I have a friend who ..........

I have a friend who ponders more things...

He's an underwater welder in the north sea who makes $899 an hour and doesn't have internet access because his modem got wet.

-- Jack

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a pork bbq sandwich in one hand, diet Mt. Dew in the other, your body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "Woo hoo! What a ride!

Well, I have several friends and relations who are very competent people, but who don't have the inclination to get on the newsgroups, don't have the time, or both.

None the less they do useful things that I know about, so I'll talk about them.

Take my Dad, for instance. He's approaching 80, still gets far more done in a day than I do, knows more about cars than I ever will, and just won't get his own email -- my brother and sister-in-law do that for him.

If you wanted to know why your brass headlamp housings on your '09 Fnorklemobile* harden up and break when you try to pound the dents out, and what could you do about it, he'd never read the post. I would, however, and even though I've never done it personally I can tell you that you blacken the sheet brass with a torch set to acetylene only, then turn on the oxygen to get a neutral flame and go back over the metal with it until the soot is gone. This gets you just the right temperature for the right amount of time to anneal the metal for more pounding. If I _didn't_ quote him you'd never know that. If I just _told_ you you'd think I did it and I don't want that because I'm not a blowhard so I want to give credit where credit is due.

• There were a lot of brands in those days.

Amen. Not to mention, he's crossposting this rant to rcm where most of us are hobbyists. Apparently, he's the only REAL welder on the planet.

SteveB, ..... .... ... .. . plonk.

In my case, it is because most of them are dead.

Very good points, Tim. But at times, I do hear just a little too much incredible information about "friends" who do this and that.

Steve

"SteveB" wrote: Where are all these mythical people? (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have a friend who objects to the tone of your post.

Real friends, and even imaginary friends are excluded. What this was aimed at is those who are true works of fiction. Those embellished with so many incredible claims ......

The stories that are made up, and make urban myths look like gospel. The kind that make the muscles in the back of your neck tighten when you hear about them.

As a welder and a doer, you know who I mean.

Steve

What.......................you sayin' Paul Bunyon & Sasquatch ain't real?????

I knew a guy who knew a guy who both of them and he said they couldn't strike an arc fer shit...............

Now me.........that's a different story all-tagether........I kin weld low-high two-handed with a two inch open root, 2 degree bevel, down-hand in a hurricane and still pass a ASME 6G....

or a least that's what I remember when I woke up...................

.....And one time at band camp......

Fraser Competition Engines Chicago, IL. Long Beach, CA.

I believe its a behavior that has existed long before the Internet.

John