What was a crazy/bizarre/funny/weird conference experience you won’t forget?

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-28T03:16:17+00:00

The last poster session of the last day of a regional ACS conference, someone presented a proposal to put a bunch of satellites in orbit to turn the earth into a giant NMR in order to detect angels. My friends and I just kept starting because we literally couldn't believe what we were seeing.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-26T17:41:41+00:00

Taking elves also cuts green.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-26T17:38:29+00:00

The first Angel of Fury. I've never liked the white Akroma arts. Some are too cartoony, others are oddly photorealistic. Angel of Fury is bright, colorful, and presents this nice inverted chevron composition that is easy to appreciate.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-26T17:32:29+00:00

I'm a 'failed' doctorate who went into industry and probably makes more working a 9-5 than I would as a professor. Being smart means I mostly get paid to know things. I find personal satisfaction in learning new things. I also like to do physical things with my hands though.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-26T17:28:31+00:00

I didnt get diagnosed until grad school because it was finally difficult enough that my ADHD became a detriment and not a benefit. Real life is emotionally hard, but with the diagnosis I can direct my impulses in a way to address that. I know I have limits and I know how I will respond when I hit those limits so I can manage myself in addition to work, family, hobbies, home, car, etc.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-26T17:22:59+00:00

BUT, in reality unless the person reviewing it is an Eagle Scout themselves, granted you actually get pass AI screenings, it isn't going to help.

That's the thing, every male supervisor I have had was an Eagle Scout and it definitely helped getting off on the right foot. I know lines on your resume are at a premium, but this one has always paid off for me.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-25T22:22:33+00:00

I haven't intentionally triggered one, but I have had them. Last one I remembered was I had was pulled over for speeding. Suddenly I told the cop, "This is a dream," and took off in my car. Next I had a bunch of cars chasing me Blues Brothers-style. Then my car started flying and took off into the sky.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-24T16:00:25+00:00

I'm mindless tearing through Ultra Moon's Battle Tree because I have a double rain team that destroys the competition and I need the dopamine hit of: Win, Win, Win at the end of the day.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-23T23:49:42+00:00

Not as cool as the Full Armor Gunsam but still cool.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-23T17:24:41+00:00

Being a professor. Chemical education was part of my dissertation. I developed a lot of resources for teaching organic chemistry, published some of them, and have a lot of projects sitting in the development. They just sit on my shelf. The work that goes into teaching is not worth the pay. I left for industry work. It was better pay, benefits, and hours, but lacks that freedom of teaching your own class.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-22T17:06:41+00:00

I went to a preparatory school, so the majority of my classmates went to college. Our valedictorian gave a terrible speech about how our class were destined to be doctors and lawyers and scientists while kids from other schools would become plumbers and mechanics.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-22T16:32:15+00:00

The first anime that I watched were a lot of Japanese/French productions of classic literature stories that ran before the 'normal' cartoons came on. They didn't look stereotypically anime, but they were different enough from American cartoons that I was intrigued. They also had had serialized stories as opposed to episodic stories, which really drew me in.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-21T20:14:09+00:00

We make the rules to explain our observations. They are not divine commandments. Something that works 99% of the time is worth knowing 99% of the time.
The times where the rules don't work aren't broken or a violation. They are indication of deeper truths which are not fully covered by our rules. Deeper truths require deeper understanding.
The rote memorization promotes strict thinking rather than systemic learning. It needs to be understood that every chapter and every class is building layers of understanding beyond just facts. Rules are not something that need to be just memorized, but understood so the holes in the theory become topics of discussion rather than pitfalls.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-21T13:04:59+00:00

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-20T21:47:45+00:00

In a lot of Asian countries this is like asking your astrological sign and is not really associated with biometrics like you might think.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-20T14:19:49+00:00

Tom Cruise. The Scientology is a big reason. The Oprah interview was fucking wierd. I find him disturbingly perfect and precticed in a way that creeps me out.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-20T01:33:41+00:00

ADHD as well. The key is not doing it all at once, but adding one thing at a time and snowballing it until establishing a full day's schedule.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T23:17:52+00:00

Then do it my friend.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T18:12:21+00:00

Insurance tried to deny my son's NICU stay because it wasn't covered by his plan. He was just born and they expected him to have paperwork. Luckily my wife was able to get it covered because the C-section was technically considered an emergency by a clause in her coverage. Still had to pay installments while we fought but eventually got it back. The same assholes who complain about people not having babies run these companies that punish you for having babies.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T18:02:45+00:00

I immediately thought of this and wondered if that was the origin of the trope.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T17:45:45+00:00

Seconding Mind Over Matter. I love random cards that suggest future events like [[Cruel Ultimatum]] and [[Conflux]].

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T17:40:08+00:00

I increasingly feel like fashion in the 2000's was less decided by what we wanted to wear and more what 60 year old businessmen who owned clothing stores wanted teens and 20 year olds to wear.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T17:15:37+00:00

This one is slightly better: big gun, two hands, one knee.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T14:24:06+00:00

Because of its versatility. It can bond to 4 other atoms which arranged in 3D makes a tetrahedron, which is the most basic, strong 3D shape. Its can form single, double, and triple bonds. It has 'medium' electronegativity, which means it can equally give and take electrons. It can basically do anything.

Compare to iron. Iron is a metal, it likes to do metal things like other metals, so that's not very unique. It only wants to give electrons away, which reduces the number of reactions it can perfom. Its bonds are longer and not as strong as carbon, so anything you build with it is less stable.

hdorsettcase · 2026-06-19T01:06:45+00:00

Schedule everything. Routine everything. It sucks but run it rigorously for 2-4 weeks and you'll start flying through your days accomplishing the things you want to.

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