[Phys-L] Re: The power of compressed air (or creative litigation)

[Bob LaMontagne <rlamont@POSTOFFICE.PROVIDENCE.EDU>]

Control Your Atmospheres?

Bob at PC

-----Original Message-----
From: Forum for Physics Educators [mailto:PHYS-L@list1.ucc.nau.edu] On
Behalf Of Bernard Cleyet
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 4:15 PM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Re: The power of compressed air (or creative litigation)

Leigh! -- we knew that.  What we (royal?) wanted to know are the words
behind the acronym!

bc, who also found a broken link.

p.s. that warning re. the weakness of the screen is placed by the mfg.
who has no idea where the window will be installed.  We just spent ~
$10k to have all our windows replace by near top of the line * hi-tech
double glazed.  The ones w/ screens have a similar warning label.


* the top ones have an argon filling instead of air, inter alia.  Why
not CO2 I don't know.

Leigh Palmer wrote:

> > On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 I wrote:
> >
> >
> > > People have been killed by overinflating tires with air from gas
> > > station compressors. The problem is exacerbated in the case of
> > > tires with larger volumes and pressures, truck tires, for example.
> > > Are
> > > there CYA signs on air hoses now in the US?
>
>
> To which Herb Gottlieb replied:
>
>
> > Just what is a "CYA sign" ? On what part of the airhose does it
> > appear?
>
>
> Dear Herb,
>
> A CYA sign is a warning label on a commercial product (or, in this
> case, a service) attached for the purpose of avoiding lawsuits.
> Examine the OSHA label on a bottle of US champagne, for example, or
> look at the ugly label on the sun visor of a new car. Those are CYA
> labels.
>
> One morning last month as I was taking a shower at a friend's house
> in San Diego, I noted a paper label pasted to the inside of the vinyl
> window-casing above the shower. It was a warning, in English and
> Spanish, that one should not place a baby on the window sill leaning
> against the screen, because the baby might fall out. As this window
> had a sill well above the top of my head, the superfluity of this
> label should have been evident to any reasonable person.
>
> It occurred to me at that moment (I get my best ideas in the shower)
> that I should make a set of labels to be placed on every piece of
> furniture and domestic implement in my home, and to be recommended
> for use by all manufacturers of anything, that say, simply:
>
>     WARNING! The use of this object by the stupid, incautious,
>     or litigious is not recommended under any circumstance.
>
> I thought at the time that such a precaution would be a universal CYA
> instrument, but it appears that I was insufficiently imaginative.
> When I returned home from my trip I learned from one of my astronomy
> maillists of a still more outrageous legal assault on reason that
> could not be averted by my device. See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/
> 8474735/
>
> You can try to CYA, but your cover may be blown by pressure beyond
> your control.
>
> Leigh
_______________________________________________
Phys-L mailing list
Phys-L@electron.physics.buffalo.edu
https://www.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l