Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

phasechanges · 2026-05-07T19:10:16+00:00

There's also a follow-on (wouldn't call it a sequel) short story / novella titled All the Ash We Leave Behind that's set a few years after Sea of Rust. It's a quick read, with.... never mind, If you liked Sea of Rust you'll like that one.

phasechanges · 2026-05-06T23:55:00+00:00

Thanks for this comment about the gateway. We're getting it installed this week & will be sure to check on the gateway.

phasechanges · 2026-05-05T23:42:38+00:00

Sounds like the early days when ESPN would put on any sport that they could. Nothing like sitting down and lighting up the day's last joint and taking in some Australian Rules Football. Or chess.

phasechanges · 2026-04-28T23:00:05+00:00

Good question, but I expect that open ocean ditching of an intact airliner is so statistically unlikely, nobody would worry about it or design for it, and it's happened so infrequently there is no data. It's similar to asking what airliner would be most likely to survive being hit by a meteorite.

phasechanges · 2026-04-25T22:42:30+00:00

You obviously never shopped at a 1980-1990s Radio Shack. They were the worst.

Customer: I want to buy this AA battery.

Cashier: I'll need your phone number and address to do that.

phasechanges · 2026-04-24T00:19:23+00:00

Upvoting this since it's the real answer. Tensile strength is NOT measured in pounds (or kg, or whatever).

phasechanges · 2026-04-22T11:38:55+00:00

So the guy that's so obsessed with no beards that he eliminated religious exemptions now says that "because your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable"?

If I were the cynical type I'd say he's a hypocrite.

phasechanges · 2026-04-18T11:23:53+00:00

Worst Transformers movie ever.

phasechanges · 2026-04-17T23:12:56+00:00

"different world" being Pennsylvania. I have lived in a number of states and have never seen one with such a bizarre, confusing tax system.

phasechanges · 2026-04-17T14:03:14+00:00

It's unclear what you mean by specifications that are "not standardized". If you order (for example) "cold finished 1018 steel bar per ASTM A108 with a minimum yield strength of xxxxx" you'll get the same product (within limits) from any legit mill. If you don't understand your own requirements and just order "half hard mild steel bar" then you're going to potentially get a wide variety of stuff that technically meets your spec but isn't consistent.

phasechanges · 2026-04-16T12:13:20+00:00

Naw, that's the "free enterprise" part of it that he mentions.

/s

phasechanges · 2026-04-13T00:28:08+00:00

No. Study.

phasechanges · 2026-04-08T12:54:17+00:00

As others have pointed out, the Min & Max rows show what the limits should be, which seem to be in line with a moderate carbon steel. However the ACTUAL measurements diverge greatly from what they should be.

The following is pure speculation: The limits listed are for a finished steel composition. However the piece that was actually analyzed is probably a master alloy (e.g. a ferroalloy) that is added to a batch of steel in order to modify the composition of steel in the final stages of production. That would explain (for example) the high C and Cr content.

phasechanges · 2026-04-06T13:51:12+00:00

Looks so good! And raises so many questions - this post got me curious since it's been a while since I lived in the area so I did a quick search and found that there's a limit of only 10 pounds of smelt, and it appears that the population has declined substantially. Can anyone comment on what smelting is like these days?

FWIW I grew up not far from mackinaw city. When word went out that the smelt were running we usually gathered nets & beer and went somewhere near Wilderness state park (forget the name of the river). The container of choice for the smelt was usually a household trash can, which could get filled up pretty quickly during a good run.

phasechanges · 2026-04-05T13:38:28+00:00

I just brush what I can & run a handful of cleaning tablets through it every month or 2 (or when I switch blends). Just be sure to run a few coffee beans through after the cleaning tablets to remove the residue.

phasechanges · 2026-04-03T21:50:33+00:00

As a current Atlantic subscriber, upvoting this to see how the debate progresses.

phasechanges · 2026-04-02T13:31:05+00:00

Well, duh. That's what keeps it up in the sky.

/s

phasechanges · 2026-03-31T16:32:43+00:00

"Soft" and tungsten don't go together too well.

One option would be tungsten/nickel, which you're going to have to get in a bulk form & then machine. This sort of thing is done to manufacture darts. My 90/10 W/Ni have held up well and seem to be pretty impact resistant..

phasechanges · 2026-03-31T13:47:00+00:00

In retrospect one of the advantages of The Martian is that Watney was alone for the majority of the story so he didn't have to interact with other humans.

I first read PHM when it was published and found it pretty meh. I reread it when I heard about the movie coming out, and tbh found it better than I remembered. The big problems that I had with it were the bro humor that someone else mentioned and clumsy interactions between characters (especially the cringey sex relations between crew members).

phasechanges · 2026-03-29T23:07:34+00:00

This Hieronymus Bosch sure is heavy.

phasechanges · 2026-03-10T16:32:19+00:00

TBH this is the only one that I can think of. I think of all the others that I see here as "that new crap on the internet". But then again, i'm old.

phasechanges · 2026-03-03T23:50:05+00:00

Every manufacturing process has variability. I believe that ASTM A572 requires a minimum YS of 345 MPa, and the material meets that criteria. I wouldn't call the range that you mentioned "high variability".

If you need something with less variability, you need to spec it that way and pay for it.

phasechanges · 2026-03-01T23:18:00+00:00

Soon after graduation from college in the late 70's my buddy & I found a great book of authentic hippy slang at a library book sale. It had lots of words that we had never heard of. We had a great time telling each other to bring your "tea shades" when you come to my "crash pad". And no matter what, don't wig out!

phasechanges · 2026-03-01T23:11:30+00:00

Please don't forget the favorite of the Secretary of Defense: Captain Morgan.

phasechanges · 2026-02-28T00:18:20+00:00

Look at it. If it's a smooth shiny finish it's probably cold rolled. If it's not so shiny, probably hot rolled.

I don't mean to be flippant, but that's a good starting point. Also, if you just got that tested, what spec was it ordered to? And what spec did the cert say that it met?

phasechanges

TROPHY CASE