Your Age, Race/Ethnicity, Plan to retire? Retired? Etc.

[Sarah in SC]

Is99, that is oddball. I remember a freaky girl that worked at the chandlery with us that used to keep track of everyone's illnesses and sick day usage. We thought it was weird that she always wanted to know the reason we took days off. She also took a whole bunch of plastic bags and a flyer about avoiding contact with blood in the workplace (as far as I know, we weren't an especially accident prone or spouty kind of group).

After she eventually was carted off for a rest home, about 10 of us (including the warehouse dog, Bixby) received postcards from her that detailed each of our sick days and noted what we had, illness-wise. Still unnerving to think about it.

Ha, feel free! We're all doing our part, in one way or another.

 

[Nords]

... there were several locals who kept track of all the vehicles we sent out, the order in which they were, on time performance to the minute, analysis of how often and which ones were lead, trailing or middle cars etc..
There are some truly anal(ist)(retentives) ones out there with peculiar habits and hobbies.

In the submarine force we called that "taking logs" and "nuclear training"... the high point of the evening watch was a rousing couple of hours of "theory to practice" practical training!

 

[ls99]

Riiiight. They got paid to do that, these folks did it voluntarily.

I can see the purpose of extreme minutiae in a steel tube a few hundred feet down. Got to keep them pre-occupied so they don't think too much.

Like eavaluating and calculating what happens when a high pressure stem pipe with superheated steam develops a pinhole leak, and the poor sucker walks into it.

 

[Sandhog]

And some unusually cooperative people willing to answer these intrusive, demented questions.

That's matter of opinion. I answered because it gave a chance evaluated my situation and plans for still plausible ER.

I suppose it may be bad for the business purpose of this site, but this kind of extremely annoying member behavior should be denounced.

Ha

He may just want to get his post counts up very early to catch up with veterans of ER.org like yourself except without any contribution or substance like you and many other veterans of this wonderful forum. I'm grateful for all the insights of many great posters but it's comical relief to see someone who just joint to get 20 posts just by commenting on others' post of his thread. I reckon we do need some break from serious posts from time to time.

 

[harley]

I reckon we do need some break from serious posts from time to time.

Yeah, because we've got so many of those.

 

[ls99]

Is99, that is oddball. ..... Still unnerving to think about it.

That is fairly mild compared to the some of the bizzaro stuff I've seen.

Internet sure provides fodder.

 

[Gumby]

Like evaluating and calculating what happens when a high pressure stem pipe with superheated steam develops a pinhole leak, and the poor sucker walks into it.

Submarines run a saturated steam system, but the answer is the same - it would be a truly bad day for that unfortunate soul.

 

[Nords]

Like eavaluating and calculating what happens when a high pressure stem pipe with superheated steam develops a pinhole leak, and the poor sucker walks into it.

Lemme put it this way:

On my two submarines, the officer in charge of the engineroom (with the reactor operator, electrical operator, and throttleman) stood watch in a small 6'x10' box with a doorframe cut into one side. The doorframe was just a hole in the bulkhead with a small plastic-covered chain hung across it to keep out the [-]riffraff[/-] crowds.

One day the shipyard put a real door in that frame with gaskets, added a lock, and then extended a 700 PSI airline into the box's overhead with a dump valve.

The Navy Research Lab had been simulating steam line ruptures in an old submarine hull instrumented with sensors, and the data had convinced Naval Reactors that procedures needed to be changed. The idea behind the shipyard modification was that if a steam line ruptured in the engineroom, the officer could trip the dump valve to blow a 700-PSI air curtain into the box in hopes of keeping conditions livable for a few more minutes while he (and the three operators) carried out the appropriate immediate actions.

We weren't sure whether the door lock was to keep the other watchstanders out, or to keep the officer in. Watchstanders outside of that small box were advised to dive into the bilge and pray. My first submarine had wet (open) bilges, my second one had dry bilges (all drains went to holding tanks). We weren't sure that dry bilges were an improvement.

In the next compartment over (through a watertight door which was always dogged shut) was a suitcase containing a heavy insulated airtight suit fed by a 100-psi hose. An off-watch nuke was supposed to wear it into the compartment for long enough to operate an isolation valve to stop the steam line rupture.

IIRC a year or two after I left my second sub, more equipment was installed to remotely operate those isolation valves from the next compartment.

But, hey, that's why you got sea pay, sub pay, and nuke pay.

 

[M Paquette]

One day the shipyard put a real door in that frame with gaskets, added a lock, and then extended a 700 PSI airline into the box's overhead with a dump valve.

The Navy Research Lab had been simulating steam line ruptures in an old submarine hull instrumented with sensors, and the data had convinced Naval Reactors that procedures needed to be changed. The idea behind the shipyard modification was that if a steam line ruptured in the engineroom, the officer could trip the dump valve to blow a 700-PSI air curtain into the box in hopes of keeping conditions livable for a few more minutes while he (and the three operators) carried out the appropriate immediate actions.

Oh yeah. That'll work...

BOOM! WHOOSH! ROAR!

"Steam leak Machinery 2 Upper Level! Aux Machinist! Don steam suit and shut Main Steam 1 and 2!"

ROAR!

"Maneuvering! Say again last?"

Hilarity ensues...

This might rank right up there with the escape trunk in sheer usefulness. No, wait, the escape trunk was handy for storing eggs on North PAC runs.

Ah, Naval Reactors...

 

[Gumby]

This might rank right up there with the escape trunk in sheer usefulness. No, wait, the escape trunk was handy for storing eggs on North PAC runs.

We used the aft escape trunk as a paint locker.

 

[Nords]

"Hilarity". Yep, that's the word. Gosh I miss sea duty.

I've had a 700 PSI air relief lift in my face, and I've had a main condenser boot rupture at about, what, 1.5 PSI? The boot was a heckuva lot scarier when the steam cloud started heading for the box.

Stories I've never quite gotten around to sharing with my spouse & daughter. I guess I'm going to have to tell them both now.

No, wait, the escape trunk was handy for storing eggs on North PAC runs.

And you can peel them before they thaw out!

We used to clean the bilges with an ice pick...

 

[ERD50]

IIRC a year or two after I left my second sub, more equipment was installed to remotely operate those isolation valves from the next compartment.

As I was reading this, I was thinking - geez, can't they remote control those valves instead of having people occupy the space with all that high pressure steam?

I suppose there were concerns of another layer of complexity (something else to break) between man/machine. But steam is scary stuff!

-ERD50