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Author Topic: I get my iron ring tomorrow!
twinky
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Tomorrow afternoon I will participate in the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer. I'll swear an oath in the presence of my equals and betters that was written by Rudyard Kipling in the 1930s, and will recieve a stainless steel (steel is mostly iron, in case you didn't know) ring to wear on the pinky finger of my working hand (my right hand).

I've been waiting four and a half years for this. I'm kind of excited.

[Smile]

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Ophelia
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Congratulations! [Big Grin]
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twinky
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...and tomorrow night is the party.

[Big Grin]

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ClaudiaTherese
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Cool! [Cool]

(But does it count as infidelity if you take off the ring while practicing your secret accounting trade?)

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twinky
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You don't even have to take it off [Smile]

That's the best thing about engineering. We can do anything as long as we do it well, according to the oath. [Big Grin]

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Bob the Lawyer
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So, tomorrow night there will be another addition to the drunken posting thread will there?

Congrats, dude. It's almost enough to make me wish us biochemists got rings [Razz]

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celia60
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yeah, i think i read the oath and decided it was more than i was willing to live up to.

i'm just that evil.

congratulations!

[Hat]

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ClaudiaTherese
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Yay, twinky!
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Belle
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I wish my profession had something cool like that, something that everyone could see that helped identify you to others of your profession.

All we mothers get as badges of honor are stretchmarks. [Razz]

Yay Twinky!

[The Wave]

[Hat]

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Ophelia
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quote:
Congrats, dude. It's almost enough to make me wish us biochemists got rings
My first thought at reading this was that they could give us linguists tongue rings. And I got very scared, because that's not something I would want.
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ClaudiaTherese
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quote:
All we mothers get as badges of honor are stretchmarks.
Ah, but moms get all the special powers, from Magic Mother Spit (cleans anything), to Skill of Fixing Stuff, to the revered Ability to Answer All Questions.

All that is gold does not glitter. Ye are cloaked, but mighty. [Wink]

Ophelia: [ROFL]

[ February 16, 2004, 02:52 PM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]

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Jenny Gardener
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Go you crazy engineer! [The Wave]
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twinky
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Thanks, guys!

Yeah, tomorrow is going to be a long day. I get up at dawn for boat races, then have champagne breakfast with my class. After that we get dressed up in ludicrous clothing and go from one class to the next harassing our professors. Then we sober up (the preferred method is napping) before the Iron Ring Ceremony, which is in the late afternoon. We have to get all snazzed up and be stone cold sober for the ceremony. Dinner arrangements are your own choice, I'm going out to dinner with a large group of friends after the ceremony. The Iron Ring Stag (the party) starts in the early evening and runs till the wee hours of the morning. The rule at the party is that any non-black clothes are fair game for your friends to tear off, so along with the tickets to the party they sell black shorts for you to wear so you don't flash anyone.

Then, at 11:30 on Wednesday morning, my design project team has to meet with our project professor and his grad students. It's going to be a rough morning.

Here is a bit of information about the ceremony and how it came about and whatnot. [Smile]

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twinky
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Oh, and I should add – once we have rings, we're allowed to touch the faculty mascot. The mascot is a 6', 300lb wrench that we call The Tool.

[Big Grin]

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PSI Teleport
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Hmmm...no symbolism there. [Big Grin]

Yay twinky! That ring is pretty cool. Have fun!

I have a cool ring too...my wedding ring is titanium.

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rivka
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Congrats, twinky! Most cool!

CT, you forgot the Eyes in the Back of the Head. [Big Grin]

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Dan_raven
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Congradulations and all, but it would be niftier if it were a decoder ring.

That what we English Majors secretly get.

And it comes right out of the Captain Crunch box, so there really isn't much ceremony .

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BannaOj
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hmm we didn't have anything like that at my college. Sounds cool though. Do the girl engineers wear black shorts and black bras?

AJ

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Bob the Lawyer
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Girl engineers? What are those?
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Dan_raven
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See Engineer above.
Subtract Mascot.

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twinky
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My class is about 40% girl engineers [Smile]

Some will wear black shorts and bras, some will wear slinky black dresses – a few of my friends bought two pairs of shorts apiece and made their own slinky black dresses [Smile]

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BannaOj
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[Roll Eyes] [Mad] [Roll Eyes] @BtL

(sorry I'm a bit touchy on the subject since I am one)

AJ

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Bob the Lawyer
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[Razz] OJ. I’m just trying to get a rise out of you (well, so much as one can. What with the whole female thing and all).

If it makes you feel any better you can make fun of me for being a boy biochemist. 90% of my class are girls and about 70% of the people in my department at work are women. Granted, at the company I work for it’s about 50/50 but if it weren’t for all the male engineers on the production lines the ratio would be largely tilted to the estrogen side of the scale.

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BannaOj
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[Big Grin] I'm actually touchier about it now than when I was in school a couple years ago. My generation seems much more balanced as far as the boy to girl ratio goes, but since I'm the "baby" where I work, of 50+ engineers there are 4 females including myself.

AJ

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Jaiden
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Congrats! [Big Grin]
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celia60
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how on earth did i miss that you were biochem? those are the scary hard classes i'm doing my best to avoid. though, i've been forced into a few biomed ones. until now, they were heavy on the female side, but my current one has just me in it.
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ak
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Oooooh, I wish I had an iron ring and a ritual! Can't you guys export this to the U.S.? I've always felt it was a sacred calling.

Where is the text of the oath? I must have missed that link?

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twinky
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No, it's actually been copyrighted, and it seems it's Canada-only. There are some American unviersities with similar ceremonies, though.

I don't have a link for the oath itself; I'm not sure it's on the internet anywhere. I Googled for it. I did find some more information about the ceremony, though.

[Smile]

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ak
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Oh, that's too cool! I feel so jealous that I don't get a ring and a ceremony complete with oath and party and slinky black dress. [Frown]

Yeah, girl engineers are so common at school and still so rare out in the world. But patience! We are getting there! [Smile]

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sarahdipity
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One ring to rule them all....
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twinky
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All right, let the pre-festivity festivities commence. [Smile]

My friends and I are making giant "iron rings" out of foam tubing and tinfoil. We'll decorate the campus tomorrow. [Big Grin]

(Not to mention ourselves; I picked out a nice skirt and top to wear for the party. [Wink] )

I'll try to take pictures. [Smile]

I'm not sure when I'll post again. Maybe sometime on Wednesday. But I'll have my ring!

[Big Grin] [Big Grin] [Big Grin]

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Bob the Lawyer
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Celia, I'm not surprised you missed the fact that I'm a biochemist, people seem to have a hard time remembering that I'm neither a Bob nor a lawyer. Can't imagine what always gives them that idea.
Although, I still don't know why Kayla always insists I'm a girl.
The underwear is strictly a comfort thing, I swear it.

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celia60
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heh, i knew you weren't a bob or a lawyer. not that names here matter all that much. do you want me to use yours?

didn't you get that name from belle? maybe kayla has you confused with peter the bookie, who is actually a girl (and not a bookie).

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Bob the Lawyer
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No no, the current state of things amuses me to no end.
I got the name from ae, what, a little over a year ago I guess. As for Kayla, who knows what her excuse is. Maybe she somehow thinks I'm Belle? (Now THAT would be funny)

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twinky
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[Big Grin] [Big Grin] [Big Grin]
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Shigosei
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I wish that they had a ring and a cool ceremony for us when we graduate. All I get in four or five or six years is a piece of paper. Stand up, sit down, you've graduated. I don't suppose U.S. engineers can get rings from Canada?
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ak
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I went looking for stainless steel rings on the internet cause I wanted one of my own even if I don't get the special secret ritual. The things you learn googling for stainless steel rings! [Eek!] But anyway, I'm really curious why a stainless steel ring for horse tack, or fishing, or diving purposes costs about 75 cents and the ones to wear on your finger are $40? Does that make any sense? Anyway, I've decided to find my ring at the hardware store next time I go. [Smile]

So twinky, tell us how it went! And tell us the text of the secret ritual, too! [Smile]

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Lalo
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Bob's not a Bob?

My world makes a little less sense now...

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Anna
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Congrats, twinky !
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fiazko
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Way to go, twinky. I truly admire all you engineer and bio/chem/phys people. I can barely concentrate long enough to spell my name right, let alone learn such technical disciplines.

May The Tool be everything you hoped for. [Big Grin]

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Lalo
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Ah, Fiazko must be an English major, then.
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twinky
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Wow. That was some party.

[Big Grin]

...and a really, really long day. I was up at 6:30 and finally made it to bed ~3AM. But it was all worth it!

My friends and I made... decorations... the night before, and put them up in one of the engineering buildings and also on a few statues around campus. One of them made it into the school's Daily Bulletin! [Big Grin]

[ August 18, 2021, 09:54 AM: Message edited by: twinky ]

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Livious
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Is IRS an engineer only thing? A couple of my roommates graduate from CompEng next year and it sounds like it's worth attending...
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twinky
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Yeah, it's engineering-only, at least at Waterloo. You can't get in if you aren't wearing a ring or working security (but our security volunteers were all lower-year engineers).
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Dan_raven
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I don't know why, but everytime I see this thread title i think of Janet Jackson.
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Bob_Scopatz
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[ROFL]
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ak
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We have the degree, the certification, the tests and all the other trappings, but we have nothing which reminds us of what we are actually doing, and why we're doing it. I am glad you guys have the ceremony and oath, and the rings as reminders. I see how it's kind of cool that it's a Canada only thing, too, but the spirit it embodies is something that transcends national boundaries, so I wish it were something we could share.

I'm going to have to become an honorary Canadian in this, I guess. I'm definitely getting myself an iron ring. [Smile]

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twinky
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I agree completely, but the Canadian-only thing is actually by request of Rudyard Kipling, who devised the entire ceremony. The iron ring wasn't his idea, though, so I'm sure you could wear one and that would be fine [Smile]
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Taalcon
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Us film industry folk only get shiny statues... and only if we're really really good (or popular). [Razz]
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