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diff --git a/src/md/31_Ricochet_Rockets_in_the_Basement.md b/src/md/31_Ricochet_Rockets_in_the_Basement.md deleted file mode 100644 index b85a732..0000000 --- a/src/md/31_Ricochet_Rockets_in_the_Basement.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,57 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: Ricochet Rockets in the Basement ---- - -Life Lesson: Cleanliness and organization are good habits - -The fireworks lab was in the basement in our home in Windham, Maine. I -was not yet very tidy down there and often left odds and ends from long -past projects lying around on the workbench. It was on a Saturday when -this next little fiasco occurred. Lori was away from the house for some -unknown reason, but at least some of the children were home. However, I -was working alone in the basement at the time. I don\'t remember what I -was even working on, but I was using my electric grinding wheel to -sharpen or shape some piece of metal. The nature of grinding wheels is -that they quite often produce a lot of bright metal sparks shooting out -the back side of the grinding wheel.\ -\ -Now, normally, this is not a real fire hazard because the sparks are not -hot enough to start fires or even cause damage to the surrounding -surface of the work bench. However, I had left a paper cup of flammable -powder of some kind on the work bench. It was left over from some other -project and never properly disposed of. After many months of sitting on -the back of the work bench, I didn\'t even take notice of the cup or -what dangerous substance might still be lurking inside. As you can -guess, the sparks from the grinding wheel ignited this cup of powder and -caused a large poof of flame that startled me quite a bit. This was not -the end of the incident, however. Lying next to the paper cup were a few -fireworks rockets. They were meant for large stick rockets, a lot like -bottle rockets, but much larger. Whereas bottle rockets are about one -and a half inches long and attached to a foot long stick, my stick -rockets were about six inches long and normally would be attached to -3-foot-long sticks. Well, the flash and flame from the paper cup caused -the fuses of the rockets to ignite and before I could react they were -flying around in the basement, ricocheting off the walls and ceiling -just like a Wiley Coyote cartoon. The whole basement quickly filled up -with smoke and then the smoke alarm started wailing.\ -\ -All this racket caused Megan to wonder what was going on in the -basement. She opened the door to the basement, only to discover it was -filled with smoke and the alarm was still making an ear-piercing noise. -About this time, I finally got my wits about me and quickly told Megan -to close the door so the smoke wouldn\'t go upstairs. My first act to -recover from this disaster was to grab a pillow and stuff it around the -fire alarm to deafen the awful noise. Then I opened the patio door to -let the smoke go outside. Gradually, the smoke cleared and the fire -alarm stopped its annoying wail. It was then I realized that some sparks -of some kind had managed to get under the cuff of my shirt and caused a -nasty burn. I still have a nice little scar on my arm that reminds me of -my stupidity to this day. Fortunately, no other harm was caused by the -incident and I again considered myself very lucky that I escaped with -only a bit of a burn on my arm.\ -\ -From this scary incident, I learned that cleanliness and organization -are good habits to have when working with explosives. A little -carelessness on one day can cause a serious accident to sneak up on you -many days in the future when you least expect it to happen. Alas, my -lesson still didn\'t prevent other fiascos to follow. |