Why it pays to have at least one mad scientist friend.

[Ken Cheng]

If you don't have a mad scientist friend, it might be a good idea to find one.

One of my former college roommates, Scott Tomcyzk, is a scientist working for an industrial chemical lab. The man knows his chemicals: I remember nights when we were roommates when, while talking in his sleep, he'd recite the chemical formulas for various household substances (I kid you not...he did).

So a few years ago, I saw this informercial for this supposedly miraculous stain remover that could remove ANY stain. A bit skeptical, I ordered a tube.

So after I got the stain remover, I tried it on a few old stains that had been impossible to remove. Sure enough, the stuff worked like a charm, taking out every stain I used it against.

I wondered what this stuff was made of, so I took the tube to Scott and he brought it to the lab to test it out. A few days later, he came back with the results. He listed what he determined to be the constituent ingredients, none of which I could identify.

But Scott did tell me to get rid of the stuff as soon as I could because it was highly corrosive.

So I did.

The point of all this, I suppose, is that it's good to have a mad scientist friend.

[jiang bao]

How does that make him a mad scientist?

[Banh Mi]

The man obsesses over chemical building blocks of house hold products. In his sleep no less. I think that description is apt.

Speaking of personal connections. I have an aunt who works at the Airport in Vietnam. Whenever we travel to and back, our encounters with customs goes smoothly.

My cousin is in the army, supposedly I could get him to sign papers that would allow me a weapons liscense.

[expression]

A receptionist proudly told my friend that she got away with speeding +30 mi/hr because she flashed her police cousin's card. Yeah she faithfully carries it with her like her driver's license.

[GuGu]

ken that story was kind of.... umm i don't know. so... umm.. okay.


i have a friend who claims that her dad knows kung fu.. yeah like the ones we see in wuxia series. so i asked her why he didn't teach them... she said he was scared that they'd use it to beat up other kids. but if i remember correctly, her dad got smacked in the face by a chair during a church meeting about 10 years ago. so i told her that he made the right decision.

[Ren Ying Ying]

So after I got the stain remover, I tried it on a few old stains that had been impossible to remove. Sure enough, the stuff worked like a charm, taking out every stain I used it against.

But Scott did tell me to get rid of the stuff as soon as I could because it was highly corrosive.

if your shirt (or whatever it is that you destained) didn't corrode, it can't be that bad, can it? Just make sure you wash it off properly afterwards.

[Banh Mi]

You wouldn't expect corrosion from one try, that would be crazy acidic. But over time, you would expect that it would deteriate your items.