mbenfinney.bsky.social
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Any hope of getting glucose sensors like Libre Freestyle 3+ covered in some way? $75/month for diabetics can be rough.
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Does anyone know why answering a simple question such as,"is my public official's office getting a lot of calls?" would be private?
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Dark Tide (Stephen Puleo) is about the Boston Molasses Disaster, which happened because of molasses' use in making explosives and munitions during WWI. Puleo goes into a lot of background about what else was going on at the time.
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At 12:45 pm on January 15, 1919, the molasses storage tank ruptured and released its entire content in all directions.
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For some context, imagine a football field. If you built a wall around the entire playing surface including both endzones, 2.3 million gallons would rise 5.3 feet from the surface.
In the tank, the height of the molasses was 48 ft 9 inches, with a weight of 26 million pounds.
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Jell figured USIA could distill a large amount of grain alcohol in early 1919 and push it out to liquor producers before the ban took effect. So, he arranged for 600,000 gallons of molasses to be added to the tank on January 13, 1919. This will fill the tank to 2.3 million gallons of molasses.
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In November of 1918, World War 1 ended. With that, the demand for munitions (and the alcohol needed to make them) dropped off dramatically. Also, Prohibition was about to be ratified into the US Constitution, but there would be a one-year grace period.
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Jell, tired of the frequent leak complaints, ordered the tank to be painted brown in August of 1918. Upon hearing this, Gonzales quit and enlisted in the Army.
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Isaac Gonzales, a worker at the tank and pump house, brought concerns to Hell several times. Gonzales was so concerned about the tank that he would visit it in the middle of the night to drain molasses into the harbor.
In 1918 alone, the tank was filled above the 2 million gallon mark 7 times.
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From 1916 through 1918, the tank was filled frequently. Many people note the groaning and rumbling sounds after it was filled. Despite frequent caulking, the tank leaked all the time. Neighborhood children would collect and eat the molasses that gathered in puddles at the base (a 3-ft concrete pad).
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The tank (1) was located in a working class Irish and Italian neighborhood, 200 ft from Boston Harbor. It was next to Commercial Street, a fire station (2), and a section of elevated train tracks.
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The tank was completed in time to be "leak tested" before its first delivery of molasses on December 31. Leak testing, in this case, meant "filling" the tank with 6 inches of water, noting no leaks, and declaring it ready for service.
The tank leaked molasses from day one.
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tall and 90 feet in diameter, with a 2.5 million gallon capacity. The construction was entirely riveted mild steel, welding not being commonly used in construction (or shipbuilding) at the time.
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Construction began in early December. Jell had had to negotiate a land lease with the Boston Elevated Train Company, which took longer than he expected and he was up against his end of the year deadline. Hammond Ironworks provided the material and constructed the tank, a massive structure 50 feet
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make even more money! They identified a location in north Boston to build a molasses storage tank, and tapped Arthur Jell, the company treasurer, to supervise construction. They dangle a promotion in front of Jell if he can complete construction in time to receive a molasses shipment by December 31.
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In 1915, U.S Industrial Alcohol was supplying alcohol to munitions manufacturers. They distilled the alcohol from molasses, which they were buying from a local third party. USIA owned at least one molasses production company in the Caribbean. If they had a place to store it in Boston, they could
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Snow Crash by @nealstephenson.bsky.social
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
I realize both are well known in nerd circles, but every time I pick one of them up they just grab and don't let go.