06-01-2014, 11:34 PM
GGD wrote:
Great stories, thanks for sharing, sounds like you had a really enjoyable career there.
So, you could think of that knife switch as being the "door bell".
[quote=eustacetilley]
So, what did the Big Copper Knife Switch actually do? The handle had a hidden strong magnet attached to the handle, and when pulled, it dropped a reed relay hidden in the base, that dropped another relay, that caused half a dozen cleverly-hidden-in-the-Main-Console Sonalerts to start merrily chirping away.
That is all that it did.
Eustace
I had a great time, and I was witness to some really creative practical jokes; legendary practical jokes.
Like the time that Al hooked up his counting gear to the building fire alarm, because he desperately needed an hour or so of sleep. About the most ingenious version of a doorbell that I've ever come across. That was also Al's seventh new Element discovery.
And there was the time that visiting Energy Secretary Edwards _almost_ came face-to-face with a leaky blow-up doll, a leaky blow-up doll filled with Helium.
And the time that I filled a... no, the Statutes of Limitations probably haven't run out on that one.
I've been gassed, electrocuted, (Twice.), bathed in Liquid Nitrogen, Freon, Acetone, etc.
I know exactly what happens when you take just one deep breath of a 20% CO2/ 80% N2 mixture.
I was custodian for a while of about a pound of roaring hot Gold. Once a year, I checked to see if it had cooled off any. After a decade, it hadn't cooled off the least bit. On the last check, I put the Gold back into its concrete niche, locked the custom lock, and then broke the key off in the lock, as instructed.
And there were the not so Great Times. In our Division, if you were any good, you got a shot at Management. Up to ten years of Management. The Up To was flexible; our Jewel of an Engineer from HP didn't last 18 months as head of Engineering. But the Ten Years, while unofficial, was very firm. I got the full Ten as Operations Group Leader, and was given a promotion, and booted elsewhere. Time for New Blood.
My replacement managed seven years. His replacement is now going on his sixth year, and looks well to finish out his decade.
The guy that I replaced, a thoroughly unpleasant person, lasted only three years, took an early retirement, and promptly committed suicide.
But all in all...
I had a great time.
Eustace