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What Common, Everyday Occurrence Do You Find Strange?

Alchymist

Junior Acolyte
Joined
Mar 11, 2015
Messages
59
Location
Western Canada
I find it kind of strange that stuff that we want to last - buildings, bridges, ships, trains, cars, furniture etc., - are made from materials that rust, rot and corrode, whereas stuff that we're likely to use only once, like grocery bags, yogurt, milk and cream cheese containers, foam packaging for appliances, etc., are manufactured from materials that will hang around for thousands of years ( unless recycled, of course; but then we have the Pacific floating garbage dump. . . ).
 

PeteS

Seeking refuge
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
3,025
I find it kind of strange that stuff that we want to last - buildings, bridges, ships, trains, cars, furniture etc., - are made from materials that rust, rot and corrode, whereas stuff that we're likely to use only once, like grocery bags, yogurt, milk and cream cheese containers, foam packaging for appliances, etc., are manufactured from materials that will hang around for thousands of years ( unless recycled, of course; but then we have the Pacific floating garbage dump. . . ).
Yep - it's about time these structures were made out of plastic.
 

catseye

Old lady trouser-smell with yesterday's knickers
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
6,737
Location
York
Books. They're like a kind of telepathy.

I see an image in my head and, instead of drawing it, I put symbols on a page in such a way that the Receiver conjures the same image inside their own head.

I can see all those Neolithic people slapping their knees, rolling about laughing and going 'you what? Never, you're having us on! Here, draw us that time you went on that mammoth hunt....'
 

Nosmo King

I'm not a cat
Joined
Jan 10, 2021
Messages
7,506
I find it odd that oil has to be prospected for, brought out of the ground perhaps from several kilometers down, refined and transported. Yet the liter price is still less than milk, which just has to be squeezed out of a nearby cow.
You dont have to , feed, medicate or impregnate oil pipeline, and the process of filtering, pasturiseing shipping, bottling etc are similar to oil refining and trsnsportation.
 

catseye

Old lady trouser-smell with yesterday's knickers
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
6,737
Location
York
I find it odd that oil has to be prospected for, brought out of the ground perhaps from several kilometers down, refined and transported. Yet the liter price is still less than milk, which just has to be squeezed out of a nearby cow.
And sometimes the cow isn't nearby, so there's quite a lot of transportation costs involved in milk.
 

charliebrown

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Nov 2, 2020
Messages
3,297
Location
Earth
Conundrum !

Are you going to discriminate against people and family members not vaccinated ?

The CDC claims this could be a side effect of the coronavirus vaccinations in the future.

This is another level of stress for everyone.
 

Nosmo King

I'm not a cat
Joined
Jan 10, 2021
Messages
7,506
I can only remember a small snippet of my dream last night, which is usual, it contained an item called a 'brocenade', i looked the word up and it doesnt exist, it was a small desk tidy type thing, made of china, 3 small pin tray things along its front and a tiny toast rack/letter rack thing at the back, with 4 slots only wide enough to hold about one or two sheets of paper.
 

escargot

Disciple of Marduk
Joined
Aug 24, 2001
Messages
40,335
Location
HM The Tower of London
Books. They're like a kind of telepathy.

I see an image in my head and, instead of drawing it, I put symbols on a page in such a way that the Receiver conjures the same image inside their own head.

I can see all those Neolithic people slapping their knees, rolling about laughing and going 'you what? Never, you're having us on! Here, draw us that time you went on that mammoth hunt....'
Yup, it's such a huge intellectual leap. :cool:

Even the earliest drawings were a mighty feat. Artistic expression leads to communication and drives civilisation forward. :badge:
 

escargot

Disciple of Marduk
Joined
Aug 24, 2001
Messages
40,335
Location
HM The Tower of London
I can only remember a small snippet of my dream last night, which is usual, it contained an item called a 'brocenade', i looked the word up and it doesnt exist, it was a small desk tidy type thing, made of china, 3 small pin tray things along its front and a tiny toast rack/letter rack thing at the back, with 4 slots only wide enough to hold about one or two sheets of paper.
Can you draw it?
 

Nosmo King

I'm not a cat
Joined
Jan 10, 2021
Messages
7,506
Can you draw it?
Summit like this

20210515_105318.png
 

Nosmo King

I'm not a cat
Joined
Jan 10, 2021
Messages
7,506
I will make one.

What are the dimensions? Is the base postcard-sized? Any colour or decoration?
I would say the base is about the size of an oblong envelope, 10 inchs by 5 inches, an inch deep and the letter rack stands about an inch proud.and is maybe 3 inchs by 2 inchs
 

Mythopoeika

I am a meat popsicle
Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Messages
49,567
Location
Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
Huge generalisation: women seem to put a lot of effort into their appearance whereas men are content if they drag their pants on the right way round and don't have cereal down their chins.
Most women would steer clear of men if they fussed about their appearance as much as women do - so most men don't, because they want to project 'masculinity'.
 

Mythopoeika

I am a meat popsicle
Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Messages
49,567
Location
Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
Forgot to say, it was sorted of Japanned, black laqueur with the trays inside red and the slots red inside
Those japanned items used to be traditionally made from papier-mâché, if I recall correctly.
 

Sgt Girth

Abominable Snowman
Joined
Nov 16, 2019
Messages
511
Oh, alright then.......How about atoms (and consequently everything in the universe) being pretty much made up of nothingness? Awww bugger......my brain’s hurting even more now!
 

Bad Bungle

Tutti but not Frutti.
Joined
Oct 13, 2018
Messages
3,967
Location
The Chilterns
Books. They're like a kind of telepathy.

I see an image in my head and, instead of drawing it, I put symbols on a page in such a way that the Receiver conjures the same image inside their own head.
When you read the symbols on a page, there is a voice in your head saying them out loud. Except for patterns and pictures that can't be put into words, then a different part of the brain - visual memory - takes over from audio memory. So do people who were profoundly deaf from birth still have an inner voice, do people blind from birth have dreams in colour ?
 

catseye

Old lady trouser-smell with yesterday's knickers
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
6,737
Location
York
When you read the symbols on a page, there is a voice in your head saying them out loud. Except for patterns and pictures that can't be put into words, then a different part of the brain - visual memory - takes over from audio memory. So do people who were profoundly deaf from birth still have an inner voice, do people blind from birth have dreams in colour ?
Do people have a voice reading the words? I can read to myself far faster than out loud because I don't have to 'say' the words, they just sort of sink into my mind.
 

EnolaGaia

I knew the job was dangerous when I took it ...
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Jul 19, 2004
Messages
29,625
Location
Out of Bounds
Do people have a voice reading the words? I can read to myself far faster than out loud because I don't have to 'say' the words, they just sort of sink into my mind.
It varies with the person involved, and the same person may shift "internal" tactics depending on the material being read.
 
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