On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 14:43:04 -0500, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:
Still better than fighting a forest fire with nothing but a backpak
water tank, and a shovel. 
Been there, done that, but only once. I think it was about 1966. I
was doing something useless in a Cal Poly Pomona dormitory, when
someone from the state forestry service arrived asking for volunteers
to fight a fire. This was in the days when it was fashionable to
empty the colleges, instead of the jails, to fight forest fires. We
were soon on our way to do battle with a brush fire burning in the
bottom of the San Gabriel River (now known as the 605 freeway) near El
Monte. It's not every day that a dry river catches fire, and I wanted
to be part of the experience. Our job was mostly to haul cut brush
away from the river banks, so the adjacent houses would not burn. The
bulldozers just couldn't work among the rubble on the river bottom.
There were no fatalities or major injuries. We did loose a few due to
exhaustion from being out of shape and not drinking enough water. We
were at it for about 12 hrs, with erratic breaks, until another motley
load of student arrived to relieve us.
It's a good thing you
didn't work at a munitions plant, instead of Lingerie.
True. I haven't worked much with explosives, but I came close.
Pollack-Benedict(?) construction was building the Simi Valley freeway
between the north end of the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. The
connecting pass was plagued with large granite boulders, typically
about the size of a large 2 story house. This was too much for the
earth movers, so blasting contractor was hired to break them apart.
Everyone assumed that during blasting, that the 2 lane highway, next
to where the freeway was being built, could be closed to traffic.
Nope. In provide the illusion of safety, some traffic control was
needed. What better use for expendable students.
A desperate call was made to San Fernando Valley State College (now
known as Cal State University, Northridge) for anyone with RF
experience. Of course all the ham radio operators immediately
responded. 4 of us were hired to direct traffic, but more
importantly, to yell at anyone with a 2-way radio in their vehicle to
turn it off or risk having their transmitter cause a premature
explosion. Signs highlighting the danger of radio transmissions in
the area were installed at key locations, and generally ignored. It
seemed that the local public service, public safety, and VIP drivers
didn't really like the idea of driving for about 20 minutes without
their radio. I had to settle for having them unscrew their
microphones or promise not to transmit until clear of the area. There
were no explosions, but I was genuinely concerned. Many years later,
I discovered that a radio was unlikely to cause a blasting cap to
explode, but at the time, it was generally accepted that it was
possible.
How many people
have been killed by an exploding corset?
I have no idea. Googling for "exploding corset" yields only one
possibility:
http://www.lelong.com.my/kx/corset+exploding.htm
My father's factory (Tosca Lingerie) did not make corsets. It made
womens night wear, commonly known as lingerie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingerie
However, I did work for a company that made corsets, which were
designed to contain an exploding waistline. I got a summer job in
shipping and receiving at Foundation Garments in Smog Angeles. The
bulk of their sales were male girdles offered for sale in the military
PX stores. At the time, the military was downsizing well after the
Korean War, and was using every excuse possible to retire overweight
and out of shape officers. The only quick solution was to
redistribute the flab with a male girdle. My employment was
uneventful, although I did obtain a new proficiency with profanity,
that has remained with me to this day.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558