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Brilliant
"They Started it", absolutely brilliant. Simon you give me so many ideas for office hilarity but alas i have a small smidgen of conscience left but that will to take long to purge. scrub -r -p nnsa /dev/conscience there all better.
“You make it sound so... nasty,” the PFY says to the Boss as he fingers through several sheets of complaints. “What – trying to maim a supplier’s employees just because you don’t like their product!?” the Boss snaps. “THEY STARTED IT!” the PFY retorts. “How?” “They sent us their product!” “And in response you’ve been …
Excellent! :D It'd be ruddy difficult to keep track of for avoidance purposes, too - magnesium burns too brightly to watch directly.
How do I know this? At school we had a chemistry teacher who decided to demonstrate catalysts in action using a rather volitile experiment of creating iron from iron oxide + aluminium powder as a catalyst and a heat source - in this case, a magnesium fuse. It was so much fun, she demonstrated it twice!
Slighty bigger version of what she did here:
http://www.davidavery.co.uk/thermite/index.htm
So, assuming the robot had aluminium panels... ;)
As for our results - well, last time I re-visited that classroom, there were still bits of iron embedded in the ceiling... ;)
That's an experiment demonstrating oxidation. The difference in oxidation energies between the iron and aluminium means that the aluminium violently takes the oxygen from the iron oxide, hence the fierce reaction.
The magnesium is there for 2 reasons: firstly, the activation energy for the thermite is quite large, so having something easily lit that burns hot enough to ignite the reaction is a plus. Secondly, the magnesium ribbon burning down gives the teacher time to get away from the reaction before it starts
"That's an experiment demonstrating oxidation. The difference in oxidation energies between the iron and aluminium means that the aluminium violently takes the oxygen from the iron oxide, hence the fierce reaction.
The magnesium is there for 2 reasons: firstly, the activation energy for the thermite is quite large, so having something easily lit that burns hot enough to ignite the reaction is a plus. Secondly, the magnesium ribbon burning down gives the teacher time to get away from the reaction before it starts"
Yes, I remember the running away and hiding bit! ;) And the plexiglass protective screens, and the goggles etc. And the headmistress wandering in halfway through with some prospective parents and getting quite a scare as the thing went up! ;)
Anyway, it's over just over half a lifetime since that demonstration, so my memory is a little fuzzy on the precise details... ;) I'm /fairly/ sure there was an unmentioned catalyst in the mix, but I can't remember what it was. And I could be wrong.
But, hey - things went boom in a suitably spectacular, ceiling damaging manner, and that's what really matters, eh? ;)
Ah Yes another wonderful Redition of Self Preservation and the Cunning masterful Way that "Good clean Fun" can be achived while leaving no clues as to the "Fun" that took place that truely shows that the good Master BOFH thinks things out as he preforms his true Duties of ensuring that No-One invades into his Domain of making money off the Boss, Lager off the PFY, and Ensured Loyality of fellow BOFHs and their PFY's on the Gobal Scale though the stories that make their way here.
Here's one of Three Pre-paid Pints Mr.Simon (your choice of brew), now i'll just grab my Coat with the Robot Blueprints and the Z-Pitch.
[AC because of work]
You sir are a god amongst us mortal and insignificant men. How we should bow down to your spender and behold the BOFH commandments...
1. Thou shall not out bofh the bofh
2. Simon is all knowing and dutiful to the balance of IT
3. PFY must never be given too much leverage! Keep him in his place....
4. BEER will be the funder-mental currency in which all blackmail scams are paid.
5. Lusers and bosses much pay homage to the BOFH with a large sacrifice (preferably the boss or his boss!)
6. Never give the mindless sheep any reason to dial the BOFH command Line!....
So says the BOFH!
Classic episode for a crappy day :D keep up the great work o'lord and master.
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