Mmm... Titanium
Friday, 15 September 2006 14:44![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_phil_physicsSporks At The Office
Some years ago I was flipping through an REI catalog and saw a listing for a Titanium Spork. How cool -- I thought. I mean, the usual type of plastic spork is pretty useless. It even showed up as a joke in Snakes on a Plane this summer. But make one out of lightweight and strong titanium alloy, now that's a different thing. Mostly I take sandwiches to the office for lunch. If I take something like spaghetti, as I did today, I'd have to pack along a fork or spoon. But if I had a titanium spork...
So the Titanium Spork has been haunting me recently. First Trent mentioned it in his blog about favorite camping/hiking gear. Then the movie reference. Finally our trip to Madison WI and my very first visit to an actual REI store.
See, I've been an REI co-op member since the mid-80s. But it was all catalog and mail order. When we lived in the U.P., it was very convenient to have a good source of sturdy tech gear. So there I was, in a store filled with REI gear -- and the first thing I looked for was the Titanium Spork.
Ga-ack!
But they had more than just sporks. They had titanium forks and spoons, too. Giddy with the choice, the light weight and the relatively cheap price, I bought all three tools. And a carabiner to clip them on.
Today's The Big Day
Not only did I use the titanium fork with my spaghetti -- so nice to twirl spags with a sturdy tool -- but at 4:30 today is the WMU Physics Department annual Fall Picnic. And I shall clip my titanium spork to a belt loop and head out to the picnic, confident that I shan't have to endure some crappy plastic eating utensil. I imagine all the other geeks in the department will be jealous. Tough! (grin)
Drat!
I won't, however, be able to play with my new GPS unit at the picnic, because it won't be here yet. After picking up the titanium spork and friends at the REI store, I wandered around and decided I should check out GPS units. And found out there was a model on sale and rebate, but (a) the sale ended on Labor Day itself and (b) they were out of stock at the REI store, though I could get it backordered off the website. Which I did. And got an e-mail saying it shipped this morning. Ack! Anticipation!
Dr. Phil
[NOTE: Constantly amused by the words LJ's spell-check does not have, including the word "blog", but am not surprised that "spork" didn't make their list.]
[UPDATE: The titanium spork did a brilliant job of replacing the plastic fork technology at the Physics Dept. picnic. Thus a new age of office eating is ushered in. Yum.]
Some years ago I was flipping through an REI catalog and saw a listing for a Titanium Spork. How cool -- I thought. I mean, the usual type of plastic spork is pretty useless. It even showed up as a joke in Snakes on a Plane this summer. But make one out of lightweight and strong titanium alloy, now that's a different thing. Mostly I take sandwiches to the office for lunch. If I take something like spaghetti, as I did today, I'd have to pack along a fork or spoon. But if I had a titanium spork...
So the Titanium Spork has been haunting me recently. First Trent mentioned it in his blog about favorite camping/hiking gear. Then the movie reference. Finally our trip to Madison WI and my very first visit to an actual REI store.
See, I've been an REI co-op member since the mid-80s. But it was all catalog and mail order. When we lived in the U.P., it was very convenient to have a good source of sturdy tech gear. So there I was, in a store filled with REI gear -- and the first thing I looked for was the Titanium Spork.
Ga-ack!
But they had more than just sporks. They had titanium forks and spoons, too. Giddy with the choice, the light weight and the relatively cheap price, I bought all three tools. And a carabiner to clip them on.
Today's The Big Day
Not only did I use the titanium fork with my spaghetti -- so nice to twirl spags with a sturdy tool -- but at 4:30 today is the WMU Physics Department annual Fall Picnic. And I shall clip my titanium spork to a belt loop and head out to the picnic, confident that I shan't have to endure some crappy plastic eating utensil. I imagine all the other geeks in the department will be jealous. Tough! (grin)
Drat!
I won't, however, be able to play with my new GPS unit at the picnic, because it won't be here yet. After picking up the titanium spork and friends at the REI store, I wandered around and decided I should check out GPS units. And found out there was a model on sale and rebate, but (a) the sale ended on Labor Day itself and (b) they were out of stock at the REI store, though I could get it backordered off the website. Which I did. And got an e-mail saying it shipped this morning. Ack! Anticipation!
Dr. Phil
[NOTE: Constantly amused by the words LJ's spell-check does not have, including the word "blog", but am not surprised that "spork" didn't make their list.]
[UPDATE: The titanium spork did a brilliant job of replacing the plastic fork technology at the Physics Dept. picnic. Thus a new age of office eating is ushered in. Yum.]
