doing our part for Art

built a

the

that,

toll

They still talk about Marge at CE. They're glad to be in their new digs, out by Kings Island.

The worst are the paper mills on I95 in GA, down by the FL border. That is

built a

abount a

in the

that,

toll

for

on

is

Heh. Try stringing cable inside one of those places in August, from a work basket over a propane powered forklift. The fumes make you light headed, and the blackflies try to carry you away, for their dinner. The twon i grew up in had to major industries. Steel and paper.

built a

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in the

that,

move

toll

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speed.

the

worse

Try crawling through a maze of hot pipes to lay on an asbestos blanket on top of a screaming VW-sized steam valve, to adjust a trimpot on a valve position sensor, in the Gulf of Mexico, in an engine room with a base temperature of about 100F and a sound level just at the threshold of pain. No, don't try it.

We once spent 15 hours dead in the water while we argued over whether the electronics was locking up, or the mechanics. It was mechanics. It took them another 12 hours to fix it. It was a very clever design, an electric-motor-powered lead screw that moved a sliding nut that drove a big hydraulic servo. Every once in a while it would freeze up and stall the motor I was driving. When the angles and coefficient of friction were just right, the nut would lock onto the shaft. I was about 21, and looked about 16, and it was hard to argue, in front of the angry owners, with a bunch of crusty old MEs who "had always done it this way."

The nut, with a forked follower, moved one end of a steel bar. The other end was attached to the big main steam valve. Partway down the bar was a hydraulic control valve. It was an inverting opamp, with the valve the summing point. The lengths of the bars of either side of the pilot valve were Ri and Rf. They could reposition the valve by selecting one of a few mounting options to adjust closed-loop gain. The loop seemed to be inherently stable, as the main actuator piston was one big integrator. 10 second slew, something like that.

It was my first closed-loop control design, 32,000 horsepower.

John

built a

abount a

going in the

heard that,

move

the toll

closes for

hood on

worse is

to

speed.

the

worse

out

Try crawling in a closed attic with a new tar & gravel roof while balancing yourself on thin, stamped steel studding while measuring and bending conduit to finish a job that was supposedly done before they drywalled the ceiling. It was around 130 degrees, and i was crawling around on fiberglass insulation, while trying to avoid the hot recessed incandescent light fixtures. I could only work five to ten minutes, then had to climb down for a 20 minute cool down while I drank over a gallon of water. Do that for three full days in a row. I lost over ten pounds in three days. I had a migraine for over a week from that mess.

Crawling around a hot engine to adjust a trimpot is just bad design.

I built a

abount a

going in the

heard that,

move

the toll

closes for

hood on

worse is

Crestline to

speed.

was

there.

in the

worse

out

Hey, I was just a kid.

John

I was once, too. :) I learned very early that a lot of engineers could give Dilbert's 'Wally' a run for the money when it came to being lazy and careless and that the design review committee was two men: Rube Goldberg and Murphy.

I'll bet you never made that particular mistake again. ;-)

Since I started as a hobbyist & technician, I always had an eye on making sure something could be serviced.

and now

darker

pretty

they

of

easy

more money.

neutral,

mugging).

not

Also on whether or not they "go to sea" or not. Purely a behavioral distinction and not reliably heritable.

old

much money

money now.

smack.

and now

darker

pretty

they

of

easy

more money.

neutral,

mugging).

not

old

much money

money now.

smack.

Unfortunately, politicians cannot OD on money and thus kill themselves like ordinary drug addicts can.

That is the first time i have seen that variation on the bascule type.