There is essentially nothing you can do to protect the electronics in your house from a close lightning strike, other than unplug them. Surge suppressors are pretty much worthless in this regard, as are inexpensive "line conditioners" and UPSes. Old school mainframe computers were often protected with a motor-generator set -- which is basically a huge flywheel with an electric motor at one end and a generator at the other.

As for circuit breakers that fail in such a way that they never trip, yes, they exist, and yes, they're as dangerous as they sound. Check to see if your panel is made by Federal Pacific Electric or has the "stab-lok" brandname on it anywhere...

--Ian

This is just incredibly discriminatory against the poor, and others who rely upon streetlights. We need to band together and demand that the OKC city council bury the street lights along with all of the wiring that only the rich can afford to use.

We had a pretty big electrical storm the other night, don't think we were hit, but it triggered two GFI's in the house. One feeds the underground line to the front flagpole and the other feeds the rear deck outlets. Guess it was pretty close.

It's down to $599k. Offer them $550.

And guess who feels sheepish now? Thankfully I figured it out before the electrician got here, I forgot there is a GFCI outlet in the garage, reset, and the circuit works again. It's buried behind some heavy duty shelving, *facepalm*

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get the damn garage door opener to reset so it will work. But the modem and router base, were still fried.



Bought a cheapy modem/router combo to get me by the next few days until the correct modem and router base get here.

*I'm disgruntled with the Best Buy on N. May ave, they aren't keeping their inventory up-to-date or someone has their "Item Out-of-Stock Behavior" settings incorrect in their ERP system. The website indicated Best Buy had both the modem and the AmpliFi base only, in stock. Only the modem, which does no good since it's a modem only.

Took my cylinder head to the machine shop for a valve adjustment (apparently none of the Mazda services in the country has a shim set).
The owner, a very cool, meticulous guy, re-cut the valve faces and got the excessive clearances perfect.
I drank my tea as they worked, we chatted a bit, and I paid 30 bucks and left with the head strapped on my bike.

That was my afternoon.

On a related note, I discovered my 9 year old 52 mm core Chinese aluminum radiator had started seeping in 3 spots.
Three shops refused to repair the fins, because they thought the aluminum was too old and fragile.
So, I am getting it re-finned, meaning they will reuse the tanks and weld in a new 52 mm core, to the tune of $130.
Cool thing is, they will make the radiator about 3/8" to 1/2" shorter, which will make a huge difference in routing the turbo intake...

If you needed to burn a body, which would be better, gasoline or kerosene (diesel), and why?

Or, is there a better alternative fuel (aside from wood)?


Asking for a friend...

Do you need to make the body completely vanish, or just eliminate identifiable characteristics and burn off external evidence?

I'd think you'd want something like charcoal with forced-air, to ensure a long-duration, high-temperature burn.Liquid accelerants will burn off way too quickly

It takes something like 60-180 minutes in a gas fired oven at 1400-1800° to cremate a person and that still leaves some bone/teeth material behind.

I'd think pieces spread out and buried in national parks across the country is better.

Or

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bff6fae5e2.png

I believe the absolute best method is a fake funeral, with a proper burial.

Okay, so I'm not actually burning a body. A friend is. Well, a fictional body.

My friend is an author. He has a situation where someone dies, and the body is burned in a fire. Think car accident with tanker truck type thing.

The body has to be burned beyond recognition for the plot line, but not completely obliterated. Also, it's not like everyone is just going to stand around and watch the fire, so it has to happen in minutes, not hours.

It also has to be reasonable/plausible. No tankers of impossibly strong acid or napalm or anything. Tanker trucks of fuel are common enough to be acceptable.

Tanker truck catches fire (fuel tank) main tank ruptures in one spot, diesel shoots out (heat generates pressure in the tanker) and burns in a jet - like a boiler burner. This column of fire incinerates the car with its occupant, and then the gas tank of the car blows up to seal the deal.

Pigs are fatty. Fat burns fast and relatively hot. Make the pigs eat him, then get immolated in a tanker fire. Receive delicious smells.

liquid oxygen truck could do some serious fast cremation.

http://983thesnake.com/files/2011/03...jpg?w=980&q=75

(yeah, I know, nitrogen not oxygen)

--Ian

This happened to me about ten years ago while I was road-tuning an ECU. Killed the hell out of those poor little puppies and made me late for work.

This has been the most insane week of my life, from a corporate / legal / etc standpoint. And now that the filings have been made public, I can vent publicly.






PRO TIP:



If you are the chief counsel for Company A, which is in the process of acquiring Company B, which, if approved, will be the largest corporate media merger in history, and the chief counsel for Company B has sent you a letter expressing certain concerns with regard to Company A's flagrantly belligerent and antagonistic conduct towards the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission in the matter of the proposed merger, never, EVER, -=>EVER<=- send this email and copy five other people on it.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7ff889f620.png

Why? Because it will wind up being labeled "Exhibit G" in the attachments to the 62 page complaint seeking damages due to Breach of Contract, which is basically inevitable after you told the Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ's Antitrust Division (and I am quoting directly): "Sue me."


I swear that I am not exaggerating, embellishing, or bullshitting. Company A's lawyers were so bold that they were actually making THREATS against the Department of Justice, and accusing the Federal Communications Commission of incompetence.

I wish that I could convey facial expressions via the internet, because that would help me in conveying the context of how I feel right now. But there are certain things which you just don't do. Threatening the two Federal agencies without whose approval said merger will not occur is one of them.





Guess how much money this lawsuit (Company B suing Company A for breach of contract for being complete assholes and blowing up the deal) is for.







That's ok, I'll wait.








Still waiting.








Give up?






$1 billion.






I shit you not.





https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1ebb5280ee.png

^"While it's nice to be important, it's much more important to be nice."

Given some of the stuff I'm reading in the 176 pages of exhibits and attachments, they could have resolved their differences more amicably in the Thunderdome.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...12b37f8d52.png