You did the right thing. You did the right thing.

Now I’m getting stuck on the realization that “NASCAR car” is not a redundant acronym (like “ATM machine”).

Shout-out to floatheadphysics (Mahesh) for his video on spin. The way he steps through the learning process like it’s a conversation with the giants that gave us the knowledge (based on their writings) and how he presents it with all the excitement of “getting it” is cathartic.

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The Earth began to cool…

The autotrophs began to drool…

More efficient, sure, but their argument was about freedom, which is just a different dimension. In an extreme example, private jets provide more freedom than public transportation does, even though it’s obvious which one is worse for the environment, more expensive, more intrusive, etc.

The American education system taught us metric and was quite clear that’s the standard. I’m pretty sure it’s the only unit we used. It’s also the standard within our government, as I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of times in threads like this.

The thing that entrenches Imperial units in our culture is the familiarity from us steeping in it in everyday usage. And we are exposed to both there, too. It’s not about being stupid. It’s just about inertia, and that’s at least in part because the two systems do have their little trade-offs.

This always appears to come up from people who most likely are at least familiar with multiple languages. Why not just standardize on English? Did your education system just fail you? Was that too many words for you? (Obviously not. All intended rhetorically.)

I know US culture is struggling with a current of anti-intellectualism, but if you indulge in reducing nuanced topics to “America stupid”, you’re just watering the weeds in your own garden.

meta

Ever since I started thinking this way, I started finally seeing all the other cars scurrying past me to get to the same red light that we all stopped at. It compounds the calming effect to see validation through others demonstrating the futility of what I no longer choose to do.

edit: To be clear, I’m not saying I totally drag ass and block traffic. I’m just talking about smoothing out my acceleration curves a bit and the occasional person who zips around everyone else, only to hit a stoplight with the rest of us. I’m not that old yet.

Maybe an important point in all this is you don’t have to hide your intentions or even agree. While the idea is to get them to think safely without putting up a defensive perimeter, you can still be genuine about your point of view. How that happens might be circumstantial, but, for example, you can probably always safely say something like, “I’m not saying I agree, but I was curious about your point of view.” Of course, every discussion (and how we navigate it) is going to be different.

#8 next to Ash is… James Brown?

Don’t have to be salty about it.

It’s sharp with surprisingly sturdy spines.

Ah, thanks, I couldn’t seem to find the right term. I was looking for “truss space” or something related. “Floor cavity” or I guess “joist cavity” looks like what I was looking for (for the residential side).

pictured: currently $6.47 at a local store (in Austin)

This is cute, but also in case anyone needs to learn something today:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstitial_space

“It sure is, Tiny Elvis!”

Image shows a scene from the “Tiny Elvis” skit on Saturday Night Live where the characters are lounging in a room. Tiny Elvis is at the center, looking at objects and calling them huge.

Wish I could figure out some kind of hammock garment for mine to hang out in while I work. Not just a shoulder sling for toting them around, but something high enough to clear the table. I don’t know if it’s really possible.

Nah, don’t worry, you don’t act like a stalker.

Mama I… just missed the boat…