What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[Klystron]

Mmm, Mexican meal. Mine arrives in a few minutes from the local Lindo Michoacan. Bon appetite.

 

[WWGD]

Frank Zappa of course.


Where do think dental floss came from?

So it's Dweezil, Moon Unit and Necessity?

 

[WWGD]

Not that I knew of. Germany is a bit underdeveloped regarding mexican food. There are some mexican restaurants but I don't think big chains. I know that my NM friend has trouble to find the chilis here she is used to. It's easier to get asian food.

New Mexican friend is a bit ambiguous. Maybe my new New Mexican friend?

 

[fresh_42]

New Mexican friend is a bit ambiguous.

But NM is not!

 

[WWGD]

But NM is not!

Overdoing Esspressokeit Freshmeister? Orale! Edit : @Klystron : enjoy 2x Dos Equis.

 

[fresh_42]

New New Mexican would have been wrong. She is an interesting person: born here, grown up in NM, and now here again. which is why she's still alive (costly health issues).

 

[WWGD]

I am clearly not a fashion follower nor policeman but sweat pants with high heals seems strange. Same for the "Stressed Out" look : men in tights with shorts on top, and sometimes a bun to go along.

 

[fresh_42]

I am clearly not a fashion follower nor policeman but sweat pants with high heals seems strange. Same for the "Stressed Out" look : men in tights with shorts on top, and sometimes a bun to go along.

Depends on the city you're in. I wouldn't even recognize in NY or London ...

 

[WWGD]

Depends on the city you're in. I wouldn't even recognize in NY or London ...

How about high heels, sweats, undershirt and gold chain, calling people 'Love'. Yes, 'Love'... Maybe a "Chav". Maybe @Ibix can tell us if this is their fashion?

 

[Ibix]

British male fashion can still pretty much be defined as "whatever doesn't make me look gay", somewhat depressingly. There are exceptions, but high heels on a man is unusual. "Love" is a regional thing. Some areas seem to use it as a generic form of address for someone you don't know, where most of us would use "mate" or "dude" or something.

 

[fresh_42]

People are sheep.

The latest hype here is that stores abolished their plastic bags. Why? Plastic in the oceans? We recycle plastic and the rest is burned. And I reused them anyway. We don't have wild trash depots where plastic gets spread by wind. "But you have microplastics in wild waters, too!" Yes, we have. But this isn't from carry away bags. It is from polyester in clothes, from the enormous amount of rubber in the streets. But, hey, plastic bags are the evil. Here comes the highlight: What do stores use instead? They offer stronger, more expensive, and hence reusable bags ... made of? Of course, polyester and nylon! This creates microplastic by usage! The old one-way bags did not. They had no surface which supported abrasion. But, hey, everybody feels fine that there are "no plastic bags" anymore!? Nobody seems to think to the end anymore.

 

[WWGD]

People are sheep.

The latest hype here is that stores abolished their plastic bags. Why? Plastic in the oceans? We recycle plastic and the rest is burned. And I reused them anyway. We don't have wild trash depots where plastic gets spread by wind. "But you have microplastics in wild waters, too!" Yes, we have. But this isn't from carry away bags. It is from polyester in clothes, from the enormous amount of rubber in the streets. But, hey, plastic bags are the evil. Here comes the highlight: What do stores use instead? They offer stronger, more expensive, and hence reusable bags ... made of? Of course, polyester and nylon! This creates microplastic by usage! The old one-way bags did not. They had no surface which supported abrasion. But, hey, everybody feels fine that there are "no plastic bags" anymore!? Nobody seems to think to the end anymore.

Other places want to ban plastic straws, which are a micro amount of total waste and of plastic waste.

 

[fresh_42]

Other places want to ban plastic straws, which are a micro amount of total waste and of plastic waste.

Here is another holy cow:
https://phys.org/news/2019-12-high-carbon-footprint-families-sweets.html

Today I saw on tv a haute cuisine bakery. They produced high level lactose-free, gluten-free, nuts-free desserts. I only waited for sugar-free on the list. It always reminds me of (first 30 sec):

 

[fresh_42]

Merry Christmas!

 

[WWGD]

Merry Christmas!

Danke, but problem now is knowing which places are open and when. You go to your usual coffee shop, market and find it possibly closed. It's a confusing week!

 

[WWGD]

Now even the Powershell wants elevation after the admin command prompt disappeared from the menu/searchbox ; only" standard" cmd.

 

[Bystander]

Xmas eve baking, 40 year old Kitchenaid craps out, Walmart to the rescue with shiny, new, with grounded plug; total elapsed time, <1/2 hour.

 

[WWGD]

More parsing confusion:

"What about Richard Starky"

"Didn't know Richard had a Tarkey". "What is a Tarkey?"

 

[fresh_42]

Why do you wear four rings? Five got to be too heavy. (Richard Starkey)

 

[WWGD]

I guess they, at least he, started the count on the rings at 0, right? He is ring0 after all.

 

[WWGD]

Kind of strange that some stores have rolled back holiday schedules by closing only like 30 minutes earlier. I can understand rolling back by one hour or more, but I don't see the sense of doing it only for 30 min.

 

[Ibix]

Interesting fact - a roast dinner can be cooked with a watch and a spreadsheet. And an oven and stuff, obviously. But if you write a list of what needs to be cooked, how long it should take (Google is your friend), specify a target time, muck around with formulae a bit, and sort, you have a to-do list with time stamps. The rest turns out to be pretty much purely mechanical.

One of my greatest culinary triumphs - and I owe it all to my mad spreadsheet skillz...

 

[Ibix]

Mentors are fast, even at Christmas. I reported an obvious status spam, replied to the status with a bit of snark, edited it a bit to express the depth of my disgust for spammers (I'm an armchair warrior when drunk, sue me) but the spam had gone while I was editing. Nicely done, whoever it was...

 

[WWGD]

Interesting fact - a roast dinner can be cooked with a watch and a spreadsheet. And an oven and stuff, obviously. But if you write a list of what needs to be cooked, how long it should take (Google is your friend), specify a target time, muck around with formulae a bit, and sort, you have a to-do list with time stamps. The rest turns out to be pretty much purely mechanical.

One of my greatest culinary triumphs - and I owe it all to my mad spreadsheet skillz...

EDIT: Microwaving is faster :) (For those like myself unable to cook far beyond eggs). Some of these microwave dinners are tasty-enough that I don't see any use in
my trying to cook better; I will never reach a similar level of skill.

 

[Rive]

(I'm an armchair warrior when drunk, sue me)...

That makes two of us.
I have a random thought that somebody has to be (will be) (slightly) drunk if still online at Christmas night.
Maybe I'm wrong. But I'm also (slightly) drunk and listening to some (not so interesting) music without volume limit at 23pm.

 

[Ibix]

Merry Christmas, all.

 

[OCR]

Oh my! . I forgot to give everyone a happy holidays wish. . . . So. . . Merry Everything ! ☺

.

 

[WWGD]

Interesting phrasing:" I like dogs, specially hot ones"(Overheard);. I guess some languages/people have a different take on things.

 

[WWGD]

I have always been curious about those who refer to themselves inthe third person, e.g. 'Bob' talking about himself as " Bob has a masters in literature and likes to swim". Strange.

 

[fresh_42]

I have always been curious about those who refer to themselves inthe third person, e.g. 'Bob' talking about himself as " Bob has a masters in literature and likes to swim". Strange.

I have observed that interviews e.g. with sportsmen changed in the last decades. People don't use me and I anymore. They use either we and us or mainly one as pronouns. One is much more common in German than it is in English. I assume it corresponds to the third person version you refer to. "Why did you lose the race?" - "One wasn't able to find the right fine tuning." As if some unknowns did a bad job. Heck, you were just too slow! You haven't found the fine tuning, not the crew. "One will see." Who is that one? I won't, if you continue to shift responsibilities!

 

[WWGD]

I have observed that interviews e.g. with sportsmen changed in the last decades. People don't use me and I anymore. They use either we and us or mainly one as pronouns. One is much more common in German than it is in English. I assume it corresponds to the third person version you refer to. "Why did you lose the race?" - "One wasn't able to find the right fine tuning." As if some unknowns did a bad job. Heck, you were just too slow! You haven't found the fine tuning, not the crew. "One will see." Who is that one? I won't, if you continue to shift responsibilities!

Likely the case. Wwgd agrees with you ;).

 

[WWGD]

Fresheimer, not sure if I understood, you mean it is also common in Germany?

 

[fresh_42]

Fresheimer, not sure if I understood, you mean it is also common in Germany?

The pronoun "man" is more common than the pronoun "one" is in English. It is approximately the same, i.e. used similar, however, it's a bit different. "One" sounds closer to "someone" whereas "man" is closer to "human", i.e. "anyone". A typical sentence would be: "Man kann nicht sicher sein." (= One cannot be sure.)

It is neither wrong nor a bad style to use it in cases where the third person singular isn't specified. In English I would probably use "you" more often in such cases: "You cannot be sure." does not really specify you as a person, rather "you=one" as any person. In this sense "man" is more common.

But to use it as a synonym for "I" is ridiculous and bad style. And it's frequently used in interviews if people speak about themselves. They refer to themselves as "man". I hate it. And the only reason I see is, that they create distance between them as a person and that what they did or did not. "Man hatte kein Halt auf dem Feld." (= One hasn't grip on the pitch.) ***, you idiot had the wrong shoes, that's all. Don't blame the weather and do not speak of a third person "man", if you want to cover your own stupidity.

"Man sieht sich!" (= See you!) is another example. It could mean anything, from "I hope to see you again" to "I hope to cross the street in time next time I see you coming". It's non-binding. Stick it where ...

 

[WWGD]

The pronoun "man" is more common than the pronoun "one" is in English. It is approximately the same, i.e. used similar, however, it's a bit different. "One" sounds closer to "someone" whereas "man" is closer to "human", i.e. "anyone". A typical sentence would be: "Man kann nicht sicher sein." (= One cannot be sure.)

It is neither wrong nor a bad style to use it in cases where the third person singular isn't specified. In English I would probably use "you" more often in such cases: "You cannot be sure." does not really specify you as a person, rather "you=one" as any person. In this sense "man" is more common.

But to use it as a synonym for "I" is ridiculous and bad style. And it's frequently used in interviews if people speak about themselves. They refer to themselves as "man". I hate it. And the only reason I see is, that they create distance between them as a person and that what they did or did not. "Man hatte kein Halt auf dem Feld." (= One hasn't grip on the pitch.) ***, you idiot had the wrong shoes, that's all. Don't blame the weather and do not speak of a third person "man", if you want to cover your own stupidity.

"Man sieht sich!" (= See you!) is another example. It could mean anything, from "I hope to see you again" to "I hope to cross the street in time next time I see you coming". It's non-binding. Stick it where ...

I always thought the whole "See you" , specially See You next time"? What next time. You mean see you... next time I see you? Maybe we should seek for universal acceptance of variants of "Hasta la Vista" ~ "Auf Wiedersen".

 

[Bystander]

synonym for "I" is ridiculous and bad style.

..., as is "Myself and my friends, ..." An affectation of literacy.

 

[RPinPA]

I have observed that interviews e.g. with sportsmen changed in the last decades. People don't use me and I anymore. They use either we and us or mainly one as pronouns. One is much more common in German than it is in English. I assume it corresponds to the third person version you refer to. "Why did you lose the race?" - "One wasn't able to find the right fine tuning." As if some unknowns did a bad job. Heck, you were just too slow! You haven't found the fine tuning, not the crew. "One will see." Who is that one? I won't, if you continue to shift responsibilities!

I gather you're talking about German speakers, but this sounds a lot like how the French use "on" which is literally translated as "one" but is used in many situations where in English we would use "you" or "we".

 

[fresh_42]

I always thought the whole "See you" , specially See You next time"? What next time. You mean see you... next time I see you? Maybe we should seek for universal acceptance of variants of "Hasta la Vista" ~ "Auf Wiedersen".

The pronoun "man" makes the difference. Both just mean cu. But with "man" it becomes a sentence, however, one without a specific subject. Not the best of my examples. The other one was better:
Man kann nicht sicher sein = (lit.) One cannot be sure = (vulg.) You cannot be sure.
In this case the use of "you" doesn't refer to a specific person as "man" doesn't. But who actually uses "one"?

 

[fresh_42]

I gather you're talking about German speakers, but this sounds a lot like how the French use "on" which is literally translated as "one" but is used in many situations where in English we would use "you" or "we".

Yes. And to use "on" instead of "je" is ridiculous.

 

[Evo]

I'm shucking pecans for my world famous fruit cake, which I guess should really be called Pecan cake. EVERYONE loves it. It's not my recipe, it's Mrs Harvey's White Fruitcake, my VP at AT&T told me she hated fruitcake, but mine didn't look bad, so she tried a piece, so she came over to tell me this was the ONLY Fruitcake she EVER liked. You can replace all or some of the cherries and pineapple with dried cranberries, apricots, dates, apples, etc... I am experimenting.

https://www.cooks.com/recipe/h02ng8bj/mrs-harveys-white-fruitcake.html

I have shucked pecans since I was a small child, it was something you did in the south in the fall and it was a source of enjoyment. Having my own set of nut crackers and nut picks when I got married was one of my greatest joys.

Now I think I may have been nuts as I sit here cracking and sorting and cracking and sorting.

 

[WWGD]

Yes. And to use "on" instead of "je" is ridiculous.

If those upset you, I agree. Another one I saw today , a classic I think, almost got someone a punch:

Anxious person:" I lost my phone!?"
Idiot: "Where did you lose it?"

With insults from anxious person: If I knew where it was it would not be !#%@ lost!

 

[epenguin]

I gather you're talking about German speakers, but this sounds a lot like how the French use "on" which is literally translated as "one" but is used in many situations where in English we would use "you" or "we".

Just what I had been going to say. School French lessons (they go all through of course the first second and third person singular and plural verbs) had not prepared me for the relative rareness in speech of the first person plural - it seems to me you will rather rarely hear "nous pensions que..." or "nous avons l'habitude" but rather "nous, on pense que..." or "nous, on a l'habitude"

 

[WWGD]

I have been having this slip of saying "The World will end inna few days", instead of "The year will end in a few days". I noticed after getting a few strange looks, though many just assented and went on.

 

[Klystron]

This true anecdote is for @WWGD:

While driving on the local loop freeway that circles our fair valley, Google navigation informed me of a disabled vehicle up ahead. How, I wondered, did Google know the driver was disabled?

 

[epenguin]

I have been having this slip of saying "The World will end inna few days", instead of "The year will end in a few days". I noticed after getting a few strange looks, though many just assented and went on.

Maybe they thought they had better economise their time.

 

[WWGD]

This true anecdote is for @WWGD:

While driving on the local loop freeway that circles our fair valley, Google navigation informed me of a disabled vehicle up ahead. How, I wondered, did Google know the driver was disabled?

I heard that if they realize they're wrong about the passenger being disabled they send a crew to beat the #$% out of him, to have plausible deniability: He seemed disabled. We did what we could. Edit: But good point, kind of scary that Google knew.

 

[WWGD]

Hope we'll have intelligent clothes soon so we can dress up for days that go from 54 to 41 in a some 6-7 hours. Or heat and rain, etc.

 

[BillTre]

Hope we'll have intelligent clothes soon so we can dress up for days that go from 54 to 41 in a some 6-7 hours. Or heat and rain, etc.

Sounds like dressing in layers.

 

[WWGD]

Sounds like dressing in layers.

Yes, but sometimes the number of layers changes kind of drastically when the day goes from , e.g., 54 to 30 or the other way around. What do I do with all those layers when I don't need them?

 

[BillTre]

Yes, but sometimes the number of layers changes kind of drastically when the day goes from , e.g., 54 to 30 or the other way around. What do I do with all those layers when I don't need them?

Backpack.

 

[WWGD]

Backpack.

Could be, but I already carry one and it's full to the hilt.