A friend of mine (not Finnja, a different one) recently came up with this list. She's trustworthy.
Oddities Commonplace in Los Alamos
[All items on this list are completely factual observances of life at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the city it created- no embellishments, upon my honor! Ask any Los Alamosian and they’ll probably add a few to the list.]
-Thunder on a clear day (experimental explosions on Lab property)
-A lady taking her herd of goats for an evening stroll around the neighborhood (there is also a couple to take their horse-drawn wagon around the neighborhood)
-Mailbox number written in binary code
-Physicist jokes instead of blond jokes
-Engineer jokes instead of rabbi and priest jokes
-Black socks worn calf-high with loafers/sandals and Bermuda shorts
-Signs reading “Food only- no chemical or radioactive material” on refrigerators at work
-Missing secrets and spy scandals
-“Danger- Explosives” signs on fences along the morning commute route
-Comb-overs and Einstein hair
-Hazardous Materials Amnesty Day- a day when Hazmat collects oil, antifreeze, cleaning solvents, highly corrosive acids, and radioactive material from Los Alamosians wishing to dispose of them
-Armored vehicles with machine gun nests on top
-Quantum mechanics discussed with gusto at Starbucks
-Ears popping from elevation change without leaving city limits
-Road closures due to nuclear material transfers in progress
-A Ph. D. is not impressive
-Pants waistbands worn closer to the ribs than the waist
-Ancient Indian ruins and the world’s second fastest supercomputer within eight miles of each other
-Guard towers, razor wire fences, and armed uniformed guards
-A league sports team with a fuel array diagram to a nuclear reactor on their jerseys
-No one thinks the previous item odd in any way
-Kids quite honestly don’t know what their parents do at work, and even spouses are a little fuzzy on details
-In the darkness of a movie theater during Hollywood’s latest spy thriller in which a secret foreign military base is depicted, a disgusted voice calls out “That’s not what it looks like!”
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5 comments:
I believe you, particularly in the descriptions of personal "fashion sense." I've been working with scientists recently, and your descriptions sound eerily familiar...
How funny! Would love to visit there... don't you just love the funny distinctives of different places?
My pastor's additions:
Some dates are designated "dark nights" for astronomers, so tennis players are not allowed to turn on the big lights at the courts
Sign at Starbucks (today): "Closed for security reasons until further notice."
Hey Carolyn,
I had to chime in: brillant! I know exactly what you are talking about. Back in the day, we used to play at a chess club in Los Alamos and played in chess touraments frequently at LAHS. I came close to winning the state K-12 title there a few times ;-)
Is the landscape looking any better after the fires from a few years ago? I remember all the scarred slopes.
Good luck this semester. Keep Hake on his toes, okay?
Travis--
Yes, actually, the Jemez are looking much nicer. Some of the aspens are getting taller than I am.
Re: Dr. Hake: will do!
Happy grad schooling. :-)
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