Fill Your Boots

Mike Attrell (0:01)

This show is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB. The episode you are about to listen to was originally recorded on July 31st, 2018

Nick Maddox (0:16)

Sounds like someone could use an allergy pill.

Mike Attrell (0:19)

Is it that noticeable?

Nick Maddox (0:21)

A little bit. He's kind of talking like this just a little bit.

Mike Attrell (0:26)

I'm getting sick maybe.

Nick Maddox (0:29)

My allergies have been bad lately.

Mike Attrell (0:31)

I haven't been sick in a while. I thought spring was supposed to be worse for allergies.

Nick Maddox (0:35)

Yeah, it's been a weird summer.

Mike Attrell (0:38)

It has.

Nick Maddox (0:38)

Yeah, we've had a lot of hail lately. Have we?

Mike Attrell (0:45)

I hadn't noticed.

The hail may be less severe than it otherwise would. It's hard to tell though.

Nick Maddox (0:54)

Yes, it may be, Mike. And why might that be so?

Mike Attrell (0:58)

Yeah, no, I mean, we got our learnings on about hail recently. I think it was a couple months ago at this point. A month ago at least.

Nick Maddox (1:13)

I want to say it was a month ago, but I'm not 100%.

I'm also just getting off like a three week.

No, sorry. Last weekend I had off. But before that, one weekend I was, I think I was in Edmonton. And then I went to Yukon. And then my dad was in Edmonton. And then last week I purposefully tried as hard as possible to not do anything so that I could just rest. And here we are about a month later.

Mike Attrell (1:40)

Yeah, the math checks out. We're definitely at the fifth week right now.

Nick Maddox (1:45)

Okay. Yeah. So Mike and I sat down, not with anybody. We sat down with a bunch of people in a sweaty dark room.

Mike Attrell (1:53)

Fashionably late. Actually, I think we're past fashionably.

Nick Maddox (1:58)

I think they had given the couple minutes like, anyone else coming? Nope. All right, let's start.

And then Mike and I walked in.

Mike Attrell (2:06)

They definitely said, are you Mike?

Yes? Okay. I think they're definitely waiting like literally for us.

Nick Maddox (2:17)

Yeah.

Mike Attrell (2:17)

So.

Nick Maddox (2:18)

And then we sat front row. Yeah. Which was a great way to learn.

Mike Attrell (2:23)

They're the seats I wanted.

Nick Maddox (2:25)

Yeah, totally. Now, who was the presenter?

Mike Attrell (2:29)

Okay, full disclosure before we get any further, I don't have my nose with me. So this is going to be a very vaguely vague detail filled conversation.

Nick Maddox (2:44)

Oh, awesome.

Awesome. This is great.

Mike Attrell (2:58)

Great. But I mean, that's the interesting parts. It's the non-specific details, I think.

It was put on by the University of Calgary Alumni Association. They're the ones that, I guess, advertise the event. And it was put on, like the organizer was someone who goes by the Twitter handle, Chasen Storm. So basically a storm watching, storm chasing group. Interest group, I guess we'll call it. A special interest group, one might say.

They were putting on a talk about hail mitigation through cloud seeding. And it was something that I had heard about passingly in the news or just general awareness of stuff that goes on in and around Calgary, I guess.

And I never fully looked into what was involved with it. I had kind of ideas of how it worked and the idea behind it, the purposes, all that kind of stuff. But I thought a technical discussion on the nitty gritty details of cloud seeding and how it works, why we do it, the effects of it, all that kind of stuff would be a good opportunity to get my learning on. And for those who don't know, I tend to look for those types of things to do for fun. Nick, I think this is the second thing that you've come to. Actually, the first thing was the movie Contagion that was followed by a mini Q&A lecture session.

Nick Maddox (4:33)

And then we went to a talk on nuclear waste disposal and corrosion pertaining to that, which long time listeners might know is an area of interest of mine. And this is now the third thing we've done together.

Mike Attrell (4:48)

Yeah, I knew there was something more than just the movie thing. So, but yeah, I know I've been to some math ones and some other, some of the kind of other, other talks that the University Loan Association puts on. So this is another opportunity to check it out.

I was held at the Dalhousie Community Association, I believe it was.