Cop Car's Beat

For all that's holey

Stu (of Eunoia) commented about the previous posting, including an observation by his better half SWMBO that while the video showed a two-hole punch configuration being used for target sheets, we in the USA actually use a three-hole punch configuration. Well...to say that we use a three-hole punch configuration for binding our loose papers together is a bit of an overstatement: Although the three-hole configuration is, by far, the most-used, we use several configurations.

Unfortunately, I no longer use a two-hole configuration, myself, so I have given away my two-hole punch; but, here is a photo of one that I stole (the photo, not the punch) off of eBaby or Amazon.

Officemate Heavy Duty 2-Hole Punch, Padded Handle, Black, 50-Sheet Capacity (90082)

Not only are two-hole punch configurations used in fastening papers within a soft-cover file folder, but heavier duty uses abound (photo, below, of one).

What I, personally, use these days

Within 10 feet of where I sit at this computer, I gathered up four punches (photo, below) that I use, regularly. They comprise two one-hole punches, one three-hole punch, and one seven-hole punch. I trust that you can see enough to tell the configuration of each item. I'm not sure what Hunky Husband hides in his office; but, he does have an electric-driven three-hole punch that will accept about 30 sheets of paper at one time.

The punches are used to help me keep various papers in various binders. One (photo, below) of the several shelves full of binders is also within 10 feet of my current position.

Most of my three-ring binders fall into one of two types (photos, below): 1) D-ring or 2) O-ring.

 

There is another configuration - again, that I no longer use - used for two- and three-hole punched papers. It is a post and sleeve configuration where the front and back of the binder are not joined other than when the three (or two) sleeves of one part are slipped over the three (or two) posts of the other part (or vice versa). This configuration is used with industrial-weight binders for reference materials such as aircraft maintenance manuals. The photo, below, was stolen from Bindertek. It shows a binder that is open to 90-degrees.

3 Ring Heavy Duty 98086 Archival Binder - Our Highest Capacity Binder Holds 1250 Sheets

Below are photos of a couple of the other binders that I use. I've used a seven-ring binder since the late 1980s and have about 15-20 of them in the house. The six-ring binder was my father's and is kept for sentimental reasons. I've never owned a six-hole punch, but use the one-hole punches to put the holes where I want them.

That's the trivia for the day. The treatment has been far from exhaustive but gives an idea of how diverse are our options when it comes to keeping loose papers together.

P.S. It just occurred to me that, in high school, we all used the two-hole/two-ring configuration.

P.P.S. At the Little Airplane Company, we used a drill-press to make holes in 100-200 pages at a time. We could set up to give us the hole configuration desired.

For those with a wry sense of humor

Thanks to Ronni Bennett for posting the following video on her Time Goes By blog.

They trained for the disaster Saturday and some will be in Florida Monday

[Cop Car’s Hunky Husband], a Red Cross volunteer for 20 years, talks to future volunteers about what it’s like helping during a major natural disaster.

Nichole Manna The Wichita Eagle

By Nichole Manna [email protected]

September 09, 2017 2:04 PM

As Hurricane Irma pounded Northern Cuba and made its way closer to Southern Florida on Saturday, about 30 Wichitans trained with the Red Cross to go into areas affected by the disaster.

“We’re still sending volunteers to (Hurricane) Harvey and will send to Irma with the first flight heading out this weekend,” said Dicie Nicklaus, disaster program manager for the South Central and Southeast Kansas Red Cross.

Kansas volunteers will begin as early as Monday setting up shelters for Floridians whose homes are destroyed.

“Our goal is to send teams to open shelters,” Nicklaus told the group. “I can’t tell you how it’s going to be when Irma hits because we’ve never seen anything like this. We’re looking at the entire state of Florida.”

Volunteers might also be sent to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which saw complete devastation when Hurricane Irma hit.

“You’re going to be sleeping outside and there’s no plumbing,” she told the group. “While it’s awful for us, you still have a dry bed to come home to. Most of those people don’t.”

This is the first time the local Red Cross chapter has held in-person training classes, said Jennifer Sands, executive director.

“With the urgent need for volunteers due to the two major disasters, we’re trying to get people prepared for short- and long-term recovery in Texas and Florida,” she said. “We’ve already seen fatigue in the volunteers who have already been deployed.”

The Red Cross expects to continue deploying volunteers to Houston through Christmas, she said. It’s unknown how long they’ll be needed in Florida – it depends on how severe the storms are.

The three-hour training covered areas of disaster relief from building shelters, working with local and government organizations and how to help people emotionally.

“The best thing the Red Cross can do is offer people compassion,” Nicklaus said.

[Cop Car’s Hunky Husband] led most of the training. He has been a Red Cross volunteer for two decades and has deployed to more than 50 disasters. He’s part of the Wichita team that covers 21 counties in Kansas. When needed, teams are sent out of state.

“At the heart of the disaster is people,” he said, explaining survivors will need food, water, clothing, shelter, emotional and financial help.

“Financially, in some cases, people don’t recover at all,” he said.

In Texas and Florida, volunteers will help connect affected residents with organizations that can help them in the long term, Sanders said.

Patricia Thompson has been a volunteer for more than 20 years.

“Once you do this, it’s a calling,” she said. “It’s in your heart.”

Three more training sessions will be held on Saturdays this month:

▪  Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to noon at 707 N. Main in Wichita

▪  Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. to noon at 128 W. 8th in Coffeyville

▪  Sept. 30 from 9 a.m. to noon at 128 W. 8th in Coffeyville

Nicklaus said people who want to volunteer should think about their areas of interest, which will help determine how they’d be best suited to help, whether it’s organizing, public speaking, dealing with technology or driving trucks.

Volunteers wishing to deploy to Texas or Florida must be available for two weeks. Flights, lodging and food are provided by the Red Cross. If a volunteer cannot commit to at least 14 days, Sanders said, the local chapter needs help in Kansas to offset the volunteers who are now out of state.

 

Elusive Neutrino

'Where, in quantum mechanics, is “here”? The theory arose out of attempts to understand how atoms and molecules interact with light and other radiation, phenomena that classical physics couldn’t explain. Quantum theory was empirically motivated, and its rules were simply ones that seemed to fit what was observed. It uses mathematical formulas that, while tried and trusted, were essentially pulled out of a hat by the pioneers of the theory in the early 20th century.'

The above quote extracted from Quantum Theory Rebuilt From Simple Physical Principles, nicely summarizes the perplexed state in which I have found myself for years. The article was written Phillip Ball, contributing writer to QuantaMagazine.

On an allied subject: Professor Nicholas Solomey of Wichita State University spoke on "Developing a Neutrino Spacecraft to the Sun with NASA MSFC" last Wednesday, with Hunky Husband and me in attendance at the weekly physics symposium. [BTW: MSFC = Marshall Space Flight Center]

During Nick's talk, I recognized that much of the information is contained in his book, The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story. As a result, I have begun re-reading the book. For whatever reason, I find that the book (well...at least the first three chapters) makes more sense to me than it did upon first reading, 10 years ago. Have I gotten smarter with age? (Oh, yeah, that's obviously happened!)

 Slide from a presentation by Professor Nick Solomey, at Galaxy Forum Kansas 2013