Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Nice to see ice

The temperature listed on this
site is not too far off from my
house (atypical). Snow even fell
last night to - I'm sure - an amount
not measurable by weather studies.
Just a scant amount to paint the
streets white, again. I just like not
watching the rest of our snow melt
off before January ends which gives
me the hope of boarding a hill or two
when time allows.


POP QUIZ:
At what temperature does gasoline
not evaporate fumes "to an ignitable
degree", and, why? There is, also, a
temperature that gasoline will not
light at all - ?

This subject came up yesterday at work.
A gas station in LA needed a valve replaced
(soldered) on the outside of the building.
Said valve happens to be 18 feet from gas
dispensers and the temperature was over
40 degrees Fahrenheit. I had to explain to
my Boss and the fuel company that hired
us for repairs why I wished to wait for
lower temperatures to swing an open
flame within 20 feet of the live fuel
equipment. "Oh!", said the fuel guy.
"Where did you hear that?", and, "I guess
that does make sense." were phrases
utter by him and the boss man. Have
they never heard of such!? One would
expect the fuel company to know. Anyway,
I didn't take out a major intersection
(LA's busiest, for that matter) because
I didn't do it. I don't care if the
intersection goes "boom!", just not with me
in it, thank you! They both took my word
for it - never even "googled" the
question. Fools to trust Homer, you
think? I did some research last
night to come up with valid temp.s
and reasons besides hear-say.
There are other reasons law requires
your engine off while fueling besides
temperature and effects - leaving
that a credible law even at -50.

Anyway, sorry to all of you
"spring wishers" out in blog land but
it's good to see temps below
freezing, again. At least until I
can actually plant something and see
the grass grow.

1 opinionated prattle:

Stan Harrington said...

What a great "pop quiz", I sure there is an answer, it just escapes me right now! I did not know that gas could get to a temperature low enough that it would not ignite. Talk about a great "fire starter", if you could take it to the proper temperature that it would not ignite, fill up a ice cube tray full of gas and neatly place it under the wood, as the temperature rose you could then ignite it without the fear of the gas can blowing up in your hands. Maybe even "freeze" a fuse into each cube and have a mini stick of dynamite. An entire new concept for "Molotov cocktails" comes to mind. However, good thinking on the job, surely would hate to see things go bang. Good thing someone thinks.

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