Further Adventures of the Dropped 100-400L

Cool! Fun with high explosives!! I can hardly wait till we meet!!

belmondo wrote:

Tom W wrote:
Well, how exactly does one land a cool career like that (assuming I get to start life over)? That really sounds like fun, blowing things up.

We blew up lots of things---a lot of them that were never intended. In fact, back in around 1968 we pretty much eliminated an entire mountainside in a little town not far from where PacAce lives now. This was in a facility that made blasting caps, squibs, detonators, and so forth. A large storage bunker decided to auto-detonate one morning. There were several people killed including one or two whose remains were never found.

No, you don't want to go into that business. You'd be dealing with some pretty nasty stuff.

Well, if I"m going to have to run away on occasion, I guess I'll pass. Getting a little too old to outrun flying debris.

Okay, why didn't you take the case to a local lock smith and have him open it for you?

Love it !

Oh,you mean a CROWBAR

cmM wrote:
Patience, my friend !!!!
You should have tried all the combinations before prying it open !!!
10 secs/combination (appriximate) * 1000 = 10,000 min /60 = 166.(6) hours / 24 = 6.9(4) days...
never mind.

Just from experience the anser for a 3 wheel, 10 digit combo lock is about 30 minutes. It takes much less then 10 seconds to try the next combo in sequence, less then 2 seconds actually. thus <2000 seconds/60 = <33.3 minutes. Remember you only have to turn 1 dial at a time, which requires 1 thumb, while the other hand tries the lock. Had to experience this twice during my career. Usually did not have to go though all 1000 combinations though. 4 combo dial locks take much longer. I am presuming off course it was a wheel combo lock versus a dial lock, since those usually have a 25-50-25 default combo and 100 digits verus 10.

But... but... did you get the shot?

---Bob Gross---

In a case like that, if I were on site with the camera in my hand, I think I'd drop it and try save some lives before taking any pictures.

Man me too!
actually i think i would be too awestruck to run..um,providing i was a reasonable number of states away

Anecdote:
A bunch of us were forming up for a nature hike, and we were standing in a parking lot about 120 feet from a busy highway intersection. As we stood there, some motorcyclists came from one direction and were not seen by an automobile moving from the other direction. Whack!

Immediately as soon as I heard brakes, I pivoted around with my camera and shot one frame just about the time one of the victim motorcyclists was coming to a bouncing stop. Got it. Then we all stood there in shock for about five seconds. Then we realized that many of us had first aid training, and there were probably hurt people out there in the intersection. So, by about ten seconds, we went out to help.

It only takes a second or two to get the shot. Then go help.

---Bob Gross---

ron chappel wrote:
Man me too!
actually i think i would be too awestruck to run..um,providing i was a reasonable number of states away

Actually I was sound asleep in bed many miles away and only found out about it when I went to work that morning. It actually happened in the middle of the night. The facility in question was near Allentown, PA, and I was living near Philadelphia at the time.

Interestingly, they never figured out what caused the blast, but the prevailing theory was that it was some type of rodent chewing on a detonator. I don't know how they ever determined that---unless the rodent survived the blast and decided to confess.

belmondo wrote:
[---unless the rodent survived the blast and decided to confess.

Can rats survive a trip into orbit?

ron chappel wrote:

belmondo wrote:
[---unless the rodent survived the blast and decided to confess.

Can rats survive a trip into orbit?

Re-entry can be tough!