Lets make Friday 'Joke Day'!

I'm
Domenick said:
In virtually every mass market (medical) thermometer manufactured in the U.S. the silver liquid metal is an alloy of gallium and indium. Except for some very specialty applications, mercury went out of favor decades and decades ago.
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I'm pretty sure that's the decades and decades ago the joke is referring to...
 
RussR said:
I'm

I'm pretty sure that's the decades and decades ago the joke is referring to...
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Yep. When I saw it I immediately thought of high school chemistry class where a broken thermometer meant a lot of fun playing with the contents. It was in the late 60's.
 
Domenick said:
In virtually every mass market (medical) thermometer manufactured in the U.S. the silver liquid metal is an alloy of gallium and indium. Except for some very specialty applications, mercury went out of favor decades and decades ago.
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RussR said:
I'm pretty sure that's the decades and decades ago the joke is referring to...
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Besides, the thermometer in the image is a laboratory thermometer, not a medical thermometer which reads in a very narrow range.
 
Domenick said:
In virtually every mass market (medical) thermometer manufactured in the U.S. the silver liquid metal is an alloy of gallium and indium. Except for some very specialty applications, mercury went out of favor decades and decades ago.
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spoil-sport
 
Domenick said:
In virtually every mass market (medical) thermometer manufactured in the U.S. the silver liquid metal is an alloy of gallium and indium. Except for some very specialty applications, mercury went out of favor decades and decades ago.
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Uh, so? What time frame do you think he was talking about? Last year?
 
Ahhh, memories of being a little kid again, kerosene wick type space heater, electricity out and snowbound… decided to see how hot the top was and shattered a big mercury thermometer into the 2”yellow shag carpet… I was “mining” that mercury out for days to play with it ...when I wasn’t playing with my miniature anvil hammering nails into GI Joe swords and shaping lead muzzleloader balls into stuff. Drinking not just from the garden hose but the field drainage tiles feeding into the dredge ditches…. And being give a 22 caliber revolver to wear when I was 8 and let loose to play out in the fields in case of a wild dog or coyote… different times.
 
Domenick said:
In virtually every mass market (medical) thermometer manufactured in the U.S. the silver liquid metal is an alloy of gallium and indium. Except for some very specialty applications, mercury went out of favor decades and decades ago.
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Or just electronic with an digital display.
 
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AV8R_87 said:
The thermometer I broke definitely had mercury in it.
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Domenick said:
In virtually every mass market (medical) thermometer manufactured in the U.S. the silver liquid metal is an alloy of gallium and indium. Except for some very specialty applications, mercury went out of favor decades and decades ago.
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"But I haven't broken a thermometer in decades!"
 
AV8R_87 said:
The thermometer I broke definitely had mercury in it.
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How do you know?

My first experience with mercury was in Junior High school (not "middle" school). I had an independent science study project in which I chemically extracted elements from chemical compounds. IIRC all I did to get mercury was heat mercury sulfide. I put most of the metallic mercury (maybe 1/4 tsp) into a test tube for display and took a tiny bit and rubbed it all over a dime--silver dime at the time. Made it incredibly shiny. Put that in another test tube as an example of an amalgam.

I also used to ride my bicycle to an outdoor police firing range and collect pounds and pounds of lead bullets, melt them in our downstairs fireplace, and pour the molten lead into water, creating lead art--and getting splattered from time to time.

Learned a lot in the days before child-proof homes.

At about 5 years old Mom caught me trying to bend a bobby pin and stick it into an electrical socket. She told warned me not to and confiscated the bobby pin. Not to be deterred, I found another bobby pin, bent it, and stuck it in the outlet. Screamed like bloody murder. Mom came to see what the fuss was about. She loomed over me and said, "I told you so," and walked away. Many different lessons learned that day--be careful experimenting, and if I'm not gushing blood keep your mouth shut!
 
Domenick said:
Learned a lot in the days before child-proof homes.

At about 5 years old Mom caught me trying to bend a bobby pin and stick it into an electrical socket. She told warned me not to and confiscated the bobby pin. Not to be deterred, I found another bobby pin and stuck it in the outlet. Screamed like bloody murder. Mom came to see what the fuss was. She loomed over me and said, "I told you so," and walked away. Many different lessons learned that day--be careful experimenting, and if I'm not gushing blood keep your mouth shut!
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Sounds like my childhood.!! One time I rode my bicycle off the roof of the house. The old lady cross the street ratted me out to my mom.

Did your mom also remind you...''For goodness sakes put on clean underwear in case you are in an accident.!!''
 
Domenick said:
How do you know?

My first experience with mercury was in Junior High school (not "middle" school). I had an independent science study project in which I chemically extracted elements from chemical compounds. IIRC all I did to get mercury was heat mercury sulfide. I put most of the metallic mercury (maybe 1/4 tsp) into a test tube for display and took a tiny bit and rubbed it all over a dime--silver dime at the time. Made it incredibly shiny. Put that in another test tube as an example of an amalgam.

I also used to ride my bicycle to an outdoor police firing range and collect pounds and pounds of lead bullets, melt them in our downstairs fireplace, and pour the molten lead into water, creating lead art--and getting splattered from time to time.

Learned a lot in the days before child-proof homes.

At about 5 years old Mom caught me trying to bend a bobby pin and stick it into an electrical socket. She told warned me not to and confiscated the bobby pin. Not to be deterred, I found another bobby pin, bent it, and stuck it in the outlet. Screamed like bloody murder. Mom came to see what the fuss was about. She loomed over me and said, "I told you so," and walked away. Many different lessons learned that day--be careful experimenting, and if I'm not gushing blood keep your mouth shut!
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I vividly remember sitting in the back seat of my uncle's fancy new car. I found this neat knob that had a metal spiral on the back side that I could press into my finger and get a spiral pattern in my skin. After playing with it a bit I discovered that I could push it down in it's holder. After a few seconds it popped back out. I then pressed it into my finger again....

I don't remember the last time I saw a cigarette lighter in a car.
 
Zeldman said:
Did your mom also remind you...''For goodness sakes put on clean underwear in case you are in an accident.!!''
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Yep ... but usually after the accident they weren't clean anymore. We built a hang glider before any of us had a clue as to how to do such a thing. I couldn't get it going fast enough to get any lift. My friend came off the roof with it. As they say "break a leg" ... that's exactly what he did. Seems there was a problem with the CG! :biggrin:
 
Domenick said:
At about 5 years old Mom caught me trying to bend a bobby pin and stick it into an electrical socket. She told warned me not to and confiscated the bobby pin. Not to be deterred, I found another bobby pin, bent it, and stuck it in the outlet. Screamed like bloody murder. Mom came to see what the fuss was about. She loomed over me and said, "I told you so," and walked away. Many different lessons learned that day--be careful experimenting, and if I'm not gushing blood keep your mouth shut!
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Somewhere around 8th grade a kid in our class folded up the foil wrapper off a stick of gum and stuck it in an electrical outlet. It was during a movie in a dark room. It sure made a bright flash!
 
robin ardoin said:
How true. I am currently holding off from buying a new wedding band...'cause I know what will happen the moment I pay for the replacement.
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Been there, done that, and fortunately the place I bought the replacement from took returns with no restocking fees. I found mine the day before the new one arrived.
 
Mumblemumble! I was building an addition on our former house, and the late fall was crawling around under an overhang (maybe 18" over the ground) getting all the dead leaves out. OK, done! crawled out, and proceeded to brush off my jeans with my hands vigorously. My hands were cold enough that I flipped my wedding ring off. I went to the rental place, rented a metal detector, and spent too much time looking for the ring. No luck. So I gathered a posse of neighborhood kids, promised them $5 to the finder and an ice cream bar for everyone. No luck! Out some ice cream, but not the $5 dollar prize.

Later that marriage didn't work. New wife, new house and I bought a new ring. Reasoned that the old ring didn't work anyway.

New one working just fine, thanks for asking!

-Skip
 
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Skip Miller said:
Mumblemumble! I was building an addition on our former house, and the late fall was crawling around under an overhang (maybe 18" over the ground) getting all the dead leaves out. OK, done! crawled out, and proceeded to brush off my jeans with my hands vigorously. My hands were cold enough that I flipped my wedding ring off. I went to the rental place, rented a metal detector, and spent too much time looking for the ring. No luck. So I gathered a posse of neighborhood kids, promised them $5 to the finder and an ice cream bar for everyone. No luck! Out some ice cream, but not the $5 dollar prize.

Later that marriage didn't work. New wife, new house and I bought a new ring. Reasoned that the old ring didn't work anyway.

New working just fine, thanks for asking!

-Skip
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One ring to rule them all,
One ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all,
And in the darkness bind them!
 
So I learned today that there are two places in adjacent counties of Texas with the same address…GPS took me to the wrong one, but my phone got me to the right one.

Also…have you seen some of the cow paths they call county roads in Texas? Not suitable for RVs with toads. :rofl:
 
DaleB said:
Been there, done that, and fortunately the place I bought the replacement from took returns with no restocking fees. I found mine the day before the new one arrived.
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I found it tonight. It was exactly where I put it last ;) (In the zipper bag in my carry on- the location chosen so I wouldn’t forget it :rolleyes:)
 
Snoopy and Bugs were the only two animated characters I could relate to as a kid.
 
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