neighbor is engineer

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slowp
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Warshington
That is incorrect.

A private company is the one who spent the money.

And furthermore, pencils are not practical in zero gravity areas--any broken lead or debris of any kind is a hazard when electronic equipment is involved.

Please try to keep your facts straight.

You are correct. Since I am still at home using up mass quantities of Kleenex, I googled NASA space pen and this popped up at number one.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

Who'da thunk it? Both the US and Soviets used pencils, at first.
 
CountryBoy19

CountryBoy19

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That is incorrect.

A private company is the one who spent the money.

And furthermore, pencils are not practical in zero gravity areas--any broken lead or debris of any kind is a hazard when electronic equipment is involved.

Please try to keep your facts straight.

Yes, graphite particles are bad news for extremely sensitive electronics...
 
atvhead

atvhead

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please do not generalize all engineers to be worthless unless they have their nose buried in a book. Engineers are responsilble for everything in everyday life. I know many PHds and a few of them are so insightful with common sense it blows you away. A few others dont know jack. There are also a lot of "professionals" out there that call themselves engineers and have no business doing so.
 
MS260 Fan
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Ontario
Most of them don't have the common sense of a smelt. Lot's of things can't be learned from a book.

Rep sent for your use of the word 'smelt'.

P.S. I probably went to school with some of the engineers you referred to! If I recall correctly, it's safe to say I am thankful it's you that has to deal with them and not me!!
 
slowp
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I don't understand all the engineer bashing?

My dad, although not a graduate of an engineering college, did the figuring out of how much sag to put in powerlines, surveyed the footings for towers, and did a lot of work on the dams out here. I'm glad he was meticulous about doing things right. Very much so as he was in on the construction of the Hanford Project during WWII--they made plutonium.
 
oneoldbanjo

oneoldbanjo

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Engineers are usually the ones that figure out what went wrong! When things go right you seldom need them.:monkey:

You guys are obviously on a witch hunt....or are horribly uninformed. There is a small number of people employed in "forensic engineering" - but the majority of engineers are involved in the design and manufacturing side. When something fails it is not always the fault of the person that designed it, sometimes it was not built as designed, it was used in a way that caused it to be overstressed, or it was not properly maintained.

An engineer is involved in almost everything you buy or use in your daily life (unles you made it yourself) - but you give them very little credit and are very quick to criticize when your engineer neighbor is not able to sharpen his chainsaw correctly. Every car, truck, bridge, plane, sewer, electric line, gas line, water line, telephone line, dam, chipper, chainsaw, yarder, boat, refinery, factory, or beer can had an engineer involved. Sure you may not like the way the oil filter on your Ford F150 drips oil on the K member every time you have to change the filter - but give the engineer credit for the 99-44/100% of the things that work well. Some ideas and designs may not be what you would prefer and Flippy caps might not be your favorite way to open the tanks on your Stihl - but the rest of the saw sure makes your life more pleasant than using an axe. Green safety chains were not designed to cut wood as fast as possible - but designed to cut well while making the operator safer. The engineer is also constrained by accountants, politicians, the Govt., stockholders, business owners, and market demands - and that is why the splitter you buy at TSC for $ 1,000 is not built the same way as a $ 5,000 Timberwolf. Do you think that is was just trial and error that made it so your diesel truck can go for 300,000 miles without a rebuild? (Don't blame the engineer for the urea injection.......blame the same bureaucrats at the EPA that brought you ethanol blended fuel and chainsaws with catalytic converters).

You may not want an engineer as your "cuttin buddy".....but engineers still work every day to make this world a better place.
 
Last edited:
mheim1

mheim1

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You guys are obviously on a witch hunt....or are horribly uninformed. There is a small number of people employed in "forensic engineering" - but the majority of engineers are involved in the design and manufacturing side. When something fails it is not always the fault of the person that designed it, sometimes it was not built as designed, it was used in a way that caused it to be overstressed, or it was not properly maintained.

An engineer is involved in almost everything you buy or use in your daily life (unles you made it yourself) - but you give them very little credit and are very quick to criticize when your engineer neighbor is not able to sharpen his chainsaw correctly. Every car, truck, bridge, plane, sewer, electric line, gas line, water line, telephone line, dam, chipper, chainsaw, yarder, boat, refinery, factory, or beer can had an engineer involved. Sure you may not like the way the oil filter on your Ford F150 drips oil on the K member every time you have to change the filter - but give the engineer credit for the 99-44/100% of the things that work well. Some ideas and designs may not be what you would prefer and Flippy caps might not be your favorite way to open the tanks on your Stihl - but the rest of the saw sure makes your life more pleasant than using an axe. Green safety chains were not designed to cut wood as fast as possible - but designed to cut well while making the operator safer. The engineer is also constrained by accountants, politicians, the Govt., stockholders, business owners, and market demands - and that is why the splitter you buy at TSC for $ 1,000 is not built the same way as a $ 5,000 Timberwolf. Do you think that is was just trial and error that made it so your diesel truck can go for 300,000 miles without a rebuild? (Don't blame the engineer for the urea injection.......blame the same bureaucrats at the EPA that brought you ethanol blended fuel and chainsaws with catalytic converters).

You may not want an engineer as your "cuttin buddy".....but engineers still work every day to make this world a better place.

Man, I feel way better about my day now.
And sorry about that oil filter :laugh: (sometimes we have to use the space that's left over after all the 'important stuff' is packaged).
 
DangerTree

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You guys are obviously on a witch hunt....or are horribly uninformed. There is a small number of people employed in "forensic engineering" - but the majority of engineers are involved in the design and manufacturing side. When something fails it is not always the fault of the person that designed it, sometimes it was not built as designed, it was used in a way that caused it to be overstressed, or it was not properly maintained.

An engineer is involved in almost everything you buy or use in your daily life (unles you made it yourself) - but you give them very little credit and are very quick to criticize when your engineer neighbor is not able to sharpen his chainsaw correctly. Every car, truck, bridge, plane, sewer, electric line, gas line, water line, telephone line, dam, chipper, chainsaw, yarder, boat, refinery, factory, or beer can had an engineer involved. Sure you may not like the way the oil filter on your Ford F150 drips oil on the K member every time you have to change the filter - but give the engineer credit for the 99-44/100% of the things that work well. Some ideas and designs may not be what you would prefer and Flippy caps might not be your favorite way to open the tanks on your Stihl - but the rest of the saw sure makes your life more pleasant than using an axe. Green safety chains were not designed to cut wood as fast as possible - but designed to cut well while making the operator safer. The engineer is also constrained by accountants, politicians, the Govt., stockholders, business owners, and market demands - and that is why the splitter you buy at TSC for $ 1,000 is not built the same way as a $ 5,000 Timberwolf. Do you think that is was just trial and error that made it so your diesel truck can go for 300,000 miles without a rebuild? (Don't blame the engineer for the urea injection.......blame the same bureaucrats at the EPA that brought you ethanol blended fuel and chainsaws with catalytic converters).

You may not want an engineer as your "cuttin buddy".....but engineers still work every day to make this world a better place.

You miss understand the intent of that statement. It means when something tragic happens we hope an engineer will find a solution and when all things work fine they exist in the background. But you failed to mention that engineers also ensure things self destruct in order to reinforce the the part sales and repair industry as well as ensuring obsolescence.
 
'74 ua fj

'74 ua fj

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Don't worry, just because Joe Blow has "engineer" tacked on to the end of his name doesn't mean he's that much smarter than you. That's why I don't like to tell people I am one, they treat you differently, and for every smart one, there is a dumb one. Besides most electrical engineers don't do strength testing, mechanical design..etc. so I think you probably one up him in the wood cutting world, hell most mechanical engineers probably don't know jack squat about wood cuttin, the one's I work with don't really.
Nice little factiod ya got there :jester:

This is a pretty good post. I don't tell people that I'm an engineer either, unless they ask. Lots of times, people who don't know I'm an engineer think I have some pretty good ideas about things. Others who know that I'm an engineer think that I'm a "know it all." I don't point out design problems or make suggestions to them anymore because I know it won't change their minds.


Edit: I grew up in the woods and can drink beer with the best of the hillbillies.
 
DangerTree

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You guys are obviously on a witch hunt....or are horribly uninformed. There is a small number of people employed in "forensic engineering" - but the majority of engineers are involved in the design and manufacturing side. When something fails it is not always the fault of the person that designed it, sometimes it was not built as designed, it was used in a way that caused it to be overstressed, or it was not properly maintained.

An engineer is involved in almost everything you buy or use in your daily life (unles you made it yourself) - but you give them very little credit and are very quick to criticize when your engineer neighbor is not able to sharpen his chainsaw correctly. Every car, truck, bridge, plane, sewer, electric line, gas line, water line, telephone line, dam, chipper, chainsaw, yarder, boat, refinery, factory, or beer can had an engineer involved. Sure you may not like the way the oil filter on your Ford F150 drips oil on the K member every time you have to change the filter - but give the engineer credit for the 99-44/100% of the things that work well. Some ideas and designs may not be what you would prefer and Flippy caps might not be your favorite way to open the tanks on your Stihl - but the rest of the saw sure makes your life more pleasant than using an axe. Green safety chains were not designed to cut wood as fast as possible - but designed to cut well while making the operator safer. The engineer is also constrained by accountants, politicians, the Govt., stockholders, business owners, and market demands - and that is why the splitter you buy at TSC for $ 1,000 is not built the same way as a $ 5,000 Timberwolf. Do you think that is was just trial and error that made it so your diesel truck can go for 300,000 miles without a rebuild? (Don't blame the engineer for the urea injection.......blame the same bureaucrats at the EPA that brought you ethanol blended fuel and chainsaws with catalytic converters).

You may not want an engineer as your "cuttin buddy".....but engineers still work every day to make this world a better place.

You miss understand the intent of that statement. It means when something tragic happens we hope an engineer will find a solution and when all things work fine they exist in the background. But you failed to mention that engineers also ensure things self destruct in order to reinforce the the part sales and repair industry as well as ensure obsolescence.
 
Chris Crouse

Chris Crouse

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Morrison, CO
Most engineers are desk jockeys and know only what can be found in textbooks. It is very sad but true. I am an engineer and have a lot of time working with others and it's depressing and frustrating! Heck, engineer is what every position likes to call themselves these days. For example, "building engineer" must sound way cooler than "maintenance man" I guess.
 
Coloradobum

Coloradobum

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I'd say the majority of product failures today are due to the fact that engineers, chemists, all of us in R&D have our hands tied by the almighty dollar. Find the cheapest material that will last just a bit longer than the warranty. Rarely do you get to pick the "right" material for the job.
 
atvhead

atvhead

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the reason you can even use this thing called the internet, and this thing called a computer, a keyboard, mouse etc. to even post in this forum is because of an engineer(s). i am glad some people consider them "worthless". Only thing that is worthless is where this thread has gone.
 

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