Mission

Good stuff. Thanks for typing it in. It makes an engineer proud, it does.

Oho! (Except it's only a patent, not an actual device. Still, veddy cool.)

I was reading about James Watt this morning when I learned that Thomas Savery had created a (permanently stationed) engine during period. He patented his steam engine in 1698, calling it "A new invention for raiseing of water and occasioning motion to all sorts of mill work by the impellent force of fire, which will be of great use and advantage for drayning mines, serveing townes with water, and for the working of all sorts of mills where they have not the benefitt of water nor constant windes." It worked by building steam in the boiler which then entered another chamber. Once full of steam the tap between the boiler and the chamber was shut. The steam condensed, creating a partial vacuum, and atmospheric pressure pushed water up the downpipe until the chamber was full. At this point the tap below the chamber was closed, and the tap between it and the up-pipe opened, and more steam was admitted from the boiler. As steam pressure built, it forced water into the up-pipe to the top of the mine. The engine was inefficient because when water was entered the chamber a lot of the heat was wasted warming the water that was being pumped. It could only pump water up about 40 feet. It was also hampered by the dependability of the soldered joints; they could barely contain the high-pressure steam. So Savery hired blacksmith Thomas Newcomen to forge for his engine. Newcomen made a copy of the Savery machine and set it up in his own backyard, so he could improve the design. By 1712, Newcomen had designed an engine worked purely by atmospheric pressure which used a piston. His first engine rand at 6-8 strokes/minute which he eventually doubled. Wiki has a nice model of his engine on their page. Of course, it was James Watt who really made the engine workable on a wider scale in the 1780s. Still, I thought it was interesting that there were engines being used during period.

No, it settled down.

You left out the part about strewing oddly shaped objects around your walking path. (Little chunks of rough concrete should work. In a pinch, a barrel of Tinkertoys might also do the trick.)

When I was in England a few years ago, I met up with some net friends and they told me that trick-or-treating didn't really exist in England before E.T. came out. (Don't know if that's true or not, but still: )

Aha, another proclaimed sea surgeon's chest has shown up on eBay here. (It's due to end soon, so you'll probably miss it, but I captured some photos so I can blather on about them.) It looks like this: The description yells at you: "RARE 19TH PRIMTIVE DOVETAILED MEDICAL SEA TRAVELING CHEST AND BOTTLES. NICE HAND DOVETAILED EARLY MEDICAL CHEST . COMES WITH 21 BOTTLES AND GLASS COVERS. ALSO A FEW EXTRA COVERS. SOME ARE IN GOOD SHAPE AND SOME HAVE CHIPS AROUND THE EDGES, SO IM SELLING THEM ALL SOLD AS IS, AS SEEN CONDITION IN THE PHOTOS. THE HAND DOVETAILED CHEST MEASURES 14 INCHES WIDE BY 10 1/2 DEEP BY 8 INCHES TALL. THE BOX APPEARS TO BE MADE OF PINE. ALL HAND MADE. GREAT FINE QUALITY DOVETAILED CONSTRUCTION. FRESH ESTATE FIND. THE PAST OWNER WAS USEING THIS FOR A SPICE CHEST, SINCE THEY HAVE SOME SPICE LABLES ON SOME OF THE BOTTLES." The past owner may or may not have been using this as a spice chest as spices were often used as medicines, but that's quibbling. The thing is well outside period and the bottles are round, so I would pass on this anyhow. But the size and shape interest me as it sort of reminds me of a slightly smaller version of the one Clowes talked about in the 15th c. (Note that the design is entirely different and it has no drawers or other compartments like his does.) It doesn't jibe with Woodall's massive list of ingredients in any way, however. Here's some more photos. It looks like a nice box, if nothing else.

Not to get OT...oh, what the hell. Invasion USA was one creepy movie. Even Crow, Tom and Mike couldn't hide that fact. Plus it was the purest propaganda which makes it doubly creepy. However, the unrelated short was hilarious. It was called

Well stated, sir! I really wish we could meet - we share the same sentiments on this issue. Too bad you are so far away. Nice category descriptions. Your in-Betweens are often people in transition so I'm not sure that they are a well defined category, but OTOH it makes a good point about the hobby. When I was dredging through archives looking for thread for The Shipyard forum (check it out, it's cool), I saw this topic come up regularly - say every 6 months or year. But new posters replace old regulars in a forum every few months and it's sort of cool to capture the attitude of the current regulars.

The pub has been very hit and miss today. Sometimes it comes up, other times it won't.

Moi? My Hallowe'en routine is to go over to the house of my friends' John & Ellen and hang out on the porch, drinking wine, eating pizza, handing out candy, listening to John's "scary" music and counting the number of kids with Star Wars costumes on. Then I toddle down to the Jaycee Haunted House (which is almost always within walking distance of John's house) and see how the old girl held up. I actually haven't done an HH room in two years, though. I created Bucky for PiP in 2008 and Becky for PiP in 2009 and that was enough prop-building for those years. Now next year it's probably going to be a scarecrow prop for...well, I don't know what for. I've just had this idea for a really creepy scarecrow using a skeleton (what else?) for many years. I want to make sure I build it before I completely lose interest in hallowe'en prop-building. I'd say more, but that would be giving my really cool central idea for this thing away.

"Sharing makes you bigger than you are. The more you pour out, the more life will be able to pour in." -Jim Rohn

In black leather with Gargoyle sunglasses?

You just want to see me squirm, don't you? There are actually several of these that I decided not to post because of the resulting discussion I knew would ensue. (Believe it...or not!) Ok, first, fumigating in medicine is using fumes of something medicinal burning - or in this case probably something heavily scented. Fumigation was actually used to make ships healthier, but, as you can see, I am already squirming instead of responding. Second, my take is that you would send the fumes up into the...birth canal. I assume wrapping her up is to keep the fumes from leaking out elsewhere. (But you know what they say about assumptions...) The idea here seems to be that the fumes would pass through the body proving that a woman was not barren. This probably wouldn't happen because the intestinal track, stomach and other stops along the way are full of...stuff that would block the fumes. (Squirm, squirm.) So she probably just smelled the stuff when they lit it and the whole thing is really quite silly. Which is why I posted it, despite my first inclination not to. Squirm. Now go and get me a double scotch and don't ask any more damned fool questions. The stuff has to stand on it's own. Squirm.

Being a proper, upright, captured ship's surgeon, I abhor all forms of pyracy whether government condoned or not and if it weren't for my responsibilities to preserve the lives of these miscreants...oh. Yes, indeed, drunk it is then!

Wow...that's actually sort of beautiful...it's like the Sydney Opera House of campers.

I think the main thing we're going to need is someone to attend the morning meetings (if there are still going to be morning meetings) and disseminate info. I'd volunteer, but I won't be there the whole time and...well...based on performance last year and the fact that Jessie is making me stay up late staring at the gate on Friday night I doubt I'd fulfill even those minor responsibilities.

It's odd, but I am really sort of looking forward to seeing you this year. Let's just not talk politics unless we are so drunk that we get to that "I love you man..." stage.

But that's also a better parable, IMO. "If honesty did not exist, we ought to invent it as the best means of getting rich." -Gabriel Riqueti Mirabeau

Nooooooooooo!

If there is overlap, it is because the organizers can't spot every fool who decides to imbibe on the sly before firing their weapon. From my experience when such people are spotted, they are politely asked to leave.

At the events I've been to they try very hard to police this. At PiP, for example, the tavern doesn't even open until after the battle is over. Most people are pretty responsible in this regard. (Of course, it's the irresponsible who get all the coverage. The media has no use for responsible behavior - people don't pay as much attention to their reports then.) I was firing cannon at an event not too long ago when a woman who was clearly in a state of altered consciousness (not to mention in bare feet!) came up to the cannon firing area asking to be put on a cannon team. She was gently but firmly guided away. Those of us who are concerned about safety do not want such people around when firing blackpowder.

I'd definitely have to look that up and that's cheating. Tonight I am planning to watch a movie called "Invasion USA"...with the help of Crow, Tom and Mike Nelson.

They're so similar that I can't keep 'em straight.

"I'm proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money." -Arthur Godfrey "If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking - is freedom." -Dwight D. Eisenhower "People who are willing to give up freedom for the sake of short term security, deserve neither freedom nor security." -Benjamin Franklin "The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves." -Plato "What government is the best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves." -Goethe