atomic hand grenade

The Atomic Hand Grenade.   Is this for real?   Is this a joke?   I had heard about the nuclear hand grenade years ago but didn't find much information on it.   It was said that a soldier could throw a hand grenade for about 100 feet.   Unfortunately, the kill radius of the atomic hand grenade is suppose to be around 300 feet.   So the soldier who throws the nuclear hand grenade will get killed by the blast or radiation.   To see a larger version of any of the pictures, just click on them.

No, the above explosion is not from a nuclear hand grenade.   I never did understand how you could pack a critical mass of uranium into something the size of a hand grenade.    That is probably why I took the stories of a an atomic hand grenade "with a grain of salt".

With this recent round of talk of the development of a nuclear hand grenade it is proposed to use hafnium-178m.   What is hafnium?   It is just an element much like oxygen, carbon, or your other elements.  

It's atomic weight is 178 atomic units (protons + neutrons) which means it is heavy.   But what about the "m"?   That is the "kicker".   The "m" stands for metastable meaning that the nucleus of the atom has absorbed some energy and is now in an excited state,   It has too much energy for the nucleus to handle and it has to get rid of some of this excess energy.    It does this by giving off a gamma ray to carry away the excess energy and becomes hafnium-178.   No fissioning of the nucleus like in uranium and no fusion of nucleii like in the hydrogen bomb.    The nucleii of the hafnium-178m just slowly give off the gamma rays with not that many atoms giving off the gamma rays at any one time because it's half-life is 31 years which is the amount of time it takes for half of the hafnium atoms to give off a gamma ray and return to the Hafnium-178 stable state.   By the way the excitation energy of each Hafnium-178m nucleus is 2.4 million electron volts.  Wow!  But what if you could get a chunk of hafnium-178m to cascade and dump all of its excess energy from all of its atoms at once.   It is claimed that this can be done and the intense radiation would be lethal.   Would there also be a blast effect?   I don't know.   Perhaps someone reading this blog may know or have an opinion and post it in the comments section for all of us to read.   So would a nuclear hand grenade be possible?   Could be.    Pity the poor soldier throwing it.  

Sometimes the Davy Crockett atomic bazooka is referred to as a nuclear hand grenade causing some confusion over the nuclear hand grenade controversy.   Now this atomic bazooka was actually developed and test fired.

Yeah this had a nuclear warhead.

Well perhaps the nomenclature of bazooka really isn't appropriate.   I think that atomic recoilless rifle would probably be more appropriate.

This is the warhead.   It really isn't very big in size but it sure packed a whallop.

The warhead weighed 51 pounds and had an explosive power of 20 tons of TNT.   And it was actually test fired at the Nevada Atomic Test Site twice.   One test was called Little Feller I and the other test was called Little Feller II.   Here is a couple of websites where you can actually see the Davy Crocket nuclear being test fired.
This is the Little Feller I.

Here are some websites with videos of the test firing of the nuclear bazooka.

http://www.sonicbomb.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=56

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv_q8q6Z9_I

Have a good day and enjoy life to its fullest.    Lew

Oscar Meyer Weinermobile

Look at what was parked in front of our local Wal-Mart.   The Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.

I remember seeing the Weinermobile in the Oscar Meyer commercials way back when I was around 10 years old.   Never got to see one in person though, until now.   This is a first for me.   This is Mary in front of the Weinermobile.   Just look at the size of those side windows.

A nice smile.    I think that she was having fun.

We went inside the Weinermobile to see what it looks like.   Entry was through this gull-wing door on the passenger side of the vehicle.

The interior was so colorful with the bright yellow and red seats.   Even the carpet was colorful.   I have no idea what that hot dog shaped thing on the dash was for.   Anyone know?

As I understand there are a number of weinermobiles touring the country.   The weinermobile is driven by college seniors who are about to graduate.   They are known as hotdoggers.   It must be a terrific experience for them.   Something that they will remember all their life.   They are on the road for one year and then a new crew of hotdoggers takes over.

When we went inside the weinermobile one of the hotdoggers gave both Mary and I our very own weinerwhistle which I have wanted since childhood.    Being a small town, the weinermobile just never made it to my very small hometown.   But now I have my very own weinerwhistle.   I have already tried mine and it works really good and is really loud.

Mary also got a coupon for $1.00 off Oscar Meyer Select product.   That is one heck of a deal.   Here she is holding the coupon in her left hand.

 

I didn't know that the Oscar Myer Weinermnobile was going to be at my local Wal-Mart today.   I just literally stumbled onto it by accident.   I am glad that I did.  But there is an internet site that you can go to that tells where the Weinermobiles are located, plus a lot more of other information about the Weinermobile.

www.hotdoggerblog.com

Don't let the blue color fool you.   This is not a link to the site.   You will need to type it in.    They even have a map.

Their internet site is really neat and fun to explore.

Wikepedia also has a lot of information on the weninermobile.   Just do a search for "weinermobile".   Here is hoping that the weinermobile will be coming to your area soon and you can get your very own weinerwhistle.   To those of you who remember the weinermobile from your youth, it is really an exciting vehicle to see.    Have a great day.    Lew

horror of sinkholes

Remember that blog of mine from December 10, 2011 titled "Good News, Bad News"?   It was about sinkholes here in Orlando, Florida.   Those mysterious holes that open up and gobble your car, sometimes trees, and yes, sometimes even your house.  

What a terrible thing to have happen.   Then it all happened again 6 months later to another home.   That was from my blog of May-4-2012 titled "Sinkholes and Hurricanes"?

This was a bad one and it looked as though they might lose the house but they got lucky.

They managed to fill the sinkhole in with lots and lots of sand which we just happen to have in abundance here in Florida.  Here is a picture after they managed to fill that sinkhole in.   I really don't like the looks of those large cracks in the sand.

All's well that ends well as they say.   Then less than 4 miles away another sinkhole opened up.   This was on Monday, May 12, 2012.  The red label B in the picture is the location of the large sinkhole described above.   The red label A is the location of the most recent sinkhole on Monday.

Hard to believe that anything like a sinkhole could happen in this scenic pastoral setting.   Wouldn't you just love to live here?   Of course you would.    The house on the left in the picture above is the one that had the misfortune of a sinkhole in their front yard.   So you say "Where is the sinkhole?".   Well, this pictures was taken in April of 2011, about 1 1/2 years ago.   Just continue to scroll down to the next picture.

So here is the scenario, you take your son to school one morning and everything is fine but when you return home you are greeted by this in your front yard.   That is the neighbors house in the background.   But the hole is definitely in your front yard.

How big will it get and how much will it cost to fill the hole in?   Good questions.

Here is an aerial photo of the area.   Just look at all of the lakes.   Looks like swiss cheese.   If you see a round lake in central Florida, it was probably formed by a sinkhole.   Could someone's house be sitting at the bottom of one of these sinkholes that filled with water and is now a lake?   It's possible.    California has earthquakes which can open up the ground and swallow you up.   Here in Central Florida we have sinkholes where the ground opens up and swallows you up.   But the weather here is great and we have Disneyworld, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, and the list just goes on and on.    Have a great day and if it is cold where you are living, the weather here in Orlando, Florida is quite pleasant.   As they say at Disney, "Have a magical day".    Lew

old movies

Remember these old Video Cassette recorders?   Now they are passe' being replaced by DVD discs.   But at one time they were "cutting edge" technology.   Now you can see piles of them in the second-hand stores for a few dollars.   No one wants them anymore.   Discarded like an old pair of shoes.   And what about the VCR cassettes?

I use to purchase blank tapes at $20 each.   And the tapes with the prerecorded movies on them ranged in price from $49 to $79 depending on popularity.   I didn't want to spend that much money 30 years ago so I got my rented my movies from the movie stores.    Now look at these expensive cassettes.   They range from 50 cents to 69 cents at flea markets, yard sales, and second hand stores.   When I like a movie I like to view it again from time to time.   So I buy them and play them in my VCR.    I have built up an extensive collection of these old movies.   I started to list the movies that I have but the list is much too long.

I have my favorites though like War of the Worlds

and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.  

I also like Broken Arrow.

I have got a lot of them (92 at last count) at those ridiculously low prices.   Let me pose a question.   Have you ever been asked at the holidays that if you had to take all of your presents back except one, which one would you keep?   Sometimes you get some surprising answers, but it ells what the person really liked best.   Of these 92 movies which one would I keep if I could only keep one?   It is the earliest movie that I can remember seeing and I just loved it.   So which one is it?   It is the Enchanted Forest starring Harry Davenport.

Why this particular film?   It brings back so many very pleasant memories for me.   I watch the film from time to time and I still love the film.   It is a very idealistic film of simpler times.   I am just glad that I have a copy.

But let me tell you of a big advantage of VCR is that when you stop it in the middle of a movie, it will pick up right where I left off, even if it is the next day.   Having to start at the beginning is an annoyance that I find of DVD's.   Think about the possibility of starting your own collection of past movies with ridiculously cheap tapes.   Rewatching an old movie like Hoffa starring Jack Nicholson and Danny Devito is something that I just don't seem to tire of.   Jack Nicholson's performance was fantastic.  

I could just go on and on rattling off the names of the great movies of the past. but I won't.   I have already started rambling in the blog too much.   Take care and let me know which recorded movie (either VHS or DVD) is your favorite in the comments section below.   Also which movie would you like to have that you don't have already.   Take care and don't forget to vote.    Lew

migrant mother

The great depression of 1929.   What a terrible time to live through.   I cannot fathom just how miserable it must have been during the depression.   The hopelessness.   The woman in the picture is a migrant mother who was a field worker.   The picture was taken at a pea-pickers field camp in Nipomo, California in 1936.  Her name was Florence Owens Thompson.  The children are Ruby at her right shoulder, Katherine at her left shoulder, and Norma is the baby in her lap.  A photographer took her picture in 1936 and the picture came to symbolize the plight of the farm workers during the depression.   She was age 32 when her picture was taken.   She must have been quite a fighter because she survived and lived to age 80.   The picture below was taken 43 years after the great depression picture and she was age 75 at the time.   The three women with her are her daughters in the picture above.

From left to right the daughters are Katherine, Norma, and Ruby who is squatted down.   Of course that is their mother Florence seated in the chair.   Go back and take a look at the children in the picture above and realize how well her children succeeded when they grew to adults.   They started with nothing and ended up successful.  Here is a picture of Katherine today holding the famous picture of them with their mother.

She has her own home which looks to be pretty nice.   Quite an accomplishment.  Did the adversity that they faced growing up make them stronger?   People really were a hearty stock years ago.   Like the song says "only the strong survive".  

The necklace that Florence is wearing in the picture above looks to be of an indian design to me.   It is hard to tell because the picture is so blurry.   It would be logical since Florence was born Florence Leona Christie, a full-blooded Cherokee from Oklahoma.   She was also the granddaughter of Ned Christie, who was a Cherokee, a well respected, man and in 1895 was a Cherokee senator.  

He was falsely accused of murdering a marshal, hunted by a posse and killed.

An eyewitness testified years later that Ned Christie had not killed the marshal.   And so his good name was cleared.  

What a colorful heritage Florence Thompson had.   And it looks like life turned out alright for her and that the bad days of the great depression are just a memory for her.   The picture of her as a migrant mother now resides in the Library of Congress.   And in 1998 the United States Post Office put her picture on a postage stamp to commemorate her life.   There is lots of information on the internet about Florence Owens Thompson and "migrant mother".   Do some searches because it is really a very interesting story. 

I sometimes wonder if there may be another depression looming on the horizon with the economy being so bad.   Will I get to experience what this woman went through?   Would I be strong enough to weather a depression as she did?   I sincerely hope that I don’t find out.   With the presidential elections near, these thoughts of the country’s finances and the image of the migrant mother loom in my mind.   Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best, and of course vote for the right person.   But most of all, Vote!    Lew

Hurricane Sandy

Yes, that is Hurricane Sandy off of the coast of Florida churning away.   See that yellow X in the picture?   That is me in Orlando watching the hurricane pass by heading up the coast.

I am enjoying the "blustery winds" that we are getting from the hurricane and the occasional brief showers are good for the flowers.

They are flying the red hurricane warning flags at the lifeguard towers at the beach on the coast.

Just a brief question - Did you ever see the movie Lifeguard starring Sam Elliott?   What did you think of it?

I liked the philosophy of the film of doing the job that you enjoy doing, whether it be taking x-rays or catering large events.  

So few people in life truly enjoy what they do to earn a living.   I was lucky, I enjoyed being an x-ray technician.

But to get back to Hurricane Sandy.   I would like to get over to the beach to see the big waves and pounding surf.

I like the sound of the surf and the feel of the salt spray on my face.   So why don't I go?   Gas.   The price of gas.  

I drive a pick-up truck and they are typically terrible on gas mileage.   I use to consider how long a trip will take in terms of driving time, now it is how much is the trip going to cost me in gas.   What other purposes could I use that money for.

Yes, as the gas gauge heads to "full", my wallet heads for "empty".   An unfortunate sign of the times.

Sometimes Seaside will get some pictures of the surf and email them to me.

Since I won't be getting over to the coast, hopefully Seaside will get some pictures for me.   It is the next best thing to being there.

For those of you living in the northeast portion of the United States like Long Island or Delaware, look out because Sandy is coming.

Even the computers says that Sandy is coming.

Good news, bad news.   The bad news is that there is a hurricane close by.   The good news is that it won't be coming to Orlando.   For the people on Long Island and Delaware the bad news is that there is a hurricane heading their way.   The good news is........well, there is no good news.   Sorry.   Well, maybe there may be some good news after all.   They can have a hurricane party.   Take care and don't forget the chips and dip.    Lew