Creation Science
A Fiction project in Vineyard Haven, MA by John Sundman ·
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Update #7: Flame Wear
Posted on November 8, 2009
This morning I have another practical exam in my effort to become certified "firefighter 1". Today's subject matter: hoses. I've taken three 1.5 hour classroom classes on hoses and water supply, and one 2.5 hour practicum (dressed in full firefighter gear, doing stuff with hoses at the station). It's interesting. Who would have dreamed there would be that much to learn about hoses (and couplings and nozzles and pressure and flow)? Not me.
So today I have to go to the Tisbury School, get dressed in my full PPE (personal protective equipment) and demonstrate that I know how to hook up hoses, advance attack lines up a ladder, etc, etc.
What makes the subject complicated is friction loss. Because of the friction encountered by water as it moves through the hose, you can get a lot less pressure at the nozzle than you pumped into it at the engine. Is the solution then to just increase pressure at the pump? Maybe yes, maybe no. You have to be careful not to burst your hose by overpressuring it, or to blow up your pump! Because friction loss is proportionately so much greater in an attack line (1.75 inch diameter, for example) than in a supply line (3 inch, for example), you want to bring the supply as close to the scene as you can.
Even if I don't miss a single class, getting certified will take 1.5 years (I have .75 year to to). I can still do lots of useful stuff at a fire scene without certification (I already have)-- but I won't be allowed within the collapse radius of a house on fire. I'm determined to get that certification.
What does any of this have to do with Creation Science? Nothing at all. I just think it's interesting & thought you might.
Ten days to go! Please, please continue to ask your friends to consider pledging a buck or two to keep momentum going.
And finally: the St. Jerome mystery deepens (see my earlier posts on this). I looked closely at the Poughkeepsie St. Jerome by Van Cleese and compared it with my post card of the Harvard painting, and while they're clearly painted from the same plan, they're not the same painting. The easiest way to see the difference is to look at what's out the back window. In one, it's a tree, in the other it's a field. I much prefer the Harvard instantiation; it's got a much more bewildered-looking saint.
I promise to update you more on the actual novel I'm writing Real Soon Now.
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This project successfully raised its funding goal on November 17, 2009.
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HEY TANKS. You will get to say "Thank you for making your other three books available for free, but here's two bucks anyway!" and I will say, "Hey, thanks!" Plus, you'll get to read my blog posts here & monitor developments on the new book.
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ONE AND ONE. One of Acts of the Apostles, Cheap Complex Devices or The Pains shipped to you when this project has been funded, and Creation Science when it's done. (Shipping included in USA). I have lots of Pains, fewer of Acts and CCD. First come, first served. Please add $3 for personalized inscriptions in each book.
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THE OUEVRE. One copy each of Acts of the Apostles, Cheap Complex Devices, and The Pains shipped to you when this project has been funded, and Creation Science when it's done (Shipping included in USA). Please add $5 for personalized inscriptions in all four books.
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POSTER PACK. Four copies of Creation Science inscribed any way you like, plus a signed poster of the book cover art. Size of poster and artist TBD, but you'll like it, I promise.
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PATRON. You get 1 Poster Pack, plus, I thank you profusely in the acknowledgments. Plus, if you like, you can see all early drafts and watch the book develop and offer suggestions.
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COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Acts of the Apostles). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my Acts of the Apostles archives, including my original notebooks, copies of correspondence with my agent, dozens of rejection letters from New York publishing houses, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
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COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Cheap Complex Devices). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my CCD archives, including my original notebooks, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
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COLLECTOR'S EDITION (The Pains). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my Pains archives, including my original notebooks, copies of correspondence with the illustrator Cheeseburger Brown, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
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COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Creation Science). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my Creation Science archives, including my original notebooks, copies of correspondence with my editor, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
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MARTHA'S VINEYARD RETREAT. You and a friend can be my guest for a weekend next spring or summer at my house on Martha's Vineyard. Join me and my wife for three days and two nights at our tiny but friendly house in Vineyard Haven. You'll stay in our guest room; we'll provide breakfast, give you a guided tour of the island, lend you one of our cars for up to five hours, let you borrow our bikes, and you'll be the guest of honor at a dinner party for which Dear Wife Betty will prepare a meal of at least 5 courses. Includes one PATRON PACK.
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I'm the author of the novels Acts of the Apostles, Cheap Complex Devices, and The Pains, all of which can be downloaded for free from wetmachine.com. I've also written a bunch of award-winning essays for Salon.
I've done famine relief & agricultural development work in west Africa (5 years), have spent 22 of the last 30 years in high tech (Silicon Valley & Boston areas), the other 8 years as truck driver, construction laborer, and novelist. I volunteer at a food pantry that my wife founded & runs, and I'm a volunteer firefighter.
The Joos van Cleve workshop put out more versions of Saint Jerome. I recently snapped one at Burgos Cathedral (Spain). It's got a particularly ugly Jerome! (see my photos on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/herringbreakfast/sets/72157622593445075/)
John,
Wow, thanks! That's astonishing.
I'm glad that I first saw the one in the Bush-Reisinger at Harvard. It's my favorite of the 3 I've seen (yours included), and it truly is an astounding painting, even if it did come out of a "St. Jerome in His Study" factory.
Clearly, my ignorance of this subject is pretty deep. But that makes it fun, que non?