WarezWally Posted October 11, 2008 Posted October 11, 2008 Concentrated bleach mixed with hydrochloric acid will yield a nice amount of chlorine gas, we can only hope the k3wl takes a few deep breaths as he tries to exit the basement
flying fish Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 I was just thinking of getting into yet another hobby. Namely, basement optical experimentation, like imaging micro-organisms or cells while frying or trapping them with a laser (the same kind of stuff I do at work - BUT with the freedom to do whatever I want). Basically would require some lenses, filters, beam splitters, an optical breadboard, stages, various hardware, Laser Diode and power supply. I already have the video capturing equipment. This could get expensive - BUT I could certainly afford it IF I drop or seriously downsize on one or more of my other hobbies. Don't worry - pyro is not going to be one of the options, although I may get rid of a few chems I'm not using. But the question is - which hobby? RC Airplanes - I haven't been into it for a while, and I haven't spent money on it recently. I could sell the stuff I have for at least a few hundred bucks. But one of my planes I never finish building, and I feel kind of bad just giving up on it (considering that my parents bought it for me with the idea that we could go out and fly it some day). Airsoft - I still play once and a while. I've got LOTS of guns. The trouble with selling them is that the large quantity of guns comes in handy when a group of friends come over that DON'T own their own - we can still all play. Fishkeeping - Well, I'm stuck with the fish I have. More than half of them are crossbread cichlids (my fault for "saving" them and not just letting them get eaten!) which are probably not a good idea to sell back to the fishkeeping community. But I can probably sell some of the extra tanks/ equipment that is not in use, provided that I save at least one of my extra tanks as a med tank. And I should have sold my old computer when it was still worth something! I had a Gaming PC that I stopped using several years ago when I got my labtop...and at the time it was quite sophisticated. Now it can't even play today's games (like spore) without self-destructing. It's probably worth about $20 bucks now!
Swede Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 FF - pick up another job, or work more hours on what you are doing now? <shrug> tough call. $$ is always an issue. I think what you propose would be a kick-ass hobby and a lot of fun but very expensive. I've been drooling over CO2 lasers for years on eBay, and an absolutely minimal 40 watt laser setup is hundreds of dollars. I wanted one to hook up to a CNC mill so I could cut... balsa for RC planes!
mormanman Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 FF. Do RC Airplanes. You can do some crazy stuff with it. I have a video.Link.
oskarchem Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 I think I'm gonna have to maybe only make charcoal streamers if I want to continue pyrotechnics, and my other hobby (well maybe more of a passion) flying... I think that next year, once I get my PPL, I could start doing aerobatics. But then I would have to drop pyro completely...
flying fish Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 FF - pick up another job, or work more hours on what you are doing now? <shrug> tough call. $$ is always an issue. I think what you propose would be a kick-ass hobby and a lot of fun but very expensive. I've been drooling over CO2 lasers for years on eBay, and an absolutely minimal 40 watt laser setup is hundreds of dollars. I wanted one to hook up to a CNC mill so I could cut... balsa for RC planes! Hey, that's a pretty good use for a laser setup! I think I'm pretty stuck as far a work goes (partly by choice). I actually do like my work. I'm already working 10 hours a day, and they aren't going to pay me for anything more than that. I probably *could* spend more money on hobbies, but I feel that when my parents are doing everything they can to help put me through college, I have to do my part by putting most of my own money towards college. Furthermore, I look at some of my other hobbies that ended up being a total flop, and think "what if I spend all kinds of money on this new hobby, and the same thing happens - that is - I don't get anywhere or I am highly unsuccessful with the hobby?!?!?" It almost makes me think I should just go back to one of my old hobbies and TRY to get further on it (like finish building my RC airplane). But I'm not that interested in that right now - after all, with Michigan whether, it will be negative 4000 degrees (yes, below absolute zero ) by the time I finish it. There are some definite things in my setup that will cost money, but since I'm not planning on machining anything, I can probably get by with Laser Diodes. Some of the major expenses for my proposed setup would be the micrometer stages, "optical breadboard" (which I might try to make myself out of plastic instead of buying a $400 aluminum one!), light sources, and various optical components (lenses, mirrors, beamsplitters, filters...). I'm actually kind of interested in doing my own research into "fish-tank water microscopy" or something really "out-there" like that.
Richtee Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 I probably *could* spend more money on hobbies, but I feel that when my parents are doing everything they can to help put me through college, I have to do my part by putting most of my own money towards college. Such a GOOD boy! :{) As a tuition paying parent, I applaud you! Bravo!
Swede Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 FF, get an "Edmund Scientific" catalogue, chock-full of optical yuminess. Haunt eBay too, you'll find some great buys there. If you're not interested in cutting/burning, you should be able to get something going without spending too much. Someone (somewhere) mentioned that those "green" wavelength laser pointers produce a visible beam. Anyone know if that is true?
Mumbles Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 FF, you'll be happy to know that my first Quantum exam didn't completely destroy me. Only partially I actually think I did decent on it. Now my first P chem lab report is another story, which is why it is in this thread instead of occasional happiness. I've put in a good 15 hours on it so far, and there are at least 5 more to go. Good thing it wasn't due 13 hours ago, or I'd be way behind
Richtee Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 (edited) FF, you'll be happy to know that my first Quantum exam didn't completely destroy me. Only partially I actually think I did decent on it. Now my first P chem lab report is another story, which is why it is in this thread instead of occasional happiness. I've put in a good 15 hours on it so far, and there are at least 5 more to go. Good thing it wasn't due 13 hours ago, or I'd be way behind But..if it was due 5 hours ago, you'd be slightly ahead? Go man GO! It's a tough world, and that grade MAY be the difference. No pressure tho Edited October 14, 2008 by Richtee
flying fish Posted October 15, 2008 Posted October 15, 2008 Good work on the QM test! I personally had to put a lot of time into that class to get a halfway decent grade. Lab reports... makes me glad I'm back at my internship. I had nightmares for weeks after the summer semester ended, re-living the moments I spent cramming for my Fields final at 3:00 AM!!! The only thing that is getting on my nerves is that lately, all of the executives are yelling at eachother, constantly! This never happened before. But now that we have several new, big $grants, we are actually doing research instead of just struggling to keep our little company afloat. So of course everyone has their own opinion on how we should do things, and since there are a lot more things happening, everyone starts fighting! I feel like a small child who's parents are fighting. Or the drummer when the other band members start quarreling!
Mumbles Posted October 15, 2008 Posted October 15, 2008 Finished 5 minutes before it was another 4 points off for being late. I'd say the improvements from last night at midnight to tonight at midnight definitely justify the late penalty.
oskarchem Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Ugh... The French stock market is going down, at it's 5year low... This is a bad time to have stock in French companies... Although, a good time to buy
marks265 Posted October 17, 2008 Posted October 17, 2008 Well I did some measuring and I fell 8 feet short of an indoor class 4 magazine for 1.4. Now I will have to buy a bigger magazine for 1.3 and 1.4. And then it will be an outdoor type.
Swede Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 Well I did some measuring and I fell 8 feet short of an indoor class 4 magazine for 1.4. Now I will have to buy a bigger magazine for 1.3 and 1.4. And then it will be an outdoor type. That sucks. I already measure for one, and my neighbors are too close. It makes me want to buy 100 acres in the boonies just for a cabin + pyro research lab.
Mumbles Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 I waited too long for the Chemistry GRE subject test. Looks like grad school has to wait until 2010.
Frozentech Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 I waited too long for the Chemistry GRE subject test. Looks like grad school has to wait until 2010. Ouch. Hey maybe you could get into that 'Art of Brewing' course there in Madison ? Saw a story about it on the news, they said Organic Chemistry and Microbiology were prerequisites so it must be a serious course.
Mumbles Posted October 19, 2008 Posted October 19, 2008 Oh, I am already planning to take that class in the spring. Now I just have to decide if I want to graduate this year and get a job, or stay around for another semester or year and finish up some classes I actually want to take and get some more research experience.
flying fish Posted October 24, 2008 Posted October 24, 2008 (edited) I guess I shouldn't be complaining...I have a job in biophotonics (the field I want to go into), and I'm actually given interesting work rather than just "hey why don't you sit at your desk and twiddle your thumbs." But at some point it becomes too much... I'm working on 4 different projects all at once. My time is stretched so thin that I barely get to work on the project that I was supposed to be working on originally (laser trapping of erythrocytes). Everyday some crisis has to pop up on one of the other projects and eat up all my time. Of course, it's all about deadlines (which nobody has control over), and, while my original project does have many sharply approaching deadlines, missing them will not kill the company (in contrast to some of the other projects). Well, again I guess I'm happy that I'm not in one of the sitting-in-a-cubical-doing-nothing-all-day type jobs, but it is frustrating (even depressing!) when I can't even "get my bearings" before being pushed to another project. The minute I start pumping erythrocytes through a microfluidic chip... "hey get over here we need you for something!" And then the erythrocytes are just left there to die from OTHER reasons besides over-exposure to high intensity coherent radiation . My boss is working on trying to reduce the other stuff that he uses me for, so maybe there is some "light" coming up in the near future. But I'm not necessarily counting on it. Edited October 24, 2008 by flying fish
Boomer Posted October 24, 2008 Posted October 24, 2008 I know what you mean.... The last year was hell here too, my Boss has a time-planner software that shows free/used-up capacity for the engineers over the weeks, summed up over all projects. I've been on 400% on occasion, and probably never below 200%. My fellow workers don't have it much better. I accumulated 400+ hours overtime this year, and still have 11 weeks of holiday to take (including last year's). If I start now, I'll be back to work in April! This time they HAVE to pay some of it in money, no more "time accounts".....
WarezWally Posted October 25, 2008 Posted October 25, 2008 Started to weld up a few lab stands and the welds are utter shit, I'm fairly sure its the 6013 rods that I have. Couldn't find any 7018 rods in the store so I grabbed a box of these hoping that they would be ok. shit shit shit shit
Swede Posted October 25, 2008 Posted October 25, 2008 What process are you using, Wally? Regular stick? Oxy Acetylene? TIG?
WarezWally Posted October 25, 2008 Posted October 25, 2008 The only process that I know of that use numbered electrodes is stick The welds are not that bad but its the pinholes and small slag inclusions that annoy me. I like everything I weld to be perfect (my old man was a 1st class welder).
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