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.
  • #2,041
Sophia said:
I am interested in complementary medicine and using of plants. The effectiveness of one tea that I recommended to someone was proven by improved lab tests made in hospital. It didn't require any special knowledge, it was enough to look in one old book about herbal remedies. I am also interested in accupressure and yoga.
(adding a disclaimer in order not to be against forum rules. I do not suggest using these methods instead of treatment by a medical doctor. It is very important to consult a doctor before trying anything alternative or complementary. If I find some advice for using certain herbs, I ALWAYS google the safety of the particular remedy and read multiple sources before trying anything new)


That looks like an ugly case of stomach flu . You would definitely have a problem in middle ages if you were forced to eat without washing your hands. And even if YOU washed them, the cook probably wouldn't ?:)
And imagine wiping your butt with leaves or straw or a cloth. After corn was introduced to Europe, unused dry part of corn (no idea about the English name) was used for this purpose. Multiple times.?:) :H
And what about us, girls? Being on a period in the Middle Ages sounds so fun!:biggrin: But at least that would be something I could make. Rolling a small piece of cloth and tying a thread on it. Forget about the Toxic Shock syndrome! :) :DD
And I guess that I could teach the farmers about better ways of fertilizing and farming which were not so widely known in that period.

I think they have had natural ways of dealing with periods for many thousands of years, but maybe in other parts of
the world. The only problem I have is that with the new toilets in public bathrooms I have to fondle the toilet for half an hour
to find the flush button
 
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  • #2,042
WWGD said:
I think they have had natural ways of dealing with periods for many thousands of years, but maybe in other parts of
the world. The only problem I have is that with the new toilets in public bathrooms I have to fondle the toilet for half an hour
to find the flush button
I'm pretty sure one of the greatest inventions of the last century is the motion sensing toilet flush. :woot:
 
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  • #2,043
Psinter said:
I'm doomed if I go to that era. At least I hope they have Shampoo and Soap because I'm a very clean person and would hate not being able to take a shower everyday.
My grandmother used to make her own soap. I watched her do it a couple times, in the 1960s. She had the benefit of store bought sodium hydroxide, lye, but it's possible to make it from scratch with potassium hydroxide made from wood ashes. The latter makes a soft soap, but it could be used as both soap and shampoo.

The other main ingredient in soap is animal fat, and that raises the issue of how expensive soap used to be and how it probably lost in the competition between using the animal fat they saved for making either tallow candles or soap. Candles probably usually won in the middle ages.
 
  • #2,044
zoobyshoe said:
My grandmother used to make her own soap. I watched her do it a couple times, in the 1960s. She had the benefit of store bought sodium hydroxide, lye, but it's possible to make it from scratch with potassium hydroxide made from wood ashes. The latter makes a soft soap, but it could be used as both soap and shampoo.

The other main ingredient in soap is animal fat, and that raises the issue of how expensive soap used to be and how it probably lost in the competition between using the animal fat they saved for making either tallow candles or soap. Candles probably usually won in the middle ages.

Good news for @Psinter
I have read about a new trend of washing just with water and a scrubbing sponge, called for some reason the " no poo" movement when it comes to washing hair:
https://www.google.com/webhp?source...2&ie=UTF-8#q=washing without soap and shampoo
 
  • #2,045
1oldman2 said:
I'm pretty sure one of the greatest inventions of the last century is the motion sensing toilet flush. :woot:
I hate those things for one reason. They flush before you open the door and some of them splash. I think that have trained my ninja skills trying to open the door and swiftly escape the place before it splashes all over me. :oldlaugh:
zoobyshoe said:
My grandmother used to make her own soap. I watched her do it a couple times, in the 1960s. She had the benefit of store bought sodium hydroxide, lye, but it's possible to make it from scratch with potassium hydroxide made from wood ashes. The latter makes a soft soap, but it could be used as both soap and shampoo.

The other main ingredient in soap is animal fat, and that raises the issue of how expensive soap used to be and how it probably lost in the competition between using the animal fat they saved for making either tallow candles or soap. Candles probably usually won in the middle ages.
Ohhhh, that's cool to know.

One day I had no water (don't ask me why, in the city the water leaves sometimes, that rarely ever happens in the forest) so I bathed with Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol and a lot of paper. It was only once. The papers came out dirty as I expected. Although when I cleaned my face with it my eyes felt like a burning sensation.

It feels cold on the skin, the alcohol.
WWGD said:
Good news for @Psinter
I have read about a new trend of washing just with water and a scrubbing sponge, called for some reason the " no poo" movement when it comes to washing hair:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=washing without soap and shampoo
Hmmmmmmmm. I'll have to ask those guys where they live and have them try that in my temperatures. Right now my room temperature is 90.3F(32.39C) and while I'm fine and not sweating because I'm used to this temperature, moving for a while and working will certainly make me sweat a lot in this temperature. I may try it, but I'm a little reluctant to it given the temperatures in which I live.
 
  • #2,046
Random thought OTD:

What if we teach students that struggle with parameters (like mass ##m##, not the variable) when manipulating we can replace each parameter with a different prime number.
Rule 1: Don't substract the numbers. (say you only use odd primes, then the difference of two coefficients will be even which means there is at least one new constant that possibly brakes the idea, have to check)
Rule 2: You can remove common factors in a fraction
Rule 3: In the end they can put the parameters back by performing a prime factorization.

I wonder if this has some merit.
 
  • #2,047
WWGD said:
Good news for @Psinter
I have read about a new trend of washing just with water and a scrubbing sponge, called for some reason the " no poo" movement when it comes to washing hair:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=washing without soap and shampoo
It's definitely true that the more you wash your hair the more oily it gets. I used to wash my hair 3-4x a week and then read about this "trend" (though it's not really a trend, it's what people have done for thousands of years). I use shampoo but now I wash my hair only 2x/week. At first it is terrible because the scalp is used to overproduction of oil but once it gets used to the new regime it produces less oil.
My mum went through the chemotherapy and lost her hair and before she used to wash it every other day than she had no hair to wash and her scalp went to normal function and now she washes her hair once a week. It's not oily at all, she just removes the dust.
It also works for facial skin. Since I switched from aggressive foaming cleansers to the most gentle and sensitive my skin has gotten much better.
 
  • #2,048
Rejoice people I found a great quote on facebook!

With regards to the difference between climate and weather someone used the following analogy. (To dismiss an argument to discredit study of climate change stating "they cannot even predict the weather of next week, how can they make predictions 20 years in the future")

Climate is like your personality, weather is like your daily mood.
 
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  • #2,049
Better: I can tell you how long it will take your kettle to boil. I cannot tell you where the first bubble will form.
 
  • #2,050
Overheard two guys talking about Abraham Lincoln:

"...and that hat he wore, that famous hat...what was it...stove... stove... stovetop! The stovetop hat!"
 
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  • #2,051
zoobyshoe said:
Overheard two guys talking about Abraham Lincoln:

"...and that hat he wore, that famous hat...what was it...stove... stove... stovetop! The stovetop hat!"
Vocab time! What's the correct word?
 
  • #2,053
zoobyshoe said:
The stovetop hat!"
Should always be worn with a smoking jacket and hot pants.
 
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  • #2,054
Latest and most likely last part of the ( incredibly boring) saga of finding enough quarters to do the wash:
Went to the bank with a $20 and they gave me two rolls of quarters, a total of 80 quarters, enough for 4-5
wash-and-dry sessions.
 
  • #2,055
Currently it's later than it was earlier.
 
  • #2,056
Two ambiguous titles for a book: "Killing Time" and "Controlling People ". Is "Killing Time" a book about someone who kills, or about people who are bored? "Controlling People" : is it a manual to learn to control people, or a book describing people who control?
 
  • #2,057
How can companies today advertise jobs and ask applicants to contribute their ideas and even solve their business problems ? Could someone up here eliminate these junks out of the stack ? It is overflowing.
 
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  • #2,058
Two ambidextrous titles for a book: "The Left is Right" and "When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It." Should "The Left is Right" be held in the left or right hand when reading? Both? Neither? "When You Come To a Fork in the Road, Take It" : is it a manual about driving directions, or a book describing people who eat with utensils picked up off the road?
 
  • #2,059
zoobyshoe said:
Currently it's later than it was earlier.
Someone should do a study to see if that holds true.
 
  • #2,060
Borg said:
Someone should do a study to see if that holds true.
It doesn't. Sometimes it's currently earlier than it will be later.
 
  • #2,061
zoobyshoe said:
It doesn't. Sometimes it's currently earlier than it will be later.
I walked right into that didn't I? :oldeyes:
 
  • #2,062
Borg said:
I walked right into that didn't I? :oldeyes:
I would have posted it one way or another.
 
  • #2,063
"...sporadic Strombolian lava..."
 
  • #2,064
zoobyshoe said:
I would have posted it one way or another.
Sooner or later, you mean.
 
  • #2,065
Borg said:
Someone should do a study to see if that holds true.
It would be a tense wait for the results.
 
  • #2,066
zoobyshoe said:
Two ambidextrous titles for a book: "The Left is Right" and "When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It." Should "The Left is Right" be held in the left or right hand when reading? ?

Hold it to a mirror?
 
  • #2,067
Large vehicles

 
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  • #2,068
Astronuc said:
Large vehicles


Wow, that is some extreme engineering, very cool. :thumbup:
 
  • #2,069
I am really a pig. I was eating yogurt when the customer came and after he left I noticed I've got about half a teaspoon of disgusting yellow stuff on my nice new shirt.
 

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