That little snippet into the life of a young Kevin is not nearly enough. Any chance you can serialize your life into monthly chapters to send out to us all? Heather Morgan On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 3:28 PM, Kevin Mac Donnell wrote: > OK, one gets a PINT of mercury from one's playmates and doesn't ask > where they got it. > > I was maybe ten years old. My friends had the mercury in a glass > beaker and for some reason we poured it into a one-pint ice cream or > milk carton. Then we decided to pour it back into the beaker and > that's when the mishap occurred and they poured it all over my hands > instead. Most of it beaded up and fell off, but my hands were very > dirty and some of it stuck and got wiped into my blue jeans, hair, and > anywhere else I thought to put them. We had great fun trying to > salvage what we could off the wood floor, hoping that we could avoid > creating a Environmental Superfund Cleanup Site. > > One of my two friends with the mercury later became a drug addict but > recovered in his 40s, married, and is OK now. The other later went to > prison for murder, was released after 20 years, and died a few years > ago after he took himself off an organ transplant list because he > thought himself unworthy (he grew up with a father like Pap Finn and > should have lit out instead of killing anybody). I did light out, but > never-the-less became a bookseller and Mark Twain collector. It was a > rough neighborhood, and is still contaminated with about a half-pint > of mercury and a few haunting memories. > > Enough Mercury. Back to Mark... > > Kevin > @ > Mac Donnell Rare Books > 9307 Glenlake Drive > Austin TX 78730 > 512-345-4139 > Member: ABAA, ILAB > ************************* > You may browse our books at > www.macdonnellrarebooks.com > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Harwood" > <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 12:57 PM > Subject: Re: Mark's exposure to mercury > > >> Mercury has been used in many devices, ranging from bulb switches, to >> pendulum weights, to sealing steam heating piping from condensate >> returns. >> Quite a bit of mercury was used in barometers, from where the present >> weather pressure systems got their nomenclature, such as 29.8 inches >> of Hg. >> Including sensitive thermometers, mercury still has many uses, >> including >> small amounts in every fluorescent light bulb, a hot topic today. >> >> The price of mercury approximates $1,300 a flask of 76 pounds. >> >> >> on 7/8/11 2:17 PM, Arianne at [log in to unmask] wrote: >> >>> Not to mention pints of mercury. (Where does one run into a PINT of >>> mercury? >> >> -- >> Linwood Cottage, Sheffield >> >> Man was made at the end of the week's work, when God was tired. >> -- Notebook, 1903; Mark Twain, a Biography >> >> >> >> ----- >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> Version: 10.0.1390 / Virus Database: 1516/3762 - Release Date: >> 07/13/11 >> > > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1390 / Virus Database: 1516/3762 - Release Date: > 07/13/11