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What's on your mind today?

Started by Steve Reason, August 25, 2007, 08:15:06 PM

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hermes2015

Quote from: Tank on August 10, 2018, 07:41:18 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on August 10, 2018, 06:34:27 PM
It can be a bit unsettling to have a knight and Nobel Prize winner in one's audience.

Why? At least you know there is one person, other than you, that will understand what you're talking about.

It sounds weird, but I wasn't very nervous. My own professor was shitting himself, though, especially when I disagreed with Professor Sir Derek Barton during question time.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Dave

Not quite at that level but I know the situation.

We had annual inspections of the gear snd staff knowledge in the RAF. One year a Squadron Leader did ours. He had postcards with questions on them which he shuffled and then started to ask. He told me I got the answer to one wrong, when I knew I was right - had carried out that procedure earlier. So I respectfully insisted that I was right. Chiefie was having kittens behind the inspector.

Anyway, out came the manual and I was correct. The officer, saying nothing, carefully tore that card into little bits and dumped it. Then smiled at me and left.

Least, I think it was a smile, could have been a grimace. Chiefie just glared at me and walked out shaking his head.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

jumbojak

Skydiving is on my mind. I've never even flown before but I really want to go skydiving.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

Dave

Quote from: jumbojak on August 11, 2018, 04:41:26 AM
Skydiving is on my mind. I've never even flown before but I really want to go skydiving.

So, carpé diem! Go dive that sky, msn!
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

Quote from: hermes2015 on August 10, 2018, 07:53:52 PM
Quote from: Tank on August 10, 2018, 07:41:18 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on August 10, 2018, 06:34:27 PM
It can be a bit unsettling to have a knight and Nobel Prize winner in one's audience.

Why? At least you know there is one person, other than you, that will understand what you're talking about.

It sounds weird, but I wasn't very nervous. My own professor was shitting himself, though, especially when I disagreed with Professor Sir Derek Barton during question time.

Every audience member is equal in my eyes. Knight or Nobel Prize winner, freshman college student or postdoc researcher, they all have the capacity to judge just how lousy my lecture is.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

Quote from: jumbojak on August 11, 2018, 04:41:26 AM
Skydiving is on my mind. I've never even flown before but I really want to go skydiving.

When I was younger I wanted to go skydiving too, but then it started to look really scary as I grew up!

That's definitely off my bucket list!
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


jumbojak

Quote from: Dave on August 11, 2018, 07:45:46 AM
Quote from: jumbojak on August 11, 2018, 04:41:26 AM
Skydiving is on my mind. I've never even flown before but I really want to go skydiving.

So, carpé diem! Go dive that sky, msn!

The trouble is finding enough people who also want to go to make the cost more reasonable. Paying for six spots on a plan for one to go up is quite spendy...

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

Tank

Quote from: jumbojak on August 11, 2018, 02:35:17 PM
Quote from: Dave on August 11, 2018, 07:45:46 AM
Quote from: jumbojak on August 11, 2018, 04:41:26 AM
Skydiving is on my mind. I've never even flown before but I really want to go skydiving.

So, carpé diem! Go dive that sky, msn!

The trouble is finding enough people who also want to go to make the cost more reasonable. Paying for six spots on a plan for one to go up is quite spendy...

If I were you I would contact the place you would like to do this and say you'll make up the numbers of another group. There may be a group of 5 in exactly the same spot as you. Get them to add you to a call list.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dave

Quote from: Tank on August 11, 2018, 03:59:03 PM
Quote from: jumbojak on August 11, 2018, 02:35:17 PM
Quote from: Dave on August 11, 2018, 07:45:46 AM
Quote from: jumbojak on August 11, 2018, 04:41:26 AM
Skydiving is on my mind. I've never even flown before but I really want to go skydiving.

So, carpé diem! Go dive that sky, msn!

The trouble is finding enough people who also want to go to make the cost more reasonable. Paying for six spots on a plan for one to go up is quite spendy...

If I were you I would contact the place you would like to do this and say you'll make up the numbers of another group. There may be a group of 5 in exactly the same spot as you. Get them to add you to a call list.

It would  seem to make commercial sense to have a scheme like that.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Bluenose

Quote from: Tank on August 10, 2018, 12:06:04 PM
Quote from: Bluenose on August 10, 2018, 11:26:41 AM
I don't want to teach you suck eggs.  ...

Oh come on you love doing that!!! :rofl:

Dang!  You know me so well...  :D
+++ Divide by cucumber error: please reinstall universe and reboot.  +++

GNU Terry Pratchett


Dark Lightning

Quote from: Dave on August 10, 2018, 08:39:55 PM
Not quite at that level but I know the situation.

We had annual inspections of the gear snd staff knowledge in the RAF. One year a Squadron Leader did ours. He had postcards with questions on them which he shuffled and then started to ask. He told me I got the answer to one wrong, when I knew I was right - had carried out that procedure earlier. So I respectfully insisted that I was right. Chiefie was having kittens behind the inspector.

Anyway, out came the manual and I was correct. The officer, saying nothing, carefully tore that card into little bits and dumped it. Then smiled at me and left.

Least, I think it was a smile, could have been a grimace. Chiefie just glared at me and walked out shaking his head.

Yeah, showing up a "superior" can blow up in one's face. That chief probably got his ass handed to him in a way that had nothing to do with the actual "offense". Seen it man times. Back in the early '90s, I volunteered for the Boy Scouts of America. My sons were that age, and I wanted to be in on the shenanigans. I had an ulterior motive- I wanted to become a better public speaker, and this gave me a low pressure way to better myself. Just before my eldest son got to that age, I was working in Systems Engineering, supporting US MILSATCOM. Please don't hate me.  :) Anyway, I had to present some system-level performance characteristics to a bunch of military, some of whom were Generals. Some can ask pretty tough questions, but they usually rely on their consultants for it, because they pretty much don't know antenna gain from Gain laundry detergent. I knew my stuff cold- I could probably have recited it backwards, if asked. Even so, I was so nervous that I had a serious case of hives when the day arrived. Sailed through, but I knew that I had to get better at it, if only for my personal health. All that crowd handling skill paid off when I got laid off when peace broke out in '91, and I ended up teaching for a couple of years in that 5.5 year span of under- and un-employment.

Dave

#12957
It being 6.30am I have very recently been in the waking phase. There was a time when I awoke 100% ready to go. Now I need at least 15 minutes to decide anything more complex than whether or not, and how, to turn over.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Dave on August 14, 2018, 06:37:35 AM
It being 6.30am I have very recently been in the waking phase. There was a time when I awoke 100% ready to go. Now I need at least 15 minutes to decide anything more complex than whether or not, and how, to turn over.

I know the feeling...yesterday I awoke with a scare because I had set my alarm to 6 a.m. and decided to stay an extra 5 mins in bed without the Snooze function. Half an hour later woke up and literally jumped out of bed!
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


jumbojak

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on August 15, 2018, 02:45:42 PM
Quote from: Dave on August 14, 2018, 06:37:35 AM
It being 6.30am I have very recently been in the waking phase. There was a time when I awoke 100% ready to go. Now I need at least 15 minutes to decide anything more complex than whether or not, and how, to turn over.

I know the feeling...yesterday I awoke with a scare because I had set my alarm to 6 a.m. and decided to stay an extra 5 mins in bed without the Snooze function. Half an hour later woke up and literally jumped out of bed!

It takes me a while to get moving. I don't sleep well to begin with and what little sleep I do get leaves me feeling very, very stiff. I have to start by moving my legs around and sort of go from there. When nature calls early I wind up hobbling to the bathroom.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz