Re: apocryphal soviet screw factory

[Daniel Davies <dsquared@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

this was common practice in Russian universities, according to my mate Aziz.
He claims that  they were given a brief tutorial on the subject in the first
week of term, emphasising the difference between the rubbing alcohol (which
was safe to drink) and wood alcohol (which wasn't) and advising them to mix
plenty of orange juice with the stuff.

dd

-----Original Message-----
From: PEN-L list [mailto:PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Chris Doss
Sent: 22 August 2004 12:25
To: PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: apocryphal soviet screw factory


A friend of mine was working in a chemistry lab in
Moscow during Gorbachev's crackdown on alcohol abuse.
The lab workers just drank the alcohol sent to them to
clean their instruments.

--- ken hanly <khanly@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> That reminds me of the short story by the Soviet
> writer M. Zoschenko. In the
> story the electric bulb factory meets its wattage
> quota by producing only
> 500 watt bulbs at the end of the month. In a
> collective apartment using the
> bulbs everyone complains. THe collective electricity
> bill goes up. The
> disrepair of the apartment becomes glaringly obvious
> since the cracks are
> all revealed by the bright lights. The  pensioners
> complain about the
> students using lights at night and increasing
> costs..etc.etc..
>
> Cheers, Ken Hanly
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Perelman" <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2004 3:54 PM
> Subject: [PEN-L] apocryphal soviet screw factory
>
>
> > I cannot locate an article that I clipped many
> years ago discussing the
> apocryphal
> > Soviet factory manager who supposedly met a weight
> quota for screw
> production by
> > producing useless 10 pound screws.  If anyone
> could help me, I would be
> very
> > grateful.
> >
> >  -- Michael Perelman
> > Economics Department
> > California State University
> > Chico, CA 95929
> >
> > Tel. 530-898-5321
> > E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
>





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