Gilded

May everyone have a splendid whatever they might have and still have the same amount of fingers in January as they have now (or more if you get some prostheses as presents).

I think in my first post I asked something about explosives and YT told me it's wrong or something and now I'm a happy person with nothing to do with energetic materials whatsoever.

What the hell you think we're supposed to bitch about when it's bloody Christmas and all and everyone should be merry and cheerful you silly excuse of a Scotsman?

If someone hasn't heard of Faust it might be an interesting read in this context. I somewhat agree with SkepticLance on the thirst for knowledge/curiosity being an evolutionary advantage.

If I had the money I'm not sure if I wanted to go considering a) it takes long to get there b) it's a boring looking piece of rock. I'd prefer a place with something like hydrocarbon seas or some sort of nice crystal formations.

As Christmas is the time of competition and selfishness I think I'll have to make an animated avatar too.

Orwellian society here we come. :| Of course, it's good to have some supervision of chemical use but I don't like the direction we're headed.

*nerve pinches Phi for All*

<- Notice lame Christmas avatar... again. Edit: Ooooh, snowfall.

Storing any flammable powders in great amounts is generally a bad idea. The only one I've had for a longer period of time was a small batch of very crappy BP meal. Anyhow, reading through the past posts I'm shocked to see that pyrotechnics is forbidden in Netherlands considering their other policies concerning drugs, prostitution etc. are quite liberal.

Speaking of army/navy, I'll have to choose between army (6 to 12 months), 395 days of civilian service (link) or jail. :| Some have seeked political refuge from another country or organization but I've heard it hasn't gone too well.

The flour ones shown beneath that one are not from me but from a user named PyroTechnix. He seems to know what he's doing, if that can even be said when dealing with over an ounce of flash powder.

Hmm apparently I've been missing out on a great thread. Speaking of flash powder "unconfined", you shouldn't count on it not making a loud report if the surface is on is something that can be broken by the blast (duh). I had probably around a 10g pile on a plastic cover of an ice cream container or something, and when it went off and shattered the cover to pieces... well, it was loud. Here's something related I did in the summer but only because I hate foreign apples with all my heart: (Notice the kewl in the comment section.)

Potassium chromate is surprisingly yellow too... :|

Umm... As in reducing into an oxidation state that doesn't make it a horrid carcinogen? Edit: And not going to the groundwater as hexavalent chromium?

I did it outside, and don't own a dust mask. I've been planning to get one (guess that doesn't help now though) and after this I'll indeed get one before handling any stuff like this. And it was chromate, not dichromate. By the way as I haven't completely disposed of the box in the normal sense of the word, how should I? Take it to a specific waste disposal facility? As it's harmful to the environment I don't think it's wise to just dump it in the trash bin. Currently I keep the box (cardboard) in a plastic bag, but IIRC the chromate can corrode organics when wet (formation of chromic acid?).

Funny thing happened. Received some chemicals yesterday, and inside the box a 1L container of potassium chromate had broken. The plastic container it was in was very dodgy looking and there was no plastic bag or other protection around it. This had resulted in everything getting a bit, well, yellow. While wearing gloves I removed all the other containers from the box, and cleaned them afterwards from any yellow dust I could see. As some of you may know, potassium chromate is a compound of hexavalent chromium, which is a human carcinogen. During the handling and disposal of the box I could occasionally smell a rather distinct smell which I can only presume was due to the chromate. However I didn't see any visible "puffs" of dust at any point however and the chromate wasn't too finely powdered. I didn't experience any breathing difficulties or throat soreness which might indicate a high exposure. I wasn't in skin contact with the chromate either, and as of yet there are no signs of dermatitis. So, what do you think of an exposure like this? Is a one-time exposure of little significance especially without symptoms?

We had snow at one point, then it melted and now it's like +8 C. :|

I'm probably going to the dentist's soon and I've always thought the reception's magazines suck... Although the small children going there won't probably understand the English. :|

Hmm interesting, thanks for the link. I'll have to look into that too.

I don't like people with that "IT ISN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL" attitude but on the other hand it's very rarely like that here, mostly someone just tells another to move his opinions to speculations especially when someone has asked a question and it's replied to with something that's as far from mainstream as can get. I think it's more than fair to provide people with answers based on generally accepted models. Of course, it's very different when someone just wants to discuss possible explanations or theories.

Nice! I might try this at some point, as rather coincidentally I ordered 100g of KBr a while ago for no particular reason.

Hmm, interesting. And it makes sense to me too! By the way as opposed to alcohols, is there some sort of specific name for compounds such as this, or is it just something-hydroxyl?

Give it up insane, my Monkey Island reference was way better.

Exactly. And as far as YTMND goes there are many better ones, IMO.