Of course I love ‘and they were quarantined’ but take a moment and consider 'and they were videoconferencing.’
Two people who meet for the first time while social distancing. They work in different departments or in different cities. At first they’re dressed business casual and keeping things professional. Then one day a pet appears and conversation gets casual.
They start sharing tips for how to exercise in a tiny apartment. They commiserate over the lack of favourite foods or activities. It turns out they were both going to go to an event that is now canceled.
Eventually, they’re both in their pajamas. Work day is done, but their call has now moved to the evening. They cook the same meal, stream a movie together. When will this lockdown end?
So much potential for pining. So many longing looks. Social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers.
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On August 21st 1754 William Murdock, the Scottish engineer, was born.
The son of John Murdock, a former artillery gunner and a Millwright and tenant of Bello Mill on the estate of James Boswell in Auchinleck, William was educated until the age of ten at the Old Cumnock Kirk School before attending Auchinleck school under William Halbert, author of a highly regarded arithmetic textbook. There he excelled in mathematics.
Murdock was a brilliant Scottish engineer and inventor. He probably doesn’t get the recognition he deserves due to the work of one of his mentors, James Watt.
In 1777 he walked from his home in Ayrshire to Birmingham to follow his dream of working with and Watt and Matthew Boulton
Down south it is thought his name was anglicized to Murdoch, but I’m happy to keep it as the original for this post. He remained an employee of Boulton and Watt for ten years and later a partner of Boulton and Watt until the 1830s and his reputation as an independent inventor has tended to be obscured by the reputations of those two men and the firm they founded.
The invention for which Murdock is best known is the use of coal gas for lighting purposes. Several independent inquirers into the constituents of Newcastle coal had arrived at the conclusion that nearly one-third of the substance was driven off in vapor by the application of heat, and that the vapor so driven off was inflammable. But no suggestion had been made to apply this vapor for lighting purposes until Murdock took the matter in hand. Murdock tested the effects of different types of coal from all over Britain, setting up an iron retort in the back yard of his home from which a metal tube ran into the living room. On July 29, 1792, he presided at the lighting of a gas flame within the room. It would be several years, however, before Murdock took his invention beyond this rudimentary stage.
Murdock moved to Soho in 1798, too and it was there he resumed his experiments with coal gas. He knew he still had a long way to go in devising storage methods, mantles to give effective light, and gas purification systems, as well as safety measures. Boulton and Watt took great interest in Murdock’s progress, but were reluctant to apply for patents because they were currently engaged in litigation over their steam engine patents. They finally overcame their reluctance, however, and by 1803 the Soho factory was entirely illuminated by gas. The “Soho stink,” as Murdock called the odor of the gas, was eliminated after a time and factories as well as private homes began to install the system.
Murdock’s catalog of inventions and ideas also includes: a method of harnessing compressed air that he used to work the bells in his Birmingham home; a high-pressure steam engine that could propel shot; a cylindrical crown saw that could be used to bore steam pipes for water and cut columns out of solid blocks of stone; an iron cement, the basic formula of which is still in use today, and; a method of transmitting letters and packages through a tube exhausted by an air pump.
Murdock took little interest in developments after 1810, by which time the gas industry was in the hands of businessmen scrambling for position and setting up rival gas companies in every city. In that year Murdock became a partner in the Soho company and remained so until he retired in 1830. He died in Birmingham on November 15, 1839, and is buried near his former employers and mentors, Boulton and Watt.
You never know what you are going to see on America’s public lands. Case in point: This photo from Big Bend National Park in Texas. A mother bobcat perches in a mesquite tree with her large juvenile kittens, teaching them the ropes of feline life in the wilderness. An employee captured this shot not too far from a park road. This family group was likely hunting from the tree where they would have a good view of passing rodents. But maybe they were just enjoying the view! Photo by Big Bend Natural History Association. 😺😺😺
Fight Write: Pulling Piercings
It may sound odd to the uninitiated (and weird if you’ve read Divergent), but the one thing you do not want your character to have when they fight is piercings. Why? Because piercings are often put in nerve sensitive places: the ear lobes, the eyebrow, the nose, the lips, or simply embedded in the skin.
Combat is revolves around causing a damage to the opponent as quickly as possible. Ripping out someone’s piercings means that they will be put on the defensive, meaning that your character can move to the offensive by distracting their opponent with blood and pain (it’s difficult to fight if your eyebrow is leaking blood and clouding your vision or into your mouth). Pain in one region of the body, will distract the mind from pain in another, so while the opponent thrown back by the shock of “Oh god, you just ripped out my piercing!”, your character can be spending that time hitting them in the groin or the throat, or grabbing them and slamming their head/temple into a wall/table. Honor is a nice sentiment, but it has no place here: the highest priority in any combat situation is survival. Always take the advantage when it lands in your corner.Studs are smaller and more difficult to grip, rings and any larger pieces are simply an excellent distraction piece.
Military Tip: For the most part, the Military outlaws piercings for men. It allows studs for women if they are in a non-combat position, however, it’s a bad idea. The only setting I’ve ever seen really get away from the piercing problem in a legitimate way is Warhammer 40k and their Space Marines. However, the Space Marines piercings are bolted into their skull. So, you know, good luck getting those out.
Protip: You usually don’t haul someone around by their piercings, they come out too easily and besides, that’s what hair is for.
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