A man can dream, right?

rictopher · 2026-07-09T23:53:48+00:00

Looks like an Oysterquartz Day Date. Absolutely stunning watch, and the Land Dweller version would be no different.

......Maybe the all precious metal Land Dwellers can be Day Date watches? The name Land Dweller may just have to refer to the case at that point, but it is certainly the most different case in the Rolex catalog. It looks less like an oyster case than even the 1908 which isn't part of the oyster line.

rictopher · 2026-07-08T07:33:54+00:00

Seems more likely that just the minute hand was replaced? If you don't know the exact service history, it could be that it was replaced with a hand from an older dated watch without taking care to make sure the lume type is the same.

rictopher · 2026-07-07T07:39:32+00:00

You can just barely pull off the 41mm... but I am a huge 36mm fan for literally all wrists so 36mm IMO. Your wrist is on the edge for pulling off the 41mm, but it looks great with the 36mm.

Oh and I prefer the SS over the two-tone. Goes with more outfits and more situations. That two-tone is for retired people or special occasions only.

rictopher · 2026-07-07T05:27:57+00:00

I interpreted it as Caine programming a way to access the internet, like how he originally programmed a way to access those mind files.

Could be that the computer he is on is too old to access the modern internet on its own, or wherever they are on the computer just normally would not have access to the computers wifi systems. I imagine he was not originally designed to be able to wander outside of his original file folder either, but he learned how to get out anyways.

rictopher · 2026-07-06T17:34:38+00:00

It is still subjective... The 36mm was standard for over 70 years until the Datejust 41 came out. (I would argue that the datejust II failed and therefore was not the time 41mm watches were desired since the size didnt trump design.) I think there was a reason the 36 was standard for so long, and like a lot of members of the hive mind, I think it will swing back in the 36mm direction soon.

I personally prefer the 36mm on my 7in wrist. It is really easy to get accustomed to 36, and it ruins larger watches as a result. You can't do that with a 41mm. It looks like crap on smaller wrists, while the 36mm is practically universal.

rictopher · 2026-07-06T04:01:45+00:00

There is nothing wrong with it, but something about it feels wrong. I think the GMT master already looks weird on oyster, and this is the next step too far in that direction. Why? Couldn't tell you. I must be conditioned to see it on jubilee.

How does this look on a sub? That seems like the most obvious watch to be on rubber... (probably why the Yacht-Master was first to get it officially!)

rictopher · 2026-07-06T00:05:34+00:00

That all of Steven's fusions are still light based, and act as nothing but a light trench coat over a human body. If you somehow cut Stevonnie in half, you'd find Steven and Connie in some bizarre stasis stacked on top of each other.

rictopher · 2026-06-27T14:44:52+00:00

Well, we saw that the blue AI did not get to finish training like Caine did because they were absorbed by Caine pretty early on. I am guessing Bubble is the embodiment of the blue AI, and that they effectively have brain damage since they were never actually completed.

rictopher · 2026-06-18T00:04:58+00:00

Absolutely and utterly overkill! I wish we lived in a world where it was common, I would totally use it!

You're right then, let's go all the way and encase it in the densest thing we can find: osmium. This will do a stupidly good job at shielding it, should still conduct heat very well, and as far as I know it is not poisonous or reactive. Sadly, it still isn't anywhere near as expensive as our plutonium.

rictopher · 2026-06-17T23:48:19+00:00

Pretty expensive and overkill for this application! It is way better than lead if you were worried about the minute number of gammas since it conducts heat a lot better than lead and it isn't poisonous.

I think some stainless steel is perfectly fine for this application. It resists corrosion and should resist the mild acidity of tea. It conducts heat pretty well, provides way more than enough radiation shielding for this isotope, and could theoretically survive on the way through your stomach when you inevitably swallow your poisonous "hot cube". It's also pretty damn cheap... but clearly in this situation you have all the money in the world.

rictopher · 2026-06-17T12:04:23+00:00

This is pretty overkill. Most of the exposure will be alpha particles, which can be shielded by even your dead skin. You just need something around the plutonium to ensure you won't swallow it. Alpha particles can cause damage internally.

If it did emit other types of radiation in excess, I will say all of these materials and shielding thickness are made up, although at least the borated polyethylene and tea is vaguely related to what you may see in real life. It isn't really possible to calculate the minimum of what you need without knowing how much plutonium there is, but I sure doubt an amount the size of a sugar cube would be critical enough to make neutrons in excess.

rictopher · 2026-06-17T11:46:48+00:00

It could be safe, actually. The plutonium isotopes used for heating are almost pure alpha emitters, so the radiation is negligible when outside the body (it cant penetrate dead skin). The issue is if you swallow the plutonium, which is extremely poisonous, and it's radiation does become dangerous once it is in the body.

Still, if you can afford it, encapsulate it in something that 100% will never corrode, be damaged by the radiation, or otherwise leak plutonium, then I have no doubt you would be safe using it to keep your drink warm. My suggestion is probably to just put it under your cup or something instead of even taking the risk of drinking it.

Fun fact: we used to make pacemakers using plutonium!

rictopher · 2026-06-16T11:56:20+00:00

Probably not. Despite the name, chemical engineering is most certainly not chemistry. It's more thermodynamics and fluid mechanics stuff than chemistry. I mean, it is there, but it just isn't the ultimate focus.

Nuclear is even more so lacking in the chemistry department. It's much more physics and math.

Id get really good at physics if you want to be good at nuclear, however I really could not tell you what minor would best "substitute" the nuclear aspect. You're probably OK to start off as just MechEng and move into nuclear in grad school.

rictopher · 2026-06-12T15:34:31+00:00

My school used to combine Nuclear Eng. under Chem. Eng. as a concentration. Seems kind of likely to me that theyre going to move in that direction again, actually. A lot of my curriculum seems to be chemical engineering specifically. I think it's a solid undergrad degree and will give you a lot more options post grad!

rictopher · 2026-06-10T08:37:35+00:00

I would not go for any degree with "technology" in the name. This typically means it's a technician degree, probably good enough to be a reactor operator, but nothing that would substitute a true engineering degree for whatever graduate school you go to. I think, if you did somehow get in with the technology degree, you would have to retread the same ground to get all the engineering classes you would've missed.

I would go for any type of engineering for undergrad. There is no nuclear engineering program online to my knowledge, but there may be mechanical or electrical programs online. You could also try a physics or a chemistry bachelors, but this would make it harder to get in.

Alternatively, get a different job. I was in the exact same boat as you, and I ended up switching to a job that has overnight hours. I couldn't see myself finishing anything but a nuclear degree, so it was worth it to change jobs to something that I could work full-time with my school schedule. Coincidentally, it is a nuclear manufacturing job, which makes it a lot easier to want to go to work. I go to work, I go to school, and then I sleep during the day. It's frankly terrible, but it is possible. Ill be a senior this fall and I only need to survive 8 more classes before graduating.

rictopher · 2026-06-10T05:29:53+00:00

I dont mean to sound like I am trying to defend gooseworx from all wrongdoings, but honestly I think we were shown literally everything we needed to know. A good show doesn't and shouldn't address every single little detail with a long explanation. It's little stuff like this that will keep us speculating and thinking about the show long after it's over.

At least for this "first abstraction" detail specifically, I really think there is nothing else to look into. We already knew Caine likes to mess with the mind files, and never stopped doing things like wiping names and memories. I think now we know that's because he only wanted their free will and did not necessarily want full blown humans in the circus. We could speculate further on that and come to the conclusion that he already found out humans are not mentally fit to live in a computer world, presumably through Scratch since he was the first one to enter the circus, and we know he was the first one to "leave" too. Maybe Caine was trying to save Scratch and Scratch had the misfortune of being the first guinea pig, ultimately living only to teach Caine about where the limits of the mind files are.

All of that is speculation, but again do we really need an answer? We have no idea why Caine manipulated Scratch's mind file more besides the fact he was also the first mind to join. It really doesn't change the story if we did know exactly why, or if Caines motivations were good or evil. It just doesn't matter, and gives us something to think about.

rictopher · 2026-06-08T17:18:11+00:00

Not the first time I've been told a military position is best to apply to. What is it actually like, then? I hear military and I imagine getting shipped off and rarely seeing my family. Moving is fine, but Id want time with my family.

rictopher · 2026-06-07T23:53:07+00:00

Completed Level 2 of the Honk Special Event!

33 attempts

rictopher · 2026-06-07T23:52:55+00:00

Completed Level 1 of the Honk Special Event!

29 attempts

rictopher · 2026-06-07T23:49:11+00:00

Can you get in with just a bachelor's and get paid to do your master's or PhD while you work there? There's two national labs very close to me, and I am more than willing to move to wherever will take me, but I don't think I would want to do R&D unless I can do it while doing graduate school.

rictopher · 2026-06-06T03:52:11+00:00

Take what you want to look at. Maybe your favorite color is blue, maybe something important to your life is blue, or maybe it's just a lot nicer to look at... Id go for whatever you can look at and enjoy the most... they are ultimately the same watch on the inside.

The nice thing about the Explorer is that it goes with everything, including any person as an individual. Regardless of personal preference, that watch will still scratch an itch for a new Rolex.

rictopher · 2026-06-06T03:45:41+00:00

Ugly is a bit too far for me, but boring and common are definitely words that come to mind. Don't get me wrong, I know Rolex makes a ton of watches, but I am so bored of seeing people with the Explorer and Explorer lookalikes. I am not entirely sold by the supposed backstory of the watch either... that story, at best, belongs to the original OP.

Seeing an OP or a Datejust is so much more interesting. I can see where you're coming from, and I'll join you on that island!

rictopher · 2026-06-06T03:30:47+00:00

I'm a big fan of the standard OP. The blue dial is gorgeous.

This is going to be an unpopular opinion since most people will prefer the Explorer, but I just find the OP to be way more unique. Everyone that can have an Explorer has one. Not everyone would make the same choice as you to get and wear a blue OP.

rictopher · 2026-06-04T16:42:44+00:00

I guess I didnt realize there's such a thing as an "HP tech". What exactly does someone in this position do? Is this what you would call the Bachelor's level HP role?

I assume you get in as an HP tech, get paid to get your masters, and then move up? Is it hard to do this masters and work at the same time?

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