The glass tubes are 4 feet long and made by a company named FMS located in Minneapolis . The tubes get filled with phosphors minerals , mined from the ground , and baked into the tubes . This gives the color . Then they will be eventually filled with gas . Neon is called a “ noble gas ” and the others noble gasses are Argon , Krypyon , Xenon , and Radon . There are about 80 different colors of neon . George Claude is credited with the first neon , which was lit in 1910 in Paris . Neon atoms have 10 protons , 10 neutrons , and 10 electrons . He fills our minds with much information . Maybe too much .
I ask if anything is for sale ? He sort of shrugs and says , “ Well , it ’ s all for sale for the right price .” I get the feeling he doesn ’ t really want to sell anything but , if the money is right . You know how it goes . I would not be able to afford anything here anyway . We stay , drink some beer , chat and watch him work for a couple of hours . Then we thank him , and I leave him a bomber bottle of craft beer for his time . He says you are welcome to come back whenever you want . What an amazing experience we just had . The website is , ( skylineneonsigns . com ) he also has a page on Facebook . Take some time and check out his business and if you go , bring a bib .
After we leave his place , we walk around inside the building to see what else we can find . We find a round coffee table ; it has a sand substance on the surface and a metal ball rolling slowly around in the sand . Huh ? There ’ s a company here , named Sisyphus Industries , that makes these things . The ball is magnetized and a another magnet under the table moves it around in whatever design you want . This is just amazing . Looks pretty cool . So , we watch this for some time and then move on .
Next , we find …. A distillery . Well , kiss my taint . Ha !! Norseman Distillery is the name and if you think we ain ’ t having one , well , think again . What a great way to top off the afternoon . It ’ s a tough job travelling to all these places but we ’ ll keep doing it . Till next time , Jay .
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