Better Living Through Chemicals
Like i needed another embarrasingly random resume entry. Just when i'd figured out how to spin the "Deckhand" thing (on the same page as "Copy Editor"), i have to try to explain "Apprentice Aircraft Repair Technician." But hopefully, not for a long time.
This chance has kind of dropped in my lap, and i feel neither responsible for it nor confident in my ability to handle it. Still, the fact remains that these people want to pay me to learn what i'd been figuring on paying for a year and a half of full-time classes to learn on my own. This seems to me like a good deal. And then, with the paychecks - properly stretched, of course - i'll be able to start flight lessons soon. Sometimes you just have to shake your head. And sign on the dotted line.
So today i learned about bead blasting. Bead blasting bears a suspicious resemblance to needle gunning. However, it is quieter, and you don't get quite as dirty. I learned this by doing it all day. I also discovered how to use a highly respectable paint stripper that wins, hands down, as the most evil chemical i have used yet. I'd tell you what it is, but it came in an unmarked metal jug. After it dissolved the second pair of gloves, i decided it was a strong candidate for the top spot. You have just enough time after you notice the tingly sensation on your finger to look down, see the rubber melting, and stick your hand under the faucet before your arm is gone to the elbow. I expect to have three-headed children someday. But in any case, that wasn't the highlight of the day. The highlight of the day was the radioactive explosion a mile from Katie's office, which nearly caused her to be evacuated, and did in fact cause her to think it was my aircraft parts company that had radioactively exploded and not, as it turned out to be, the other one.
On the bright side, as the reporter points out reassuringly, krypton is "the seventh most common gas in the atmosphere." Thanks, AP!
This chance has kind of dropped in my lap, and i feel neither responsible for it nor confident in my ability to handle it. Still, the fact remains that these people want to pay me to learn what i'd been figuring on paying for a year and a half of full-time classes to learn on my own. This seems to me like a good deal. And then, with the paychecks - properly stretched, of course - i'll be able to start flight lessons soon. Sometimes you just have to shake your head. And sign on the dotted line.
So today i learned about bead blasting. Bead blasting bears a suspicious resemblance to needle gunning. However, it is quieter, and you don't get quite as dirty. I learned this by doing it all day. I also discovered how to use a highly respectable paint stripper that wins, hands down, as the most evil chemical i have used yet. I'd tell you what it is, but it came in an unmarked metal jug. After it dissolved the second pair of gloves, i decided it was a strong candidate for the top spot. You have just enough time after you notice the tingly sensation on your finger to look down, see the rubber melting, and stick your hand under the faucet before your arm is gone to the elbow. I expect to have three-headed children someday. But in any case, that wasn't the highlight of the day. The highlight of the day was the radioactive explosion a mile from Katie's office, which nearly caused her to be evacuated, and did in fact cause her to think it was my aircraft parts company that had radioactively exploded and not, as it turned out to be, the other one.
On the bright side, as the reporter points out reassuringly, krypton is "the seventh most common gas in the atmosphere." Thanks, AP!
