Trusting the Teacher

[Michele 1]

Chemistry is OVER! WHAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

For most of the class, I'd been holding a respectible B average. The last exam, on Monday, killed me (I did very poorly...). So I have been studying for days, not sleeping much, constantly considering chemistry. I'd rather be doing pretty much anything else. Meh, enough of how much I hate chem.

It's really hard to take a final in a class you don't like. It's even harder to maintain a strong focus when there are Sheriff's officers and LAPD trotting through the hall, calling your professor out of the room, radios turned loud. It's even harder to focus when you hear things over the radio like "evacuate", "HAZMAT", "bomb squad", "safe location", and "campus is clear except for this class."

Yeah, see, that tends to disrupt someone's concentration. It's made even worse when the professor walks back in and says "all right, start grabbing things; take everything you brought, and line up. We are being evacuated."

Of course there were questions. An officer came in and repeated the instructions. "Line up single file. Move through the officers in the line. Keep moving, and move quickly. Are there any handicapped people in the room? Any one need assistance? Nope? All right, let's go."

Kinda felt like a weird kindergarten moment. Exchanging looks with other students, I lined up like a good girl, and, seeing the professor needed a hand, grabbed some of his stuff, too. We walked out between officers and firemen stationed about 8 feet apart, and were moved into another building entirely across campus.

Apparently, someone in the chem lab stock room was cleaning up. And apparently, somehow, they discovered some hexanitro sitting there. No one knows where it came from or how it got there; it's not something they normally store in the lab (for obvious reasons), and apparently one of the student stock people was handling it in a fairly...erm...well, "not using appropriate care and caution."

We reassemble in the new classroom, tons of steel and concrete between us and the hexanitro, and the professor says "o.k., let's get back to work. If you hear a boom, don't get up or leave. We'll be safe here. We did the math, and it shouldn't reach us this far away. You trust me, right? No one leaves the room until I say they can, either. You gotta pee, too bad." Of course, I got the giggles. I couldn't help it. It's already a tough situation, and all I could think of was "who in here didn't want to take the final that bad???"

So we sat there, trying to plow our way through organic chemistry questions, and not one single person can concentrate. Once we were all finished (he called time at about 3:00 hours, longer than he planned to give us), and we all lined up again, turned in our papers, and were escorted to our cars.

Outside were about 20 cop cars, another dozen Sherrif's cars, several ambulances, the HAZMAT truck, hook and ladders, and roads closed off and traffic diverted, parking lot sawhorsed off to exactly one way out...

Yeppers, what an adventure. Hexanitro is dangerous stuff...goes boom pretty energetically, apparently.

I'd already told him he wasn't going to forget this class (we gave him a cake with the element arsenic in frosting on it as the final gift...), but this indeed makes us unforgettable. I have no idea if the college is still there, but I'm home, safe and warm...

And I'm still wondering who didn't want to take the final...

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[skysprite 0]

You like to keep everyone on their toes, don'tcha??

I'm very happy to hear everything turned out okay, and you got to take your test, even under such weird circumstances!

~skysprite

[Michele 1]

LOL, yeah, no kidding!

Wasn't me, and I'm glad the final's done with...but what a weird time!

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Broke 0]

hmm OK I think I would rather let the bomn squad take care of that one. A Hazmat suit does jack and squat for an explosive. I wouldn't even want to be near Nitric Acid that has ben stored in a metal container

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[1969912 0]

Hexanitro what? Sounds like someone over reacted.

Glad your final is over. You did fine - relax a bit! Quit killing yourself.

God Bless!

jim

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[Michele 1]

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Hexanitro what? Sounds like someone over reacted.

I don't remember anything else of the name; it did have quite a bit more of the name, though...and what was interesting was not just the overkill by the LE (which, for what it's worth, were trying to "save" students), but that the chair of the chemistry department - my prof - was rather anxious and nervous. He was not a happy camper, nosiree Bob. It's sorta weird to watch the guy who teaches people about chemicals being scared of the situation.

Quote

Glad your final is over. You did fine - relax a bit! Quit killing yourself.

Hey, I didn't plant the bomb. LOL...I did remind the prof to grade gently because of the interruption...that was after we gave him the class cake - the element arsinic in frosting, with "love from the class" written there, too. He got the joke, but it was somewhat illtimed. but who could know there'd be an explosive discovered? ROFL...serendipity at it's best, you know?

As for relaxing, I have a few days off before I start the next semester, so I plan on cleaning house...and watching a movie I bought back in mid-December and haven't had time to see it yet! LOL. So I am gonna be a weenie this weekend and hole up and relax without any textbook. YAYAY!!!!

Quote

God Bless!

And you, as well.
Ciels-
michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[1969912 0]

Clean the house? No way! There are better things to do after a sucky semester:

a) Take Hwy. 1 from SLO to Big Sur, have breakfast at Nepenthe, then on to Monterey. At 5 AM there will be no motorhomes to wait for.

b) Take Hwy. 58 from Santa Margarita to ~Taft - nice road, very little traffic. Taft sucks though, unless you jump while there.

c) Go to Pasadena. Eat at "Burger Continental". Then go to Mulholland for a drive.

d) Go jump.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[Michele 1]

Know what, though, Jim? I did consider taking a looooooooooon drive. And treating myself to a few days away. And going to Seaworld. But I've got an appointment today, and want to see my father (haven't seen him in weeks), and just really want to spend time sitting around in my jammies and being a bum. And I'm still so tired from getting ready for the final that I expect I'll be taking two naps today.
I've got my next semester scheduled so I'm only in class Tues/Wed/Thursday, so I'll have 4 day weekends regularly. I'll be getting time to play and drive and visit places, and I'm looking at going somewhere for Spring Break. So that's coming. But right now, my house needs attention (I haven't run the vaccuum in 5 weeks!), I have mail to sort through, bills to get paid, and life to catch up on.

So I'm going to be a bum and clean my house, run laundry, stay in my jammies, and just be alone and quiet. That will be a blessing, you know? Just a blessing.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[mnealtx 0]

Decompression time is good... enjoy!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[mouth 0]

LOL, it would only happen in a chem class.

Glad to hear you did well on it and weathered the storm. Makes me glad I'm doing my stuff online. Lots of extra work, but I can do it in my night clothes with a beer if I want, and NO BOMBS.

--
Hot Mama
At least you know where you stand even if it is in a pile of shit.