Random Thoughts Part 5: Time to Split Again

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The discussion revolves around various topics, including a dream about a person named Borek, reflections on the book "The Martian," and the complexities of educational systems in the US and UK. Participants share insights on the long and short scales of numbers, particularly regarding the term "billion," and discuss the differences in high school and college education between the two countries. The conversation also touches on personal anecdotes, such as perfecting a Kung Pao sauce recipe and experiences with local disturbances. Overall, the thread showcases a blend of light-hearted personal stories and deeper discussions on education and cultural differences.
  • #2,151
Beware: Roving Herds of Weird, Purple Jellyfish:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thousands-jellyfish-wash-ashore-florida-191000663.html

Beachgoers in a South Florida town found their terrirory invaded by little purple jellyfish this past week.

Hallandale Beach outside Miami was covered in thousands of sea creatures called Velella velella, which have little sails that normally allow them to steer clear of the shore.

However, the jellyfish, which are also known as "purple sailors" or "by-the-wind sailors" can sometimes find themselves blown toward beaches en masse in a phenomenon that locals say happens every three years or so.

"We are flying our Purple flag for dangerous marine life," the city wrote on its Facebook page Thursday...
 
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  • #2,153
I'm curious how the post office can label my package as 2 day priority mail and then tell me that the estimated delivery date is 4 days. Are they really that bad at math? :oldconfused:
 
  • #2,154
Borg said:
I'm curious how the post office can label my package as 2 day priority mail and then tell me that the estimated delivery date is 4 days. Are they really that bad at math? :oldconfused:
Psss... maybe they are planning something.
 
  • #2,155
Pepper Mint said:
Psss... maybe they are planning something.
Like planning on taking their time?
 
  • #2,156
Borg said:
Like planning on taking their time?
Yes that is. Otherwise, please seek other services. In my area I use FedEx, for example, which is more reliable.
 
  • #2,157
Borg said:
Like planning on taking their time?
arent there state holidays in your area?
or they consider shipping time only two days between the day you sent it and the day when the recipient gets it. So the "traveling" time is 2 days, while actually it is 4 days :) (1-sending+2 travel+1 recieving=4 days)
 
  • #2,158
Sophia said:
arent there state holidays in your area?
or they consider shipping time only two days between the day you sent it and the day when the recipient gets it. So the "traveling" time is 2 days, while actually it is 4 days :) (1-sending+2 travel+1 recieving=4 days)
It doesn't need to be that complicated. I think that it's just simple false advertising.
 
  • #2,159
Borg said:
It doesn't need to be that complicated. I think that it's just simple false advertising.
She may have a point though. I couldn't get through to the DMV on Friday because it turned out to be Caesar Chavez Day: government offices on holiday.
 
  • #2,160
I have this feeling that John Doe is not a real name. It sounds a little fake to me. (ಠ_ಠ)

*suspicious*
 
  • #2,161
Yeah, 'Madona' sounds a bit suspect as well.
 
  • #2,162
rootone said:
Yeah, 'Madona' sounds a bit suspect as well.
You mean the " Like a virgin " part?
 
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  • #2,163
http://9gag.com/gag/awxvBrD?ref=android spicy food
 
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  • #2,164
Sophia said:
http://9gag.com/gag/awxvBrD?ref=android spicy food
Let them fight it of with Mexicans to see which is spiciest.
 
  • #2,165
Wow, beginning of April and temperatures today from 27 deg. to 36, high 42.
 
  • #2,166
WWGD said:
Wow, beginning of April and temperatures today from 27 deg. to 36, high 42.
That's really cold for April! Another random thought.
I'm reading Twilight (yes, THAT Twilight :-) ) and this reminded me of a long term mystery.
How do Americans always know where is East or West? They always say things like : go North or go South. When you are first in a city do you immediately look at the sun trying to guess where did it rise in the morning? And how can you still get the direction of you turn a couple of times?
I know how to determine world sides according to shadows, stars, the way anthills are build or by the moss growing on trees. But how do you use these in a city? And when you are in a hurry! Why not simply say go left or right?
 
  • #2,167
Sophia said:
That's really cold for April!Another random thought.
I'm reading Twilight (yes, THAT Twilight :-) ) and this reminded me of a long term mystery.
How do Americans always know where is East or West? They always say things like : go North or go South. When you are first in a city do you immediately look at the sun trying to guess where did it rise in the morning? And how can you still get the direction of you turn a couple of times?
I know how to determine world sides according to shadows, stars, the way anthills are build or by the moss growing on trees. But how do you use these in a city? And when you are in a hurry! Why not simply say go left or right?
In NYC we have a grid system with streets going E-W and avenues going N-S and there are good signals and easy to tell if you are in a street or avenue.
 
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  • #2,168
WWGD said:
In NYC we have a grid system with streets going E-W and avenues going N-S and there are good signals and easy to tell if you are in a street or avenue.
I guess that it also helps the directionally impared know which way they're travelling.
 
  • #2,169
Borg said:
I guess that it also helps the directionally impared know which way they're travelling.
But the tricky thing is that streets alternate driving-wise , going E-W or W-E except for the main ones, which go both ways.
 
  • #2,170
WWGD said:
But the tricky thing is that streets alternate driving-wise , going E-W or W-E except for the main ones, which go both ways.
I think that you would have massive gridlock if they didn't do that. Streets are similar in DC except that it's letters and numbers. N-S streets are numbers and E-W are A, B, C, D, etc. The main trick here is that there are four of everything because the origination point is the capital. So, if someone tells you to meet them at 4th and D, you have to know if they mean NW, NE, SE or SW!
 
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  • #2,171
Borg said:
I think that you would have massive gridlock if they didn't do that. Streets are similar in DC except that it's letters and numbers. N-S streets are numbers and E-W are A, B, C, D, etc. The main trick here is that there are four of everything because the origination point is the capital. So, if someone tells you to meet them at 4th and D, you have to know if they mean NW, NE, SE or SW!
Unless you meet in 4D(imensions) ??!??
 
  • #2,172
WWGD said:
In NYC we have a grid system with streets going E-W and avenues going N-S and there are good signals and easy to tell if you are in a street or avenue.
Now I see :-)
 
  • #2,173
WWGD said:
In NYC we have a grid system with streets going E-W and avenues going N-S and there are good signals and easy to tell if you are in a street or avenue.
Actually, not quite. They're a few degrees off. The Museum of Modern Art in NYC sells (or did a few years ago when I was there) a New York compass, with cardinal points of "uptown", "downtown", "east side" and "west side". :biggrin:
 
  • #2,174
Ibix said:
Actually, not quite. They're a few degrees off. The Museum of Modern Art in NYC sells (or did a few years ago when I was there) a New York compass, with cardinal points of "uptown", "downtown", "east side" and "west side". [emoji3]
I will buy one of those of I ever go to NYC :-) it would be both useful and much more interesting souvenir than a magnet or postcard :-)
 
  • #2,175
Ibix said:
Actually, not quite. They're a few degrees off. The Museum of Modern Art in NYC sells (or did a few years ago when I was there) a New York compass, with cardinal points of "uptown", "downtown", "east side" and "west side". :biggrin:
No problem, I am a few degrees off myself :).
 
  • #2,176
Sophia said:
How do Americans always know where is East or West? They always say things like : go North or go South. When you are first in a city do you immediately look at the sun trying to guess where did it rise in the morning? And how can you still get the direction of you turn a couple of times?
I know how to determine world sides according to shadows, stars, the way anthills are build or by the moss growing on trees. But how do you use these in a city? And when you are in a hurry! Why not simply say go left or right?
I've moved to two cities cold with no knowledge of the streets and the first thing I did was get a map. Most, but not all, cities are essentially grid-like. Both Minneapolis and San Diego have about half their streets and highways running roughly north/south, and the other half roughly east/west. In Minneapolis north/south streets were named "avenues" and east/west streets were "streets."

In San Diego its the reverse, most "avenues" are east/west and "streets" are north/south. Generally there is some kind of 'center' from which all the counting starts, so you can tell if you're going one direction or another by whether the street addresses are getting higher or lower in number.

Now, that's fine for a lot of cities, but it won't get you anywhere in, say, Boston where the street layout was designed by SATAN himself.
 
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  • #2,177
I admit that there is something I can do several times in a day and don't get bored with. Maybe I only get tired but the urge keeps lingering on and seems to never stop. I think I have had some correct chemical intakes.
 
  • #2,178
zoobyshoe said:
Now, that's fine for a lot of cities, but it won't get you anywhere in, say, Boston where the street layout was designed by SATAN himself.

Just try to imagine Satan planning the map and laughing hysterically :-)

BTW today I learned: I always thought that avenues are wider/larger than streets. Now I see that it doesn't have to be so.
 
  • #2,179
Pepper Mint said:
I admit that there is something I can do several times in a day and don't get bored with. Maybe I only get tired but the urge keeps lingering on and seems to never stop. I think I have had some correct chemical intakes.
Do you mean what I think? 8-0
 
  • #2,180
I once accidentally sent a couple to the wrong mountain. They saw me running on a solitary road and asked me for directions. It wasn't until later that day that I realized I gave them the wrong directions. Oops. Edit: Anyway, they were close, I assume they found more people and asked them.

They ask Psinter how to get to Mordor and Psinter accidentally sends them to the Lonely Mountains. But with a serious face and in a very confident tone, like very confident that the directions are right.
 
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  • #2,181
Psinter said:
I once accidentally sent a couple to the wrong mountain. They saw me running on a solitary road and asked me for directions. It wasn't until later that day that I realized I gave them the wrong directions. Oops.

They ask Psinter how to get to Mordor and Psinter accidentally sends them to the Lonely Mountains. But with a serious face and in a very confident tone, like very confident that the directions are right.
Maybe you are their guardian angel. If they went to Mordor something terrible would have happened.
But!
There was Psinter to send them elsewhere and saved their lives! Psinter is a hero!
 
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  • #2,182
Sophia said:
Maybe you are their guardian angel. If they went to Mordor something terrible would have happened.
But!
There was Psinter to send them elsewhere and saved their lives! Psinter is a hero!
:DD
 
  • #2,183
Sophia said:
Maybe you are their guardian angel. If they went to Mordor something terrible would have happened.
But!
There was Psinter to send them elsewhere and saved their lives! Psinter is a hero!
Unless they were trying to destroy the one ring! :nb)
 
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  • #2,184
Proofreading is an underappreciated endeavour.

GMU law school renaming after Antonin Scalia hits snag
George Mason University recently renamed its law school after the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -- and then quickly realized the acronym that name created was problematic.
The school first announced it would change the name to The Antonin Scalia School of Law, or ASSoL, after receiving an anonymous $30 million donation on March 31.
Uh, who came up with that one? :olduhh:
 
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  • #2,185
  • #2,186
Caracas Venezuela is more dangerous in terms of its murder rate than Baghdad. My friend who lives there told me that now people who
go to parties stay to sleep at the host's home overnight and return to their homes at sunrise, to avoid being in the streets after dark.
 
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  • #2,187
Sophia said:
Do you mean what I think? 8-0
Maybe so until I know what is 8-0.
 
  • #2,188
Pepper Mint said:
Maybe so until I know what is 8-0.
10-4.
 
  • #2,189
Honestly, there was time I was fully "infected" with numerology; every single number seemed to always have a meaning to me.
Here is a list I learned for fun.
0: egg
1: <don't bet on my favorite morning fast food>
2: rubber duck
3: <asymmetrical topless>
4: <for you or for me>
5: you're so fine, rock or good
6: you're so sick!
7: it's heaven
8 : boy
9: gay, girl or naive
 
  • #2,190
Pepper Mint said:
Maybe so until I know what is 8-0.
it was supposed to be this emoticon :woot: but id didn't show properly :wink:
 
  • #2,191
Why children and young adults need experienced adult supervision!

Student's promising life cut short by failed experiment
https://www.yahoo.com/news/student-killed-homemade-rocket-had-bright-future-084646574.html

A homemade chemical rocket attached to a skateboard blew up Monday night, mortally injuring Moon, who died at a hospital. His 17-year-old friend suffered minor injuries.
This is why PF restricts or otherwise prohibits discussion of dangerous activities, and recommends those interested seek proper supervision, and in some cases, approval of authorities.
 
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  • #2,192
  • #2,193
Grmbl went to bed around 11, woke up at 4:15 am.
Better get a head start I suppose although it's cold and the heater is apparently broken.
 
  • #2,194
I have found relations of Canada and USA but still don't understand why Australia enters the scene?
 
  • #2,195
JorisL said:
Grmbl went to bed around 11, woke up at 4:15 am.
Better get a head start I suppose although it's cold and the heater is apparently broken.

Leave it to Tool to get me in a better mood

 
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  • #2,196
Username and Password
 
  • #2,197
Saw this on a car today. :oldtongue:

c130.jpg
 
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  • #2,198
Today I've overheard two men about 60+ talking. One of them was telling the other one that his wife beats him. The second man laughed. The first one seemed stressed and repeated that she beats him much and that it hurts and it looked like he was about to cry. The second man said something funny again.
It's strange how the society has become sensitive to domestic violence against women, but remains indifferent to violence against men.
 
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  • #2,199
Sophia said:
Today I've overheard two men about 60+ talking. One of them was telling the other one that his wife beats him. The second man laughed. The first one seemed stressed and repeated that she beats him much and that it hurts and it looked like he was about to cry. The second man said something funny again.
It's strange how the society has become sensitive to domestic violence against women, but remains indifferent to violence against men.
A man I knew had the same problems, beaten by his girlfiend and police would laugh at him when he reported it.
 
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  • #2,200
Sophia said:
Today I've overheard two men about 60+ talking. One of them was telling the other one that his wife beats him. The second man laughed. The first one seemed stressed and repeated that she beats him much and that it hurts and it looked like he was about to cry. The second man said something funny again.
It's strange how the society has become sensitive to domestic violence against women, but remains indifferent to violence against men.
In most , maybe all countries, Women's movement is much better organized politically than the Men's movement, which is almost nonexistent.
 

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