The Random Crap Thread 2: It Hits the Fan.

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A coworker made repeated mention of the fact that she carried a card from her uncle that would get her out of tickets.
Never saw her use it, but I did see the card.

--Patrick

I don't know about other states, but in TX, you're a cop for life. My wife is currently working as an adjunct professor, but according to the state of TX, she's still an officer (albeit not commissioned). Police IDs are issued by TX, not by the commissioning dept (though they issue one, too). Maybe this is the card your co-worker had?

 

[blotsfan]

This conversation is why I always support cutting police budgets.

 

[PatrThom]

I don't know about other states, but in TX, you're a cop for life. My wife is currently working as an adjunct professor, but according to the state of TX, she's still an officer (albeit not commissioned). Police IDs are issued by TX, not by the commissioning dept (though they issue one, too). Maybe this is the card your co-worker had?

She is from Connecticut, so probably not.

--Patrick

 

[WasabiPoptart]

I don't know about other states, but in TX, you're a cop for life. My wife is currently working as an adjunct professor, but according to the state of TX, she's still an officer (albeit not commissioned). Police IDs are issued by TX, not by the commissioning dept (though they issue one, too). Maybe this is the card your co-worker had?

Could be a Police Benevolent Association card with the officer's name on it. My dad had a friend give one to my mom so she could get out of speeding tickets. It works, but the officer who gave you the card can take it away if you're abusing it.

 

[Officer_Charon]

*sigh*

 

[jwhouk]

I feel your pain, @Officer_Charon.

 

[Cajungal]

Baby brother's trying to make a living as a musician in NY. He already loves the people and how direct and honest they are. He's already gotten some work. I'm really proud buy lonesome too. We're talking more than ever. He can't afford to be stoic; he needs the support more than he did when he was living in New Orleans.

My big sister is an incredibly caring and hard-working mom with an important job, and she just heard she made it into a local improv troupe. My little brother is living his dream, moving on to a bigger pond. How can I work 60-70 hours a week and still feel like such a slacker?

 

[HCGLNS]

 

[PatrThom]

I had no idea MRI machines are so loud.

--Patrick

 

[GasBandit]

I had no idea MRI machines are so loud.

--Patrick

And yet I managed to fall asleep in one when I destroyed my knee.

 

[Dei]

And yet I managed to fall asleep in one when I destroyed my knee.

Sure, but you are one of THOSE people.

 

[strawman]

I had no idea MRI machines are so loud.

--Patrick

Try not to imagine the several hundred pounds of metal, electronics, and wire spinning several meters per second breaking apart while you are in the machine. Of course, now that you've experienced the sound, you probably have some idea just how much mass is spinning around you.

 

[PatrThom]

And yet I managed to fall asleep in one when I destroyed my knee.

I came really close.
Of course, I'd been up until 3a the night before and my appointment was at 8a.

Try not to imagine the several hundred pounds of metal, electronics, and wire spinning several meters per second breaking apart while you are in the machine. Of course, now that you've experienced the sound, you probably have some idea just how much mass is spinning around you.

I had considered that possibility, and also the possibility that a random ferromagnetic missile might destroy me (externally OR internally) as I lay in it, and had accepted them both prior to entering the facility.
I was kind of miffed that they didn't ask me about my wedding ring at all. It's steel. I had to mention it to them. In their defense, they're probably not used to seeing that.

--Patrick

 

[fade]

At those field levels, even gold could be affected. It's diamagnetic, so it would move in the opposite direction of iron.

 

[strawman]

I was kind of miffed that they didn't ask me about my wedding ring at all. It's steel. I had to mention it to them. In their defense, they're probably not used to seeing that.

--Patrick

Chances are good its a stainless steel. The vast majority of stainless steel alloys have little to no magnetic attraction. This was reinforced in my mind when I tried to build a magnetically attached stainless steel platform for my 3D printer and - spoiler alert - it didn't stick. The early stainless steel fridges, and even many on the market today, exhibit little desire to hold fridge magnets, so you have to use strong magnets to hold small sheets of paper. Today a lot of "stainless steel" fridges are stainless clad carbon steel, both to reduce cost and to stop consumer complaints about lack of magnetic attraction.

The cheapest steel - carbon steel - is magnetically attractive, but is not hypoallergenic, and is prone to rusting against human skin, so is less likely to be used in rings and jewelry. Surgical stainless steel seems to be a common name for the alloy used in steel jewelry, when the reality is that it often contains nickel, a metal which does raise an allergic reaction in a sizable portion of the population. They're still allowed to call it "hypoallergenic" which, if anything, shows the meaninglessness of that term in relation to jewelry. My understanding is that it's much more strict when used for cosmetics.

The most dangerous objects are large unsecured pieces of metal, such as oxygen tanks, wheelchairs, cleaning equipment, and IV poles. Small pieces of metal, such as rings, can cause bruising and minor injury, but shouldn't result in the kind of catastrophic injuries MRIs are known for. The more dangerous "small piece of metal" incidents are usually aneurysm clips and pacemakers, though there is one report of injury due to a hair pin the patient had left in their hair - it apparently lodged in their pharynx through their nose and they had to undergo a procedure to remove it.

I expect that even if your ring was very magnetically attractive carbon steel you would still be able to manipulate it within the MRI by hand with some effort. It would only become marginally dangerous if it left your finger, and danced around the MRI opening - and even then it's unlikely you'd suffer more than minor bruising and perhaps small lacerations.

 

[GasBandit]

Chances are good its a stainless steel. The vast majority of stainless steel alloys have little to no magnetic attraction. This was reinforced in my mind when I tried to build a magnetically attached stainless steel platform for my 3D printer and - spoiler alert - it didn't stick. The early stainless steel fridges, and even many on the market today, exhibit little desire to hold fridge magnets, so you have to use strong magnets to hold small sheets of paper. Today a lot of "stainless steel" fridges are stainless clad carbon steel, both to reduce cost and to stop consumer complaints about lack of magnetic attraction.

The cheapest steel - carbon steel - is magnetically attractive, but is not hypoallergenic, and is prone to rusting against human skin, so is less likely to be used in rings and jewelry. Surgical stainless steel seems to be a common name for the alloy used in steel jewelry, when the reality is that it often contains nickel, a metal which does raise an allergic reaction in a sizable portion of the population. They're still allowed to call it "hypoallergenic" which, if anything, shows the meaninglessness of that term in relation to jewelry. My understanding is that it's much more strict when used for cosmetics.

The most dangerous objects are large unsecured pieces of metal, such as oxygen tanks, wheelchairs, cleaning equipment, and IV poles. Small pieces of metal, such as rings, can cause bruising and minor injury, but shouldn't result in the kind of catastrophic injuries MRIs are known for. The more dangerous "small piece of metal" incidents are usually aneurysm clips and pacemakers, though there is one report of injury due to a hair pin the patient had left in their hair - it apparently lodged in their pharynx through their nose and they had to undergo a procedure to remove it.

I expect that even if your ring was very magnetically attractive carbon steel you would still be able to manipulate it within the MRI by hand with some effort. It would only become marginally dangerous if it left your finger, and danced around the MRI opening - and even then it's unlikely you'd suffer more than minor bruising and perhaps small lacerations.

So TV has been lying to me that if you have a paper clip in your pocket or something, that the MRI will pull it straight through my body and leave me bleeding and screaming until I go into shock??!

 

[fade]

Well, I can tell you from my friend's personal experience that a steel surgical tray holding a sedated rhesus monkey will fly across the room carrying said monkey if you activate an MRI with aforementioned monkey-laden tray in the same room.

 

[strawman]

So TV has been lying to me that if you have a paper clip in your pocket or something, that the MRI will pull it straight through my body and leave me bleeding and screaming until I go into shock??!

The old MRIs didn't use shielded magnets and exhibited a field of 1.5T or so at any given point inside the aperture. Further, the field was much more diffuse, so the force would increase the closer you got to the machine, giving you some time of increasing force to recognize there's a problem.

In the newer MRIs the magnets haven't gotten much stronger, but they've added shielding (which I'd consider more "guides" than "shields"), which effectively focus the magnets. This means that the apparent field doesn't go as far from the machine, but appears much stronger within the aperture - up to 3T. Further, the change isn't as gradual - you might come closer and closer, but once you enter the field it goes from little force to great force quickly over a short distance, giving you much less warning. Further, these fields change rapidly in operation.

So while the paperclip won't become a piercing projectile, it will wriggle and move with a great deal of force, and if it's uncontrolled it could end up entering the body. Make sure you straighten it first, though, in paperclip form it's just not going to get much done.

My expectation, though, is that in the movies you'd actually have it run through the body several times before forming a mixing blade of sorts in the center of the aperture. It wouldn't happen in real life, but if you're going to go for unrealistic death scenes, you might as well make them elaborate.

Keep in mind that the next step in this technology is a magnetically controlled robot surgeon. They're already controlling ferrous "robots" in strong 3D magnetic fields, so eventually you might get into such a machine specifically so it can manipulate a projectile inside you with a great deal of precision and force, using very small entry incisions. Of course a handgun already does this, minus the "precision" part - I think researchers are just after the grant money...

 

[PatrThom]

even if your ring was very magnetically attractive carbon steel you would still be able to manipulate it within the MRI by hand with some effort.

It is, and I know it is, since I use it to show people exactly where the magnets are located in their computers by allowing it to magically attach itself to their monitor. It has never rusted, though. I am pretty sure it is this ring from these people, though I requested they not acid-etch it which means the color does not change between layers as is show in the picture. I'm sure it's not true Wootz steel but simply pattern-welded, though I didn't quibble.
Additionally, I wear it on the ring finger of my left hand (as is customary), and as they were imaging my left arm, I felt it would be better to leave it in the provided locker, especially since they told me I should not move my arm at all during the procedure.

--Patrick

 

[GasBandit]

On an unrelated note, shouldn't Conan Edogawa have grown back up into Jimmy Kudo by now, just through the natural aging process? It's been 20 years.

 

[GasBandit]

It's FRIDAAAAY! And I am OUTTA HERE!

 

[ThatNickGuy]

http://nocturnehalifax.ca/

I'm thinking of going to this tonight. Already asked a couple of friends if they're going.

The only thing I'm worried about is I'm pretty sure my ex is going to it, too. And I'm really worried about running into her.

 

[Gruebeard]

I've never been there, but I'd guess that downtown Halifax is a lot larger than a department store. I can completely miss meeting up with people I'm trying to find in the Bay. Plus, the thing runs for 6 hours.


You really aren't likely to run into her.

 

[WasabiPoptart]

Think about what you want to do or say if you run into her. Ignore her and keep walking. If she is trying to talk to you tell her this is not the time or place for a discussion. Tell her she's interrupting your evening with friends. Anything that you would like to be able to do if the situation comes up. Visualize it in your head. See yourself doing it. Practice your response a few times. I know it doesn't make the situation hurt any less, but you will be prepared if you do run into her and not be caught off guard.

 

[GasBandit]

Wear a disguise!

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Think about what you want to do or say if you run into her. Ignore her and keep walking. If she is trying to talk to you tell her this is not the time or place for a discussion. Tell her she's interrupting your evening with friends. Anything that you would like to be able to do if the situation comes up. Visualize it in your head. See yourself doing it. Practice your response a few times. I know it doesn't make the situation hurt any less, but you will be prepared if you do run into her and not be caught off guard.

That's more or less what my psychiatrist told me yesterday. Though that was more in the context of if she ever tries to contact me.

Which I've made difficult for her, anyway, since I blocked her on all social media.

 

[Squidleybits]

Different scenario but I have gotten really good at walking right by my former friend when we are at school things together. We have some mutual friends but I am over the way she treated me so I walk by. It's worked so far.

 

[Gruebeard]

Wear a niqab!

Oh hey! I just gave this advice earlier today.

 

[GasBandit]

Oh hey! I just gave this advice earlier today.

I was thinking more along the lines of a luchador mask.

 

[Gruebeard]

I was thinking more along the lines of a luchador mask.

But he'll sick of like a sore thumb in that. With the niqab, hell be lost in that crowd of millions of Muslim women that have invade Harperfax.

 

[PatrThom]

I really hope I can get over her soon so I can move on without having to worry about shit like this.

I almost hate to say it, but it never really goes away.
It does hurt less as time goes on, but it never goes to zero.
Whatever you do, I wouldn't be deliberately hostile, no matter what happens. If necessary, politely excuse yourself, then run for the hills.

--Patrick

 

[ThatNickGuy]

I almost hate to say it, but it never really goes away.
It does hurt less as time goes on, but it never goes to zero.
Whatever you do, I wouldn't be deliberately hostile, no matter what happens. If necessary, politely excuse yourself, then run for the hills.

--Patrick

Yeah, I know it never really goes away. I still sometimes miss some of my other exes.

I'm just...I wish I was in a better place, emotionally. It's obviously not just the breakup that's got me depressed.

 

[Squidleybits]

No but you really don't need to see her tonight

Let me know how Nocturne goes! My photo club is going to be there. I wish I was well enough to go.

 

[Dei]

Man, having a lot of derby girls on my FB friends list, means I also get to see a lot of pictures of broken bone xrays.

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes, when the wife and kids are gone and I realize I'm home all alone, I like to sing, "IT'S PENIS MASTURBATION TIME" (to the tune of peanut butter jelly time)