Pluggers by Rick McKee for February 07, 2022

does it even help lower the temperature like a regular, “analogue” thermometer?

If you hold it by the other end maybe…

When I was a kid, you could buy small amounts of Mercury at hobby stores, now it’s completely disappeared from all consumer items like thermometers. When did this all happen?

And still take your temperature from the traditional spot.

The planet was getting too small – we were using too much of it up too quickly. The planet could not replenish it fast enough.

Some old habits are hard to break ….

No big surprise a couple of known trolls on this site have admitted to playing with elemental mercury and are downplaying the dangers of it. That’s a very toxic heavy metal (others include lead, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, etc). They even said it was “when the government decided it was toxic” like it wasn’t poisonous before then. Heavy metal poisoning can cause many problems including brain damage. It’s dangerous stuff and always has been and very, very small amounts of heavy metals cause serious and long term problems.

https://www.rxlist.com/mercury_poisoning/article.htm

BTW, the former resident relaxed coal plant ash waste water restrictions. That waste water contains mercury, arsenic, chromium, and lead – all of those are heavy metals that can easily end up in drinking water and do have long term effects from poisoning. And have been poisons even before “the government decided” they were. I doubt a chemist or a public health specialist would ever tell anyone that the government “decides” when chemicals and compounds become toxic when they always have been.

You shake a digital thermometer to scrape the oxide off of the battery; which is still the original because you can’t find a replacement.

Done that.

The problem with Digital thermometers, is they all pretty much look alike – no difference between oral and rectal use so you wonder where it’s been if a sick Grandbaby has been over. At least the old style thermometers could be differentiated between the two.

Last year having my temperature checked dozens of times before entering hospitals and care homes to provide transport, I began to wonder if in ten years they’ll be saying digital thermometers and scanners have been determined to cause some sort of damage or other!

I also remember rolling mercury in my hands from a broken thermometer as a kid. ((At 66, I feel so old!))

A real Plugger can’t grip anything that small tightly enough to shake it. I can hardly sign my name if I can’t find the “fat” pens.

They have to protect people from themselves. There’d always be an idiot to try eating it.

Holding by the wrong end!

your only saposed to hold it upside down for 10 secs