Revived.

[BLACK BART]

BLACK BART  

 

Posted April 19

Put up a sign outside saying we're gone 'til sometime next month-same for voicemail.  It's every taxpayer for himself. Beat/dead - it's gonna take some dayyys to lie prostrate & unstress,  Can't remember when's the last time I got zonked-out, but thinking about popping the cork on that fifth of the grape somebody Xmased me last year (it's white and I like red, but what the hey-nothing else went my way this year).

 

 

May 5th - The dayyys referred to above are, unfortunately, almost over (re-opening Wednesday).  And about that wine; well, it HAD been a long time and hangovers are not one bit more fun now than they were in days of yore/youth (should have ODed on heavily-caffeinated Mt. Dew instead). 

Well anyway, two bits of good news: (1) granddaughter is graduating from college tomorrow after four years of bread (mine/her part-time jobs/AR scholarship), sweat (hers), and tears (ours). (2) grad school this fall but meantime she's getting a summer job (doubtless J.C.Penney's cosmetics counter needs a good dose of thermodynamics).   

Gosh, I didn't realize how much I missed this board 'til just now.  It's nice to be back.  Hope everyone's doing okay. Regards to all, BB.

 

[Richcpaman]

To the tune from the show "Welcome back, Kotter"

Well--come back, BB! 

[FDNY]

Except for the hangover that's all good news.  Money well spent on your granddaughter must have made you proud of her.   I don't think you missed too much, but we recently learned that proper grammar is important to save lives, or get a hug.

[Catherine]

And thermodynamics is always fun!  PV=nRT forever!  

[BLACK BART]

Much obliged for the good thoughts guys, and Catherine - I'm not going to try discussing thermos (dynamics or coffee either one) 'cause last time I injected some all-Greek math in a post, you easily translated it and threw in a schooling on Planck lengths (quite interesting) to boot . But...since I'm already here, what the heck does PV-nRT (forever or a day) mean?

[Catherine]

1 hour ago, BLACK BART said:

what the heck does PV-nRT (forever or a day) mean?

It's the equation of the ideal gas law.  

(Pressure) times (Volume) is always equal to (the number of moles* of the gas present) times (universal gas constant**) times (temperature in degrees Kelvin).  

* 1 mole = gram weight of substance equal to atomic weight of molecule, contains 6.023 x 10^23 molecules.

** relates energy to moles and temperature; used all over in physics and thermodynamics.

Really useful equation; starting point for all manner of things.  How much helium to put in your weather balloon so it won't pop until it reaches altitude X.  How cold your can of duster will get as the gases expand when you push the button.  How much escaped gas it takes to displace oxygen making a lab's air unbreathable.  And more!

Aren't you glad you asked?  

[BLACK BART]

2 hours ago, Catherine said:

...Really useful equation...How much helium to put in your weather balloon...How cold your can of duster will get...How much escaped gas it takes to displace oxygen..

I know! I know!  My clients are constantly asking me about these things...(although occasionally preceded by "How much is my refund?")

[Catherine]

13 minutes ago, BLACK BART said:

My clients are constantly asking me about these things

A friend gave me a post card of Latin quotes for Tax Day a couple of years ago.  I'll try to remember to post them tomorrow; they are quite funny.

[taxxcpa]

I never knew what a mole was, but once I wrote a program in Basic in which you could enter the mol percent of methane, ethane, propane, butane and pentanes and it would calculate the BTU, the gallons per thousand cubic feet, the amount of 26# gasoline in the sample.

[Don in Upstate NY]

1 mole = gram weight of substance equal to atomic weight of molecule, contains 6.023 x 10^23 molecules.

For some reason, I remember Avogadro's Number, but I haven't memorized this year's standard deductions.

Don in Upstate NY, EA, BSEE, MSEE, MBA, NCI.

[Catherine]

1 hour ago, Don in Upstate NY said:

but I haven't memorized this year's standard deductions

Avogadro's number is fixed; the standard deduction changes annually.  Even if I memorized it, I wouldn't trust that I was remembering this year's number instead of last year's number (or the one from seven years ago, for that matter).  So I just look it up, every time I need it.  

[FDNY]

For some reason I always have a problem remembering all the annual changes.  But I never have a problem remembering the ingredients with Avocado when I make Guaca"mole".