informal settings for the common
person to have found any great interest for it.
If people actually knew a thing or two about chemistry then they'd be able to at least appreciate what we do. They don't know shit about science, and
as a result resort to stereotypes they know of. The problem is that society is afraid of things it can't easily understand or control. Whenever
something unfortunate happens like one idiot kid in a million doing something stupid and setting himself on fire, society panics and makes a law.
That's why we have to deal with all these fucked up laws.. which in turn restrict the applications that hobbyists do, and what can be demonstrated
and/or performed in a classroom. Because god forbid you teach a kid how to properly use a bunsen burner.
If we don't have hands-on experiments and things that get us interested into science at an early age, we won't ever know the joys of it when we get
old, or be able to have an appreciation for it. And so the cycle continues - something unfortunate happens, we blame it on lack of regulations, we
create more, and then we wonder why no one fucking even likes or understands science anymore.
The children are the future of our society and if we neglect showing them how to make and do -all this cool shit-, then our society's brain capital
goes down the drain as it gets older, the cycle intensifies, and we start getting taught that we used to ride around on dinosaurs a few years before
Jesus.
It's a general societal trend we have to work around, and we have to play carefully to people's conceptions. There's a lot of negative stereotypes
going around so we need to work around those and generate positive ones.
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Magpie
lab constructor
Posts: 5939
Registered: 1-11-2003
Location: USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Chemistry: the subtle science.
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An anecdote from 2 days ago: In my local busy Starbucks there is a chart of the radionuclides on the wall (~4' x 4). For most people it's just a
piece of art. But this day a friend and I were discussing the fact that my smoke alarm containing 241 Am had instructions on the back to replace it
every 10 years. (My friend has degrees in both electrical and nuclear engineering.) We both agreed that it could not be due to a short half-life as
that would make it too dangerous for consumer use. Then I said that I would check the chart on the wall. Coincidentally one of my chemical
engineering former colleagues saw me standing on a chair looking for 241 Am on the chart. He grabbed me, and with a big smile on his face, said "You
might as well tattoo the word 'NERD' on your forehead." Sadly, I agreed that he was right.
I understand that less and less young people in the US are pursuing science based careers. So we are just forfeiting our good-paying jobs to green
card holders from India and China. They don't want to be poor all their lives and will gladly take our jobs.
[Edited on 12-2-2015 by Magpie]
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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mr.crow
National Hazard
Posts: 884
Registered: 9-9-2009
Location: Canada
Member Is Offline
Mood: 0xFF
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| Quote: Originally posted by Magpie | An anecdote from 2 days ago: In my local busy Starbucks there is a chart of the radionuclides on the wall (~4' x 4). For most people it's just a
piece of art. But this day a friend and I were discussing the fact that my smoke alarm containing 241 Am had instructions on the back to replace it
every 10 years. (My friend has degrees in both electrical and nuclear engineering.) We both agreed that it could not be due to a short half-life as
that would make it too dangerous for consumer use. Then I said that I would check the chart on the wall. Coincidentally one of my chemical
engineering former colleagues saw me standing on a chair looking for 241 Am on the chart. He grabbed me, and with a big smile on his face, said "You
might as well tattoo the word 'NERD' on your forehead." Sadly, I agreed that he was right.
[Edited on 12-2-2015 by Magpie] |
So what if you like science posters? I bet your former colleague does too.
Everyone loves "nerdy" things but are afraid to admit it and make fun of those that do as a form of projection.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble
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Magpie
lab constructor
Posts: 5939
Registered: 1-11-2003
Location: USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Chemistry: the subtle science.
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Yes, he's a nerd too. When I first met him he told me his approach to problems was to start from the very basics. This might be by writing a
differential equation.
He just loves to harass me - it's a game we play. 
But when I was looking at the chart I was having fun. I was oblivious to my surroundings, as I should be.
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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hydride_shift
Harmless
Posts: 23
Registered: 25-7-2013
Member Is Offline
Mood: sp3 hybridised
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HCl and HNO3 fumes will leave rust on EVERYTHING, and will coat the shiny new tools with rust in a very short time . Not having access to stuff like rotovaps, NMR/IR, or reagent grade materials are frustrating when you have worked in
a fully equipped lab before. In saying that, the journey to make the most of what you can access and discovering more along the way is really what
this hobby is all about!
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Praxichys
International Hazard
Posts: 1063
Registered: 31-7-2013
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Coprecipitated
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I have serveral frustrations:
1. Funding. I am at the point where my lab is worth quite a bit of money. Unfortunately, the next steps are things like a GC/MS system, which cost
tens of thousands of dollars - a purchase I may never be able to justify, especially since I may be married in a year or two and thinking about
children.
2. Fumes and corrosion - Like many above me have mentioned, controlling corrosion and chemical escape into a household environment is tricky. My fume
hood does not run 24/7, so storing volitiles takes a lot of effort and money. A heated outbuilding would be nice, but easements do not allow for such
a structure on my current property. This would also cost a great deal of money.
3. The stigma - I hate being labeled as a cook or a terrorist by default. Although I really do not try and hide anything, I am always a bit
apprehensive about a curious neighbor getting the wrong idea, making some allegations, and starting an unnecessary and costly legal battle.
4. Time - I am a mechanical engineer by trade, which often requires travel and long hours at the office. Chemistry usually demands large chunks of
free time which is something of a rarity for me as an engineer, homeowner and student. This is only projected to get worse through marriage and
children.
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MrBlank1
Hazard to Self
Posts: 96
Registered: 5-2-2013
Location: Oz
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inadvertantly aloof?
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Pretty much all the above, minus cat and dog hair, add beard hair. A couple of others:
1) Travel - Having to drive 4 hours round trip for some 37% formaldehyde solution, 3 hours for tech grade 98% sulfuric or zinc dust or anything else
not available at a hardware store.
2) Waiting - In particular, waiting 2-4 weeks for laboy glass, to avoid the 1000% markup sigma or thermo-fischer ask here in West Australia. Same
applies with most electronics. Waiting for a $5 ph meter, to avoid paying $50 at a local hydroponics or aquarium store.
But yeah, straight up the stigma, and blank looks or glazed over eyes when you begin explaining pretty much anything. And the "what for?", when it's
not about the why, it's about the how. People that don't understand it's about knowledge, the goal is unimportant, the journey is all.
That being said, poster talk got me thinking, and looking at my wall. A poster of Scarface above my poster of the periodic table. I might need to
take my movie poster down. 
AAAAA = Australian Association Against Acronym Abuse
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Zombie
Forum Hillbilly
Posts: 1700
Registered: 13-1-2015
Location: Florida PanHandle
Member Is Offline
Mood: I just don't know...
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I still have a Farrah Fawcett... No not really
ScarFace huh?
They tried to have me "put to sleep" so I came back to return the favor.
Zom.
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