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.
  • #2,251
collinsmark said:
It was several years ago, but yes, as I remember, the drink ended up all over my face.
I found this story disturbing because you seem so polite and affable on the internet that it is hard to conceive any woman would have cause to do such a thing. Is there a sort of, Mr. Hyde that we should know about? Or was she a psycho?
 
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  • #2,252
zoobyshoe said:
I found this story disturbing because you seem so polite and affable on the internet that it is hard to conceive any woman would have cause to do such a thing. Is there a sort of, Mr. Hyde that we should know about? Or was she a psycho?
I don't know if I'd go so far as to use the word psycho, per se. But I'll relate that we are no longer dating.
 
  • #2,253
collinsmark said:
I don't know if I'd go so far as to use the word psycho, per se. But I'll relate that we are no longer dating.
O.K.
 
  • #2,254
I just found out this guy died. I hardly knew him, but he was a regular at a coffee shop I used to hang out at, like any time I went there he was there, hanging out. When someone is a fixture like that, they don't seem mortal. It's like nothing should have been able to kill him except if the coffee shop closed.
 
  • #2,255
zoobyshoe said:
I just found out this guy died. I hardly knew him, but he was a regular at a coffee shop I used to hang out at, like any time I went there he was there, hanging out. When someone is a fixture like that, they don't seem mortal. It's like nothing should have been able to kill him except if the coffee shop closed.
I had a different type of situation with someone, a regular, from a coffee shop. He told me several times he worked 80 hours a week. Yet every time I walked by the coffee shop, I would see him there, reading a paper, or doing nothing; definitely not working. Then he would see my seeing him and this awkwardness would arise because I did not want to bring it up, but he knew I could tell his claim was false.
 
  • #2,256
WWGD said:
I had a different type of situation with someone, a regular, from a coffee shop. He told me several times he worked 80 hours a week. Yet every time I walked by the coffee shop, I would see him there, reading a paper, or doing nothing; definitely not working. Then he would see my seeing him and this awkwardness would arise because I did not want to bring it up, but he knew I could tell his claim was false.
There was a homeless guy, at the same coffee shop, which was open 24/7 who managed to essentially live there for over a year, by claiming he was working over the internet. Somehow he had a laptop and some small amount of money for coffee and a bus pass. He would nap in the comfy chairs as often as he could get away with it. He would leave for maybe 2 or 3 hours each day to maintain the token appearance of having some life outside the place, but it was discovered all he did was ride the bus around and back, napping. Anyway, if you approached from behind you could see all he was doing on his laptop was playing solitaire and other games.
 
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  • #2,257
Some people are incredible.
"I saw light in your kitchen at 3am. What happened?"
What happened that YOU looked out of the window at 3 am?
maxresdefault.jpg
 
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  • #2,258
zoobyshoe said:
There was a homeless guy, at the same coffee shop, which was open 24/7 who managed to essentially live there for over a year, by claiming he was working over the internet. Somehow he had a laptop and some small amount of money for coffee and a bus pass. He would nap in the comfy chairs as often as he could get away with it. He would leave for maybe 2 or 3 hours each day to maintain the token appearance of having some life outside the place, but it was discovered all he did was ride the bus around and back, napping. Anyway, if you approached from behind you could see all he was doing on his laptop was playing solitaire and other games.
How about showering, laundry? You could take showers with Gym membership, laundromats, but I can't see how to do so without it. I knew this guy who lived rent free in a storage place , with a gym membership ( both open 24/7). Not comfortable, but not horribly difficult either.
 
  • #2,259
zoobyshoe said:
I just found out this guy died. I hardly knew him, but he was a regular at a coffee shop I used to hang out at, like any time I went there he was there, hanging out. When someone is a fixture like that, they don't seem mortal. It's like nothing should have been able to kill him except if the coffee shop closed.
There was once a girl in high school who died in a vehicle accident. Her dad managed to escape, but sadly she didn't. We weren't even friends, we just occasionally talked at launch time, but when I got the news I felt a little something in my chest :frown:. The only stuff I remembered was that when I talked with her, she was very humble. I felt like I couldn't believe it. I spent a good quite amount of time in silence thinking about it. I simply couldn't sort of believe it. It kinds of makes you think, I don't know...
Sophia said:
Some people are incredible.
"I saw light in your kitchen at 3am. What happened?"
What happened that YOU looked out of the window at 3 am?
maxresdefault.jpg
:DD :DD :DD That woman looks so funny I would maybe invite her over for some fruit juice. :DD (Not really, but she looks funny :oldlaugh:)
 
  • #2,260
Hearing about someone's death is creepy even if you didn't know the person well. Makes you stop and think for a while... We don't see death so often as people used to in the past. It's somehow hidden.

That lady is just a random picture from the internet but the real one doesn't look so different. Only she doesn't wear scarf on her head. :)
 
  • #2,261
Sophia said:
Hearing about someone's death is creepy even if you didn't know the person well. Makes you stop and think for a while... We don't see death so often as people used to in the past. It's somehow hidden.

That lady is just a random picture from the internet but the real one doesn't look so different. Only she doesn't wear scarf on her head. :)
Here in the U.S we also started using euphemisms like "pass away" for death, instead of the direct "s/he died". But maybe that is part of the general PC movement.
 
  • #2,262
WWGD said:
Here in the U.S we also started using euphemisms like "pass away" for death, instead of the direct "s/he died". But maybe that is part of the general PC movement.

Yes, we use euphemisms, too. Like "s/he is not with us anymore". Or "s/he is in God's truth/justice".
There is also saying from Latin "rest in peace". Or "may the soil be light to him/her".
 
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  • #2,263
Sophia said:
Yes, we use euphemisms, too. Like "s/he is not with us anymore". Or "s/he is in God's truth/justice".
There is also saying from Latin "rest in peace". Or "may the soil be light to him/her".
I'll stick to " May the Force be with you " .
 
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  • #2,264
Sophia said:
Hearing about someone's death is creepy even if you didn't know the person well. Makes you stop and think for a while... We don't see death so often as people used to in the past. It's somehow hidden.
People more often die in hospitals now, rather than on the farm or in the home.

I've actually had a lot of coffee shop acquaintances die. Two were wild kids who overdosed on drugs. One was a young girl who got cancer. One was a 65 year old guy who got cancer, and one was a 56 year old guy who apparently committed suicide. That one hit me the hardest because I talked to him very often and also knew his wife and daughter. It was also strange because it coincided with that coffee shop closing down due to a weird chain of events. He went back east to "see his mother." Apparently he did, but unknown to everyone else it was goodbye for good, and after seeing her he did himself in in his hotel. After he'd been out of town a few days, there was an electrical fire in the empty storefront next to the coffee shop where he and I used to hang out. They "temporarily" closed the coffee shop due to smoke damage. A couple weeks later, I ran into his wife at the mall where the coffee shop was, and she told me of his apparent suicide back east. As time went on, (for some reason, I never found out the details) the coffee shop just never opened up again, despite the fact there were signs saying they'd "be back soon." A year went by. Then a sandwich shop took over the space. That was a serious loss of zoobie habitat: I used to go there almost every day.
 
  • #2,265
zoobyshoe said:
[...] there was an electrical fire in the empty storefront next to the coffee shop where he and I used to hang out. They "temporarily" closed the coffee shop due to smoke damage. [...] As time went on, (for some reason, I never found out the details) the coffee shop just never opened up again, despite the fact there were signs saying they'd "be back soon." A year went by. Then a sandwich shop took over the space. That was a serious loss of zoobie habitat: I used to go there almost every day.

Wait a second. I also used to hang out at a coffee shop that "temporarily" closed down after an electrical fire in the vacant space next door that caused a lot of smoke damage. After a long time of waiting to reopen, it never did. Eventually the space reopened as a sandwich shop.

Although I didn't hang out there every day, I did order a coffee from there most days (sometimes to go), and at least walked by the place pretty much every single day for years.

Hmm.
 
  • #2,266
collinsmark said:
Wait a second. I also used to hang out at a coffee shop that "temporarily" closed down after an electrical fire in the vacant space next door that caused a lot of smoke damage. After a long time of waiting to reopen, it never did. Eventually the space reopened as a sandwich shop.

Although I didn't hang out there every day, I did order a coffee from there most days (sometimes to go), and at least walked by the place pretty much every single day for years.

Hmm.
Coffee Bean in the mall at Balboa and Genesee. You and I have seen each other without realizing it.
 
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  • #2,267
zoobyshoe said:
Coffee Bean in the mall at Balboa and Genesee. You and I have seen each other without realizing it.
Yes, I believe we have. :wideeyed:
 
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  • #2,268
Wait, you guys might still frequent the same coffee shop!

I believe the word serendipity isn't wrong in this case.
 
  • #2,269
zoobyshoe said:
Coffee Bean in the mall at Balboa and Genesee. You and I have seen each other without realizing it.
Maybe you are part of a real-life Ionescu play and you are roommates.
 
  • #2,270
collinsmark said:
Yes, I believe we have. :wideeyed:
The internet is a strange country.
 
  • #2,271
JorisL said:
Wait, you guys might still frequent the same coffee shop!

I believe the word serendipity isn't wrong in this case.
WWGD said:
Maybe you are part of a real-life Ionescu play and you are roommates.
Actually, I bet every PF member who lives in a city has passed another PF member on the street without knowing it, and a lot have probably talked to each other for one reason or another, without either knowing the other was a PF member. It is, in fact, conceivable that two members could be living in side by side apartments. Roommates? Unlikely, since a shared interest in math/science would come to light under those circumstances, I think.
 
  • #2,272
zoobyshoe said:
Actually, I bet every PF member who lives in a city has passed another PF member on the street without knowing it, and a lot have probably talked to each other for one reason or another, without either knowing the other was a PF member. It is, in fact, conceivable that two members could be living in side by side apartments. Roommates? Unlikely, since a shared interest in math/science would come to light under those circumstances, I think.
I was exaggerating just a bit, actually a lot.
 
  • #2,273
Now you can have coffee together in real life! Only in another coffee shop.
World is really small :-)
 
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  • #2,274
Sophia said:
That lady is just a random picture from the internet but the real one doesn't look so different. Only she doesn't wear scarf on her head. :)
I don't think I have it in me to stand in front of her without laughing. I would stand trying very hard to contain my laugh.
oJpvcqB.gif


LLn6Of6.gif
 
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  • #2,275
WWGD said:
...Ionescu...
I won't marry people having names like this.
 
  • #2,276
Pepper Mint said:
I won't marry people having names like this.
This was ( I think he he is dead -- or "Passed away, no longer with us *") a Romanian writer. * so we can conclude, following Dubya, that he is against us :).
 
  • #2,277
WWGD said:
This was ( I think he he is dead -- or "Passed away, no longer with us *") a Romanian writer.
* so we can conclude, following Dubya, that he is against us :).
No hippies please.:smile:
Strange I search google for Dubya and I see George W. Bush on the right column of the result page.
 
  • #2,278
Hmmmm - it works, but it's noisy.

 
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  • #2,279
@Profusely - Regarding the thread here: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/are-you-with-it.862258/, oddly enough, I just found out what is pink salt last weekend. It results my mom had some of it all along. I tried it when cooking.
_________________________________________________________________
I want to get these clothes in the spoilers. Only problem is that I'm afraid they will not fit properly and I will have to fix it.
gosick_kazuya_1858.jpg


9368942799860830cb3d9452efaf615d.jpg

_________________________________________________________________

Engineering Students will understand (you know, when it's project presentation day):
Were+_0c34078887accb2acbd8224395f82c9e.png
 
  • #2,280
I ran into someone who could not differentiate between " An ice Cappuccino" and a " Nice Cappuccino". He asked: What do you mean by a "Nice Cappuccino". I should have said: I mean you should have at least 5 of either, just plenty of caffeine until you do not feel like asking such questions .
 
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  • #2,281
It's: "An iced Cappuccino." Sounds like he was just being an enunciation nazi.
 
  • #2,282
zoobyshoe said:
It's: "An iced Cappuccino." Sounds like he was just being an enunciation nazi.
Like I am supposed to think, spell straight without my caffeine fix??
 
  • #2,283
WWGD said:
Like I am supposed to think, spell straight without my caffeine fix??
I wouldn't worry about it. The percentage of people who take the trouble to pronounce the "d" is probably under 1%. That guy will drive himself crazy trying to correct everyone.
 
  • #2,284
zoobyshoe said:
I wouldn't worry about it. The percentage of people who take the trouble to pronounce the "d" is probably under 1%. That guy will drive himself crazy trying to correct everyone.
I'll pronounce it with a heavy lisp next time I order it. See how he reacths.
 
  • #2,285
supersonic shockwave.PNG

Randomly thinking, this is pretty cool Schlieren imagery of hyper-sonic shock waves.
 
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  • #2,286
The mantra of the last two minutes of my run this morning - I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
 
  • #2,287
zoobyshoe said:
I wouldn't worry about it. The percentage of people who take the trouble to pronounce the "d" is probably under 1%. That guy will drive himself crazy trying to correct everyone.
Actually, I double-checked and in the wall menu it is spelled as 'Ice Cappuccino', which is the reason I had pronounced it that way. So this guy is extra OCD
 
  • #2,288
Borg said:
The mantra of the last two minutes of my run this morning - I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
Well, you may have to pay royalties if someone hears you saying it:

https://soundcloud.com/ikhanhiphop
 
  • #2,289
  • #2,290
zoobyshoe said:
That's surprising. Was it a Starbucks? Online, they seem to spell it "iced".

http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/iced-cappuccino?foodZone=9999

I'll check the physical sign, though, when I go down there in a bit and see what it says.
No, it is this place called Guy and Gallard http://guyandgallard.com/Home.html

Maybe someone did not put the sign up correctly, but I did check yesterday night and that is the way it was written/spelled in the wall menu. BTW, it is a good place, I recommend it...
 
  • #2,291
Maybe a refurbished Starbucks employee?
 
  • #2,292
WWGD said:
No, it is this place called Guy and Gallard http://guyandgallard.com/Home.html

Maybe someone did not put the sign up correctly, but I did check yesterday night and that is the way it was written/spelled in the wall menu. BTW, it is a good place, I recommend it...
Yeah, the Starbucks down the street consistently uses "iced" on their corporately produced official menu board, so I would imagine that's nationwide for Starbucks. It wouldn't surprise me, though, to see some other coffee shop writing it more like it's pronounced; "ice". Most people are going to pronounce it that way regardless of how it's spelled on the menu.
 
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  • #2,293
I've gained around 15 pounds so I'm cutting back on food intake. Until dinner, I only have my morning coffee, an apple, a banana, and a small lunch. I find that I'm wanting food mainly out of boredom. As long as I keep busy and spread out my food, it isn't too bad.
 
  • #2,294
1oldman2 said:
View attachment 99015
Randomly thinking, this is pretty cool Schlieren imagery of hyper-sonic shock waves.
I saw that image yesterday, and thought; "That is one, way too weird, solar activity".

But then I read the article. :angel:
 
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  • #2,295
OmCheeto said:
But then I read the article. :angel:
Very cool, I hadn't seen that write up. interesting what can be accomplished with the right filters and some high end digital tweaking.
cak_colormap.jpg
 
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  • #2,296
Big earthquake in Japan, then way across the ocean in Ecuador. I'm wondering if Southern California is next.
 
  • #2,297
zoobyshoe said:
Big earthquake in Japan, then way across the ocean in Ecuador. I'm wondering if Southern California is next.
If you like it, then it may hit it too.
 
  • #2,298
I was out driving and noticed my gas gage was reading über empty. That is: as empty as possible. Which usually means one thing.

I pulled into a 7/11 parking lot and checked under the dash and sure enough, a fuse had blown. That's OK, cause I carry spares, which I fished out of the glove compartment. When I crouched down to put the new one in, I saw my glasses on the seat where I'd set them after I took them off to look at the fuses. They had become two dimensional.

Fortunately, I had thrown my old pair into the glove box when I picked up the new pair a couple months ago, so I could see to drive home. And fortunately, a bit of work with a couple pairs of pliers and my new pair became three dimensional again. Still, I'm wondering if Southern California is next.
 
  • #2,299
A friend of mine put his glasses on the bench in the changing rooms after sport at school. He thought "not even our schoolmates would sit on them for a laugh". Then he went to the shower, came back, and sat on them because he didn't have his glasses on so didn't see them.

There were no earthquakes if that makes you feel better.
 
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