Gentle agitation

[George Collier]

Since the thread has been hijacked to a downward path - one more:

W. Gene Smith was famous for printing all day with scotch at the elbow, works for me too, just not when I'm making really big prints with expensive paper, or developing important negs.

[Roger Hicks]

One should never have consumable beverages in the dark room anyway. Picking up the wrong vessel in the dark or semi-dark can be very dangerous.

Come on, Jim! There are at least four major safeguards built into having a glass of anything in the darkroom, so 'very dangerous' is something of an exaggeration.

(1) I can easily tell a wine or whisky glass -- or a coffee mug, if I drank coffee -- from a 600ml graduate; (2) the smell would warn me if I tried to sip from the graduate; (3) if I were absent minded enough to sip it, I'd spit it out before I swallowed it; and (4) even if I swallowed it, I couldn't keep it down anyway. I could add (5) that if I could keep it down, it would be a very small quantity of something that is not inherently very poisonous.

[gainer]

I tend to do the drinking BEFORE developing or deciding to develop. I'm always surprised when I don't screw up

I have seen a number of serious musicians ruin their careers by drinking before a concert to "steady their nerves". Those nerves are the same that ready a warrior for battle, and are best left on edge until the battle is won. It is more likely to be won if the drinking is reserved for celebration.

[pentaxuser]

Come on, Jim! There are at least four major safeguards built into having a glass of anything in the darkroom, so 'very dangerous' is something of an exaggeration.

(1) I can easily tell a wine or whisky glass -- or a coffee mug, if I drank coffee -- from a 600ml graduate; (2) the smell would warn me if I tried to sip from the graduate; (3) if I were absent minded enough to sip it, I'd spit it out before I swallowed it; and (4) even if I swallowed it, I couldn't keep it down anyway. I could add (5) that if I could keep it down, it would be a very small quantity of something that is not inherently very poisonous.

Well if they start producing graduates in thick and wide rimmed crystal glass and give the chems that West Coast peatiness then I am finished or confined to Speyside. To our U.S. members, that's the West Coast as in Islay and the big slur( eventually) not the Big Sur

A little humour goes a long way. In my case it has to.

pentaxuser