Field test:  Wet finger with tongue.  Swab finger across salts.  Finger 
returns to tongue.  Thoughtful look into sky.  Mutter.  Make eye 
contact with biggest pain in the ass in the crowd.  "Salt.  Want some?"

This method with minor variations is useful for testing mouse and bat 
droppings, termite and carpenter ant frase.  Not recommended on rat or 
raccoon droppings without acting ability.

-jc

On Dec 4, 2004, at 9:35 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Site meeting : Usual assortment of cannibles,some with suits ,some 
> with plans and specs , some with humor most with not .
> Conditions : 60's and  sunny; standing around in the mud filled 
> restoration site of the great jesuit library hall poured in 29" as a 
> Greek revival archival. Suits stroking their beards and avoiding eye 
> contact while Pyrate gives the dog and pony show on concrete repair of 
> the exterior.Bull dozers and man lifts  track by making it hard to 
> hear. No uncles in this crowd,not even a friendly shill.  
>  
> Pyrate:  Standing in Carharts with a 3 day stubble waving his arms 
> like he is selling bananas . 
> "Vell I stink da problem ladies and gints is in the salts; migrating 
> to the surface and expanding and popping (spalling and cracking) the 
> surface."
>  
> The crowd closes in ; Im on thin ice , at first I thought someone from 
> the back was calling for a rope ; "Salts vas is dis Salts ? he is 
> talking about ".
> A large shear of the column base shows the tell tale white crystal 
> blooms;
>  Suddenly its time for the Pharisees  to kill the messinger.A cabal of 
> beards talk among themselves peering  over their spectacles at me as 
> if I was a bug to be squashed.
>  
> Then a  little diminutive woman who looks like she spanks sixth 
> graders steps forward, narrows her eyes on me  and asks " Young man 
> can you please  test (and make recomendations) for the salts "
>  Dread fell over me like when I had to stay after school..
>  
> Final scene : crowd has moved off ...Pyrate (although praised for his 
> work)
>  is left standing in a mud hole muttering to himself . Wishing he had 
> kept his mouth closed.
> .
> I...have stooped water infiltration ..now needs testing   and critical 
> advise about chlorides in old concrete , sample size , and what to 
> expect over time. (besides gray hair and dun lap disease)    best 
> Pyrate