Someone stole an argon cylinder today

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Reassuring message, for sure. thanks twigg :)

(I’m chronically clumsy and I just had to pick a work environment that is as fragile as it is expensive lol. Self-awareness is a good step towards safety though. Currently have a lock in hand)

 

[Twigg]

I’m chronically clumsy and I just had to pick a work environment that is as fragile as it is expensive lol

You're in great company here

Ever start up a pulsed YAG laser (~10J in ~10ns) without the water cooling? Contrary to myth, YAG crystals do not have a distinct aroma when they burn. It's the rubber hoses for the cooling water that smell, right before they burst from heat strain and flood the laser enclosure (also home to high voltage, sensitive flash lamps, and enough light to cook a whole chicken in milliseconds). Good times!

There was a machinist who told me once that the force required to break a tap off in a part goes inversely proportional to the cost of the part. I think he was on to something

 

[256bits]

Currently have a lock in hand

The other guy probably thought -" what luck , I don't have to try opening that stupid lock."
You probably did him a favour - in return, he could have at least left a note to save you the anxiety.

All's well that ends well.
This was a great posting - I really enjoyed the great mystery.
Agatha Christie would be envious.
And as it turns out it wasn't the butler after all!

 

[rsk]

I'm glad the story has a relatively happy ending! I was imagining the kind of angst, panic and guilt I would be suffering if this had been me. Didn't post at the time because I thought that probably wasn't what you needed to hear at the time.

Your experience has highlighted an issue with the lock that could have had led to a different lapse with far more serious consequences so, as it is, you've maybe even done them a favour.

 

[Ibix]

"why would I fire you? I just paid fifty grand to train you."

Similar story - an office mate came in practically in tears because he'd flooded the lab. It was an optics experiment in a dark room with flowing water, and a pipe had slipped off a tap and in the darkness he hadn't noticed for a while. We checked with him that he'd turned all the taps off and calmed him down as best we could. He went off to see his prof, who apparently more or less laughed it off. He'd been a laser physicist in the 80s when dye lasers were cutting edge and was completely used to being up to his elbows in mildly carcinogenic dye because good physicists aren't always good plumbers...

 

[Vanadium 50]

Boss says, "why would I fire you? I just paid fifty grand to train you."

Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.