Past The Edge of Reason

And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…

Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.

Potions of Hydration!

Earlier this week I mentioned putting pickle juice in my water to replenish electrolytes. I work outside in a very hot and humid area, so it was very necessary.

Since then, a LOT of people have chimed in with their favorite hot weather drinks. I want to try... all of them. I've only had a few. Many of them are similar, but I still think its cool how many variations there are for 'its fucking hot out here and I don't want to die.'

So here is the incomplete list.

ORS (oral rehydration solution) (link has several recipes)

Shrub (sharaab)

Agua de pepino

Switchel

Posca

Ayran

Straight up drinking pickle juice (small doses)

Agua fresca

Sekanjabin

Pickle lemonade

Lebanese lemonade

Salted watermelon

Jamaica/hibiscus tea

Lebu pani

Ayuvedic gatorade

Soda chanh muôi

Suero

Aam paan

Sharbat

-

These ones were given to me without names, and were just lists of ingredients, to taste:

- water and umezu

- diluted apple juice with lemon and salt

-watermelon, lime juice, mint

- sparkling water, mint leaves, lemon or lime juice, cucumber

-coconut water, lime juice, salt

-salt, lemon juice, water

-orange juice, salt, sugar, water, lime or lemon juice

-elderflower syrup and lime juice in water.

me: yeah i know, they’re all primary colors, it’s perfect

When you go for an MLS (Master’s of Library Science, which is a thing, and which is usually required for “professional-level” library work [which is also a weird and contentious concept that I won’t go into here]), one of the things you study is the organization of information. This deals with how to determine what a book or other material is “about"—a concept we tongue-in-cheek call “aboutness"—and how to convey that to a potential user of the item and make it easy for them to find. Things like keywords and subject headings, do I put this book about how often wild birds attack aerial drones in with books about birds or with books about technology, if its a fictional novel do I put fantasy in it’s own section or mix it in with all of the other fiction, so on and so on.

OP is organizing books by how they would look for them. OP’s partner is thinking in terms of aboutness. This is a system that works for OP because it’s their personal library: they know basically what books they own and they only own books that are relevant to them, and if they know what the book looks like, that can be a quick way to find it.

In a library that assumes the public (or people who do not own that particular collection of books) are using the collection, that doesn’t work. Books are often re-issued in multiple covers, or re-bound in new covers when they get worn out, and if the user doesn’t know what the book looks like or is expecting a different cover, they’re lost. That’s why non-personal libraries used standardized cataloging systems like the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress System to organize a book by what it’s “about”, and then put books about the same or similar topics together, marked with labels and signage so a person unfamiliar with the book or collection can find their way to it.

Basically, OP’s system works for their own personal library, because it’s best suited to how the primary user—OP themselves—looks for books. OP’s librarian partner is coming from a background of thinking in terms of a public-facing collection, where aboutness is the key criteria and communicating it to a user unfamiliar with the collection is the priority.

The process is actually quite sophisticated, and requires the presence of a full-grown goth to trigger it. A pupal-stage proto-goth, at this point completely indistinguishable from any other small human child, only needs to encounter a mature specimen once - and while the initial imprinting that ensues will only take seconds, the incubation period often takes more than a decade, even several.

The first visible step of the transformation is triggered when the dormant goth suddenly gains awareness that they have free will and can do whatever they want with their appearance. While the progress may be gradual, or seem like the transformation happened all at once overnight, the initial seed was planted years ago. And now, in full bloom, a fully-fledged mature adult goth may finally be happy.

Missing you, dad

We bring another episode to a close! Today, Captain Blue explains the difference between the speed of light and sound - but for a 1607, not 1967 audience! With love, as always, to Andersons and Shakespeare both, join me as we ask what Captain Scarlet would have been like if written 350 years early!

SCENE III. A private room within a tavern, o’erlooking Paul’s.

Enter SCARLET, BLUE and MELODY and DESTINY Angels.

MELODY

A prospect grand a maiden here enjoys,

One Paul through window Melody doth spy,

Belike a fairer Paul herein doth see.

BLUE

And both, belike, more foul could have appear’d!

SCARLET

Ay, verily, but riddle this remains:

How did you quintessential casket find?

BLUE

Attending patient hath this Captain been.

SCARLET

This patient hath a full recov’ry made,

And patient doth this Captain no more stand,

Good Doctor Fawn, not Captain Blue I thank.

BLUE

Good Captain, nay, with patience I attend.

SCARLET

And such a patience did this Captain show,

To Lady so distress’d in yonder street?

BLUE

Good Scarlet, peace, lest face of mine doth burn,

With self same colour of your tunic red.

By Saint and Captain Paul do mock me not.

For midnight, black, as enemy we seek,

Doth Captain Blue so patiently attend.

Poor Macey within Dutton’s Yard was trapp’d,

But yards away from hence doth that yard lie.

Full sure that thirteen tolls of Paul’s he heard,

And chance so rare can only hope to chance,

A statute mile from where good Paul doth toll,

And Paul a statute mile from Paul’s now sits!

SCARLET

I follow you in all but one respect:

I see not still how he did hear thirteen.

BLUE

Around this table pilots four there be,

Ere Spectrum, Paul did with the king’s guard fly,

And I did prototypes once test and break,

And Angels fair in skill exceed us both.

In all things that do chance and come to pass,

A pair of messengers our senses note.

Our eyes do fix upon a sight to see,

And ears attend upon a sound to hear.

Divided in their speed these heralds are,

And one doth fast outpace his leaden friend.

When bombards from your viper-bird unleash’d,

On what did all your senses first make feast,

When bomblet found its target on the ground,

What marked you first, the spectacle or sound?

SCARLET

I’faith, first spectacle then sound report!

BLUE

Where light doth almost instantly arrive,

More leisurely a route doth sound select.

To far-speak Macey said he did attend,

But cross anew for riddle this creates.

At distance of a statute mile from thence,

Doth sound full seconds four and half take time,

Anon we shall as Macey now react,

A copy of his evening so enact.

Paul’s chimeth the hour. BLUE opens a far-speak. A bell from the instrument.

‘Tis apt that Paul this Paul is reckoning.

SCARLET

Anon.

A bell from the instrument.

That’s two.

A bell from the instrument.

Three.

BLUE

Of far-speak’s wonders, sev’ral and divine,

Is that it carries sound as fast as light.

No matter whether there or half orb hence,

At instant same same sound doth your ears mark.

Belike tis better that I word it thus:

A bomblet seen is same time bomblet heard.

A bell from the instrument.

The far-speak here doth stand, and Paul’s o’er yon..

A bell from the instrument.

DESTINY

Your reasoning, reasoning sound, is sound!

Methinks our minds do jump in one accord.

A bell from the instrument.

BLUE

‘Tis well. Two-hundred-fifty leagues in but

an hour can sound make way unto our ears.

A bell from the instrument.

And from the far-speak seventh chime have heard.

But nought but six from Paul’s your ears attend.

A bell from the instrument.

Full statute mile from hence doth Paul’s knell toll,

Full seconds four and half Paul is behind.

A bell from the instrument.

DESTINY

This far-speak full one chime ahead doth call!

A bell from the instrument.

SCARLET

Ten.

BLUE

Attend!

A bell from the instrument.

SCARLET

Eleven.

A bell from the instrument.

Twelve.

A bell.

Thirteen!

BLUE

From steeple Paul’s did this twelfth chime arrive,

But near five seconds this far-speak behind!

SCARLET

Thirteen! They say there is divinity in odd numbers!

Exeunt SCARLET, BLUE and MELODY and DESTINY Angels. Enter BLACK and WHITE, above.

BLACK

In man or woman at your side

Could well a Mysteron reside.

Mysterons have not forgotten,

Vengeance ours shall be begotten.

WHITE

Hark, imitate good Captain Scarlet not:

He’s indestructible - and you are not!

Is cute to me how he does it only when Len is there to stop him.

he does it only when Len

is there to stop him.

Do they utilise magic? Do they need specialised engineering to help them survive your world?

She started as a prisoner of some very unpleasant people (Nazi's), and was forced to work for them, but when she was released, she actively chose to continue her work for much nicer people (Excalibur)

I think we can all agree that Orcs would probably produce something like the Union Pacific Big Boy, something big and heavy and solidly mechanical. They could upgrade to something more advanced but it would lose the unique character of Orcish steam.

Elf trains on the other hand, I feel like would be the most cutting edge of magical technology. They'd be the magi-tech equivilant of bullet trains or maglav technology, running along magical leylines and crystals. No cargo or heavy goods, just passengers and pure speed.

Humans? I dunno....suspension monorails?

Good point. I was scrambling to think of unique trains at the time but after some consideration, I feel like humans would probably go for something like an early diesel locomotive, possibly even a classic New Haven style design if they’re feeling classy

@beedok I think buses for humans can be allowed but they need to be trollybuses. Trams, trollybuses, and similar urban transit as humans assigned vehicle class

Jeremy Brett with Jean Conan Doyle

On Monday, from 1:30 PM to 1:37 PM, several residents have volunteered to host a brief tutorial in the laundry room for anyone interested in learning more about proper use of the equipment.

That is a leviathan passing beneath the ice of my peaceful fishing hut if ever I saw one.

The passive-aggressive nature of declaring it will take only seven minutes, but precisely seven minutes, for people to actually learn how to use the laundry room is amazing (I'm figuring five minutes to present and two minutes for questions).

1. Good laundry room etiquette: when you put your laundry in the washer, set a timer for the length of the wash cycle. It's good manners to move your laundry from washer to dryer within 15 minutes of the wash cycle ending. Don't be anxious though. It's not truly rude until you delay more than 30-60 minutes. This depends on how many machines there are -- the fewer machines, the better it is to remove the laundry sooner.

1a. Rather than sort by color, sort by type -- undies and soft shirts in one pot, trousers and heavy shirts in another. Most clothes are colorfast these days so washing the type rather then the color is more important.

2. When putting your laundry in the dryer, check the lint trap. This is a space between the inner area and outer area of the dryer at the bottom of it. Sometimes it's a tray you have to pull out and sometimes it's just a gap that looks like it's covered in felt. If it looks "felt-y", scrape it out with your fingertips and toss the felt. If you're feeling confused, Google "dryer lint trap" and look at photos, this will help.

3. If the lint trap is empty, awesome! When you take your clothes out after they're dry, check the lower front of the dryer and remove any felt or wool you see.

4. Some hot tips: if you can avoid it, don't machine-dry "delicates" (bras, some tank tops, flimsy shirts) or t-shirts that are 100% cotton. It's not that vital, don't get nuts about it, just be aware. Hang dry that stuff on hangers if you can. Don't use fabric softener, it's expensive nonsense. Also don't do the "deep clean" shit you see on tiktok, that's also nonsense.

99% of all laundry can be machine washed and dried these days. Don't freak out if you put something in the drier that shouldn't be. One cycle won't ruin things, most of the time.

Gandalf: *hurriedly glances at Thranduil. the king of Mirkwood’s eyes shine with curiosity and greed, but not recognition, nor the terrible lust that overtook Feanor and his sons. right, right, he was never in Thingol’s court while the jewel that Luthien and Beren took was there. we’re good. we’re good for now*

Gandalf: [mental image of a goddam Silmaril in hobbit hands, labelled “thisfuckingrockagain.jpg”]

Galadriel, who watched 95% of her family slaughter everyone within 100 miles for several thousand years over these things, including each other and themselves: no.

Elrond, who was very nearly one of those people slaughtered, and did watch most of his town be killed before he and his twin were kidnapped for a while: Absolutely Fucking Not.

Gandalf: Apparently fucking yes. The legendary Arkenstone-

Galadriel: You’ve got to be kidding me.

Elrond: Thorin Oakenshield has a Silmaril right now?

Gandalf: No, no.

Gandalf: Bilbo stole it.

Elrond: *wordless sputtering*

Gandalf: @Galadriel [information packet: BilboBagginsoftheShire.pdf]

Galadriel: Oh yes, Belladonna’s boy, you were telling me about him last winter. 

Galadriel: Btw, orc+warg army probably coming your way. Spotted it in the mirror last night. Thank goodness we dealt with Dol Goldur at least, huh?

Gandalf: [thisfuckingrockagain.jpg]

Gandalf: [oncomingorcwargarmy.jpg]