You Think Your Job Sucks? Well At Least You're Not The Scientist That Spent His Entire Life Waiting For A Rock To Drip Only To Die Before He Saw It Happen

(Source) A professor of physics who oversaw one of the world’s longest and most painstaking experiments has died without ever seeing it in action.  John Mainstone, former head of the department of physics at the University of Queensland, was custodian of the Pitch Drop Experiment for 52 years. The experiment began in 1927 by Thomas Parnell was designed to show that pitch, although it feels solid, will act like a fluid and flows through a glass funnel over time.

Three years after the experiment began, the glass funnel holding the pitch was cut to allow it to ‘flow’.  Only eight drops have fallen in the 83 years since the pitch began dripping, and no-one has ever seen one fall.  Earlier this year Professor Mainstone, who died last week aged 78 following a stroke, said he expected the next drop would fall by the end of this year.  ‘It’s got a mind of its own and in blink of an eye it can drop,’ Professor Mainstone, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

‘John’s death is particularly sad as in his time as the custodian of the experiment, he did not see a single drop fall,’ said Professor Rubinsztein-Dunlop.  The experiment is now under constant surveillance, with three webcams trained on it to capture the ninth drop’s fall on camera. It can be viewed here.

Well this is sobering. You think your job is bad? You think sitting in a cube all day sucks? Well guess what, compared to the scientist who spent his entire life waiting for a rock to drip you’re doing just fine. This guy makes being a Cubs fan seem normal. Oh you missed the rock jizz? It’s cool bro, just wait another 15 years and it will do it again. Flies by in a second.

I’m trying to think what exactly this compares to in a regular guy’s life and I’m struggling to even think of one thing. The closest I can get is when you fire up some porn on your computer and it buffers the whole time so you can’t scroll to the best parts. Just sitting there watching two pornstars talk and progress the plot, while the seconds feel like days. That’s basically what this guy did, except he did it for his whole life, and then died before he even got to see blowjob.

Oh and, stunning, absolutely stunning.