skydiver30960

I'm there, dude. While my application will read more like one of the miners from Armageddon than the guys from The Right Stuff, at least I can tell my grandkids (not that there will be any) that I was considered by NASA for the Astronaut Training program! ...considered briefly then soundly rejected, sure. But considered nonetheless! Elvisio "first sombrero in space" Rodriguez EDIT FOR SPELLING: Because successful induction into the Astronaut Training Program probably requires being able to spell "astronaut" correctly.

...given the number of motorcyclists we scrape up off the roadway while at work: not at all. Elvisio "and no, it's not always the cagers' fault" Rodriguez

Ooh! Very "Miami Vice." Elvisio "where's my pastel suit with the loafers and no socks" Rodriguez

I used to say that the number to any department in the hospital I used to work at was "0". The happy lady that answered whenever I dialed "0" seemed even happier when given the chance to connect me to anyone I needed to talk to. In much the same manner: know how to Google? If you do, you know how to do anything else. (Also: ) I'll also add that it makes me grin that your workplace is MAKING you use Twitter while the overwhelming majority of other employers are doing anything they can to STOP their employees from using it on company time.... Elvisio "still ashamed I started FB account a couple months ago" Rodriguez

TOTALLY off topic but funny: just a couple years ago, during a visit back home, my mom was cleaning out the attic and came across our old Apple IIE and asked me what I wanted to do with it. She'd called around (poor thing) to used computer stores and found out that they're worthless, and was just stunned that the computer we'd paid so much for (over twenty years ago!) could now be worthless. Even funnier: I spent a few days playing all my old favorite games (King's Quest and Loderunner, mostly) and finally unplugged it one last time and set it all out on the curb KNOWING exactly what would happen: I checked out the window less than an hour later and the whole shebang (ancient dot matrix printer and all) was gone. Much like the old tale about my neurotic dog Max "being adopted by a family with a farm and lots or room for him to run and play" (instead of the pound where I now realize he ended up), I hope that IIE is stilll up and running, giving some happy user all the syntax errors and blocky PrintShop banners they could ever want. OK, BACK ON TOPIC: THANK YOU to those on this thread and others like it who have suggested holding out for the Galaxy Nexus. That's my plan. Elvisio "Please insert disc 4" Rodriguez

There are so many different permutations of the problem: different connectors left unused will cause different problems when exiting from different aircraft, different body types (instructor vs. student), maybe even varied based on gear type. I love procedures. I love checklists. I love weird little habits that nobody else understands. In my current and past activities/jobs, they have saved my ass many times and (I hope) will do the same many more times in the future. And so it is not lost on me, and admittedly scares me a bit when I realize there may be no true "answer" to this question other than: "I would do whatever is necessary to maximize the chances of keeping my student and myself alive." Elvisio "not a TI anymore, but an interesting thought exercise nonetheless" Rodriguez

FINALLY! A government agency embraces a renewable energy source. Elvisio "how do cows handle weightlessness?" Rodriguez

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, which is why it's bad for healing and infection control. If blood can't get to the wound because your vasculature is all clamped down from nicotine, you won't heal. Yeah, I dig the idea that since cigars are more of an oral thing and not an inhalational thing that you figure less nicotine is absorbed. But, it's your back dude: talk about something you want as healed as possible. So, I'd say lay off them until your doc says you are 100% (or as close to that as you're going to get). Elvisio "better yet, just leave the stinky sticks alone forever" Rodriguez

Stories like this are valuable to me in that they reinforce my already absolute resolve to never, ever, have kids. Elvisio "excuse me, which way is this handbasket headed?" Rodriguez

It is odd the Reds can't reach the Red Planet. Proof that vodka is not a viable rocket fuel? Elvisio "insert groans here" Rodriguez

One word: craigslist. It's PERFECT for stuff like this. Elvisio "great deals on a lot more than just creepy personal ads" Rodriguez

Careful, NWF: that's an engineering term. Shah might explode. Elvisio "null set" Rodriguez

Still does not change my opinion of his initial behavior. ...And the lane splitting may have contributed to the pickup driver's lack of awareness of where he was. He may not have been expecting a motorcycle to have moved up in traffic so quickly. Elvisio "deleted a long rambling opinionated paragraph about donorcycles" Rodriguez

I immediately thought of this... Elvisio "product of a TV addled mind" Rodriguez

And... to those needing to catch up (as I just have) the first two episodes are available on Hulu. Elvisio "Alexandra is hot, but Connie, well! " Rodriguez

IMO it's your first sentence and not the second that is right. The drug reps who visit the doctors in their offices are the ones that target the docs. The ads that are on TV and in magazines and online and everywhere else are there to target US as the patients/consumers, not the docs. Even the ads that don't mention a specific drug but "encourage you to talk to your doctor about your symptoms x, y, and z" are priming you to go into the doctor to start a conversation that will lead to them writing you an Rx for a particular drug. And the comment above about the foolishness of "all of life's problems being solved by a (or another) pill" is right on. Hmm... I'm a lazy, unmotivated, unsexy, fat bastard. It's not my fault! It must be this "low T" the commercials have been talking about! Elvisio "what a drag it is getting old" Rodriguez

To echo what I just posted in another thread: your property is valuable, our advice is free and therefore is not. Please seek the counsel of an attorney in your jurisdiction who is familiar with these cases. It does seem that you have a case; but nowadays, if you mishandle even the slightest part of it you won't have a case anymore. Elvisio "not an actor portrayal" Rodriguez

Dude, compared to the love you have for your dog, is $225 really that much? ALTHOUGH, I'd worry more about a point made above about making sure that payment wasn't construed later as an admission of guilt. Long story short: spend the money (I know it sucks, but do it) to get counsel from a lawyer in your jurisdiction. This could go away and leave you with nothing but a pissed-off neighbor to walk by on your way to the street once in a while. OTOH (especially if this had happened in the U.S.) if she starts claiming mental anguish and post traumatic stress disorder and unsafe living conditions and random crap like that she can make you miserable. DZ.com is great for anonymous, free advice on petty issues. Big issues (read as: doctor and lawyer stuff) are way out of our league. Elvisio "I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express, but all I got smarter about was bed bugs" Rodriguez

Anytime you take a medication (even something as seemingly harmless as tylenol or aspirin) you are altering the body's chemistry, which will undoubtedly have effects above and beyond that for which the medication is taken. It's up to each of us as an informed consumer in our care to know what those side effects MAY be before we take the medication; and, should we experience them, decide whether or not the benefit of the medication outweighs the difficulties of the side effects. Elvisio "doctor please, some more of these, outside the door, she took four more" Rodriguez

Dude, I work in healthcare. I know EXACTLY how stupid people are. Elvisio "you stuck WHAT, WHERE?" Rodriguez

I know many have had a beer or two under canopy, although I'd NEVER do such a thing due to the obvious FAA and common sense violations . BUT, something I just realized I've never done and somehow feel my life is cheaper for it: who has drank a beer in freefall? How does the freefall affect the flow of the beer from the bottle or can? Elvisio "something for the list for this weekend" Rodriguez

I can't decide which is a better story: this one or the garden hose one! Elvisio "I'm sure it made sense at the ti-- no, no no NO NO!" Rodriguez

Does the "working pressure" you're referring to relate (with a given safety margin) to the pressures beyond which the gasses will explode under pressure? I.E. what got me thinking down this line was the fact that under relatively low pressures (29 psi, had to look it up) acetylene will explode, which is why acetylene cylinders are full of a liquid (acetone, had to look it up too) into which the acetylene is dissolved: dissolved in the liquid, the acetylene is stable, but the regulators are designed to release the acetylene at very low pressures so the gas doesn't explode under its own pressure in the delivery line. SO, if the 250 psi working pressure for propane and 150 psi working pressure for butane means the butane may combust at a lower pressure without an ignition source, I'd take that as a suggestion that the butane was LESS safe to work with. I did find an MSDS sheet from Airgas on Butane, but it didn't list any "safe limit pressure" or anything, so I may very well be barking up ENTIRELY the wrong tree. Elvisio "used to be an engineer, now a nurse: 'gas under pressure' now has a TOTALLY different meaning" Rodriguez EDIT: Many times for grammar and clarity, a couple times to add facts, one time to edit the grammar in my "edit" statement (!), and once to add a completely worthless picture, added only because such a thread would be empty without it...

1.) My initial impression was that the shipping costs would be where the program paid for itself, but in a situation like yours, the streaming may be a key point rather than just a bonus. 2.) Thanks for the heads-up on Hulu Plus. I'm thinking more and more that the amount of money we give the cable company every month is absolutely INSANE for what we get from them. I don't think we could axe cable altogether but I think it's time to consider really cutting back on our cable package. Elvisio "Cocheese: let go of my handle!" Rodriguez

OK but help me remember: Is it Coke that is served cold and Diet Coke that is served room temperature, or is it the other way around? Please hurry: I have a dinner party tonight and don't want to give the Joneses anything to talk about... Elvisio "pinky out! pinky out!" Rodriguez