Magnet Mania!

Well, the enginerd in me must really be coming through this week. A coworker just got an order of "rare earth" (neodymium) magnets, and they're amazing. They're like 1/3 the diameter of a penny and a little thinner, but they each have a pulling force of 2.88 lbs! All of a sudden, magnet mania broke out around here. From chatting with some coworkers and friends, everybody thought these were the coolest things ever. There are over 300 different types at the website he used! Check 'em out at www.kjmagnetics.com.

I came across one that weighs under four pounds, but it has 368.22 lbs of pulling force (see the picture with this blog entry). That could easily hold a small person wearing a suit of armor to a metal beam... which I guess is practical at $195 if you have a need to perform such a task.

Long story short, eight other people and I went in on an order, and I placed it last night for 492 various magnets! Big surprise, we're all engineers or former engineers. The company has a cheap flat shipping rate no matter how much you order, so the prices are great for a group like this. I feel so geeky, but at least I know I'm not alone in my geek fascination with these things.

I also just have to mention that I'll be taking my final-final exam in four days. I'm a little worried about remembering the entire semester worth of material (finance), but the light at the end of the MBA tunnel is practically blinding me now!