Good morning all. We missed out on the blood moon last night thanks to inconsiderate cloud. It also made it hard to loose heat from upstairs yesterday evening, making sleep much more elusive than normal. Fortunately the wind got up in the middle of the night bringing in much fresher air. What a pleasure it was to drift back to sleep with the thin duvet pulled right up over my ears for the first time in a long while.
While I was driving home on Wednesday there was a program on the radio about the discovery of fluorine and it's many uses, including Teflon (aka PTFE). I hadn't appreciated just what a nightmare reactive gas fluorine is. The presenter described the ferocious way it will bond to almost every other element as "
rampant chemical promiscuity".
Kyle, will you be making room in your titanium store for a few Teflon offcuts ?
I stash all my remnants in a few hiding places, to keep them from being picked up and walked off with.
Fluorine is powerful stuff. IIRC the hydrofluoric acid is one of the worst. It might be the one that if it gets on your skin, it will attempt to get down to your bones trying to get combine with the bone's calcium makeup. This is what I've been told. The best part of my job is that there are so many educated people with diverse knowledge, that I can ask questions and get answers. I have learned more through osmosis in the last 9.5 years, than the previous decades. Science and Technology are cool.
Teflon or PTFE, is heavy but soft. You can easily drive your fingernail into just plain PTFE stock. It is fairly pricey. It can withstand heat better than most plastics. Friction coefficient is very, very low. Wiki says a gecko can not crawl up teflon. It holds up to just about any chemical concoction. It has done some great things for the world.
Now I have to figure out how to come visit her, when I hate to fly. That's a lot of driving...by myself. Honestly afraid I'd fall asleep driving, need company for long drives.
I have stops in Texas, Colorado and Michigan potentially, which would only work with driving. Sure would be nice if this country had decent trains that went to new places.
When was the last time you saw anyone put in a new train line? Make them electric and green, but make them. Europe and Asia train systems have left us in the dark ages.
Why should I have to go to Chicago in order to get to LA?
I think I'd really like to take a nice sleeper car train, so I could use my laptop and Kindle to keep sane. Driving the car is becoming less enjoyable with bad arthritis, all that steering wheel gripping, pressing on pedals, all things that hurt after awhile. Which is why I thought the Cadillac SuperCruise was really, really neat. But I'm not a Cadillac person, just don't want bling.
Besides, by the time the new Audi is done, the next car will likely be driving me anyway. And it will be electric I'm sure. Just like our weedeaters....
Drew, I looked up Amtrak round trip routes. It looks like a seat starts at a bit under $600, with options going higher up to almost $2000. Time of travel about 96 hours one way.
Today's Cadillac can be as sporty as a corvette, in sheep's clothing. They are not the huge, heavy tubs of a 15 years ago. But they are still pricey.
I might make the rooster into some chicken and rice heavy soup. Add some carrots, celery, lots of black pepper, mushrooms.....I can almost smell it already.
I need to go work on a flat tractor tire. If I pull it down and the rim where the bead seats is rusted out, I will just have to order a new rim. Tired of fighting it, although the other side that I spent a fortnight's worth of time and energy on (refinishing) is still holding air.
Getting hot, better get out there and start sweating.
Have a great, blessed day all.
