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My dad is in his 80's. Dementia and Alzheimers are starting to kick-in, its sad, but the family is dealing with it well. One thing my brother, sister and I have started to do is talk with him about his life, re-visiting the stories he has shared and documenting them before he loses all memory. For the most part its a mundane life; raised family, worked job, took vacations. Some stories, when he first started his career are absolutely insane. Thought you goons might enjoy a couple of them. Some are just OMG!, and others involve large explosions and people dying. He was a chemistry major in college, and went to work for Lockheed(military contractor), as a manager/supervisor for a lab that developed solid fuel propellants for nuclear missiles. This was in the early sixties out in the desert east of Los Angeles. They had a test location in a remote canyon away from the lab. This is where you would test fire a rocket engine to watch how fuel would perform, looking at burn vectors and such to make sure the fuel was holding up and would move a missile properly. There was a small observation bunker with cameras that would film the event. A given test would leave bits and pieces, small flecks of un-burnt propellant lying around the site. Every few tests, the maintenance chore was to rake up the leftovers into a long shallow row, and light it off to burn them up. Imagine a small trail of gunpowder being lit off, but going no where. On a day that a burn was due, the two guys decided to pile up the leftovers. Instead of a big long line for 100', they thought it would be fun to just put it all in one big pile at 6' high and light that off. The explosion was tremendous. The guys survived in the bunker. 1' thick concrete walls and some sort of explosion proof glass or plastic for windows. It was knocked off its foundation but held up with minimal damage. It was compromised though and was later rebuilt. The explosion mushroom cloud was seen by a commercial airline flight that essentially called it in to the FAA and every law enforcement office within 100 miles. The craziest part was the funneling of the blast down the canyon. The tall narrow canyon walls funneled the shock-wave and probably amplified it, and blasted it out the end. Where there was an elementary school about a mile away. It was in the evening, so the students were gone, but the blast blew out a dozen window that faced the canyon. A couple teachers were on site, but were unharmed. Lockheed paid for the repairs to the school, but were all "lol, why did you build a school next to our rocket engine testing grounds?" Government oversight at the time said the same thing pretty much, "Hey, its the cold war and we are building awesome nuclear weapons. poo poo happens, deal with it." Nobody got reprimanded or in trouble, other than my dad telling the two guys to not burn off the leftovers like that next time. I really only have two other stories of his times at the lab, maybe a third of toxic contamination of the local water supply, but that's it. I'll post them if interested. If other goons have crazy stories of wildly dangerous poo poo that would not fly nowadays, feel free to share as well.
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May 12, 2019 18:50
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 19:06 |
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My uncle works for Nintendo
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May 12, 2019 19:00
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Sid Vicious posted:My uncle works for Nintendo Any negligent explosions happening at Nintendo these days? I bet they have had a few!
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May 12, 2019 19:03
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More stories please OP!
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May 12, 2019 19:05
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my dad was an electrical engineer my mom was a high school valedictorian lawyer nurse and english teacher ive been finishing off these bottles of corona since noon
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May 12, 2019 19:06
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Internetjack posted:Any negligent explosions happening at Nintendo these days? I bet they have had a few! I don't know he molested me we don't talk
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May 12, 2019 19:06
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Sid Vicious posted:I don't know he molested me we don't talk
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May 12, 2019 19:07
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Sid Vicious posted:I don't know he molested me we don't talk Oh drat, that is very sad. 
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May 12, 2019 19:09
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Internetjack posted:Oh drat, that is very sad. It's made up my uncle doesn't really work at Nintendo
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May 12, 2019 19:15
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My dad is a rocket scientist. I got to see a couple shots go off at Barking Sands when I was a kid, that poo poo was awesome.
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May 12, 2019 19:18
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Sid Vicious posted:It's made up my uncle doesn't really work at Nintendo Well okay. I hope the molestation part is made up too.
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May 12, 2019 19:21
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Internetjack posted:Well okay. I hope the molestation part is made up too. Sure buddy
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May 12, 2019 19:21
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(that was the joke)
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May 12, 2019 19:21
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it's too bad your dad wasn't also a good poster op because maybe he could of taught u a thing or two.
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May 12, 2019 19:22
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Call Your Grandma posted:it's too bad your dad wasn't also a good poster op because maybe he could of taught u a thing or two. Gritty don't gently caress around
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May 12, 2019 19:22
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Call Your Grandma posted:it's too bad your dad wasn't also a good poster op because maybe he could of taught u a thing or two. I'm aware that Sid is good for a joke, I appreciate it. MrQwerty posted:My dad is a rocket scientist. Yeah, checked out the Wiki, that's the poo poo. There's a couple of photos at the parent's house of test fires, essentially the engine strapped to the ground and being fired with flames shooting out 100'. They are cool as gently caress. Towards the end of his career dad got an offer to move the family to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwajalein_Atoll For good or bad, the trajectory of my life would have been massively different if he'd taken the job.
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May 12, 2019 19:34
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Internetjack posted:Towards the end of his career dad got an offer to move the family to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwajalein_Atoll My dad has spent a whole lotta time at Kwaj, it's probably for the best that he didn't move you out there because it honestly sounds just as miserable as when his team was firing from Kodiak, just different (less crab boats and Deadliest Catch people, more sun) scenery.
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May 12, 2019 19:36
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MrQwerty posted:My dad has spent a whole lotta time at Kwaj, it's probably for the best that he didn't move you out there because it honestly sounds just as miserable as when his team was firing from Kodiak, just different (less crab boats and Deadliest Catch people, more sun) scenery. I think I was about 17 years old at the time, and was "NOOOOOO, don't remove me from my friends!" In hindsight it would have been a awesome exposure to live with and learn for a couple years, but not for much more. BigBadSteve posted:More stories please OP! My dad was the rookie lab supervisor. Heads into the main research lab one morning to find one of the senior chemists, twice his age and experience, sitting on a stool with a chunk of new formula rocket fuel propellant being held between his thighs, and he is digging into with a grinder to take off a small piece for testing. Everything I just wrote is exactly what you don't do for handling propellant. Work benches, fume hoods, protective gear, emergency solvents, fire suppression, etc were all part of the facility. This dude has a stick of dynamite held in his crotch and is digging it to it with an angle grinder. Dad scolded him, but did not take any official action to take him off task. There was no "training program" back then so it was, "Hey that is really stupid, you will die and explode the lab!" Two days later the guy caught fire doing the same thing. The high intensity heat from the propellant essentially evaporated the guy. Dad's words, "There was a bit of his head and feet left". The fire suppression kicked in and saved the lab that time, but the dude was turned into cinders and ash in about 10 seconds.
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May 12, 2019 20:15
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Erectile dysfunction was named after my dad Erectile Dysfunction and he didn't get a dime
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May 12, 2019 20:38
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I guess he never got asked if that was a roll of dimes in his pocket or if he was just glad to see them?
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May 12, 2019 20:49
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Icochet posted:Erectile dysfunction was named after my dad Erectile Dysfunction and he didn't get a dime Maybe not enough nuclear missile porn?
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May 12, 2019 20:52
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My dad was a medical equipment sales person. Basically boring, full of bullshit, and grifting off the system. So, yeah.
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May 12, 2019 20:53
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My dad’s friend was a missile engineer and once took me to an air force base to sit in an F16 and play with the missile targeting system while he worked. And then we met some of the pilots and they gave me a badge for their squadron. loving coolest thing a 12 year old could do. Edit: this was not a metaphor for me being molested
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May 12, 2019 21:01
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I think it’s great you and your siblings are doing this for your dad. Hope to give back to my parents in the same way (dealing w some potential cognitive impairments of my mom presently). These are the types of things you definitely won’t regret doing. Edit: my mom just got duped into buying $11,000 of skin care stuff this last week at a mall kiosk, but I’m an elder abuse lawyer... they could have picked a better victim.
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May 12, 2019 21:41
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The Management posted:My dad’s friend was a missile engineer and once took me to an air force base to sit in an F16 and play with the missile targeting system while he worked. And then we met some of the pilots and they gave me a badge for their squadron. loving coolest thing a 12 year old could do.
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May 12, 2019 21:59
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That don't impress-a me much
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May 12, 2019 22:05
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Till him suck day one dick
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May 12, 2019 22:20
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I never knew my dad.
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May 12, 2019 22:26
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My dad is an industrial electrician and fixes everything with duct tape and twist-ties He loves my mom and once said "everytime I see your mom, whenever she walks into the room, I smile" He's a good man and thank u OP for reminding me of this fact Edit: the end of that quote was "you need to find a woman like that" and I'm still searching
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May 12, 2019 22:37
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Aren't all our fathers, when you think about it, Rocket scientists? Makes you think
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May 12, 2019 22:40
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Poasty posted:Aren't all our fathers, when you think about it, Rocket scientists? Makes you think Please be more considerate toward those of us who were artificially inseminated :[ Generalizations can be more hurtful than u think.
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May 12, 2019 22:47
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Call Your Grandma posted:Please be more considerate toward those of us who were artificially inseminated :[ Generalizations can be more hurtful than u think. Did they grow the semen in a lab?
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May 12, 2019 22:49
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i don't remember :/
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May 12, 2019 22:50
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Call Your Grandma posted:Please be more considerate toward those of us who were artificially inseminated :[ Generalizations can be more hurtful than u think. Having a robot for a dad would be loving sweet
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May 12, 2019 22:51
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My dad was a pocket scientist and he engineered the most optimal pockets for various types of pants and shirts. He also invented the poop flap on the back of pajamas.
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May 13, 2019 00:01
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My dad was an illiterate wife beating pedophile and excellent carpenter. His signature was this ginormous scrawl with flourishes that went inches over margins, like a picture he drew.
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May 13, 2019 00:46
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I haven't seen him since I was 24ish and went to his wedding (to a former babysitter of mine.) I left after the second person asked who I was and I was compelled again to add my relationship to the bride.
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May 13, 2019 00:48
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Icochet posted:Erectile dysfunction was named after my dad Erectile Dysfunction and he didn't get a dime My daddy gave me a name then he ran away.
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May 13, 2019 01:19
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My dad is a molecular geneticist. Years ago he worked for the government in Aberdeen Proving Ground, where he did a lot of chemical testing involving animals. He took me into work with him a few times when I was very young so I don't remember it with much clarity, but I recall lots of sad looking monkeys in cages, and I got smacked in the eye by a glob of poo poo when I walked into the cage room. Later he worked for Johns Hopkins in a similar role, and I was again taken into work one day where I got to watch him dope up a rat, pin it down, and remove its gall bladder. I have no idea what the purpose of this was, just that it was an experiment of some kind. On the way back to the car someone pointed a gun at us and stole our shoes, because Baltimore. Nowadays he mostly works on stuff with soy beans, and he isn't allowed to say much about it specifically.
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May 13, 2019 01:24
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 19:06 |
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Wrath of the Bitch King posted:My dad is a molecular geneticist. Jfc, what kind of shoes?
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May 13, 2019 01:27
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