The Post For Stuff You Wanna Tell People

[FishProf]

I am utterly burnt-out and it is all I can do to not mail it in for the rest of the semester.  I quit being Chair at the right time (except earlier would have been better) and my upcoming sabbatical can't start soon enough.

[ciao_yall]

The jury has found Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts.

That's a travesty. It's also--for the free speech heroes among us--going to seriously chill protest, since it makes it clear that murdering protesters is permissible (as if all those new laws allowing you to run them over didn't already).

Agreed. I'm guessing the jury felt sorry for the dumb kid.

[mamselle]

The idiot judge's signaling moves didn't help, either.

M.

[marshwiggle]

The jury has found Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts.

That's a travesty. It's also--for the free speech heroes among us--going to seriously chill protest, since it makes it clear that murdering protesters is permissible (as if all those new laws allowing you to run them over didn't already).

Are you particularly sorry for the one who beat Rittenhouse over the head with a skateboard, or the one who (by his own admission on the stand) got shot after he pointed his gun at Rittenhouse?

[Parasaurolophus]

The jury has found Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts.

That's a travesty. It's also--for the free speech heroes among us--going to seriously chill protest, since it makes it clear that murdering protesters is permissible (as if all those new laws allowing you to run them over didn't already).

Are you particularly sorry for the one who beat Rittenhouse over the head with a skateboard, or the one who (by his own admission on the stand) got shot after he pointed his gun at Rittenhouse?

Remember that Rittenhouse had already murdered one person when someone tried to disarm him with a skateboard, and two people by the time the gun was pointed at him.

[mamselle]

I am utterly burnt-out and it is all I can do to not mail it in for the rest of the semester.  I quit being Chair at the right time (except earlier would have been better) and my upcoming sabbatical can't start soon enough.

Do you find aquariums soothing?

Maybe Smolt would like to meet the octopuses and watch the rock-hopper penguins cavorting...

;--}

M.

[FishProf]

I am utterly burnt-out and it is all I can do to not mail it in for the rest of the semester.  I quit being Chair at the right time (except earlier would have been better) and my upcoming sabbatical can't start soon enough.

Do you find aquariums soothing?

Maybe Smolt would like to meet the octopuses and watch the rock-hopper penguins cavorting...

;--}

M.

I very much do.  That trip will be the final for my Marine Bio class and it can't come soon enough.  The final is an aquarium version of my dinosaurs final at Yale.

I might just camp out in the aquarium afterwards.

[mamselle]

I am utterly burnt-out and it is all I can do to not mail it in for the rest of the semester.  I quit being Chair at the right time (except earlier would have been better) and my upcoming sabbatical can't start soon enough.

Do you find aquariums soothing?

Maybe Smolt would like to meet the octopuses and watch the rock-hopper penguins cavorting...

;--}

M.

I very much do.  That trip will be the final for my Marine Bio class and it can't come soon enough.  The final is an aquarium version of my dinosaurs final at Yale.

I might just camp out in the aquarium afterwards.

A friend-of-a-friend, 20 years ago, now, was an aquarium volunteer, and got to do cool stuff "backstage" with the critters.  We were allowed to visit, it was very interesting to see all the tubes, pumps, and extra fitties in spare tanks in the back (they had several jumpers).

The book "The Soul of an Octopus" reminded me of that, one of my students was reading it and loaned it to me.

M.

[FishProf]

My FIL was one of the engineers who designed the tank and we got a deep look behind the curtain when they remodeled.  Very interesting, and a bit scary.

[mamselle]

My FIL was one of the engineers who designed the tank and we got a deep look behind the curtain when they remodeled.  Very interesting, and a bit scary.

Wow.

M.

[Economizer]

Lowering gas prices? Drill more wells? Bring in more tankers, release reserves, build pipelines, fill pipelines, change engines and what powers them. Hmmm,
taxes, EUREKA! Lowering fuel taxes temporarily.  Too little? Heck, even a matter of cents would be greeted with joy by many businesses and ordinary folks!

When? Probably quickly. Our nation and its states have thousands of number crunchers who can create scenarios and compile and communicate and compare faster than you can say SNAP-CRACKLE-POP. And Re fuel prices, they've been just sitting on their tools and educations. Or, is any approach to meddling with government "Cookie Jars" a NO NO? PEOPLE, PEOPLEEEEEE!!! Not even for short term relief???

[ergative]

That trick where you put aluminum foil, baking soda, and tarnished silver in a pot and then poor boiling water over the top to polish it works incredibly well. Like, astonishingly well. Like, my silver was shiny and polished in seconds. I'm left wondering the following things:

1. Why oh why was polishing silver plate such a chore back in the ye olden dayes? Was it because aluminum foil wasn't widely available?
2. How does it work? I presume there's some chemical reaction going on that strips off the tarnish. Does that reaction also strip off un-tarnished silver? Is my silver going to dissolve to nothing if I use the trick too much? Or does the reaction only apply to tarnished silver, and untarnished silver remains unaffected?

Update! Based on this website, it seems like it's not going to damage my silver, because it turns the tarnish back into silver?! Can this possibly be right? Are there any chemists to confirm?

When salt, baking soda, aluminum foil, and water are combined, they create a chemical reaction known as ion exchange. During this process, the tarnish on the silver (silver sulfide) is converted back into silver, and the sulfide becomes aluminum sulfide on the foil. If your silver is tarnished enough, you'll see brown or yellowish tarnish flakes on the aluminum foil. Though this process works well, the chemical reaction doesn't smell very good, so make sure there's plenty of ventilation. You may need to soak badly tarnished silver a second time.

[hmaria1609]

I had a small cup of Thanksgiving Blend coffee from Starbucks. It was good--I'm content.

[ab_grp]

There's one more reason not to move to Maryland!

Overwhelming numbers of snakes in Maryland homes are not unheard of. One Annapolis couple sued after finding numerous snakes, including one that was 7 feet long, in their new home, News4 reported.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/homeowner-fighting-snake-infestation-burns-down-maryland-house-officials/3067242/

[apl68]

There's one more reason not to move to Maryland!

Overwhelming numbers of snakes in Maryland homes are not unheard of. One Annapolis couple sued after finding numerous snakes, including one that was 7 feet long, in their new home, News4 reported.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/homeowner-fighting-snake-infestation-burns-down-maryland-house-officials/3067242/

The irony here will no doubt create a good deal of amusement in some quarters, but people lost their home here.  Glad no people were hurt.

Didn't know that Maryland was notorious for snakes.  They were awfully common where I grew up.  One evening about five or six feet worth of snake got into the kitchen of my parents' house.  Dad grabbed it behind the head and somewhere back toward the tail, ran outside and down the driveway with it, and hurled it as hard as he could across the road into the woods beyond.  He said it was one of the hardest things he ever made himself do.  The snake was evidently scared too, since it wet all over Dad.