This is making the e-mail rounds. According to #48, everybody here fits the bill.
You know you're a PMEL geek if...
1. You memorize ID label numbers.
2. You take any T.O. home with you too look over.
3. You're idea of a fun Friday night includes Magic Cards, Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons.
4. You have been calibrating over 40 years.
5. Your name is Hercules.
6. You're on vacation and you decide to "drop by the lab to check it out."
7. Your computer costs more than your car.
8. Your belt is fastened above your bellybutton.
9. You make PMEL jokes around people who are not PMEL.
10. You come in to the lab or call the lab on your day off.
11. You have any part of the K100 or 00-20-14 memorized.
12. You're a "sweet calibrator."
13. Your license plate says PMEL
14. You knew what PMEL was before you joined the Air Force
15. Pushing around a 5700A on a cart is your only exercise
16. You collect old cert labels
17. Giggidy
18. Your night life is watching cartoons
19. You take leave to go to a computer convention.
20. You bring your own tweeker to work
21. You look for test instruments in movies, so you can tell people you work on them
22. You carry the T.O. to the men's room w/ you.
23. You retire from PMEL so you can do more PMEL
24. You tell the girl in class that whines too much to adjust her wein bridge
25. You own any personal test equipment and you bring it in to the lab to get calibrated.
26. You work during lunch or breaks.
27. You work in Hawaii and the only thing you can show your guest is the lab. (see #6)
28. You crawl under a bench and cry during an AFMETCAL audit.
29. Your idea of a cool party is a LAN party.
30. Your spouse is also in PMEL.
31. You are recognized as an expert on a test equipment...scope guy, spec an guy.
32. You memorized the equipment part numbers in your section and also other sections.
33. You talk about PMEL during lunch or breaks.
34. You carry around a PMEL coin so you can coin check other PMEL geeks.
35. You watch Tech T.V. on break instead of Sport Center
36. You work in Hawaii, but you don't have a tan
37. You are a civilian and work over your duty hours and not get paid overtime.
38. You have an AFMETCAL sticker from the last audit on your car.
39. You look up manufacturers websites just to see the latest test equipment.
40. You get excited when a new standard comes in and you want to be the first one to use it.
41. You've looked up the definition of a metrologist and now you call yourself a scientist.
42. You collect 350 tags from OWC's because they are "funny".
43. You have a LAN party at the lab. See 10 and 29
44. You get offended when non PMEL people call it a shop.
45. You think it would be cool if PMEL wore lab coats.
46. You have ever said that you are a combat calibrator.
47. You get more action online then you do in real life.
48. You have ever went to the PMEL Forum website.
49. You get out of the military early and all you can do now is PMEL.
50. You actually start working before anyone else is even at work.
51. You have ever bought tickets in advance and had to see the first showing of any of these movies: Star Wars, Matrix, Lord of the Ring.
52. The only time you go "camping" is when there is a new Star Wars movie.
53. You know the difference between Star Trek Next Generation and Star Trek Voyager.
54. You say one Star Trek series is better then the other (they all suck).
55. You have your personal profile on the Battle Star Gallactica fan club web site.
56. You have ever said you miss working on a certain piece of test equipment.
57. You go to the gym and see someone weighing themselves on a scale that isn't calibrated and you feel the need to tell them that.
58. Other PMEL geeks think you're a geek.
59. A night of drinking involves Smirnoff ice and hard cider
60. You want to become an instructor at school so you can mold future PMEL Geeks
61. You have Fluke, Agilent, and PMEL.ORG in your favorites
62. If you correct people when they call the company H-P instead of Agilent
63. You have ever said this is going to be fun before the calibration
64. You have children named after Herbie the avionics TI or any other TI
65. You have ever slapped fives after completing a calibration.
66. You have a caliper Tattoo
67. You call yourself "Old School" PMEL
64. You ask the guy putting the tap on the keg if he has his T.O. out and if he is signed off in his training records.
65. The only porn you own is anime
66 You learned how to play Pinochle, Euchre, Spades or Hearts just to be socially accepted at work.
67. The only friends you have are either PMEL or Avionics.
68. It drops 2 degrees and you think it got cold.
69. You see 69 and you still laugh.
70. You have never been embarrassed to admit you were PMEL.
71. You still remember the first item you ever stamped.
72. You almost or did cry when you got your first QR bust.
73. Someone ask you what PMEL is and you actually try to explain it.
74. You put items in work as soon as they come in the door so you can be the only one to work on that item.
75. You're on a test equipment manufacturers mailing list.
76. You got a free t-shirt from a manufacturer and you wear it.
77. You flip out if someone touches your stamp.
78. You like working Saturdays.
79. You've asked "is that calibrated" about something that has nothing to do with test equipment.
80. You cross train out of PMEL but you still go by the lab to see how things are going.
81. Your greatest sex escapade involves your girlfriend or wife and the surface plate.
I don't know about the surface plate, but there was that time in the K8 cage at Ramstein... :-D
I got a speeding ticket in Kansas City Missouri years ago. I asked the cop if it was certified and he showed me that it was, with my name and stamp on the cal label.
Oh man, that's gotta hurt...!
Hoopty,
One more how about the lab calls to check on you or get questions answered when your out.
You know, it's pretty sad reading through this and realizing just how much of this I fit into. Fortunately, I'm a dorm manager right now and could give a s*** about how the lab is doing. Unless they have a hail and farewell. Where there is free food, there I will be.
You had a cart for your 5700A? :?
82. You have your own personalized DMM leads with your name on it for your 'pimped-out' Fluke 77BN.
83. Your vision is 5 times worse than what it was before you used the autocollimator.
85. You question the accuracy uncertainties of gas pumps. :x
Quote from: PMEL_DEVIL-DOG on 07-19-2006 -- 12:19:34
You had a cart for your 5700A? :?
They're refering to
Air Force PMEL...
oh.... :-)
Quote from: coastiecappy on 07-19-2006 -- 11:51:00
Hoopty,
One more how about the lab calls to check on you or get questions answered when your out.
Been there... done that.
86. You had an orgasm the first time you saw the TDS620 o'scope! (which for the Corps was a couple years ago!)
I had that experience when the 5700A came out (see # 67)...
87. You thought that the hydraulic cal fluid you where using to calibrate a particle counter would make excellent lube.... :? :oops: :-D
88. Somehow you seem to be able to name all the cartoon shows from the era of Transformers and GI Joe. (Snorks, Smurfs, etc) You can also remember watching then when they weren't re-runs.
89. You roasted a 5700A by using it as power supply as a newbie! (oops!)
90. It takes you 15 minutes to measure for a cut on a 2X4 board and your tape measure has a cal sticker.
91. You think online gaming is somehow less geeky than playing D&D on paper.
92. You can define a regular buffer, a high speed buffer, dry mopping, stripping, nonconductive wax, etc. And know 20 differnt uses for green scrubbie pads.
93. If you have even polished a brass grounding bar.
94. You have ever been the snack bar monitor.
95. You've ever had to rearrange a room five times before the flight chief is happy, for optimal calibration ease.
96. You have the time and money to make a chess set out of test adapters.
Quote from: PMEL_DEVIL-DOG on 07-21-2006 -- 05:52:00
89. You roasted a 5700A by using it as power supply as a newbie! (oops!)
I had a guy at Ramstein do that with a 5100B Opt 03 one time... Took me a week to bring it back to life...
97. You hord test leads and cables in you locked bench drawer.
Coup, that sounds like most of the people there. When I order new ones from Grainger I have to have them sent to my house.
We are constantly running short of leads and cables here. And yes I lock mine up too. Even when I am working in Phys.D. I keep my connectors and leads locked up. They are mine all mine. I just like to have everything I need when I have to work on electronics. It really sucks spending 30 minutes looking for an adaprter or a 75ohm cable.
98. You've used every function on your scientific calculator.
99. You've used every function on a HP 3458A (e.g. MATH STAT, RMATH MEAN, etc...)
100. You write MET/CAL procedures at home in your spare time... in your underpants...
101. You blew .002 over the legal limit and questioned the uncertainty of the breathalyzer.
102. You don't know what tutorials to take at the NCSL conference, 'cuz you've been to most of them before....
103. You argue with the traffic court that a one point calibration on a radar gun is not verifing the linearity of the whole range.
104. You set your wrist watch with the GPS receiver.
105. You argue with the front office of the school because your kid is not late according to your watch which is set to your GPS receiver. He was there 2 minutes before 8:10.
106. You take 15 measurements when hanging a large painting in your living room to make sure it is level.
I'm guilty of all of these.
I was hanging a picture in the new house the other day, with my mother sitting on the couch watching my progress. I have carefully made my marks for the two wall hangers using a 4' level (the 8" torpedo levels just aren't good enough for this application), and she suggests that I measure from the ceiling to the marks to make sure they're level. I explain to her that I have established my level with a LEVEL, and it's fine the way it is. "Measure from the ceiling anyway, just to satisfy your mother." OK. So I measure from the ceiling, and one mark is .5" different than the other one, whereupon I explain to Mom that the house is 50 years old and has plaster ceilings, not drywall, and plaster ceilings are seldom level, especially over time. She was impressed with my supposed knowledge of structural mechanics, which is really just common sense- big, heavy things like houses settle over time, so you can't trust a wall to be plumb, or a floor or ceiling to be level. My metal 4' Craftsman level I trust. I hung the picture, checked for level again (perfect), and moved on...
I use 2 lasar levels. One to make sure the other is level and one to project the level lasar beam on the wall. My wife thinks I am crazy.
That's not crazy. That's THOROUGH.
When I listen to my wife describe me to other people, she says I am "fastidious," or that I have "German quality tendancies." Dad always said if you're not going to do it right, don't do it at all. Some people are fine with "good enough." I sleep better at night knowing a job was done correctly and thoroughly. The devil is in the details, and sometimes it just works better when you sweat the details and give 101%...
I agree. You can't be too accurate. However providing uncertianties for hanging a picture may be a bit much.
Just a tad bit... I've been cal'ing since I was a kid and didn't know it. There time I adjusted my scope for rabbit hunting! :-D
I took a look at that nixie tube wrist watch.
I would love to have one of those.
At age 9 I fixed my parents phone that wouldn't ring. It actually wasn't really that hard, but at 9 years old my parents impressed,
106. You're a member of a computer-based metrology forum! :-D
107. If you are one of the top posters on a PMEL forum. :-D
108. Your favorite posters include the resistor color code chart.
109. You calibrate your sparkplug gapping gauge before checking the gap of your sparkplugs.
Coup, that one may be just a bit over the top... (Ironically, I understand your thought process behind doing it, so don't think I look at this as a BAD thing!)
110) taking a 1lb class 0 standard mass with you to the deli to make sure your pound of ham is a pound.
111) You could open your own video store with your movie collection.
112) You can recall the plot of every movie you own for the asking.
113 - you read through the Fluke catalog and put little yellow post-its next to the hand-held DMM you like so your wife knows what to buy you for Christmas...
Quote from: cobychuck on 08-01-2006 -- 14:44:23
108. Your favorite posters include the resistor color code chart.
"Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly, Get Some Now."
Black
Brown
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Violet
Gray
White
Gold
Silver
No Color
You watch old science fiction movies and when you see the old scopes and counters you know what they are and tell everyone I worked on those before.
Quote from: docbyers on 08-09-2006 -- 13:23:21
Quote from: cobychuck on 08-01-2006 -- 14:44:23
108. Your favorite posters include the resistor color code chart.
"Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly, Get Some Now."
I just love mnemonics!
you calibrate your measuring cups in the kitchen.
Quote from: flew-da-coup on 08-10-2006 -- 05:46:57
you calibrate your measuring cups in the kitchen.
Kitchen-Aid seems to make the best...
What? You thought you were the only one that did this? ...and how is the linearity on your bathroom weight scale? :-)
The linearity and sensitivity are okay. It was hard to corner load though. Too little area for so much weight. I decided to no longer use the scale as a direct read. I have a set of class E2 weights and use the bathroom scale as a comparator. I do a double substitution weigh design and use a 100g sensitivity weight. I have been charting my scale for 2 years now. :|
It's always fun when you're at the doctor's office and you step on their scale (not a cal sticker in sight) and tell them it's to hell and gone off, because your scale at home reads such-and-such weight, and their scale is off by 5 pounds... Then you launch into an explanation of E2 weights, tracability, linearity and atmospheric pressure, and the nurse decides then and there that you're a helluva lot smarter than her boss, the doctor...
After hours she weighs herself on the scale at the office, then goes home and tries her scale, and thinks "Damn! That weird guy this morning was right!!"
The phone rings, and it's the nurse: "Can you bring your E squared weights over to my apartment and check my scale? I think it's not reading correctly..."
That evening, while putting your clothes back on, you remind her to call you in 3 months so you can check her scale again, because that's the recommended calibration cycle...
hahahaha :lol:
I proudly wore my "Samarui Calibrator" T shirt - and the Mrs did always fancy a go on the surface plate.
I take my guitar tuners (I have four different pedal types..for different setups), and compare them to the 3325B connected to the house clock..is that obsessive?
Mike
I challenged the scale used at an airport in a undisclosed country that said I was 7 kilos over the alloted 30 kilos. I got suspicious when I was told it was going to be 30 dollars per kilo... That was more than my ticket! I asked in a very loud voice when this scale had last been calibrated by the country's weight and measures? How was I to know if the scale was accurate as there was no validation sticker on it? Other passengers started paying attention. Next thing I knew the ticket agent was waving all fees.
BAM! Another win for the Metrology Geeks!
everytime you see a set of calipers stored with the jaws tightly shut, you go ballistic on the owner.
(I race radio controlled cars, everyone in the pits has a set, 95% of them store them fully closed.... :cry:)
You have ever had to explain why you were wearing white cotton gloves to touch your gage blocks... If someone else calls me Michael Jackson I am gonna flip!!!
If people constantly ask you about the weather,after you explain what PMEL is.
(http://www.fink-audio.net/wp-content/uploads/screenshotsmall.jpg)
You bring your job home with you to the point where you have traceable graphs like that for all 7 speakers in you custom made home theater.
Or if you reply to this thread.
Or if you have used a laser distometer to precisely place all 7 speakers equidistance from your prefered home theatre seat.....
Or, if you measure your car for the seat, pedals and steering wheel so you can set the ergonomics of your game console exactly right
Quote from: PMEL Whore on 02-22-2011 -- 13:41:13
Or, if you measure your car for the seat, pedals and steering wheel so you can set the ergonomics of your game console exactly right
You should have done that at race car fantasy camp.
Quote from: PMEL Whore on 02-22-2011 -- 13:41:13
Or, if you measure your car for the seat, pedals and steering wheel so you can set the ergonomics of your game console exactly right
I like the cut of your jib. Although getting another Recaro seat just for gaming might be a bit much...
I sideline as a church sound man at our portable church setup. On my duty Sunday, when connecting up the sound cart (has the mixer board, equalizers, effects hardware, CD, etc.), I have to set up, plug in and set the time on a digital clock with big red LED's. As I set the time, I monitor my cell phone for a transition between minutes (i.e.: for example, transition from 8:35 to 8:36). I then set the clock to hit 8:36 right when my cell phone switches from 8:35 to 8:36. This minimizes the uncertainty of the clock setting, and I declare a plus or minus 2 second uncertainty for the clock setting. Luckily for me, our music leader (contemporary type person) is a high school computer teacher for his day job; and he understands what I do for a living. So it never gets old. I have duty this Sunday.
You know you are a PMEL GEEK.. If you are reading this!