Happy Atheist Forum

Getting To Know You => Introductions => Topic started by: Dark Lightning on October 31, 2016, 09:30:43 PM

Title: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on October 31, 2016, 09:30:43 PM
Hi. New here, just posting a little info. I am a retired mechanical engineer (trained in physics, with a B Sc. degree and some graduate classes). Reasoned my way out of Roman Catholicism 11 years ago, am a 6 out of 7 on the Dawkins scale of atheism. I enjoy wood working and metal working, particularly copper.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dave on October 31, 2016, 09:33:46 PM
Welcome, Fireball!  :D
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on October 31, 2016, 09:46:41 PM
 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: New
Post by: xSilverPhinx on October 31, 2016, 09:51:00 PM
Welcome to the forum, Fireball! :wave hi:
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on October 31, 2016, 10:30:08 PM
Thanks!
Title: Re: New
Post by: Recusant on October 31, 2016, 11:28:07 PM
Quote from: Fireball on October 31, 2016, 09:30:43 PM
Hi. New here, just posting a little info. I am a retired mechanical engineer (trained in physics, with a B Sc. degree and some graduate classes). Reasoned my way out of Roman Catholicism 11 years ago, am a 6 out of 7 on the Dawkins scale of atheism. I enjoy wood working and metal working, particularly copper.

Hello and welcome to HAF, Fireball. So, wood working, eh? Any particular form that you focus on? Lathe work, furniture, cabinetry? 

Anyway, here are some threads that might help you familiarize yourself with this place, as well as giving a chance to talk about yourself, if you feel like it:

Where did you get your username from? (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5133.0)
10 Things About Yourself  (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=4940.0)
Tell us A Bit About Where You're From (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=8215.0)
Photography (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7607.0)
Non-religious pet peeves (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6917.0)
Pets...what do you have? (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7.0)
How to tell your family you are an atheist (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5111.0)
"Rules for Conducting a Discussion" by Dr. Mortimer J. Adler (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5631.0)

. . . And of course, the Forum Rules (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=1522.0).

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!  :welcome:
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 01, 2016, 12:28:26 AM
Quote from: Recusant on October 31, 2016, 11:28:07 PM
Quote from: Fireball on October 31, 2016, 09:30:43 PM
Hi. New here, just posting a little info. I am a retired mechanical engineer (trained in physics, with a B Sc. degree and some graduate classes). Reasoned my way out of Roman Catholicism 11 years ago, am a 6 out of 7 on the Dawkins scale of atheism. I enjoy wood working and metal working, particularly copper.

Hello and welcome to HAF, Fireball. So, wood working, eh? Any particular form that you focus on? Lathe work, furniture, cabinetry? 

Anyway, here are some threads that might help you familiarize yourself with this place, as well as giving a chance to talk about yourself, if you feel like it:

Where did you get your username from? (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5133.0)
10 Things About Yourself  (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=4940.0)
Tell us A Bit About Where You're From (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=8215.0)
Photography (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7607.0)
Non-religious pet peeves (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6917.0)
Pets...what do you have? (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7.0)
How to tell your family you are an atheist (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5111.0)
"Rules for Conducting a Discussion" by Dr. Mortimer J. Adler (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5631.0)

. . . And of course, the Forum Rules (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=1522.0).

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!  :welcome:

Thanks, Recusant! I'll avail myself of those threads a little over time. I read the rules first, before I started posting. Never know when a line will be crossed.  ;)

As for wood working, I carve, turn, have built cabinets and furniture such as nightstands, and small boxes for things like spectacles or to hold tea bags (though I'm primarily a coffee drinker). I built a chest to hold my carving tools. If there is interest, I can post a pic at some point. Also, just finished cutting up the pieces to make an end-grain cutting board. I'm all over the map; no real "niche" to speak of, with wood.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Magdalena on November 01, 2016, 01:03:20 AM
Hello, Fireball, welcome.  :computerwave:
I like your avatar.  :)
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dragonia on November 01, 2016, 02:24:57 AM
Hi Fireball, I'm pretty new here too. So  :welcome: !
And I love beautiful things made from copper. It's got such a warm glow about it....
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 01, 2016, 02:43:19 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on November 01, 2016, 01:03:20 AM
Hello, Fireball, welcome.  :computerwave:
I like your avatar.  :)

Thanks! It is a pic of a recently discovered clean burning type of fire tornado. Usually they emit lots of black smoke, and are mostly in the red to yellow flame colors.

http://phys.org/news/2016-08-newly-blue-tornado-cleaner-emissions.html
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 01, 2016, 02:46:55 AM
Quote from: Dragonia on November 01, 2016, 02:24:57 AM
Hi Fireball, I'm pretty new here too. So  :welcome: !
And I love beautiful things made from copper. It's got such a warm glow about it....

Thanks for the welcome, Dragonia! I'll post some pics, eventually.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Tank on November 01, 2016, 06:31:48 AM
Quote from: Fireball on October 31, 2016, 09:30:43 PM
Hi. New here, just posting a little info. I am a retired mechanical engineer (trained in physics, with a B Sc. degree and some graduate classes). Reasoned my way out of Roman Catholicism 11 years ago, am a 6 out of 7 on the Dawkins scale of atheism. I enjoy wood working and metal working, particularly copper.
Welcome aboard!

You were stuck under the comfort blanket for a long time. Serious congratulations on getting out eventually though! I think you and Icarus are going to get on very well. He's a veteran mechanical engineer and our oldest member. The most astonishing thing he has ever mentioned is that he watched the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour when he was 11.

Regards
Chris
Title: Re: New
Post by: OldGit on November 01, 2016, 08:46:29 AM
Greetings and welcome, Fireball!  You seem like our kind of person, and I'm sure you'll have some fun here.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Arturo on November 01, 2016, 09:10:30 AM
Hi fireball! I'm not an engineer but I will be going to school to be a welder and hopefully a metal fabricator so maybe you and I can talk amongst that one day. Hope to hear from you soon!
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 01, 2016, 10:10:44 PM
Thanks, folks!

Tank, I had doubts from an early age (like 10) but went with the program for a long time. I didn't admit to myself until 2005 that I was really an atheist, due to the stigma I had been taught. Once I got in a position where I had time to think it through, I just had to admit that was my state of non-belief. I also found that atheists weren't evil, as I had been told.

OldGit, This looks like a nice place. I'll hang for awhile!

Apathy, welding is an honorable profession. My youngest brother and a couple of my nephews work metal. They are fabricators, working currently working at a studio that makes high-dollar art. They don't make high dollar paychecks, but do pretty well.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Buddy on November 02, 2016, 01:45:19 AM
Welcome to the forum Fireball!
Title: Re: New
Post by: Tank on November 02, 2016, 06:23:31 AM
Being a fan of Deep Purple your user name instantly triggered recollection of this track from the album of the same name.

 
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 02, 2016, 03:23:53 PM
Quote from: Buddy on November 02, 2016, 01:45:19 AM
Welcome to the forum Fireball!

Thanks!
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 02, 2016, 03:25:18 PM
Quote from: Tank on November 02, 2016, 06:23:31 AM
Being a fan of Deep Purple your user name instantly triggered recollection of this track from the album of the same name.



Oh, hell yeah! I love Deep Purple. I bought that album new when it came out...yes, I'm that old!
Title: Re: New
Post by: Essie Mae on November 03, 2016, 12:22:05 AM
Nice to meet you Fireball. My Dad and brother were mechanical engineers and I love watching documentaries about great civil engineering. My recent favourite was the series of four programmes about the Cross Rail Project, especially the part where the tunnel was being built just inches above a tube station and inches below an escalator. One of the engineers was sent to the tube station platform with a walkie-talkie to warn the others if tiles started falling off of the walls. It was also fascinating to see how existing buildings had their foundations protected. I have also enjoyed some of the bridge-building programmes too.

I too took a long time, (about 50 years) to get out from under the non-conformist yoke which was a shock to say the least. HAF was a very reassuring place after that and also a count of knowledge about everything from cookery to astronomy and all points in between.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 03, 2016, 01:38:58 AM
Quote from: Essie Mae on November 03, 2016, 12:22:05 AM
Nice to meet you Fireball. My Dad and brother were mechanical engineers and I love watching documentaries about great civil engineering. My recent favourite was the series of four programmes about the Cross Rail Project, especially the part where the tunnel was being built just inches above a tube station and inches below an escalator. One of the engineers was sent to the tube station platform with a walkie-talkie to warn the others if tiles started falling off of the walls. It was also fascinating to see how existing buildings had their foundations protected. I have also enjoyed some of the bridge-building programmes too.

I too took a long time, (about 50 years) to get out from under the non-conformist yoke which was a shock to say the least. HAF was a very reassuring place after that and also a count of knowledge about everything from cookery to astronomy and all points in between.

Hi Essie Mae, pleased to meet you, too!
Title: Re: New
Post by: Icarus on November 04, 2016, 08:56:11 PM
Welcome to the forum Fireball. 

We have some good fun here and only rarely do we have serious disputes. Not to say that we always agree but that we do like each other. We have members from all over the place......Australia, England, Norway, Russia, Cyprus, France, Brazil, Germany, etc.  That means that we can have the benefit of different cultural points of view as well as to learn about such remote stuff as the geology of Cyprus....... how to bake a kidney pie, and an ever expanding array of subjects.

We are, almost all of us, comfortable with our atheistic position and treat it as a matter of normal existence. Thus we rarely want or need to argue our position. We even have at least one Christian who is a respected and valuable member. He does not hassle us and we do not hassle him.  But woe to the religious troll who comes here to teach us about the ways of the lord and his commandments.  We have some  extraordinarily intellectual members capable of destroying just about anyone who challenges us but most of the time we will not even bother to argue our position with the occasional proselytizer.

I mess around with wood mostly building boats. I am a journeyman machinist and tool maker as well as a graduate mechanical engineer, now retired (and bored senseless). We will have some common interests, no doubt.

Title: Re: New
Post by: Guardian85 on November 04, 2016, 10:03:34 PM
Hello Fireball! Welcome to the thingy.

I must admit, when I read your name, the first place my mind went was here    ;D
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 04, 2016, 10:27:17 PM
Quote from: Icarus on November 04, 2016, 08:56:11 PM
Welcome to the forum Fireball. 

We have some good fun here and only rarely do we have serious disputes. Not to say that we always agree but that we do like each other. We have members from all over the place......Australia, England, Norway, Russia, Cyprus, France, Brazil, Germany, etc.  That means that we can have the benefit of different cultural points of view as well as to learn about such remote stuff as the geology of Cyprus....... how to bake a kidney pie, and an ever expanding array of subjects.

We are, almost all of us, comfortable with our atheistic position and treat it as a matter of normal existence. Thus we rarely want or need to argue our position. We even have at least one Christian who is a respected and valuable member. He does not hassle us and we do not hassle him.  But woe to the religious troll who comes here to teach us about the ways of the lord and his commandments.  We have some  extraordinarily intellectual members capable of destroying just about anyone who challenges us but most of the time we will not even bother to argue our position with the occasional proselytizer.

I mess around with wood mostly building boats. I am a journeyman machinist and tool maker as well as a graduate mechanical engineer, now retired (and bored senseless). We will have some common interests, no doubt.

Thanks for the welcome! Also, I don't argue with theists, either. It's a total waste of time, IMO.
I worked as a mechanic in the US Navy (steam turbines) and again when I got out (cars, trucks, bicycles, whatever) until I got my B Sc in physics. Then went to work as a mechanical guy who translated what the physicists wanted into something that the mechanical designers could use to make their dreams come true. I got laid off of that job and worked in antennas and low observables for about 9 years, then went back to mechanical engineering work. There I designed and built tools and mechanical ground support equipment, and wrote work instructions for building those tools and equipment. In the midst of that, I worked as a journeyman millwright when I was between engineer jobs in the early '90s. Taught high school math and physics for two years, as well. Private school, I don't have a credential. I'm not bored- I do wood carving, wood working, metal working, and fix up my house. It suffered a fair amount of neglect, what with me traveling and being away from home for many months, cumulative about 3 years, in the time span from 2001-2007, and then mass quantities of overtime since then.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 04, 2016, 10:29:13 PM
Quote from: Guardian85 on November 04, 2016, 10:03:34 PM
Hello Fireball! Welcome to the thingy.

I must admit, when I read your name, the first place my mind went was here    ;D


Thanks! I'll give it a listen shortly. One of my sons just came over; haven't seen him in awhile.

ETA- Got a chance to watch. OOOH La Laaaah! Loves me some dancing girls, and the flames add a nice dimension, since I have pyrophiliac (not to be confused with pyromaniac) tendencies.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dave on November 04, 2016, 10:49:35 PM
QuoteThen went to work as a mechanical guy who translated what the physicists wanted into something that the mechanical designers could use to make their dreams come true.

That sort of function formed a large slice of my last job Fireball. Had to design and make  tools, test rigs (up to £50 000 budget - but loads of smaller ones with no budget at all, got ace at using orthers' scrap and cast-offs), prototypes etc.

I had no mechanical training, all electronics, no experience of using lathes or mills - good thing I was practical and a quick learner!  Oh, add in a bit of chemistry,  hydraulics, pneumatics,  physics, data proceseing and presentation.  Loved that job for the sheer variety and all the problem solving.
Title: Re: New
Post by: Firebird on November 20, 2016, 04:12:13 AM
Hey, not fair, I had exclusive use of Fireb... until now!

:D

Welcome aboard my friend, hope you enjoy your time here
Title: Re: New
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 23, 2016, 04:23:40 AM
Thanks!
Title: Re: New
Post by: Asmodean on November 23, 2016, 11:00:44 AM
What do you mean, "atheists are not evil?!"  :rant1:

The Asmo shall have you know that He is, in fact, very evil. He is so evil that He is evil.  >:(

That out of the way, I do debate theists, but I must admit that debating people like the door-to-door Bible-thumpers has no real purpose outside my fascination with the ease with which someone like me manages to aggravate stupid and/or gullible people without even coming close to crossing any socially acceptable boundaries.

I stopped debating irrational people with the intent of changing their mind and/or pushing my own agenda years ago.
Title: Re: New
Post by: OldGit on November 24, 2016, 09:28:13 AM
All true, O Grey One - but it's good fun, all the same. ;D