# Desk souvenirs



## Dleg (Nov 23, 2010)

I've noticed that most people have at least one unusual item on their desks. Something interesting they found in the field, a souvenir from a vacation that meant something, etc.

Here's what's on mine:

- Three World War 2 Coke bottles, which I pulled from the dredge spoils when I was performing construction management for the Saipan Harbor project in the 90s. All have "44" in the date year

- Two US Navy coffee mugs, with no handles - from same source, in excellent shape (made by Corning - very strong). I've never drunk coffee from them , though. I use them to hold my pencils and pens. (a red NCEES pencil is in one as we speak)

- A US Navy saucer, from same source.

- Half a refractory brick with Japanese characters imprinted on it. Found it on a beach here. I assume it came from either a locomotive or a ship. Not sure if anything else on the island was powered by coal.

- A piece of slag from a stream bed here, where a US military dump burned, and all the mixed, molten debris flowed across the stream and formed a dam. It's black, slightly metallic, and very dense. It's probably killing me slowly with its toxins, but it looks cool and gives me something to chat about when the EPA folks visit.

- A small, tattered U.S. flag that I flew from my truck's antenna for several months after 9-11. I put it on my wall to remind me of that purity of purpose that seemed to pervade everything in those first few months.

(my desk is incredibly messy these days, by the way, so a lot of this stuff doesn't really stand out like it used to. Back when I was neat)

What's on your desk?


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## FLBuff PE (Nov 23, 2010)

I don't have any souvenirs on my desk right now. Next interesting project I'm on, I'll grab something.


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## wilheldp_PE (Nov 23, 2010)

I have a small University of Louisville logo that was made in a rapid prototyping machine.


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## MGX (Nov 23, 2010)

Whenever old remodels come due its neat to find cool stuff from the past.

Here's a short list


An 1897 upright sprinkler head 
Institutional sprinkler head broken by federal prisoner (guy surely stared at it for 1,000's of hours)
1960's fire nozzles (solid brass!)

There are various other things too but those with a story are always the coolest.


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## frazil (Nov 23, 2010)

not really souvenirs from field work, but on my desk I have...

a blown glass ball paper weight

a purple ninja rubber duckie

a glass ice cube

a magic eye book from the 1990s


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## FusionWhite (Nov 23, 2010)

I have my last name carved out of a solid piece of granite. My dad made it for me as a Christmas present once.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Nov 23, 2010)

frazil said:


> not really souvenirs from field work, but on my desk I have...
> a purple ninja rubber fist


Yikes!


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## snickerd3 (Nov 23, 2010)

i have a tiger eye pendant hanging at the entry to my cube to protect me from the evil eye. My boss got us each one from one of his trips a few yrs back.


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## frazil (Nov 23, 2010)

VTEnviro said:


> frazil said:
> 
> 
> > not really souvenirs from field work, but on my desk I have...
> ...


don't you have a dog that needs his teeth brushed?


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## cableguy (Nov 23, 2010)

I have a stock certificate from my first post-college employer hanging on the wall in a frame in my office. They've merged (twice) and changed names since, so they no longer exist. I thought it was kinda cool looking and unusual. When I left the company, I'd been participating in the employee stock purchase plan, and when I sold out my shares, somehow I ended up with 1 extra share. So they issued me a certificate for that 1 share. I could have sold it back for like 20 bucks, but I kept it and framed it. Pre-merger, it was a really good place to work.


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## Master slacker (Nov 23, 2010)

On my desk, aside from the mandatory pictures and manuals:

Un-refurbishable row 3 turbine blade from an ABB 11D5 gas turbine

Whats left of a row 1 turbine blade from an ABB 11D5 after foreign object damage --- basically confetti

Micarta wedge from a 1963 GE steam turbine's generator

Failed segments of tube from heat recovery unit (boiler)

Heat exchanger tube resleeving sample

MERM


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## EM_PS (Nov 23, 2010)

one of the crew chiefs (nicknamed Wheat) at a previous company kept a stout tree branch in her office - she had run over it (company vehicle) and it jacked up the tranny pretty bad. We labeled it 'Wheat's Oak Tree'...from Skynryd's That Smell: "whiskey bottles and brand new cars, oak tree you're in my way..." - i got an old 'county surveyor' monument top thats being used as a door stop in my basement presently; it may see desk duty someday.


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## Flyer_PE (Nov 23, 2010)

Not much in the way of souvenirs on the desk these days. When I worked for the utility, I had a $2.00 electronic part that took an 1100 MW generator off line for the better part of a week. It was my little keepsake for the 80-hour week it caused for me.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Nov 23, 2010)

Other than plans, files, reports, etc. the only personal item on my desk or walls is a box of tissues. I put all my licenses, certificates, novelties, and that stuff in my home office.


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## Dleg (Nov 23, 2010)

Oh, I forgot two other things on my desk (they were somewhat hidden in the debris):

- a carved wooden business card holder in the shape of a Palauan Men's hut. This was a gift last year from the Republic of Palau environmental agency, in exchange for a project I helped them on.

- a pair of those jingly Chinese ball things that you roll around in your hand for exercize/ stress relief. I used to be totally addicted to those things, until we had a cockroach infestation in the office and I found an egg case in the velvet-lined box. I don't like to touch them anymore, so they're just decoration now.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Nov 23, 2010)

^So you had something nasty growing on your balls, and then just ignored the matter until they became useless.


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## Dleg (Nov 23, 2010)

Basically, yes. :dunno:


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## Supe (Nov 24, 2010)

You guys get all the cool stuff.

All I have are a handful of welding bend test/etched cross section samples, a laminated Dilbert strip "I'm an engineer, not a quality tester", and a laminated fortune cookie that says "You are the master of every situation" that I like to pull out as the trump card whenever my admin argues with me.


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## OSUguy98 (Nov 24, 2010)

The only things I have on my desk are pictures of the wife and kid and a few plants from my grandpa and my dad's funeral... Of course, there's an ever-growing pyramid of coke bottle caps, saving them for one of the guys in the office who actually does enter the code....

One of our bridge inspectors has a brick from every city in our district that made bricks.. they have the city name on one side... and he also collects those glass insulators from the old railroad telegraph/telephone lines...

I think he still has a 1'x 2'x 1/2" sheet of steel that he took off a bridge a few years back... it was hanging by about a 1/2" weld on one corner, the rest of the weld had cracked or rusted.... it was hanging over the fast lane on US 50 in Clarksburg.... Could've ruined someone's day....


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## chaosiscash (Nov 24, 2010)

I'm a contractor, so the only personal stuff on my desk is a picture of the wife and a few books. (I have to be able to pack up and leave in one paper box, the "drag box"). However, I do have some old radiation/contamination signs (I especially like the "dangerous when wet" sticker) stuck on the walls and a few burnt up breakers, parts of electrical enclosures with blast holes, etc. laying around.


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## Capt Worley PE (Nov 24, 2010)

I have a coffee mug commemorating a successful AMRAAM test on May 4, 1990 from Hughes missile systems. It has a graphic of two F-15s shooting down four F-106s.


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## bigray76 (Nov 24, 2010)

Other than the ordinary things people have on their desks I have:

- a police scanner

- a small American flag

- a Lenton coupler for a threaded #9 bar

- the Magic 8 Ball (I swear, it is never wrong)

- couple of pictures from golf outings

- small framed artwork by one of our former employees

- a potted plant (started as a clipping from the original plant that was in the founder's office in 1965)

- a couple pictures of my kids

- some general Rutgers stuff (mug, patch from when I was on the fire department there)


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## Dark Knight (Nov 24, 2010)

I have no souvenirs. A couple of pics of my kids and that is it. I am a simple-ton.


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## roadwreck (Nov 24, 2010)

I have a half rubber. It looks like half of a rubber ball. I found it years ago. It part of some variant of stick ball.

http://www.halfrubber.com/index.php?option...1&amp;Itemid=31


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## Ble_PE (Nov 24, 2010)

Not much here. I've got a couple of pictures of the wife and mini-ble and that's about it other than some vendor's coffee mugs.


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## Road Guy (Nov 24, 2010)

while running on one of the national park civil war battlefieds this summer, my dog stopped to play at a creek, i looked down and there was a 50 caliber mini ball (civil war bullett). yes I think its illegal to take it, but.....anyways.... its the only "unique" item I have at my desk.

the only unfortunate thing is that it looks like it wasnt fired and probably fell out of some soldiers ammo pouch and didnt have the opportunity to kill one of the invading yankees during the war against northern agression


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## FusionWhite (Nov 24, 2010)

This thread got me looking around my desk and I realized I have a lot shit laying around:

Two samples of SCR catalyst

Sample of CO catalyst

A lump of coal

A foot long section of a boiler finned tube

A two foot section of a baffled ammonia injection lance


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## Sschell (Nov 24, 2010)

amongst all the useful crap (valves, PLCs, RTDs, gauges, various PPE, catalogues, etc) I have an old (crashed) turbo expander, the piece of sheet metal from our clothes dryer that my dog ate, and a pulley that I designed as a noob engineer... the really special thing about this pulley is that its geometry makes it impossible to install in its intended application... I keep it around to remind myself not to make stupid mistakes, and it looks cool!


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## Sschell (Nov 24, 2010)

FusionWhite said:


> A lump of coal



I guess we know who's been naughty.


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## Supe (Nov 24, 2010)

I forgot, I've also got an oxygen analyzer, a welding hood, and some 9015-B9 stick electrode. Next to my desk I have some fancy experimental rebar for a nuclear project, and a buttload of confiscated/sample/CMTR-missing welding rod and wire.


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## Dleg (Nov 24, 2010)

We could almost start a museum with this stuff!


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## ElCid03 (Nov 24, 2010)

bigray76 said:


> Other than the ordinary things people have on their desks I have:
> - a police scanner
> 
> - a small American flag
> ...


What about a humidor?


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## cement (Nov 28, 2010)

I have a chunk of ruby silver, it's an ore with lead, silver and red stuff. it is surprisingly heavy. I found it by and old own site that had been buried by a rockslide from the mines above. I also found what looked like a human vertebrae, but I left that there.

I've also got a rock that my daughter decorated to look like a mouse when she was in pre-school, and a carpenter's pencil that says UWYO School of Engineering from my son.


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## MonteBiker (Nov 29, 2010)

A devil themed rubber duck, a Jittery Joes mug, a few family pictures, a prototype connection for the space station and a set of really nice carbon fiber handlebars that my wife cracked in half in a cycling accident.


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## maryannette (Nov 29, 2010)

I have a Christmas tree on my desk - about 2' high, with some ornaments on it, but no lights. I also have a miniature Nativity near the tree.


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## Master slacker (Nov 29, 2010)

Now that I'm back at my desk, I can tell you that I forgot about my brass drive-in plug, Pop-A-Plugs, segment of copper tube from a condenser, and a failed expansion joint section. Mostly junk, but I don't throw it out.


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## kevo_55 (Nov 29, 2010)

I have a 1" diameter grade 5 bolt.

I also have a Chewbacca &amp; an Ewok action figure.


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## maryannette (Nov 29, 2010)

^ That's a large bolt!

I also have 3 command coins - recognition for work by military commanding officer.

And a spin top that was made as a marketing gadget for metal injection molded assemblies - it spins for over a minute if you get it started good.


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## Ble_PE (Nov 29, 2010)

mary :) said:


> ^ That's a large bolt!


That's what she said!!


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## Master slacker (Nov 29, 2010)

The word "stud" was mentioned for me...


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## Sschell (Nov 29, 2010)

the question is: do you have big enough nuts to screw with a bolt like that?


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## maryannette (Nov 29, 2010)

Indeed! ???


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## Road Guy (Nov 29, 2010)

weird, only one star wars reference thus far? Is this not an egineering board?


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## Supe (Nov 29, 2010)

Road Guy said:


> weird, only one star wars reference thus far? Is this not an egineering board?



You're forgetting that their mostly LoTR nuthuggers.


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## kevo_55 (Nov 29, 2010)

Well, it is screwed on with a heavy hex nut......


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## MA_PE (Nov 29, 2010)

it's not the size of the bolt, it's the profile of the head and the length of threads that matter.


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## envirotex (Oct 17, 2011)

Two halves of a chert nodule.

Family photos.

Plastic Tinkerbell figurine.

Hardened-steel cone-penetrometer tip.

Beaker finger puppet.

A yo-yo.

Some on my credenza, not my actual desk.


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## IlPadrino (Oct 17, 2011)

^

You're in some high cotton with a credenza *and* a desk!

I've got no idea what a chert nodule is... I'll google it just as soon as I figure out who Beaker is.


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## snickerd3 (Oct 17, 2011)

I have a stuffed beaker magnet!!


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## goodal (Oct 17, 2011)

About the coolest thing I have is a section of a energy wheel a vendor left during a visit. I have some Dilbert Cartoons on the cork board and an email from an architect I printed out that basically says "who is badal" after I have been working with his firm a on a large project for several months. Kinda keeps my ego in check.


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## engineergurl (Oct 17, 2011)

I have part of a broken car jack... broke that trying to change the govt truck tire, was stranded in the woods for a while... I have a plactic fork missing a tine... which I ingested... A mini traffic cone to remind me of happier times... a sign that says... "remember everything Fred Astair did, Ginger Rodgers did backwards and in high heels." and one that says "DANGER: DO NOT ENTER, FIREING AREA." kinda boring I guess... but I knew I wouldn't be here forever...


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## IlPadrino (Oct 17, 2011)

IlPadrino said:


> I'll google it just as soon as I figure out who Beaker is.









Which one is he?


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## snickerd3 (Oct 17, 2011)

really?! The crazy orange haired guy in the lab coat with tie.


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## mudpuppy (Oct 17, 2011)

I have a piece of sand-encrusted glass on my desk. Bits of copper mixed in with it. This came from a 46 kV line that fell on the ground and the circuit breaker failed. It stayed energized for about 45 minutes, pumping about 500 A into the ground. . .sandy soil created glass.


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## Dleg (Oct 17, 2011)

Thread from the dead!

I don't have any souvenirs on my desk now. After 8 months in the new job, I suppose it's high time I personalize this place a little.


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## envirotex (Oct 18, 2011)

IlPadrino said:


> IlPadrino said:
> 
> 
> > I'll google it just as soon as I figure out who Beaker is.
> ...


Awesome, Rowlf and Gonzo...the complete set.

Like snick said...the one with the lab coat...4th from the right.

Here's the other...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chert


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## IlPadrino (Oct 18, 2011)

Two lessons in one day... thanks!


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## Wolverine (Oct 18, 2011)

Why, I have THIS of course:




Also:

- a sample of 25kV XLPE underground cable

- a segment of aluminum conductor melted at both ends (from Hurricane Katrina, to remind me to always check the line, end-to-end, twice)

- a pair of miniature bicycles with working cranks and brakes

- a snapped Campagnolo rear derailleur

- a GT 1990 National Championship Coke bottle

- a second place age group trophy from the 1998 Astroflash Tye-Dye 5K race

- a lump of coal


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## Dark Knight (Oct 18, 2011)

mudpuppy said:


> I have a piece of sand-encrusted glass on my desk. Bits of copper mixed in with it. This came from a 46 kV line that fell on the ground and the circuit breaker failed. It stayed energized for about 45 minutes, pumping about 500 A into the ground. . .sandy soil created glass.


What the heck happened with the protection relay?


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## mudpuppy (Oct 18, 2011)

^The relays worked fine (which is good, since I set them), but the breaker failed to trip. I think they ended up finding there was too much SF6 arc-byproduct (white powder) in the breaker that jammed up the mechanism.


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## Capt Worley PE (Oct 18, 2011)

Wolverine said:


> - a lump of coal


Courtesy of Old Saint Nick?


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## Dark Knight (Oct 18, 2011)

mudpuppy said:


> ^The relays worked fine (which is good, since I set them), but the breaker failed to trip. I think they ended up finding there was too much SF6 arc-byproduct (white powder) in the breaker that jammed up the mechanism.


Failed to Operate. Oh that brings memories of better times...much better times. I cannot believe I am missing being in the road at 3AM because a breaker failed to operate.


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