From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   On 11/30/2025 8:36 AM, Liz Tuddenham wrote:   
   > Don Y  wrote:   
   >>>> Do their governments/sponsors hold them to some particular   
   >>>> standard for the "privilege" of studying abroad?  Or, is this   
   >>>> just a normal behavior, regardless of circumstance?   
   >>>   
   >>> I was a technician at a university, in a lab where students had to   
   >>> operate and modify a rig meant to represent an industrial process.  It   
   >>> needed an extra hole drilled in the aluminium backplate and the students   
   >>> couldn't find the power drill (we only had one).   
   >>   
   >> The rig needed to be fixed -- your job, not part of the students'   
   >> assignment?   
   >   
   > No, it was their project that just happend to be located in the lab I   
   > was working in.   
      
   Ah, so, at the very least, a bit of gratitude for enabling them   
   to accomplish THEIR goals!   
      
   > The tools were shared between several labs and a general technicians'   
   > workshop, so nobody really owned them* and a lot of time could be wasted   
   > tracking them down.  The students just needed a hole made and asked the   
   > nearest technician for help.   
   >   
   > *   This didn't result in a lot of thefts because most technicians   
   > already had a better selection of tools at home than they had at work.   
   > It wasn't unknown for me to take a morning off so as to make a part,   
   > needed for work, at home on my own lathe - or bring in my own equipment   
   > when it was needed in the lab.   
      
   I guard my tools jealously.  Even if there is no malice involved, folks   
   tend to "misplace" things -- even their own possessions.   
      
   Or, *abuse* them -- out of ignorance.   
      
   E.g., our soil is very clay-like ("caliche").  Anyone who does any yard   
   work likely owns a "caliche bar"   
          
   These are "force amplifiers" to break up the soil so it can be removed   
   with a shovel, etc.  There are many different varieties but all rely   
   on their mass (about 15 pounds) to do much of the work.   
      
   Mine has a broad "chisel point" at one end and a large striking   
   surface at the opposing end.  A neighbor asked to borrow mine.   
      
   When it came back, the bar was *bent* (I wouldn't have thought it possible   
   as it is over an inch in diameter) and the chisel tip all cut up.  He was   
   ever so thankful for its use:  "That sure made it easy to break up the   
   CONCRETE in the back yard!"   
      
   Idiot.  Just because it LOOKS like a chisel doesn't mean it IS a chisel!   
   I spent an afternoon resharpening it -- nothing I was willing to do   
   about the bend.   
      
   He was surprised when I refused to lend it to him the next time he   
   wanted to borrow (abuse!) it:  "Maybe you should go RENT a jack-hammer?"   
      
   [They actually offer a shovel attachment for jack-hammers ("electric breakers")   
   for use in navigating the caliche!]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)