Who says the duct tape wasn't specified? And, why is it called "duct" tape?
Most mechanical contractors I know think rather poorly of the stuff. The
adhesive dries out and the tape falls off ducts, resulting in leaky ducts
and all the attendant problems...

Etymology lesson of the day: Doctors too inept to use sutures in the early
days of the century turned to the a commerically available product called
"duck" (or "duct" tape) to close up their patients. The noise the tape made
coming off the roll -- something like an alarmed duck (hence the name of the
tape -- bonus etymology lesson) -- lead to one patient, who couldn't
remember the name of his doc, to imitate the noise he remembered at the end
of his surgery: Quack, Quack.

Sign me,

Working Saturday...

-----Original Message-----
From: Donald B. White [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2000 3:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Duct tape


Let's hear it for duct (or duck) tape! Three anecdotes:

1. Back in 1976, when I was a perspiring young photographer, I needed a
darkroom urgently. The only available space was the basement bathroom in my
parents' house in Annapolis, which had a shower stall, toilet and sink, and
was closed off by a bifold louver door which wasn't even properly fitted
with door jambs or anything--just put on the open side to give a modicum of
privacy. Needless to say, it leaked light like a seive. How to light-proof
it? How to turn this space into a darkroom? A selection of corrugated
cardboard boxes from the nearest supermarket, ladies and gentlemen, and
three big rolls of duct tape from Hechinger's (R.I.P.), plus some black
cloth I could hand to fill in the big gap next the door, provided the
answer. Tape cardboard over the louvered areas of the door, and run a strip
of tape down the fold. Make light traps of tape on the door edge and
doorway. The enlarger sat in the shower stall, and a board over the sink
held the trays. Washing was done outside, in the laundry sink. 36 hours
after I started thinking about converting this space, I was printing
pictures in it. I used it off and on for the next five years--did some of
my best printing there.

2. On one of our Morgan club tours in 1995, we all went out to the
Shenandoah Valley to an old inn for lunch. It was bucketing down rain all
day, and really, not a day for little open sports cars. The one I had at
the time (the Stealth Morgan, predecessor of the Great Pumpkin) didn't have
a properly fitting set of weather equipment, and was left home, but three
or four Morgans were driven. One was a drophead coupe, known as the Morgan
that is actually somewhat weatherproof and suitable even for winter
driving. However, the top on this one parted from the windscreen at speed
and the top was nearly blown off. Fortunately, someone had a roll of duct
tape--just in case it might be needed for something. The top was taped in
place and stayed put long enough to complete the tour. The owner of the
drophead was later presented with a "Duct Tape Pro" hat which he wore to
all club functions thereafter. Last year, he and his wife moved to Santa
Fe--perhaps to stay out of the rain.

3. On NPR this morning, there was in interview with the former director of
NASA Mission Control, who has written a book, "Failure is Not an Option."
He told the story of Apollo 13 (as seen in the movie) in which they had to
make an adapter to use the oxygen filters from one application in the main
filter system in their living space, or they would run out of air and die.
The engineers on the ground looked at everything available and made up
something involving plastic bags, a sock, and a plastic chart cover, all
held together with duct tape--without which it would have been impossible
and those guys would have died in 5 hours. Now what struck me, hearing
this, was, whose idea was it to have duct tape on board? On a mission as
carefully planned as this, with every part specially made for its task and
all weight critical, who would have had the foresight to just throw in a
roll of tape in case it might be needed? An unsung hero, indeed.

Sign me, Ducts in a Row