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.
Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
Congratulations! Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
...and tomorrow night is the party.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Cool!
(But does it count as infidelity if you take off the ring while practicing your secret accounting trade?)
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
You don't even have to take it off
That's the best thing about engineering. We can do anything as long as we do it well, according to the oath. Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
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 Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
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!
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Yay, twinky!
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
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.
Yay Twinky!
Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
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.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
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.
Ophelia:
[ February 16, 2004, 02:52 PM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Go you crazy engineer! Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
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. Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
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.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Hmmm...no symbolism there.
Yay twinky! That ring is pretty cool. Have fun!
I have a cool ring too...my wedding ring is titanium.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Congrats, twinky! Most cool!
CT, you forgot the Eyes in the Back of the Head. Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
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 .
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
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
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Girl engineers? What are those?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
See Engineer above. Subtract Mascot.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
My class is about 40% girl engineers
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 Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
@BtL
(sorry I'm a bit touchy on the subject since I am one)
AJ
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
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.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
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
Posted by Jaiden (Member # 2099) on :
Congrats! Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
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.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
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?
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
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.
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
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.
Yeah, girl engineers are so common at school and still so rare out in the world. But patience! We are getting there! Posted by sarahdipity (Member # 3254) on :
One ring to rule them all....
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
All right, let the pre-festivity festivities commence.
My friends and I are making giant "iron rings" out of foam tubing and tinfoil. We'll decorate the campus tomorrow.
(Not to mention ourselves; I picked out a nice skirt and top to wear for the party. )
I'll try to take pictures.
I'm not sure when I'll post again. Maybe sometime on Wednesday. But I'll have my ring!
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
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.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
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).
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
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)
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
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?
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
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! 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.
So twinky, tell us how it went! And tell us the text of the secret ritual, too! Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
Bob's not a Bob?
My world makes a little less sense now...
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
Congrats, twinky !
Posted by fiazko (Member # 5812) on :
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. Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
Ah, Fiazko must be an English major, then.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Wow. That was some party.
...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!
[ August 18, 2021, 09:54 AM: Message edited by: twinky ]
Posted by Livious (Member # 2326) on :
Is IRS an engineer only thing? A couple of my roommates graduate from CompEng next year and it sounds like it's worth attending...
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
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).
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I don't know why, but everytime I see this thread title i think of Janet Jackson.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Posted by ak (Member # 90) on :
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. Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
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 Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
Us film industry folk only get shiny statues... and only if we're really really good (or popular).
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Hat]](graemlins/hat.gif)
![[The Wave]](graemlins/thewave.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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.