One of the strangest “crazy” memories of my old dog PP was what he did when we would go for a walk.
Sure, like every dog, he would stop at every tree to take a leak. That was the normal. And quite expected. The damn dog wouldn’t ever pass up a good tree to pee on. The younger tree being preferred over an old one.
But the strangest thing was when we crossed a road.
Sure as shit, as soon as we were in the middle of the road; the exact middle… he would stop aggressively smell everything and take a dump right then and there, and the cars would come up and stop honking telling us to get out the way. Sheech!!
Apparently, the streets… the roads… all smelled like a sewer to that dog.
Makes you think.
Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I had an operation and was able to improve my ability to smell things better. Ugh. It might not be anything that I might want to experience!
I’ll tell you what!
Today…
What’s the best revenge you’ve gotten after being fired or let go from a job?
I was employee number 7 for a software as a service company. I put my blood sweat and tears into building their business. When things were small, I worked in the basement of my boss’s home. When things got bigger, I trained other employees (in QA, in support, in project management) in how our stuff worked. I’m not a water-walker, but I was generally well-thought of by those I trained.
Fast forward a couple of years: after training and building out my department including supervising and managing those I trained because there was no one else to do that, they hired a guy to manage the department I had been de facto managing for years. Fine. I simply refused to train him. I was always too busy. Not my finest hour, but my avenues for advancement in this company were now firmly entrenched.
My passive aggressive routine eventually lead to me being laid off. The founders were puss**s about it, and wouldn’t call the out what the real dynamic was. I didn’t care. I left.
When I got laid off, 2 other people (in a company with barely over 10 employees) I had trained quit immediately (without input from me) because of the message that my firing signified to other employees. Later, in my new job, I recruited away several employees from this company just because I knew they were great. My motivations were not necessarily revenge, I put good opportunities in front of good people I knew. I got them more money and better benefits because they deserved that. That this inconvenienced people I didn’t like was just delicious icing on the professional cake.
I didn’t set out to get revenge. I did the right thing all the way around in my pro experience with these jokers. They experienced it as vengeful because that’s the only idiom they had for people who were no longer friends to them. I hired people away from them as they didn’t care about their employees. What I did wasn’t vengeful or difficult. I provided objective evidence that you suck, and why those I took from you should objectively evaluate you that way. Cheers.
If you read this, you’re probably all “so?” I get it. This particular company had industry and application specific knowledge that one had to internalize to be effective. It generally took 6 months for people to find their feet. When I took several senior people, it was a purposeful shot across their bow.
In the past 6 months, apart from its citizens, soldiers, economy, reputation in the world, etc., what else has Israel lost? Will the sacrifices of more than 35,000 Palestinians be wasted, or will Netanyahu & company definitely have to pay for it?
In the 1990s or 1980s or 1970s – The People across the world trusted the United States
They trusted the US with their Gold, with their Dollars
They trusted the US Senators and Congressmen and the Western Media implicitly
Including me
If CNN said Saddam and his sons were raping women and killing kids – the world would believe it implicitly
If BBC said Gadaffi killed people who were rude to him, the world would believe it implicitly
Thus when the US said Israelis were the good guys, the world believed them back then
Today the World no longer trusts the US. The world is frightened of the United States
The US is the equivalent of an Insane Lunatic holding a button to 6 Keys of RDX and threatening to blow up everyone
Nobody trusts the US with their money or gold
Nobody trusts a US Senator or Congressman anymore
Even their own people
The World now knows the Israelis are insane religiously talmudic nut jobs who are demented enough to kill women and kids in their quest
Virtually a carbon copy of the same terrorists they condemn
Netanyahu is like a serial murderer with a knife in his hands and everyone is wary of him
Today’s world doesn’t trust the US. They aspire for the end of the US and Israel and the West without a world War and rise of a new world
Every passing day, people are less frightened of the US or Israel anymore
Apple Butter Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 3/4 cup apple butter
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients (the first 7 ingredients) and make a well in the center.
- In smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients (the next 6 ingredients).
- Pour wet mixture into the “well” of the dry ingredients and stir just to combine (10 to 15 strokes). Fold in raisins with as few strokes as possible.
- Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups (if you don’t use muffin liners, spray the pan with cooking spray).
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove muffin tin to cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes before removing muffins from tin. (Do NOT let muffins cool completely in the tin.)
Printing money
What are some interesting facts about the handover of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997?
- The official handover ceremony was held at 11:30PM at the Convention Centre in Wanchai. At the time of the ceremony, the Convention Centre had not yet been completed. (It was completed in 2000.)
- Officially, Beijing never recognized British control of HK, although it recognized all treaties which were made. So, for the British, the challenge was “How do you arrange protocol when the Chinese refuse to recognize the handover?” The official Chinese term for the handover was 中國政府對香港地區恢復行使權 The translation of this is “The Chinese government recovers sovereignty over Hong Kong and its regions” Notice that there is no mention of any handover in the Chinese or mention of British sovereignty over Hong Kong.
- Because there was no recognition of British sovereignty over Hong Kong, the Chinese and British officials did not talk to each other, shake hands or acknowledge each other after the ceremony began.
- The ceremony had to follow a strict schedule: the British Union Jack HAD TO come down before 12 midnight on June 30, and the PRC and HKSAR flags had to run up immediately after 12 midnight on July 1.
- Because the ceremony was indoors, there was no wind to make the flags wave. So the Chinese punched holes in the back of the flag poles, and put powerful fans at the base to blow air up through the flag poles and out through vents so that the flags would wave.
- After Prince Charles and Governor Patten spoke, Governor Patten and his family immediately took the Union Jack and boarded the Queen’s yacht HMS Britannia, which was right outside the Convention Centre. The Chinese president and government officials then proceeded with the second Chinese half of the ceremony. The Chinese officials did not acknowledge the British officials departure from Convention Centre, and the ceremony continued without interruption.
- By the time the Chinese half of the ceremony ended, the HMS Britannia had already left dockside.
- At exactly 12 midnight, just as the Chinese flag was rising in the Convention Centre ceremony, 12 Chinese military trucks full of Chinese military personnel drove across the Hong Kong border without stopping at Chinese and HK customs. These were the first Chinese military personnel to be stationed in what was formerly the Prince of Wales Building in Central, and would become the garrison for the PLA in Hong Kong.
- All the troops on the trucks were chosen from their units two years previously in 1995, and since then had practiced for this moment. All were EXACTLY 190 centimeters tall. All were ordered to stand at attention while the trucks drove at 60MPH to their destination without stopping. They were ordered to keep their eyes looking straight ahead even if HK residents waved at them as their trucks drove through HK.
- Although the PLA soldiers carried guns, they were all unloaded.
- The next day’s papers in China all had the same photo of the Chinese flag waving in the Convention Centre ceremony. No photos of the British flag waving, taken before 12PM midnight, were shown in any Chinese papers.
- By July 1, China had recovered sovereignty over Hong Kong after 157 years of British administration. Not a single life was lost in the process.
The US has no more technologies to put sanctions against China. As for the Chinese-made products such as the world most advances Huawei 5G, smartphones, solar energy panels, China made EVs, shipbuildings etc are 100% Chinese technologies. Why?
I’d like to give a short and oblique answer.
In one word, margin.
In one sentence: the curse of quarterly earnings.
The whole problem with American manufacturing is margin, because of skyrocketing cost and paradoxically, expectation.
Look at the magnificent 7. They are all, to a fault, either internet or chip giants with sky-high IP- or service monopoly-enabled margins and valuations.
Unfortunately, the backbone of the economy isn’t high-tech, or high margin. The only way they could survive was to lower cost, and find new revenue streams.
They solved the first problem by relocating out of America, and the second partly by selling to the rest of the world. This was why globalization became such a buzzword, because rich Western media trumpeted the model.
For a few decades, everyone benefited, until the rise of the internet boom threw balance sheet expectations out of whack. Investors not only demanded dividends, but also capital appreciation, and the stock buyback became mandatory in the 21st century. Intel for example spent in excess of 100b on stock buyback this century, and it hasn’t had a leading edge node chip for almost a decade.
Unions and collective bargaining wrecked havoc on company finances and HR turnover. Just ask GM, which is still paying down pension commitments dating pre-GFC. Elon is adamant about a no-union Tesla, and has taken aggression action against unionization. Otherwise, it would have faced immense blowback in its recent retrenchment exercise.
Meanwhile, CEO compensation have been shooting for the moon, and THE KPI to meet is the company’s stock price. The easiest way is to sell sexy growth stories for the public to stomach inflated earning multiples. In a world where the global competition is rapidly catching up and with few greenfield markets left to exploit, margin expansion requires cost-cutting. Which explains Boeing’s woes today, letting go of senior engineers, and allowing standards to slip, while contracting away key components that Boeing used to make inhouse.
One final example. The loyalty program of Delta Airlines is worth more than its market value. In other words, the equity value of physical airline operation (planes, brand, landing slots) is negative. Understand how loyalty miles turn a profit for airlines and you’ll have the answer to the question posed.
It’s over-financialization, and the stock market, silly.
Its all about ME ME ME
What did you do that was unusually honest, and turned out well?
One sunny day I was leaving Wal-Mart, and I spotted an envelope which appeared to be a bank envelope. As I got closer to it, I could tell that there was something in it, and there wasn’t anyone around. Finally, I got to a point where I could grab it, and I continued to my car parked nearby.
I got in, closed my door, and proceeded to inspect the envelope. To my surprise, there was cash. Not just a little bit of money, but some good money. There were some hundreds and some fifties. My heart skipped a beat, and I was overjoyed by my good fortune. I sat there for a minute in disbelief. I waited around for someone to come looking for it, but to my surprise, no one was around, and it was just me and the envelope.
Next, I took the cash out the envelope to give it a good count and go and treat myself and pay on some bills. I flipped through hundred after hundred to find $820 worth of cold hard cash, but there was something else in the envelope… A receipt. A receipt from Chase bank. The funny thing is the balance was there, and it was enough that this guy was not even going to miss it.
Without even thinking, no debate, I simply decided. I went straight to Chase bank and handed the teller the receipt. She proceeded to track the transaction, and minutes later, I was being thanked on the phone by a grateful gentleman.
I drove to a nearby Citgo gas station and handed him back his envelope with all the cash. The guy appeared to be in disbelief. He told me he had written it off as a loss and got screamed at by his spouse. He handed me a $50 bill, we exchanged business cards, and he thanked me again, and again and we went about life.
Since then, my fortune has not changed much. Yes, I could have really used the money, but I continue to work in my business serving clients. When I share this with my friends and my family, I simply state that it was not my money. I did what anyone should do given the opportunity.
NEVER install these programs on your PC… EVER!
What are some mind-blowing facts that sound unreal but are actually true?
1. Dogs can smell cancer.
Researchers have found that dogs are able to pick up on a specific scent that cancer produces in a person – which is undetectable to humans. So if your dog is acting strange around you, you may need to get checked out by a physician.
2. The shortest commercial flight in the world lasts just 57 seconds.
The Loganair flight between the two Scottish islands of Westray and Papa Westray lasts just 57 seconds. At a distance of 2.7 miles, it’s the shortest commercial flight in the world.
3. Humans are the only animals that enjoy spicy foods.
There does not seem to be any health benefits to eating painful peppers, so the best reason some have suggested is the thrill factor – no different than the fact that we are the only creatures that like rollercoasters and scary movies.
4. Stars and celebrities use online platforms to find a lover too
Real Housewives star Rachel Lugo met her new boyfriend on this site. And now they seem to be engaged. Ben Afflect was using Raya to find dates..etc.
5. Cotton candy was invented by a dentist.
Cotton candy isn’t exactly great for your teeth. But actually the machine that makes this sweet treat was invented by a dentist named William Morrison, despite he looked after peoples’ teeth for a living.
6. On eBay, a man tried to sell New Zealand.
People try to sell some unique and weird things online since e-commerce became popular. But in 2006, one man kicked the eccentric nature of the digital marketplace up a notch by trying to sell an entire country—New Zealand, to be exact—on eBay. And New Zealand is sold.
7. Tins of air were sold to commemorate the abdication of a Japanese emperor.
When Japan’s Emperor Akihito abdicated the throne in 2019 to let his son, take over, it was the first time that an abdication had taken place in Japan in 200 years. People who were selling tins of air for about $10 USD, to commemorate the hand over in rule and the end of the Heisei era.
8. A man once ate an entire airplane.
In 1978, a French man named Michel Lotito started eating a Cessna 150 airplane. Lotito developed an unique tolerance for eating dangerous objects due to a condition known as pica, which leads to an appetite for non-nutritive items. In 1980, he finished consuming the last of the airplane.
Where are they?
What is the oddest conversation you’ve had with a telephone scammer?
My granddaughter called and told me she had been arrested. I asked which granddaughter was this, because I didn’t recognize her voice. “Oh Grandma! You know who this is! It’s me!” “Ummm…no, sorry. I really can’t figure out which one of my grandchildren you are. I’m sorry, honey, just tell me who you are and I’ll help you as best I can.” “Oh Grandma! (Sounding hurt and sad). I really can’t believe you don’t recognize my voice!” “I’m sorry baby girl, I don’t have my hearing aid in, so your voice is so soft, I can hardly hear you.Tell me your name and it’ll be okay.” Softly and with a lot of sighing, she says a name. “Gee…sorry sweetheart, I KNOW you aren’t one of my grandchildren.” “GRANDMA! How could you say that!?! It’s ME!” “How do I know you aren’t one my grandchildren? Simple – I DONT HAVE ANY, YOU IDIOT!” Stop being a scammer and go get a decent job. Shame on you!”
What is the saddest thing you have seen a parent do to their child?
It makes me shudder to share this. I was an elementary school bus driver and I have to say I ran a pretty tight ship. I had a fairly new student on the bus, about 10 yrs old, and he kept misbehaving in a way that really jeopardized his safety, like jumping in the aisles, standing up in the seats and such. I finally wrote him up, which meant a phone call home. Well he lived in a low income apartment building and there resided some seedy characters as well. Apparently his father figure, step father, was one of them. The next morning as I pulled in to pick him up, this bully of a man, the step father, cigarette in mouth, no shirt, mullet…was screaming through his ciggy while dragging this child in a choke hold! The child was trying to break free as the man was obviously tightening his grip. The kids on the bus were horrified! He led the child to the door and threw him into the stairwell, leaving the boy gasping and coughing for air. The man took his cigarette out and said, “IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE PROBLEMS WITH HIM, YOU LET ME KNOW SO I CAN BEAT HIS ASS!” I slammed the Bus door and got the Hell out of there. I pulled over at the first opportunity to check on the boy. He was beat down emotionally as low as can be and so humiliated, I could feel it for him. I got him to the school and into the counselor then went straight up to the principal’s office. I slammed the door and bawled my head off. I reported the abuser and confessed the lesson I learned…sometimes there’s a reason a kiddo acts up. I should have had my eyes and ears open to what those symptoms were about. But he taught me. That little boy taught me compassion, and my bus got a little bit dirtier and louder after that incident without regret or remorse. I’ll never forget that boy who grabbed me by the heartstrings and taught me a lesson.
I don’t need a man
How does an average person detect propaganda in the modern news feeds we are all bombarded with?
Use your brain and ask questions. I’ll give you some examples.
This story:
Kanthaswamy Balasubramaniam made a very good point. 40 babies? How did they find 40 babies? If I go to the local maternity ward in HK with the almost zero birth rate here I can’t find 40 babies. In the UK which had a fertility rate of 2.7 especially with Eastern Europeans and Bangladeshi women, I’d struggle to find 40 babies. And I knew a Somali woman with a clowncar vagina she had 6 kids.
He asked a question, and like that the propaganda fell to bits.
Second example
OMG look at this a huge protest in Myanmar!
If you ask questions, something seems not right. Lets think about it shall we?
Why are the signs in English, they speak Burmese there.
Why are the signs all the same, that speaks of somebody paying for a print shop and at an average salary of $500USD a month, full lots of large full colour printouts aren’t cheap. I had to organise last year’s clan feast and full colour posters cost a fair chunk of change.
Example 3
Read carefully.
Strip out any adjectives.
- Man murdered.
- Man brutally murdered.
Look at the voice that is being used:
- Children died.
- Soldiers kill children.
What have you discovered when you cleaned out a vehicle you have just purchased?
Not me, but a younger friend who was a victim of abuse, and a struggling single mom of two.
She received a tax refund, and went looking for a decent used car. She found someone selling one, and the car was really dirty and trashed, as it had come from an estate auction type of situation. The seller refused to clean it up or reduce the price, which was a bit much, and it also badly needed a brake job, which they did not disclose.
So, my friend went to get the car, was really disappointed that it needed money invested in it, because she had no more left.
As she was driving away, she took a moment to look in the console storage area, and found like $800 in cash, likely left there by the elderly, deceased, previous owner. If the seller had bothered to check the car and clean it, it would not have been there. His laziness was her deliverance. It was enough to fix up and register the car, plus start insurance payments.
Cold War 2: US officials call to overthrow China’s gov’t, expand military budget to $1.4 trillion
Delusional Americans. Jeeze!
What’s the hardest prison habit to break after being released?
11 years served.
For me it was how I reacted to disrespect. In prison if you are disrespected, it can be an instant fight. Certain words ARE an instant fight. Some of these words are used normally on the street, and it’s no big deal. My sister called me a punk not long after I got out, and I almost punched her. Punk has a completely different meaning in prison, and it’s very bad. It’s also an immediate fight if someone calls you a punk in prison. There’s no questions asked, no further argument. You immediately start swinging. The day after I got out, someone cut in front of me in line at the store, and I talked nasty to them. I didn’t even realize how inappropriate it was for me to talk to them like that, until 20 minutes later.
Second hardest was wearing my shower shoes (flip flops or sandals) when I would get in the shower. Let’s just say, prison shower floors are NASTY, and you do NOT take a shower barefoot.
Edit:To all those people who haven’t been in prison. I don’t want to hear any smartass remarks about reactions to disrespect being stupid, or signs of low intelligence. Prison makes you that way, because that’s how you survive. If you want to keep your property, booty hole, and life, you WILL be that way in prison. Simple as that. People who serve a lot of time, get those behaviors ingrained into them. It’s called PTSD. Google it. And just so y’all know what punk means, in Kentucky prisons, it’s someone who is so scared, that they do sexual favors for someone else, hoping that person will protect them. “I’m scared, I think I will let this guy pound my ass, so he will protect me” That’s a punk.
What are they trying to do?
Shorpy
What is the most savage revenge you’ve seen a renter get on a sleazy landlord?
I once rented an apartment from the daughter of a good friend of my father. Rent was month-to-month while my new house was under construction. The apartment was run-down, but liveable for a couple of months. There was the usual first and last month rent and damage deposit. No lease.
When we moved out a couple of months later, we gave thirty days notice and requested return of the damage deposit, but the husband of the landlord notified me that the damage deposit would not be returned and that we had broken the imaginary lease. He listed several things to justify his actions. We lived there for a couple of months, but he listed things like worn carpet, etc. which were totally bogus. He refused to let me talk to his wife who was the actual landlord, saying he was in charge of the situation. I considered taking him to small claims court, but remembered who his mother-in-law was.
I called her and explained the situation. Her son in law was at my door the next morning with an apology and a check for my deposit. What a sleazebag.
What are some mind-blowing facts about men?
1. Men can go for hours without thinking about anything.
2. Most men own three pairs of shoes.
3. 50% of men say they would feel comfortable if their girlfriend had a lesbian lover.
4. A man speaks about 2,000 words a day; a woman, about 7,000.
5. It’s easier for a man to buy a bathing suit.
6. Women have two types: depressing and more depressing.
7. Men have two types: sexy-cool and horrific-speedo.
8. Love can help men quit smoking. If a man suddenly quits smoking, he may very well be falling in love.
9. Men are 150% more likely than women to use dating sites.
10. Physical intimacy is even more important for men than for women, who may value verbal communication or emotional intimacy more.
11. On average, men are more colorblind, but their eyes also perceive motion better.
12. Most men would rather take a bullet than buy tampons at the supermarket.
She seems like a nice lady
What is the most disrespectful thing someone did to you while you were on an airplane?
It actually happened before we got on the plane. I was travelling alone from Toronto Canada to London Uk. I had loads of bags with me. I’d checked in my big suitcase but I also had my small suitcase, a backpack and a hold-all with me. My hold-all has my laptop and other electrical in it and I was terrified of it getting damaged. I got to the departure lounge early so I sat close to the door but also away from people. I picked an area that wasn’t crowded and saw one gentleman sitting there. He was sat the the middle of the row of seats, so I wanted to give him space. To his right there were three empty seats and to his left there were four. I went to the left and sat on the last seat, putting my electrical bag on the seat next to me and trying to keep all my bags in a little area around me. Normally I wouldn’t have put it on the seat but there were a lot of kids running around and I was worried my laptop would get kicked.
A man came over to where I was sitting and asked if anyone was sitting in the seat next to me/ my bag. It wasn’t clear which. There were a lot of other seats available with no one sitting next to them. I said no.
He sat down in the seat right next to my bag. His husband/ boyfriend joined him a few minutes later. They both look super grumpy.
The first guy turns to me and says ‘I thought you said someone was sitting there’
I said, ‘no, I told you no when you asked me’
’then why can’t you be less fucking dumb and move your bag so I can sit there?’
‘Why? You could have sat anywhere else and I wanted to give the gentleman over there space and myself space’
basically he wanted to sit in that seat. It wouldn’t mean not sitting next to anyone in any configuration of where he sat on the bench but he wanted that seat because reasons? There were loads of seats available where he and his partner could have sat with no one on either side of them. He basically started anmassive tirade at me saying I saw stupid and a complete uneducated idiot who didn’t know anything in public. People looked at me and I have really bad anxiety so I almost had a panic attack.
I don’t remember exactly what I said at that point because my fight or flight anxiety mode started going off and I got super dizzy. I do recall saying something like ‘yes, clearly I’m stupid and my science degree confirms it’. And then telling him to fuck off when he wouldn’t stop bothering me.
I wanted to leave but I didn’t want to give in now as he’d been rude to me for no reason. I wasn’t hurting him and he’d just started having a go at me over nothing. If he’d wanted me to move my bag he could have asked politely but I was tired from travelling from my university in Peterborough to Toronto after a day of classes.
I got onto the plane and sat down.
Like ten minutes later the people behind me sit down and it’s the dude and his partner. They immediately start bitching about me and calling me a dumb whore etc. I started crying and called my mum to tell her what had happened.
May I also point out at this point that I was a 20 year old lone student and these men were in their thirties. I just wanted a calm journey home.
I ended up talking to an air stewardess and telling her what had happened. I asked to move seats because I was so upset. She told me once we took off I could sit wherever I liked in the area of the plane and she would keep an eye on them. I ended up able to sit in a row where a lady and I were the only people in a four seater. We sat on the furthest points on their side, both napped, and she told me she’d be my travel mum and if they were mean again she’d tell them off.
Yes I didn’t need my bag on the seat but I’m always prepared to move my stuff if someone needs space. I have osteoarthritis so I often can’t hold heavy things on my lap and my legs were in a lot of pain already so I tend to put bags next to me instead. I also get paranoid of being robbed if I don’t have everything closer but to the side. I just feel safer when I can block my items in with my suitcase and I can hold onto the suitcase at the same time. I just don’t feel the men handled it fairly in response to what was happening.
NB: 1. The carrier I was flying on does not have the two bag limit. You are also allowed a laptop bag. My laptop didn’t fit a standard size so it went into a sportdirect hold-all that wasn’t too big and was cleared by the crew. My backpack was small and just had my passport, money etc valuables you wouldn’t put in the checked bagged. I wasn’t being abnoxious with the amount of stuff I had, it was well within my limit and I kept it as much out of everyone’s way as possible.
Also clearly someone couldn’t read as I wasn’t worried my laptop would be stolen while in the air, but at the departure gate.
Furthermore, I am apparently not allowed to call my mother if I’m upset and should stay at home. I want to clarify that I was studying abroad as part of my degree. I was returning home to the UK. I don’t think it is a bad thing to be able to share things with your mum if you’re upset and unsure what to do in a situation. It was only my second time flying alone and I have severe anxiety. I was like 19 at the time and hadn’t ever lived in another country, but clearly there are some assholes on Quora.
Some AI generated pictures
What happens to old people who don’t save up for their retirement?
My mother in law turns 93 this year. She lives in Saskatchewan Canada. She had absolutely no savings when she retired, she had been a single mother supporting her kids and grandkids, and had nothing left over.
So each month she receives $784 in Old age security and $1065.74 in guaranteed income supplement. She lives in a one bedroom apartment, the same one she moved into 30 years ago. It has all the amenities you expect in an apartment. Her family have updated her furniture and TV etc over the years. It has a recreational area on the main floor. The Regina housing authority takes 30 percent of her gross income each month as rent and utilities, or $554 as rent. Leaving her with roughly $1300 a month, minus taxes. Taxes aren’t much, less than $75 a month. So she has about $1200 a month to spend for groceries, clothes and entertainment.
She always has extra money to give a little here and there to family, including a large lump sum she saved up for 20 years, for each of her great grandkids weddings.
I don’t know that I would be as lucky today, to find a nice centrally located apartment, but it’s possible, at least in Regina Saskatchewan. Fortunately I have a nest egg.
She has managed to prepay her funeral and burial costs.
She spends a lot of time with her grandkids and great grandchildren. Her grand daughter provides her frozen home cooked meals. She goes for coffee with friends, but unfortunately she has lost a lot of friends to old age.
What men want
What have you seen that made you think, “Wait they can actually do that?”?
I know more about alcohol than the average bear.
While working on my ChemE degree at Michigan State I took coursework towards a specialization in Beverage Science and Technology. Over the years I have brewed beer, made wine and cider, and distilled whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, and brandy (legally, of course…)
Hell, I even tried my hand at drowning in it. 0/10, not recommended.
I don’t drink like I used to and I sold off all of my alcohol making equipment years ago, but I am still fascinated with the history, culture, and science of booze.
It suffices to say that I am not often surprised by anything to do with alcohol. I mean, sure, we’ve come a long way in some of the finer details of production, but in general alcoholic beverages are made in much the same way as they have been for hundreds of years.
Or, so I thought…
Cue the world’s first Carbon Negative Vodka
In general, vodka production is about as tough on the environment as vodka itself is on your liver. Most vodka is made from grain or potatoes which must first be mashed (requiring heat/energy) to convert basic starches into fermentable sugars, it is then fermented (releasing carbon dioxide), and distilled to a high degree of purity (lots more energy), before being filtered and watered down to drinking strength.
Being that traditional vodka production necessarily evolves CO2, it’s pretty much impossible to make a carbon-negative vodka. That it has been achieved at all is pretty surprising. How they pulled it off is beyond surprising, it’s mind-blowing:
They make it out of air.
Yes, air. Specifically, carbon dioxide. The Air Company, out of Brooklyn, NY, has figured out how to make ethanol using nothing more than air, water, and solar energy. No mashing, no fermentation; just air, water, and sun.
Each bottle is made from the carbon dioxide equivalent of the daily uptake of eight trees.
I would have never guessed that this would be possible. The solution to global warming has finally arrived: We all just need to drink more vodka.
The earth will thank you, unfortunately your liver probably won’t.
Cheers!
Edit: You know how you write an answer and it languishes at under 100 views for weeks until you all but forget about it but then it gets shared to Gold Medal Answers and suddenly you wake up to a bazillion comments and you can’t possibly answer them all? My apologies to those who I can’t address directly, but I’d like to clear up a few questions here:
- No, I am not affiliated in any way with the Air Co. and this answer is not meant to be an endorsement. I have not even tried the vodka and can’t say anything to whether or not it is even good. I think that the concept and chemistry are amazing, though.
- There have been some comments about what it actually tastes like. Again, I haven’t tried it but it’s a valid question. While vodka is theoretically nothing but water and ethanol, it certainly is more than that in practice. Distillation is not a perfect separation, most fans of vodka can taste flavors from the source material. I am a fan of neutral vodkas, but none are completely neutral. This one might be…or maybe not. There might be some side products that can be tasted. I’d love to find out for myself if anyone can get their hands on a bottle (*wink wink*).
- “Carbon Negative” is not the same as “Violates the laws of thermodynamics”…
- For anyone interested in the chemistry, my guess is that the process is a commercialized version of this: Scientists Accidentally Turned CO2 Into Ethanol, but I don’t know for sure. If any chemists out there know better, let me know (I am not a chemist, just a lowly chemical engineer…)!
Cajun Catfish with Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad
Fried catfish paired with a delicious Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad…yummy!
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad
- 5 cups baby Yukon gold potatoes, cooked and quartered
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups celery, diced
- 1 cup bacon, cooked, drained and chopped
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Creole mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Hot sauce to taste
Cajun Catfish
- 4 U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish Fillets
- 1/2 cup fish breading
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups frying oil
Instructions
Potato Salad
- Combine all ingredients and mix well.
- Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Cover and refrigerate.
Cajun Catfish
- Combine fish breading and Creole seasoning in shallow bowl. Coat catfish in breading, lightly shaking off any excess.
- In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat. Fry catfish until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes per side.
- Place on paper towel to drain.
- Serve immediately with Honey Dijon Bacon Potato Salad.
Rent is too high
What has a car salesperson said to you that resulted in you immediately leaving?
“Please don’t touch this car”. A salesman told me once. I worked at a car dealership in Florida and I wanted to buy a car. A nice little Volkswagen with teeth. The sales manager told me that if I ever needed a car to come to him and he’ll handle it. So I did and he told me to work with this one gentleman and that when I found the car I wanted, to let him know and he’ll speed it on through. So I went on my lunch break with the salesman he recommended and when I got to the car I wanted, a brand new 2004 VW R32 (at the time). So I found the one I liked, silver and I said that I wanted this one and proceeded to open the door (I had been eyeing them whenever they came through the shop on pre-delivery inspection).
“Please don’t touch this car.” I said, “what?” “Please don’t touch this car unless you intend to buy it”.
I didn’t fuss, I walked away and got into my car and drove across town to another VW dealer and bought the car there. All the Volkswagen guys in that area more or less knew each other from meeting at VW training school or from the racetrack plus I used to work with some of them.
I said don’t prep it, don’t clean it just take the sticker down and let me take it the way it is. Don’t even gas it up. Maybe I spent 20 minutes there, I had my own financing so it wasn’t a hassle. Their sales manager was blown away when I told him what happened to me not half hour earlier. I drove back to work and parked it in the employee parking lot. Went into the break room to eat a sandwich. That rude salesman from earlier walked in and tried to offer me a deal. I said “I already got the car.” He said, “really, from who?” I said, “from XYZ Volkswagen”. He looked at me weird. I dropped the keys onto the table with the id tag still on it. “Wanna see the receipt?” He walked away.
The sales manager comes and asks what happened and why didn’t I come to him first. I had nothing against the sales manager at the dealership I worked for but I told him “every single time I’ve tried to buy a car from any dealership I’ve ever worked for I’ve gotten a hassle from the sales department, every single time – cash deal or otherwise. I agree to the price, I buy the warranties and extras, why isn’t my money good enough?” He was speechless.
Come to find in the next week the owner of the dealership was highly upset I bought a car from another VW dealer. I told him the story, all he could do was apologise. Did you know that the following month the owner threatened (off record) to fire anyone who bought a car from another dealer? Talk about punishing the victims of his hostile sales department. Since that day, whenever I go to a dealer to buy a car, I go to the weakest salesperson and give them their fastest sale ever. The big shots can go pound it.
What’s the fastest you’ve ever seen someone fail a marriage?
Two different times within 3 hours of being married.
The first time the bride and an ex-boyfriend were caught, *ahem*, having relations together by a member of the groom’s family.
Lots of screaming, yelling, and drama. The bride and ex-boyfriend were both escorted out. The groom was sitting in the corner surrounded by his family in tears. What seemed to make everything worse was the music kept playing.
The second was a bit more interesting, to say the least.
First of all, neither the bride nor groom seemed interested in the planning. The second thing was that every meeting we had, the best man AND maid of honor were there too.
Day of the wedding and the groom gets caught with the best man. The bride was pissed, but not for the usual reasons. What she said when she found out was,
“I can’t believe you two couldn’t wait until tonight!”
I swear you could have heard a pin drop. Come to find out, both were from very strict conservative and Christian families. Both were also homosexual. So they worked out a deal to “marry” but live their lives how they wished. Even more drama at that one. We escorted the bride, groom, and their significant others (for a lack of a better term) out of the area.
The Monday after, I just looked at my boss and said,
“That was one hell of a coming out party, wasn’t it?”
Free speech
Why are Chinese manufacturers’ products not as good as Japanese manufacturers’ products but less than half the price (electronics)?
Misinformation spouted by an ignorant.
Most of the “Japanese” products that are sold in the West are actually made in China.
As are most products made in Germany, the UK. Korea, France, and Italy. If you spend any time in Chinese factories you will tour the Chinese warehouses where the products are boxed up for shipment to the rest of the world. And there, you will see them… large cardboard boxes with the words “Made in Japan”, “Made in the USA”, “Made in Germany” and “Make in the UK” proudly displayed inside the Chinese warehouse.
Sanity Check
If you want to provide a more in-depth study, then please compare which nation uses the most cardboard Shipping boxes. After all, once you manufacture a product, you have to ship it. This requires a cardboard box.
You will be surprised at how tiny that number is for Japan, and other nations in the West.
Can the US take action against Chinese ships if they are registered in other countries?
The U.S. can do whatever the hell they so chooses but the real question is that does it fall faster into oblivion? Right at this moment the image of the U.S. is that of lacking confidence and weak mentally and unstable to think straight!
That U.S. the present day image of the U.S. let alone it is getting ridiculous by the day. Using a fighter aircraft to shoot down a 1000 bucks weather balloon l floating across the U.S. costing them millions to trying to did armed a teeny booper social media and calling EVs. A security risk!
Investors and business partners watch for confidence and risk in dealing with a mature economy and the US looks and sound like a mentally unstable nation to have a serious relationship! So can you do what you want? Sure yes especially if you can print money freely but at what cost? This is what smart person ought to think!
Everyone in the world knows it is a Singaporean tanker run by Indian seaman but if you feel like fooling your own citizens that you still can do shit it is easy. But you are losing credibility by the day!
The REAL Reason No One Wants To Work Anymore
Damn! This is amazing! It really is. This is dark. And it is truth.
We cannot continue to allow the corporate model within a society. It is toxic to society. As we are experiencing right now.