Hey guys I'm posting a lot lately and I dont mean to bore you with it but some questions have come up recently and I think I should comment on. As most of you know, I spent most of my life in laboratories. University, government, etc. I just want you guys to take advantage of the facilities that they have available. These people can help you. All you have to do is go to a local University, college, trade school, whatever. Go in and ask to talk to someone who has access to laboratory facilities. Tell him what your interests are, what you need and can't get anywhere else. You just need somthing weighed accuratly once in awhile, you need some advice about some material you found, whatever. With just a little diplomacy you can reap some big profits. So you have a sample that you extracted by means of "basement Chemistry" but you don't have a $3,000.00 balance to weigh it. Talk to these people. Hey, I really need to know how much this weighs, etc. This is usually no problem for the lab. They are, in general, damn nice people. They can weigh you sample in 3 minutes and tell you "hey, you got 26.78 mg". Then you can ask " you know , I really need some ferrous sulfate but it's hard to come by and I have to buy a whole pound of it. I only need 10-15 grams to do the test that I want to do. Crap! they got it in jars that they will never use up. If it was my lab and a guy wanted a little somthing like that, I would (and have on many occasions) just poured out a couple of hundred grams and said "here you are, let me know how it comes out. If he says that, invest a buck, and really let him know how it came out. He is probably very serious about it and it gives you an opening to not only make a friend but to have a facility that you can use to your benifit. He is probably More than happy to do it. It don't cost him a dime. Just talk to him like people, not like an -- can't post the appropriate word. You will be amazed at what you can get for nothing other than a smile, a ya'll come, and thanks a bunch. For whatever it's worth----- KEN in cr