Pants on fire

On Sun, 02 May 2004 02:27:56 GMT, "Leo Lichtman" vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!: remove ns from my header address to reply via email

My two stories:

I was cutting a large dozer rake in a paddock with oxy-Acet. There was very little grass around (you have to see marginal country in Oz to understand this) but there was one patch, so although I had a bucket of water nearby, there was little danger of a spreading fire. I had nice long hoses, so I could keep the bottles on the vehicle. Less work and "out of harm's way".

Then I smelt smoke and looked back. The hoses were of course laying right across the only patch of dry grass, which of course had set alight. I did catch it in time.

To give an idea of the power of a grinder or abrasive saw to start fires. I was cutting a piece of steel on a jarrah (very hard wood)-topped sawhorse, and the solid jarrah caught fire. It smouldered, and I could smell burning jarrah. I micved the saw away, and I can only imagine that the fan breeze from the saw was enough to fan it. It did actually burn for a bit.

**************************************************** The Met Bureau is LOVE!

Only needed to stick weld two small pieces, it was summer, I was at home, you can figure out the rest. And on the subject of fire, did you know that the zoysia (sp) grasses burn quite well in winter and the hose connections are frozen and you can't get water to put it out. Found a frozen solid 5 gallon plastic pail and after smashing it, used the resultant 5 gallon ice cube to extinguish the fire by pushing it over the burining grasses on my hands and knees.

John H.

Must be hemispherical thinking, but when it comes to summer, I think of frying eggs on the side walk,....

Joel. phx

And frozen is what the icecream doesn't do between the store and your freezer (easily 150f in the car before the AC starts to kick in).

When my kids were in Scouts this was one of the recommended items for a survival kit. With steel wool and a flint you can start a fire even when things have gotten damp.

LOL. Great story.

Jim

================================================== please reply to: JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com ==================================================

And nobody around with a comcorder! :-)

Yeah, but Papa's pyro putty is even better. Modern pistol powder, and acetone. The powder absorbs the acetone and becomes a gel/putty that burns slowly, but very hot, even if wet.

Or your mobile phone.

So I've heard.

Ahem!

Ivor.

I don't think my glasses would fit in my cellphone (they're quite big and my phone is quite small) :-))

-- you can contact me via

Fellow working on the bench next to me was using a straight acetylene torch, the acytelene bottle set up on a trolley with a gas saver valve above it. When he finished soldering, he hung the torch back on the gas saver, but as he did, he accidently flicked the flame past the regulator. The o-ring under the regulator was leaking, letting some acetylene leak straight out of the bottle, which lit up in a small flame.

What happened next is one of the funniest things I've seen, he didn't turn the bottle off, or throw the bucket of water at his feet over the bottle, he ran outside the shop, got a mouthful of water out of the water cooler, ran back in and spat it at the flame, putting it out. Then stood there, obviously thinking to himself, why the hell did I do that!

regards,

John

Ho Ho! :-)

I've posted a pic of the aforesaid mobile phone in the drop box. Listed under 'welded_mobile_phone'

Ivor.

Uh ........ what kind of rod is best for welding cell phones?

Steve ;-)

Antenna Wire...

Aaaaacccckkkkkkk .......... coffee with sugar and Amaretto creamer on my screen ........... I hate it when that happens ............

Steve

On Tue, 4 May 2004 08:11:22 -0700, "SteveB" brought forth from the murky depths:

A MIG gun with no tip shield (and the valve on the argon bottle closed) makes the nicest random patterns.

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Haven't you learned not to drink and read Usenet at the same time yet? Tis a dangerous habit, especially with the HV section of the monitor.

Don't drop cellphones in decorative fountains (no drain plug) while lifting the bottom bowl off the base with a crane, they can't swim - even if they get rescued before they hit bottom, they will be so insulted by your carelessness that they'll never talk to you again. DAMHIKT...

(Back under contract again...) -->--

Liar! Liar!

You've got the right idea , that's what my glasses looked like. When I weld now I make sure they are far far way. Someday I'll get my eyes fixed and when something like that happens again I can say to myself hell I needed a different look anyhow and just buy another cheapy pair.

I know about everyone in the water bus. around here and that is a common screw up. I hear cell phones don't take it well at all . I haven't dropped mine in the water yet , but most of the time the pools are empty when I'm there. Just a couple of months ago I lost someone while talking to them and days later heard their phone went for a swim.

Summer is here already , I need to find something else to do. It must get to 130 in these pools. Heat stroke is no joke , I'm already thinking of sneaking into the coolers at convenient stores while buying more ice.

I was thinking of this thread today while quickie sawing rebar and my leg started to cook. I had to cut about 10 rebars off of this pool and in some places had my jeans twisted to catch all the sparks in crescent moon shaped pockets of the legs. Its beyond me why the gunite crew can't cut them off if their in the way.