Puck is a weekly webcomic that, in the words of one fan, is "mostly irreverent humor concerning a pretty girl with freckles and a hot she-devil who wears fan-service costumes." Surreal fantasy slice-of-life crazy-type stuff about the world's funniest redhead! Updates Tuesday.
Fun trivia: a six-inch cube of gold would weigh 151.2 pounds.
Regular pounds, not troy pounds. So in our world? Good luck picking up one of those things.
In this world? Who knows
“Steam Shovels” haven’t been used since the early 1930s, because you know, we have better ways to make construction equipment move than steam power now.
I think the term you want is either “Backhoe” or “Excavator.”
I would also accept “Bulldozer” if you wanted a piece of construction equipment most people can clearly picture, but it’s the other two that really dig holes in the ground, if you needed something that “digs”.
The first recorded rudimentary steam-powered engine was the aeolipile described by Hero of Alexandria, a Hellenistic mathematician and engineer in Roman Egypt during the first century AD.
I knew someone would comment on this. And yes, the modern term is ‘power shovel’. But it doesn’t sound as cool as ‘steam shovel’. Just like a steam roller is cooler than a ‘road roller’. And with Puck, centuries old as she is, I thought it was appropriate that her terminology was stuck in the past.
It’s sad when people admit they don’t recognize older names for things that are still in use and insist on using a ‘more modern description’ or making up a new corporate buzzword for an already existing process to sound ‘edjamacated’ and expecting everyone else to nod sagely as if they know what you’re talking about. What’s next ? calling a pencil a ‘carbon neutral non-electric synergystic deposition facilitator’ ? oh wait, I’m opretty sure I saw that in a gov’t memo a few years ago…
I usually see one and think “steam shovel,” though I know it’s diesel powered. There was one, a couple of weeks ago, tearing down a house down the street from me.
Muuuuust dooo the maaathhhh… Ok because some of US folks are there for Canada, lets do this in Canadian dollars. Prioce of gold in Canada on March 18th is 428.57. Times 400 oz in a bar and assuming that the bars are stacked evenly and have only one layer deep she has 36 bars which equals 61,683,408 CAN even.
Was the “VaBaBaBaBa” sound effect for the overhead door rolling up, or was it the stunned babbling of the gang mesmerized by the mound of gold and highly collectible carpets?
Down in Canada’s 48 lower provinces, our doors usually go “Squeeky-squeeky-schrunch”.
It makes you wonder how many stashes like this are out there, abandoned by drug dealers, human trafficers, gangbangers, politicians and the like who have been killed, imprisioned, fled the country, etc. before disclosing the location to anyone else. There was a politician caught with a closet full of gold bars not long ago, and we’re kicking ourselves for not starting a stash of 1/10 or 1/20 oz gold coins when gold was $200 an ounce. A couple each payday would be worth a fortune at fifteen times as much today and that ‘interest’ would have been tax free.
If I could buy gold, I would. But I think many stashes are inevitably found by random people. And quietly looted by random people. And we never hear about them.
The twin spotlights are a nice touch. I expected flaming torches along the lines of the hidden chamber of relics along the lines of National Treasure with Nick Cage.
Confused. Is Emily the Cat a Kentucky Wildcats fan for March Madness? Not that I don’t appreciate the allure of deep purple.
Kept wondering what someone saying “Behold!” reminded me of. Then it floated up out of my subconscious brain: Gary Mitchell in “Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
The gold-tinted lighting in the last panel deserves mentioning, but I’m not sure what to say about it. I appreciate that it is there! Maybe someone else can come up with a more interesting and/or funny comment?
She be quite the gold excavator, right there. I might say throw in some Ming Dynasty vases for the display, but they might clash with the Persian rugs…
Meh, I see no reason to accumulate it, store it and yet do nothing with it. Gold, in bars if you will has no fluidity. It’s not like I can go down to a the store and “Oh BOTHER, do you have a change for a bar of gold”. Now, I know some places “yes, to have change for a crocker” and you’d be amazed at the felsitic greetings you will receive. Oh and you’d get your change, likely in Brough Superior or or maybe something european. But, yeah. Now, gold jewelry. Maybe. Depends, I don’t wear it…but keep it as a liguid high value item sure. Maybe.
ok, even I have to admit i’m impressed with this smart idea.
I want this as part of my life. This is wish fulfillment.
Fun trivia: a six-inch cube of gold would weigh 151.2 pounds.
Regular pounds, not troy pounds. So in our world? Good luck picking up one of those things.
In this world? Who knows
Well, a good delivery bar (which this is a somewhat scuffed attempt at depicting) is 12.4 kg. So it’s heavy but not THAT heavy. Still a workout.
So, that 27 pound (or 12.4 kg, if you insist) bar is 39 cu.in.
Why? Why not? I have a toy here.
Real gold bars are smaller than the scale shown here. That said, the standard silver bar is almost exactly the size shown here.
According to Wikipedia, there’s a range of sizes and 12.4 kg is right in the middle of the range.
Also! Me too, I want this in my life too. SO. MUCH.
Swanky.
And to think, a storage locker with something valuable in it!
That’s usually just a TV thing.
Well, webcomics are like an extension of TV, I feel.
Oooh Emily 🙂
Also great visual with the golden glow reflection.
Gotta have that golden glow.
Persian rugs always add a touch of elegance.
Hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.
I feel they’re important.
They really tie a vault together, too. 😀
Very effectively.
Jeepers they must be worth more than a hundred eggs! 😉
For the moment. Give it some time.
“We’ll be eating eggs every day! Like the millionaires do!”
Fort Knox North.
Well, I think Satan’s original vault is even more splendid.
my thoughts exactly – just how much did he hoard that he didn´t even miss this much?!
Sloth is a sin, he never checked.
“Steam Shovels” haven’t been used since the early 1930s, because you know, we have better ways to make construction equipment move than steam power now.
I think the term you want is either “Backhoe” or “Excavator.”
I would also accept “Bulldozer” if you wanted a piece of construction equipment most people can clearly picture, but it’s the other two that really dig holes in the ground, if you needed something that “digs”.
Puck is a few hundred years old. She was around for the invention of steam
I think the invention of steam far predates the “age of steam” 😀
The first recorded rudimentary steam-powered engine was the aeolipile described by Hero of Alexandria, a Hellenistic mathematician and engineer in Roman Egypt during the first century AD.
Puck is not THAT old.
“Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.” That’s where I remember it from. You guys ever read it?
That’s such a good book!
I knew someone would comment on this. And yes, the modern term is ‘power shovel’. But it doesn’t sound as cool as ‘steam shovel’. Just like a steam roller is cooler than a ‘road roller’. And with Puck, centuries old as she is, I thought it was appropriate that her terminology was stuck in the past.
It’s sad when people admit they don’t recognize older names for things that are still in use and insist on using a ‘more modern description’ or making up a new corporate buzzword for an already existing process to sound ‘edjamacated’ and expecting everyone else to nod sagely as if they know what you’re talking about. What’s next ? calling a pencil a ‘carbon neutral non-electric synergystic deposition facilitator’ ? oh wait, I’m opretty sure I saw that in a gov’t memo a few years ago…
Besides, it give Tracee something to aspire to. Her game can be upped!
I usually see one and think “steam shovel,” though I know it’s diesel powered. There was one, a couple of weeks ago, tearing down a house down the street from me.
Whenever I think of a steam shovel my mind immediately goes to Mr Squiggle.
That is quite an old ref, just like me.
Tracee did open the right locker, right?
Indeed. I’m sure the adjacent lockers are just full of old IKEA furniture.
One is a spot with a chair, some nice books and a comfie chair with a supply of really good cigars. The renter has forgotten about it.
Wow. Talk about holding on to your money, but in plain sight like this is bound to cause some problems, right ?
In reality, one would store the gold hidden in totes or containers or whatever. But that reveal would be less entertaining.
Congrats Tracee. Marcellus Wallis would be impressed.
I was indeed going for a similar vibe.
Plot twist= that’s only the storage locker she uses for daily expenses. Her actual savings locker is across the hall.
Wouldn’t put it past her.
Muuuuust dooo the maaathhhh… Ok because some of US folks are there for Canada, lets do this in Canadian dollars. Prioce of gold in Canada on March 18th is 428.57. Times 400 oz in a bar and assuming that the bars are stacked evenly and have only one layer deep she has 36 bars which equals 61,683,408 CAN even.
Just a little nest egg. Nothing too extravagant.
Ought to be enough to count as the root of all Evil.
Thankyou for the math!
Good for you! Canadian dollars as well.
Was the “VaBaBaBaBa” sound effect for the overhead door rolling up, or was it the stunned babbling of the gang mesmerized by the mound of gold and highly collectible carpets?
Down in Canada’s 48 lower provinces, our doors usually go “Squeeky-squeeky-schrunch”.
It was the door sound. It’s a weird door sound.
Those doors do often have a sound best described as a noisy and gritty “VaBaBaBaBa”.
Honestly, it’s a perfectly good attempt at onomatopoeia for the sound made for a roll-up door.
It makes you wonder how many stashes like this are out there, abandoned by drug dealers, human trafficers, gangbangers, politicians and the like who have been killed, imprisioned, fled the country, etc. before disclosing the location to anyone else. There was a politician caught with a closet full of gold bars not long ago, and we’re kicking ourselves for not starting a stash of 1/10 or 1/20 oz gold coins when gold was $200 an ounce. A couple each payday would be worth a fortune at fifteen times as much today and that ‘interest’ would have been tax free.
If I could buy gold, I would. But I think many stashes are inevitably found by random people. And quietly looted by random people. And we never hear about them.
Baby Bird: You are not my mother! You are a gold SNORT! I must get out of here!
– Are You My Mother? –kinda
A 50s kid classic.
The twin spotlights are a nice touch. I expected flaming torches along the lines of the hidden chamber of relics along the lines of National Treasure with Nick Cage.
Confused. Is Emily the Cat a Kentucky Wildcats fan for March Madness? Not that I don’t appreciate the allure of deep purple.
Honestly not sure what the Kentucky Wildcats even play. But sounds like they’ve got a cool uniform.
The Wildcats are a long-time basketball powerhouse in the SEC Conference. Emily is in good company.
Oh, the SEC conference! That makes sense now. All of my in-depth basketball knowledge has to do with the … um … other conference. Yeah.
Isn’t she in Cairo? For the purple rose?
Kept wondering what someone saying “Behold!” reminded me of. Then it floated up out of my subconscious brain: Gary Mitchell in “Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
People should say it more. They really should.
The gold-tinted lighting in the last panel deserves mentioning, but I’m not sure what to say about it. I appreciate that it is there! Maybe someone else can come up with a more interesting and/or funny comment?
I appreciate your appreciation.
It deserves mentioning for many reasons, but mainly because of the way it highlights…let’s say, the hills and valleys.
I get the feeling that at first, she would sneak away to gaze at it all and wanted it to look nice.
Who wouldn’t?
Why just at first?
It would get old after a while. And Tracee’s been busy learning “Poor Girl” skills.
I would be way too nervous to leave that much wealth in a storage container. But to be honest I’d never think to look for gold in one either.
It is foolish to do so. Yet it’s also kinda effective.
She be quite the gold excavator, right there. I might say throw in some Ming Dynasty vases for the display, but they might clash with the Persian rugs…
Hey, add vases for dayses.
Well you’re correct, that is about the noise those rolled-up doors make. Vababababababababababababababababa
I felt it was correct, even if weird.
It’s a weird door design. It’s right.
“Vabababababababa, rock ‘n’ roll is king!”
Meh, I see no reason to accumulate it, store it and yet do nothing with it. Gold, in bars if you will has no fluidity. It’s not like I can go down to a the store and “Oh BOTHER, do you have a change for a bar of gold”. Now, I know some places “yes, to have change for a crocker” and you’d be amazed at the felsitic greetings you will receive. Oh and you’d get your change, likely in Brough Superior or or maybe something european. But, yeah. Now, gold jewelry. Maybe. Depends, I don’t wear it…but keep it as a liguid high value item sure. Maybe.
Well, you’re smart.