February 03, 2006

Tastes Like Chai

good GOSH i have neglected my blog for too long

Get some snacks, a drink, go to the bathroom, this is a really long one...

no music; instead, the steady electric hum of machinery, the faint hiss of high pressure air, and the crackle of steel chips against the door of the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine i'm working with at this particular moment.

I'm writing (actually writing, not typing...until later at least) an entry at work. Why not? I could be reading the newspaper. There's tons of it here. It gets used as packing material for various parts. I'm sure i could find one as recent as yesterday or as old as August. That's how old the jar of Miracle Whip was that i opened last night. I promptly disposed of it after finding that out. I'm certainly glad i made you aware of that. SIDENOTE: I found a newspaper from 1968 the other day :END SIDENOTE I could be reading a book. But, that's what i've been doing for the last two days. I've read from 7:00am to 4:00pm with the exception of morning coffee break (9:30am to 9:45am), lunch (12:00pm to 12:40pm), and the time it takes me to unload a part, check measurments, change them if necessary, and load in a new part. I've actually found myself drifting into a quasi conscious state towards the end of the day. Just in case anyone's confused by that, i don't go into a trance, i get sleepy. I had the option of just saying "sleepy" or "tired" to begin with but that's not as fun for me and you wouldn't have these three swell extra sentences. Aren't you lucky.

SIDENOTE: I'm machining with very precise measurments. Take one inch and divide it into ten thousand equal parts. I'm working with those. I can change the size of something with numbers that small. For isntance, the governer bearings i'm working with right now have a hole in the middle, the inner diameter of which has to be between 1.3745 and 1.3750 inches (that's the margin of error i'm allowed). Very precise. So much so, in fact, that you couldn't tell the difference by looking at a hundred of them, each a ten thousandth of an inch different from the rest. :END SIDENOTE

I could also be doodling or sketching various objects and people around the shop. I can only see three people from where i am; Rich and two "plumbers" who are fixing a heater using loud noises. Their methods don't seem to be productive, but i shall be proven wrong when they have finished and the cold air flees the newly fixed unit. And i just plain don't feel like doodling.

So, i thought i would do some writing. Rather than attempt taking in, i'll give a little out. Besides, i've got to move on from the previous post, and now seems like a super time for it. Something fresher. Something more towards the "normal" me. [When i wrote this at work, it came directly after "Think Next Time", so that's what i'm referring to]. I'll be the first one to say that there is no "normal" but i didn't know what other word to use, so deal with it. I'm sure you were fine with it to begin with anyway. MOVING ON...

Every now and then i look up at the door to the CNC machine. There's a door that slides open, but the whole machine is completely enclosed when the door is shut. There's a rectangular window (the long side vertical) on the door so i can see in if i feel the need to observe the motor functions of a programmed mind. But i can't. There's a steady spray of egg nog that streams down the window. It's not actually egg nog for those of you that were suddenly awestruck by the multifaceted winter beverage. SIDENOTE: Hood makes the best mass produced egg nog :END SIDENOTE It's actually coolant. One coffee can Blaser Swisslube (company name) "Blasocut 2000MD water miscible mineral oil based metal working fluid" to one 5 galon bucket of water. And, when stirred together, it looks like egg nog. I wonder if it tastes the same. Hold on.........nope. Tastes more like chai. Doesn't smell like either one. It has a very distinct smell to it.

At sitting temperature, it's neither pleasant nor loathsome, but when heated (like when the machine's running and the friction between tool and metal part releases large amounts of heat) the smell is a bit intrusive. But that doesn't h appen too often due to its intended purpose; to keep the tools (and parts) from heating u p. Hence the name "coolant".

Humans have a coolant system built in as well; sweat. It keeps our body temperature from getting to the point where its various parts and internal functions cease to work properly. Good thing. While we're on the subject, i have a question i'd like answered.

Where does body heat come from?

Blankets, coats, pants, socks, hats, gloves; they all help keep heat in. But...where does the heat come from in the first place? When you get cold in the winter and snuggle yourself under the covers, you eventually warm back up (hopefully). But how? you don't cycle the same heat around until it builds back up. It would dissipate into the sheets, bed, and pillow. That is the nature of heat; it goes from a place of greater to a place of lesser or none. At some point, you would run out. So, somewhere, somehow, your body must be manufacturing heat. Where? How?

Now you've got me started...

Two other things i don't understand (but am fascinated by) are magnetics and gravity. I don't understand why either does what they do. I know what they do, just not the how or the why.

Take a massive ball of dirt, rock, water, and various other items, and it's got a gravitational pull. Why? What causes it? Yes, i know, any mass has a gravitational pull, even you and me (edxcept ours is cosmically insignificant). But what causes it? What brings about this invisible force? As far as i know, science still hasn't answered that question.

Same with magnetics. I know what it does, not how or why. Why can two pieces of metal attract? And why only certain kinds of metal? And why only metal? Does anyone really know the answer? Oh, and why do they get separated into two polarities (opposites attracting and equals repelling)?

Science is jsut so fascinating and intriguing to me. Atoms are another one. Unbelievably small particles of matter (protons, neutrons, electrons) constructed of even smaller "quarks", constructed of even smaller things i don't know the name of.

Just had coffee break, Jeff brought in conoles (spelling?) for everyone.

Billions of these atoms group together to form the delicately intricate parts of a cell. Not just any cell, but specific ones. Bone cells, skin cells, muscle cells, brain cells, plant cells, and so on. These cells are actually alive. They move, change, function, even reproduce. Again, billions of lifeless atoms into one living cell.

Now, trillions upon trillions of those microscopic cells (of their various kinds and operative functions) combine to form a Sugar Maple, a Red Winged Blackbird, a human being. And these are also living themselves. It's amazing. I think about the words i want to write in conscious thought. Cells in my brain cause little chemical reactions through the nervous system telling the muscles in my arm, hand, and fingers where to move while simultaneously monitoring breathing, blinking, blood circulation, sensory input, digestion of a conole (again, spelling?), and many other unknown inner functions, all being carried out by groups of cells, small and large, comprised of various atoms that must move in space to adapt, and hold together by who knows what force. The closer you get, the more intimate you become with our ever increasingly complicated universe and the design of its Creator.

One thing that's funny to me is that there is always an equal amount of matter and energy in the universe. It can beither be created nor destroyed. Matter, generally speaking, stays put, so there's not a whole lot of movement (cosmically speaking). but energy is an inconstant, unpredictable thing. Yet, there's always the same amount of it in the universe. So, when there's a solar flare, emitting all kinds of light and heat energy, do a bunch of lights dim on the other side of the galaxy to compensate? If energy is constantly equal (in quantity, not placement) throughout the universe, does it follow that an increased amount here results in a decreased amount there? With matter, it's different. Matter's always here unless it's moved there. If i'm making a rocking chair, a tree doesn't suddenly get shorter in Norway. But energy shifts, changes, fluctuates. It's just very interesting to think about.

Well, i'm on my last part, so i'd best call it here. Maybe more musings later, or maybe not. You can just scroll down and check, but i have to wait til the end of the day to find out. time travel in a way. I think i've said that before. Ah well...

No, i didn't actually taste the coolant.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, did you write all that before you typed it? That is one long entry and I can honestly say that I did not understand it all. :-) I'm glad that you didn't taste the coolant.

February 05, 2006 9:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

E=mc^[2]
Energy equals mass times the square of the speed of light, c. Matter equals energy. Energy when cooled will become matter. Its a universal constant and a reality for relativistic travel. The faster you go towards the speed of light the more your mass increases.

Plus, gravity is cummulative. And intrinsic for space time. We have gravity so ten billion of us would have 10 billion times stronger gravity. And the earth is bigger than that so more gravity. But its easy to defy gravity-lift up a soda can.
Magnetics are harder.They are less observational but magnetic properties have to do with electrons that are free to move around. Stainless steel and aluminum have less free electrons than steel or nickel alloys.
It's all about design.
There are answers for these questions but their reasons lay 'hidden' in mathematical physics.
I came across your blog quite fortuitously and I hope that answer wasnt too random...

February 12, 2006 10:16 PM  

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