Skip to main content

What is a metallurgist?

arcturusoilerI actually had every intention of going for a bike ride this morning, but I slept in till 6AM, which really doesn't give me enough time to eat, brush my teeth, get dressed, and meet the group at 7 AM at the marina.  Plus the temperature was near my limit at 41°F.

I guess I should be somewhat happy the weather has been so miserable lately (it rained all last weekend, it's barely even going to reach 60°F the rest of this week, and there's more rain forecast for this weekend), since my hand is still in the [very slow] healing process, and I have a good excuse not to ride, letting it recover more. But somehow that isn't much consolation.

So here I sit with nothing much better to do, than dwell on everything, and post to my blog, and explain the picture to the right.

Whenever anyone used to ask me what I do for a living, I would tell them I was a metallurgist. Of course not too many people were familiar with what a metallurgist does, so to simplify the description, I would just say I was an "educated mill hunky".

Back east, where I grew up, most people were familiar with the term "mill hunky", so that description worked pretty well, but it seems when I moved to Texas, and then California, not too many people knew what a "mill hunky" was, so I had to go into a more elaborate explanation.

Now it has become some what easier to explain what I do, as the term metallurgy (or metallurgist), comes up more often in the news, in TV shows and movies, especially when there is an investigation of an airplane crash, and while I'm not the type of metallurgist that does failure analysis, it does help to explain what I do more easily.

Anywaze, for those of you who don't know what a "mill hunky" is, that is the picture of one to the right [above]. A "mill hunky" is the man (or woman sometimes) that does the back breaking, dirty and dangerous work, manufacturing all the raw materials [we barely notice] needed to produce the products we take for granted everyday, i.e. our automobiles, airplanes, pots and pan etc.

[note]The picture, courtesy of David Rivas (who also works at Arcturus), is of one of the heaters, on the 50,000 pound hammer, spraying lubricant on 600°F dies to facilitate the forging process. (Just think of the old time blacksmith making horse shoes, but on a GRANDER scale.)[/note]

Unfortunately for the US, and the reason so few people have ever heard the term "mill hunky", is most of those jobs have been shipped overseas, where people are willing to work for peanuts, doing the type of work that made this country great. My only hope is we don't let any more of our manufacturing base vanish, as we navigate this economic crisis.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The results are in

And I am iron deficient, big time. [Which would account for my low hemoglobin] Test Result Ref Range IRON 30 59-158 mcg/dL TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY 231 250-420 mcg/dL IRON SAT 13 20-50 % My Ferritin levels were good, but that could be because Ferritin is also an "acute phase reactant", that is sometimes increased with acute or chronic disease. Folate and B12 levels were also within the normal range. The only problem now is determining what is causing the iron deficiency, which in the case of men, is [very] rare. My oncologist has given me a Globin Fecal test to perform, and has scheduled me for a consultation with a colorectal surgeon to discuss performing a colonoscopy, which could be problematic because of my large spleen. In the mean time, I've decided to start taking an iron supplement, it's only the quantity that is causing me some consternation. I've been told by a very knowledgeable person that to overcome an iron deficiency, I need to be taking 300 mg o...
5 comments
Read more

Stop the stupidity!

Rural medical center (in Georgia) suspended from vaccination program after inoculating school district staff. Give me a break! Trying to get kids back to school, while protecting teachers, bus drivers and other staff, is exactly what school districts should be doing. If they have vaccines, give them out. We should be giving out vaccines to all who want them, whenever available. Trying to adhere to rigid guidelines will only result in fewer people getting vaccines, resulting in the discarding of precious vaccines, and less protection for everyone. Of course we should be giving first priority to healthcare workers, and any other essential public service employees, such as policeman, fireman, etc. first, but when they're not around to receive shots, or refuse shots, then give them to anyone willing to take them. What I would have objected to is the medical center trying to capitalize on the pandemic to make a profit, from giving vaccines to people far down the list of recipients, but ...
Post a Comment
Read more

When is enough, enough?

Today I learned, Lance Armstrong, the most drug tested athlete in the history of sport, is being accused of doping, again . This time by the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), who claim they have collected blood samples from him in 2009 and 2010 that were “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.” Really! What took them so long? The French have been trying to make allegations of drug doping stick for years, ever since he won his first Tour d'France, but to no avail. And now the USADA claims to have evidence to support that claim, and they've waited almost 3 years before releasing this evidence. Needless to say, I am skeptical. Then there's this from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack eventually would increase Medicare and Social Security spending, slightly. Eventually? What is the CBO suggesting here? That we should encourage smoking, because if we don't, in...
11 comments
Read more