“The concrete was on fire!…”

[archerships]

She wrote:

“…the basics: I’m 26 — old enough to engage you in intelligent discussion but young enough to still appreciate drunken mischief, adventures, and misadventures. I’m cute (so I’ve been told), petite and Asian. I pay the bills by working as an chemical engineer. I love traveling, rock concerts, good company with vino, and napping. I hate Vegas, egoists, and having to post here for a decent date…”

My response:

Hi,

I fear I’m too late to invite you out to Indiana Jones tonight. But perhaps we can go see “Kung Fu Panda”? Or “The Chronicles of Narnia”?

We have a lot in common, you and I. For example, you love napping. I love napping! I’m an Olympic-calibre napper, in fact. But it’s not all sloth at Chez Rasch. There’s gluttony too. You know who makes a really good burger? Dairy Belle, in Belmont. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but hmmm..mmmh, they make a tasty burger.

I’m sad that you hate Vegas, BTW. They have Cirque de Soleil shows! And Penn and Teller! And those magical gay guys, before the tiger ate one of them. So I hope someday you give Vegas another chance.

What chemicals do you engineer by the way? Do you have any favorites? My favorite chemicals are perfluorocarbon and chlorine trifluoride.

You’re probably familiar with their chemical properties already, but I like perfluorocarbon because it’s so non-toxic and dissolves oxygen so readily that you can actually breathe it. It’s what the rat was breathing in the Abyss:

http://www.engadget.com/2004/10/01/movie-gadget-friday-the-fluid-breathing-system-from-the-abyss/

And I like chlorine trifluoride because it’s such a strong oxidizer that it will burn sand and asbestos tile:

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_save_you_this_time.php

If you look up “badass” in the CRC, there’s a picture of chlorine trifluoride.

As for pictures of me (along with a more extensive profile), you can find them at my okcupid profile:

http://www.okcupid.com/profile/crasch4

So…a movie perhaps? Or coffee? Or if you’d like a more active date, I’ve been eager to try out Sky High Sport:

http://www.jumpskyhigh.com/

If any of those appeal, let me know. I look forward to (maybe) meeting you!

Chris

——
I didn’t include this in my response, but I thought it was pretty cool:

“…During the liquid rocket propellant era, a major incident involving ClF3 occurred the first time a one-ton steel container was loaded with liquid ClF3 for bulk shipment. The container had been cooled with dry ice to perform the liquid transfer and help make the product safer to handle, since the ClF3 vapor pressure would only be about 0.007 kg/cm2 (0.1 psia) in the subcooled state. However, the dry ice bath embrittled the steel container wall, which split while it was being maneuvered onto a dolly, instantaneously releasing 907 kg (2,000 lb) of cold ClF3 liquid onto the building floor. The ClF3 dissolved the 30 cm (12 inch) thick concrete floor and another 90 cm (36 inches) of gravel underneath the spill. The fumes that were generated (chlorine trifluoride, hydrogen fluoride, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, etc.) severely corroded everything that was exposed.3 One eyewitness described the incident by stating, “The concrete was on fire!…”

Original: craschworks - comments

Comments

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

A match made in heaven? ;)

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Maybe! If she's into the noble gases, I don't know if this relationship will last.

[afb.livejournal.com]

If I were a chemical engineer, I would be totally sold. :D (Although I admit, someone who hates Vegas and egoists would give me pause! XD)

[crasch.livejournal.com]

I'm not particularly fond of the casinos either. If that's all you've seen of Vegas, I could see why someone wouldn't like it.

As for not liking egoists, well, it depends on what she means by that. Sometimes people use the word to mean someone who is shortsidedly selfish. If she means that, then I don't have a problem with it. But if she means a philosophical egoist, well, yes, we probably won't get along. :>

[afb.livejournal.com]

I was talking to fishsupreme about egoism last night, and it occurred to me that most people think of egoists as people who need to build themselves up by tearing other people down. When I think of egoism, there's obviously the philosophical aspect, but primarily I think of people like, well, fishsupreme (and, hm, kitiara), people who have an extremely healthy sense of self, to the point of being able to have a sense of humor about it, and who don't jerk around with false modesty -- if you compliment them, they don't say "Oh, I am not," but rather "Thank you!" I love being around people like that. The best of the best of them don't just feel that way about themselves, they're made genuinely happy by people who feel that way about themselves (er, their-own-selves), too. They take pleasure in other people's competence and are always happy to see other people being happy and self-confident and competent in whatever their particular fields/interests are.

So many people have so much invested in being modest/humble/having low self-esteem that they don't even want other people to be happy, much less happy and successful and competent and confident, and that makes me really sad. I have occasional moments of envy for other people's success, but I would rather, in a heartbeat, see someone who's happy and confident and successful and proud of themselves than see someone who I know kicks ass all over the place but who constantly needs other people's reassurance, because while I don't for a second mind giving compliments where they're due, it feels strange to me when I feel like I'm a significant part of someone else's self-image or self-esteem.

[mighty-sam.livejournal.com]

Being new to reading you, and thus the dating play-by-play, and after having met you recently, this is a trip down Memory (not Mammary) Lane. I went from 1998 to 2001 (my 30-33 years, more or less) totally struggling with the ladies. Women in their early-mid 20s were childish, women in their mid-late 20s simply were not available, and women past the age of 30 usually brought all kinds of baggage with them, good for pummeling potential suitors.

In all that time I met two, and only two, women who struck me in any significant way. One was about 25, fantastic person, but needed another 5 years or so to get over her divorce from two years before. She defined herself by her hard times. The other was about 30, also fantastic, but despite my appreciation of 100%, my attraction was 0%. I felt like crap because I could not make those connect with her.

Anyway, not long after, I met Kim via LJ. It was our experience that made us ready for each other, but at the same time all of that was a non-issue between us. After almost 7 years of marriage, every day is better than the one before.

What's my moral of all this? First, past results are not an indicator of future success. All it takes is meeting the right person for it all to change. Maximum circulation maximizes opportunity, so long as the signal-to-noise ratio does not get out of whack. Second, and this is based on meeting you, I'd not be surprised if you intimidate a lot of women. You're good looking enough, and definitely smart enough, that there's a "What's the catch?" issue in play. Don't let it get to you.

I think you made a nice play with this chemical engineer. They're notorious brainiacs. I roomed with a CHE major as an undergrad, so I know. His "study buddies" were more into integrals than intercourse, despite my best efforts. Once they're out of school they see what they're missing, but don't want a Night at the Roxbury to get it.

Good luck.

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope I can find someone as cool as Kim. I too have met some women whom I really respect and admire, but for whom I felt no physical chemistry. It's frustrating.

I'm encouraged by your example (and Kit and John, Evelynne and P., fishsupreme and sheeplass) that there is someone out there with whom I can connect on both a mental and physical level.