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I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

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Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#51
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Alibaba is indirectly responsible for many containerloads of goods traveling from the east to the west.

How do people handle QC issues with Alibaba orders? I dipped my toe in when ordering a crate of allegedly "CE marked" chargers that turned out to be obviously unsafe, and haven't been back.

You receive samples first and check them. Another option is having an agent in find on your behalf perform QC before you pay the balance on your initial deposit. That's what I do..

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#52
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is understanding just how fast it affects you, and how little you need in your system. I imagine his line of thinking was "Well, if I just shout and don't breathe in, it'll be fine". Simple mistake to make.

Isn't the problem that he did breathe after shouting to those men, and then died? What if you remove your mask, shout, and don't breathe back in?

The problem is that at high enough concentrations, a single breath is all it takes. Did you remember to purge your mask before taking a breath when you put it back on?

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#53

Not in petrochemicals, but neither is this is this reporter. I get it, it's supposed to be a joke, but it's such a poorly executed one fraught with so many major components glossed over that it detracts from any humor the article could have had. When the Onion writes something, it's humor is wonderful because not only the wit is there but there are few if any inconsistencies even for pedants who dissect things such a…

> It's comparable to how frustrated my tech friends and I get when television shows cross the threshold of comical technical inaccuracy and progress into a zone of visceral opposition

I don't mind it when comedy bits are inaccurate about the things I'm a subject matter expert on, because it's not meant to be taken seriously.

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#54
post #4

Another notable excerpt from the linked state safety agency document ( http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cis_wsh_cet5041_90142_7.do... ): -- Two employees of a fertilizer company in Riga, Michigan, were assigned to install a new float valve in an old 35-foot deep cistern for a new 300-foot well. This cistern was covered with a concrete slab with entry through a covered manhole. The first worker entered the cistern an…

I once took a university course called "Chemical Equilibrium" which required some lab time. The labs were about examining solutions with unknown ions and figuring out what they were. A common tool in doing so is by bubbling hydrogen sulfide gas through the solution, which will cause the precipation of certain cations. Needless to say, we were warned about the dangers of H2S, and told that if it ever escaped the fume…

If I remember correctly, a fatal concentration of H2S is actually lower than HCN (hydrogen cyanide).

Many people each year succumb to H2S poisoning. It's a pretty insidious poison.

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#55
post #34

> ... playing host to a herd of feral cats. A group of cats is called a clowder... or a glaring :)

Friendly advice: you might want to double check your spelling when nitpicking on words...

It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word.

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#56
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do people handle QC issues with Alibaba orders? I dipped my toe in when ordering a crate of allegedly "CE marked" chargers that turned out to be obviously unsafe, and haven't been back.

You receive samples first and check them. Another option is having an agent in find on your behalf perform QC before you pay the balance on your initial deposit. That's what I do..

How do you find an agent to perform QC?

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#57
post #4

Another notable excerpt from the linked state safety agency document ( http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cis_wsh_cet5041_90142_7.do... ): -- Two employees of a fertilizer company in Riga, Michigan, were assigned to install a new float valve in an old 35-foot deep cistern for a new 300-foot well. This cistern was covered with a concrete slab with entry through a covered manhole. The first worker entered the cistern an…

Shit kills. I guess this happens everywhere in the world, but over here (Finland), there are the occasional deaths at farms where H2S released from remains of cow manure, stored in a tank, kills people. https://www.mela.fi/sites/default/files/lietelanta.pdf "Description of event A farm-owner suffocated inside a manure tank which was lacking oxygen and contained toxic gases. Also his brother, who went in to help, died…

this is a very common occurence on farms and unfortunately as farms tend to be family run you get a few deaths in the same family.

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#58
post #4

Another notable excerpt from the linked state safety agency document ( http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cis_wsh_cet5041_90142_7.do... ): -- Two employees of a fertilizer company in Riga, Michigan, were assigned to install a new float valve in an old 35-foot deep cistern for a new 300-foot well. This cistern was covered with a concrete slab with entry through a covered manhole. The first worker entered the cistern an…

Wow, that's crazy. Terrifying stuff.

and then there's FOOF

https://web.archive.org/web/20150825171826/http://pipeline.c...

(Webarchive since original seems down)

Re: I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil

#59
post #4

Another notable excerpt from the linked state safety agency document ( http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cis_wsh_cet5041_90142_7.do... ): -- Two employees of a fertilizer company in Riga, Michigan, were assigned to install a new float valve in an old 35-foot deep cistern for a new 300-foot well. This cistern was covered with a concrete slab with entry through a covered manhole. The first worker entered the cistern an…

> The fire chief entered the cistern wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus. After reaching the plank platform, he removed his face mask to shout instructions to those on the surface and he, too, was instantly overcome. Now that one is probably deserving a Darwin Award...

You might want to find a better way to describe the death of a person who was brave enough to risk their life to try to save other people.

Hint: these are people.

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