[meteorite-list] First call for alcohol.

[mexicodoug at aim.com]

Michael B. wrote:

"If you want to be really fussy, (I am) rinse with 95% to 99% alcohol 
after and dry in the oven with the pilot light.
The very cheapest you can get is in Mexico - any drug store."

Hi Michael and McCartney, List amigos,

Of course, you can never be too "fussy", cutting meteorites is an art - 
No one can be too good, but being questionable or bad is easy, and and 
only the test of time will determine whether being cavalier about it is 
ok: like whether tie-dye Tee shirts and bell bottom pants will still be 
OK in public 10 or 100 years even if someone says it is great right now!

If your rocks have been rained on, or even semi-humid places like 
Austin have water in the air where distilled water gets in and on the 
slices anyway, it is kind of hard to see why distilled water couldn't 
work properly dried.

Enjoy any cheap alcohol from Mexico while you can. I can't get it in 
any drugstore at all in my state anymore.  The price is going up and we 
are in the process of migrating to 70% around the country.  You 
generally can't get isopropanol in Mexico, by the way.  It's all 
ethanol, basically nearly pure grain but not food grade.  The Drunk bum 
special, really hasn't killed anyone yet.  This industrial grade is 
usually not denatured (though this too is changing or will change, 
too), so most of the time it ends up in those mixed drinks in bars in 
Tijuana that seem to be great deals.  I guess you get what you pay for 
:-)  Technically, you have a limit on how much of this you can bring 
into the US through customs after a run to the border unless you find 
denatured stuff but probably you could still get away with it.  Limit 
to Texas is about one liter now of non-denatured ethanol.

Congrats McCartney, look forward to hearing more abut your adventure, 
glad you seem to have a nice time after being quiet for some time...

Best wishes and Great Health,
Doug