Evening

Time passes slowly at first, too slowly. But before I know it the time is almost gone. It only took a few nights for a Texas thunderstorm to break out in the sky and a few meals for one to break out in me. I got to check that off, immediately, happily, minimally. I owe it, partly, to the uncomfortable couch I slept on. It staved off deep sleep, so once the distant rumbling began, I easily awoke in time for the tumultuous, yet brief, crescendo.

Then came Christmas Eve… what an eve. It started with the traditional last minute shopping agenda, which was surprisingly dull as the strip mall we visited was nearly completely vacant. Then, in rapid fire succession, came the visits to all the families and their houses. The highlight of which was a discussion of a deity, or lack thereof, and the origin of the universe, or lack thereof. This discussion was between me and a - the only - muslim family member, we are normally the quiet ones at family gatherings, but this evening we were loud and clear in each other’s ear. I owe it, partly, to the comfortable couch we sat on.

Later that night, we opened our gifts. She said it was exactly what she wanted as she proudly brandished the small firearm for all to see, including a pose for the obligatory xmas present picture. We all looked at each other; I searched each of my siblings’ eyes for a clue. Who knew that our mother wanted this small firearm? Who got it for her? More importantly, who decided it was wise to include ammunition. In my distant leather armchair, I was secure.

During moments of such immersion, I ache for solitude. During moments of said solitude, I ache for a comfortable chair.

Smelting and Fluxing

Iron ore naturally occurs with oxygen and other elements, usually as Fe₂O₃+other elements. It is necessary to separate these elements. Lift and separate. Removing the oxygen is smelting, removing the other elements is fluxing.

Smelting must be carefully planned. There are stages, you need a blast of air with an agent that will facilitate removal of oxygen, this is acheived with oxygen, O₂, and carbon in the form of coke, a bituminous coal. This creates carbon monoxide which, at high temperatures, grabs oxygen from the iron ore and holds onto it tightly as carbon dioxide. You repeat this until you have only iron and carbon dioxide. Now you must flux.

Fluxing removes impurities. A traditional fluxing material is limestone. The resulting impurities become apparent after the molten iron has begun to cool. You will find your iron casting surrounded by a sandy material, called slag. The limestone ensures slag is on the outside and not on the inside of your iron. Such an internal impurity, even in the tiniest amount, can weaken a metal.

While walking to my office, I happened upon a group of smelters. I could smell the carbon dioxide lingering in the air about the group; they were about to begin pouring molten iron into casts:

Addendum:
Putting Out a Thousand Plus Degree Heat
Can Take a While

Hmm…

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” - Sinclair Lewis

Note to Self

You need to take more pictures, more often, and of more interesting things. Stop internalizing everything.

P.S. You really should get a mini DV camera. Think Abe!

A Man With Two Knives

“I gotta tell you, this is pretty sweet.” - Moe Sizlack

Lately I’ve been thinking about mating. Not because I am guy and guys have urges, nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve been living the life of a lone wolf for well over a year now. This is the longest time I have been mate-less since high school. I have enjoyed it, in fact, I am still enjoying it, and I plan to continue to enjoy it for a bit longer. But still, I have been thinking about mating.

I’ve been thinking about what I want from a potential mate. Something I’ve never done before. Historically I just kind of bumped into a potential mate and if a bond formed we became mates, just like ions forming molecules. Some of those bonds have proven to be very strong and we are still mates, albeit a lesser mate as far as the scheme of mates goes, but a mate nonetheless (see definition two or three in your dictionary of choice). Some bonds seemed strong, but then turned out to break under the slightest stress, just like ions and molecules.

What I am trying to tell myself - I can see now - is that if I bump into a potential mate, I better assess the full potential bond strength before I share my electrons. If the potential for triple bond or better is not there, I’m gonna keep on movin’. (Naturally, my introverted personality makes me a negative ion, which means two things, i) I have electrons to share, ii) I need an extroverted mate.)

So what is the triple bond criterion? A basic attraction is covered by the whole positive-negative ion picture. Intelligence is the next big factor, and intelligence means the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills so there is no need for the person to be wise, in fact, a know-it-all would be tiresome, I’d want to be able to learn with a mate, not just learn from. Then there is something to be said for confidence, though sometimes I think looks/intelligence and confidence are one and the same. Nevertheless, confidence, too much and I will hate you — you arrogant rogue — too little and I will crush you like the ant you feel like. Okay, so what do I have so far? Predetermined levels of looks, smarts, and confidence. That’s great Rudes. Just great…

The truth is, I am not sure how much some of the other things matter. For instance, does my potential mate have to be a vegetarian because I am? Probably not, but I can see the problems that may ensue. Then there are the beliefs. Oh boy. I don’t want to linger on mating anymore, as it is, I’ve already taken the ion analogy too far. I now dread meeting a potential mate, wondering how many protons and neutrons they are made of, and then bursting into a crazy unexplainable laugh followed by the rapid fleeing of said potential mate. And upon seeing two people in a cafe that are clearly on their first date I will envision a mini-macroscopic molecular biology lesson. The couple will become giant colored wooden balls with rods simulating covalent and ionic bonds. Yes, I’ve beat that dead horse something fierce and it will now haunt me the rest of my life.

But moreso, I don’t want to linger on the subject of my ideal potential mate for that very simple reason. I don’t want it to become an ideal. Ideals are not reality and I would spend a lifetime looking. I can’t help but feel that I am back at square one. Ions bouncing around. But time has diminished the abundance.

On an unrelated note, while working on an optics homework set, it was necessary to use software that only runs in Windows, and since I do not want to run an emulator on my PowerPC Mac that requires a complete installation of Windows, I brought Hal out from retirement to toggle at the bits and play a little with Bucky and me. They shared some information through the memory stick pictured below, unprotected sharing. I swear this is an unrelated note… and picture: