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August 30, 2010
Your parents warned you this could happen
Magnifying Glass Creating Fire, originally uploaded by Joe Gauder.
I was attracted to this story because of the rather absurd headline: Woman burned while playing with magnifying glass: 34-year-old has burns on 50% of body.
I mean, a woman burned more than half her body with a magnifying glass?I What kind of glass is this? Was this some kind of super glass that's 30 feet wide, with enough power to incinerate small puppies? Was this woman tied to a table and made to suffer, like in Dr. No? I was really hoping for something sensational like that. (Wasn't there a Simpsons or Far Side cartoon with a giant magnifying glass?)
The truth, while definitely absurd, was still way less fulfilling than any of the above-mentioned scenarios:
[The victim], 34, was playing with a child's magnifying glass when it started a fire on her clothes, investigators said.
Aw hell. Now, back when I was a kid, I did my fair share of magnifying glass fire-starting. I was never the kind to fry ants, but I definitely burned up pieces of grass and paper. I might have even disassembled a model rocket engine and blown up the gun powder. But I can truthfully say I never lit my own clothes on fire. Here's hoping she survives, and can have an interesting story to tell some day.
entry no. 1506
Posted at August 30, 2010 01:02 PM