Pariah Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 When I started teaching full time, the lab next to my room (a physics lab, oddly enough) had long been disused and converted into a makeshift storage area. One day years before, the story goes, a couple of students who had finished their daily work had been given permission to explore the room. They dug through the old cabinets and found a device consisting of a power cord, a wand, and a box with a readout dial. They plugged it in and started pointing the wand at things. They found a rock in another cabinet, and when they pointed the wand at it, the dial jumped and the box started clicking furiously. They told the teacher, who recognized the device as a Geiger counter and told them to get out of the room until he could get someone to come and take a closer look. The rock turned out to be pitchblende, and had apparently been in the school since it was built in 1951. They had to call a hazmat team to come and take it out. L. Marcus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Pitchblende rarely is hot enough to be a hazard, barring impressive stupidity. I note that a half-pound container of salt substitute (usually half salt, half KCl) will make the counter click too, from the potassium-40 in it. And that product is explicitly a food additive ... supposedly it is better for you than straight salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Oh, and because I only remembered tonight to look for it ... Signs you have been in Finland too long I note that at the bottom of that page is a link to a (longer and considerably duplicated) list of "Signs you have been in Sweden too long". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Paging L. Marcus, please pick up the white courtesy phone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 There was an article I read a while ago - Ten Ways To Piss Off A Swede, or something ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Oh, and because I only remembered tonight to look for it ... Signs you have been in Finland too long I note that at the bottom of that page is a link to a (longer and considerably duplicated) list of "Signs you have been in Sweden too long". Haha! It's funny because it's true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 What is the pea soup and Thursday thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Thursdays are for eating pea soup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 ... and what is the origin of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Reminds me of a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 ... and what is the origin of this? Pretty sure it started on a Thursday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Look, if we're starting to question traditions, we might as well move into caves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Wait. You moved out of your cave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 After my military service. Anyway, Wikipedia suggests that "peas and pork on Thursdays" has medieval roots -- with Friday being a day for fasting, Thursday's meal should be extra heartening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Yeah, that makes some sense, given how few options there were in that era in that part of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Hey, there was pork, or beef. Game, perhaps. No tofu, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 And fish, at least in the coastal areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Surströmming. The Skåne herring market was the foundation of fortunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Did they sell those herrings to people wanting to chop down trees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Don't forget the important fish slapping dancers as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 No no - fasting again, Lent and so forth. Fish was plentiful and in high demand; IOW, a merchant's wet dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 And it could be successfully cured and shipped fairly easily, IIRC. I used to live in Bremerhaven, one of the major fishing ports in Germany, though it didn't exist, really, until the mid-1800s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 That's pretty new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Yup, but it made for lots of fish in the town when I was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Fish can stay in the water, as far as I'm conserned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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