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Showing posts from January, 2019

A Measurement Standard. . .

A kilogram is currently defined by a standard cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy which is kept at the International bureau of weights and measures near Paris, France. On May 20th of this year a new definition will replace the platinum-iridium artifact association. The new definition will be: taking the fixed numerical value of the Planck constant h to be 6.62607015×10−34 when expressed in the unit J⋅s, which is equal to kg⋅m2⋅s−1, where the metre and the second are defined in terms of c and ΔνCs. A second is defined as the amount of time a cesium-133 atom takes to vibrate 9,192,631,770 times. A compass points to the magnetic pole of the earth to determine the direction north. A meter is defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of orange-red light, in a vacuum, produced by burning the element krypton-86. In each of these cases, a measurement is determined by something outside of what is being measured. . . something independent of the measurer. Where am I going with this? For t

A choice to make. . .

I had my tonsils removed when I was 20 years old. I had recurring sore throats, and I asked my doctor to remove my tonsils and he arranged it. My room at Elkhart General Hospital was in a very old section of the hospital, and I was in a four man ward. My bed in this small room, was on the left by the door as you entered. On the right by the door, was an old gentleman who was completely insensible due to some kind of dementia. I remember the night after my surgery having to go to the nurses station, because in some kind of dream or delirium he was ripping out his IV lines and doing himself damage. On the right at the far end of the room by the room’s windows, was an elderly Amish with a long white beard. I’m assuming he was hard of hearing and had had prostate surgery, for I remember his doctor visiting him and speaking in a booming voice told him, “Well Zeke (cannot remember his real name, but I vividly remember these words), now you should be able to drill a hole in a six foot sno