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I Forge Iron

food grade copper and soldier


copperman1

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Well I'd say it was more "buzz words" as electrolytically refined copper is the norm most places.  "Food grade" solder is a legal requirement here in the USA. As the EU and UK tend to be fussier about such things I would wager it is the same over there.

So more like the bottled water marked "Gluten Free" and "Non-GMO".

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Thanks, Frosty - We all are members of that club. Sadly, the list of friends and acquaintances who have dropped out of that club is growing. I just heard that a long-time friend just died. He lived a quiet and safe life and was 5-10 years younger than me.

I've been run over by a boat (the prop chopped off my water ski about 12 inches behind my foot). I once burned into a live natural gas line with an acetylene torch. I rode out a hurricane on a barge. At one point the generators flooded, there was four feet of water in the living quarters and fresh water tanks were all contaminated. All we had to drink was rapidly souring milk. I've worked with explosives, tunneled under and through shipwrecks. I was in Nigeria during the Biafra war, I've had malaria, fell off a roof after Katrina and shattered (compound fracture) my ankle. I've had a bullet hole in my arm. I've had a tender try to put a crane load of sandbags on top of me. I had another tender let my compressor run out of diesel while I was nearly at the end of my diving hose in the Mississippi under three strings of barges. I was once dry welding a cap on a sulphur well at the bottom of a twelve foot long 36" pipe (lowered down by crane) and a gas bubble ignited. It blew a ring of fire out the top of that pipe. I wasn't even singed.

 I'm still here. My friend who never took chances is not. Go figure.

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I'd nominate you as president of the lucky to be alive club but a high school friend and up the street neighbor has been driving dragsters for the past 45 years and has enjoyed numerous flaming high velocity wrecks, broken his back 20 times or so and he's only slowing down. Still racing though. I've done some . . . things and gotten away with it. But you make me sound like I hide under the bed if there's lightning and thunder. 

I lose friends weekly it seems, some lived safe lives, some danced with Darwin regularly. I hedge my bets best I can then play what I'm dealt.

One of the people I went to school with from elementary to college was a hard core health food fanatic and buff till died of stomach and intestinal cancer before he made his 2nd. year of college. This guy worked out, ate righter than right and even wrote articles for fitness magazines. 

Another good friend, Ruben was absolutely fearless crazy, he did the most insane things his whole life. I saw him two years ago in S. Cal. and he's healthy, happy, has all his appendages and sensory organs, has 3 beautiful daughters two are almost as crazy as he is. He isn't as crazy as he was but he has responsibilities now. He builds hot rods and has a 32 ford coupe he hasn't finished. 

Life is just too crazy to predict, hold on and enjoy the ride.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Very true. There are things I did routinely 30-40 years ago that would be dangerous for me to do now. You have to be honest with yourself about your own capabilities. Then each situation is a risk/reward decision. I try to think about what could happen and what I could do about it if it does happen. I've learned to never just accept what someone else says is safe, but neither do I just accept what someone says is dangerous. I must admit, though, there have been some times that I got out of a situation, or avoided one by divine intervention.  You can never eliminate all risk this side of the grave. Applying consistent, logical thought will help reduce it to reasonable levels. For the rest, I trust God.

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  • 10 months later...
On 10/29/2021 at 1:34 AM, Frosty said:

I'd nominate you as president of the lucky to be alive club but a high school friend and up the street neighbor has been driving dragsters for the past 45 years and has enjoyed numerous flaming high velocity wrecks, broken his back 20 times or so and he's only slowing down. Still racing though. I've done some . . . things and gotten away with it. But you make me sound like I hide under the bed if there's lightning and thunder. 

Thank you!

I've had a lot of fun as well. I've been in the military, worked in an oil field, and spent some time on a plane. I've worked with a saw, banged my head on the floor when I was helping a patient escape from their burning house, and been in the emergency room when people were shot. I've jumped out of planes, been chased by wild animals, and I once took someone's car without their permission. All in all, it's been an interesting career path!

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