Oh man, you sound like my mother! She was actually Japanese and grew her own tomatoes. She was always forcing them on me, saying Ne, umai-deshou! (See? They’re full of umami!)
I actually like cooked tomatoes in all forms, but there is something in the flavour profile of a raw tomato that turns me off.
That is fascinating! You should do an AMA.
I would love to see fewer monocultures at the supermarket. I have noticed lately that a number of new apple varieties have been popping up, at least where I am in Canada. I keep hoping for some kind of craft beer-like renaissance in produce where there is a lot more to explore and rabid fandom over particular varieties.
Ah that would certainly explain it.
My working theory had been that maybe they were being selected for size à la strawberries, which have grown almost comically huge in recent years. But it’s as though nature can only provide a set amount of flavour per fruit, and by growing it larger, it only gets diluted over a greater volume? But I haven’t been able to determine whether fast food tomatoes are behemoths since they are already cut up.
The other day I ordered a burger and they put tomatoes on it even though I asked them not to. I was about to complain, but decided to take a bite anyway and…huh. The tomato had no flavour whatsoever. I used to not like the taste of tomatoes but how could I object to this?
So what does this mean? Are my taste buds not functioning like they used to? But I spent lunch looking it up and apparently, there is a fair consensus that tomatoes, along with a host of other fruits and vegetables, really are blander today than when I was a kid. For something I never liked, this kind of works out but…
I suppose it depends on the language? For the most part I think you’re right. Exceptions are only used (if at all) in situations where a program diverges unexpectedly from its normal flow. But take a language like Python. They’re just everywhere. Even your plain old for loop ends on an exception, and that’s just business as usual.
Yeah, I usually buy cheap drug store readers and break them regularly. Even the ones with spring hinges can’t seem to cope with my head size. I should probably go get proper fitted glasses, but I also misplace them all the time and would worry about spending the big bucks on something I’d lose in a week.
Indeed, I do look for the tall sizes when I’m buying dress shirts. I generally have no problem there. It’s more with casual wear where there is not enough choice.
I’m 6’2" and have a fairly long torso compared to leg length. So I’m ok on pants but shirts can be a problem. I have noticed that with T-shirts, the difference between XL and XXL is all in the width and not length. This is not helpful.
I have a big head and have trouble with hats. Particularly ball caps. They are supposed to be one-size-fits-all, but apparently, I am an exception to this. Even at the widest possible setting, they are too tight.
I tried one of those surveys before the last election, and it concluded that I was most closely aligned with the Green Party. Alas, they don’t have a chance in Hell where I am. They are so far off the radar I wasn’t even aware they were fielding a candidate in my district. But it does make me wonder though. If such surveys actually informed how people vote, would the balance of power shift? I think it would help if our voting system (I’m in Canada) changed to something other than first-past-the-post?
Oh wow thank you so much!
I got super busy today and only just got back on now to see the idea seems to have some traction. I will try to post/comment there to get ball rolling.
I was thinking actually, you could have posts that, like I suggested, describe a strange situation and invite people to speculate on how it came about. But you could also give some sort of narrative that describes the circumstances instead and leads up to a point where you go “…and you’ll never guess what happened next!” or something to that effect.
I had a mini sitting there for about a year before someone pointed out it was upside down on my desk. I thought the side that says “Mac mini” was supposed to be facing up? But no, apparently it’s the Apple logo side. With the power button on the model name side, I think that could fuel a nice, juicy OCD argument with my coworker?
Awesome. I will add it to my list of places I want to visit just based on name alone. A few others include Batman, Turkey, Shitterton, England, and Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Québec.
Totally agree. Some people seem to think it shows moral fortitude to stick to your guns and never admit fault, but these are really the weak-willed people in society.
Another lesson of adulthood it has taken me an embarrassingly long time to learn is that when you are enjoying something and see someone—particularly a younger person—looking interested, bring them in on it. If it’s something you bought for yourself, let them have a go. This may entail a small amount of sacrifice if you let them borrow it for a time, but the joy it brings will make it worth it, and the world needs more of that today. I think about people who have done this for me in the past, and I have mad respect for all of them.
Holy shit that was one intense week! I really feel for you. Glad you got it looked at in time and hope for calm seas ahead.
Take it easy for about half an hour or so after eating and then do some kind of physical activity. I learned that this has the best effect for lowering blood sugar in battling type 2 diabetes, but I think it’s generally good advice for anyone? It doesn’t have to be a heavy workout or anything. Even just getting up on your feet and walking around a bit makes a difference.
If you haven’t been there yet, OneZoom is fun to explore. I am continually surprised by what I find there going down some random branch.
But the mining, milling, and production of nuclear fuel, as well as the construction and decommissioning of nuclear plants, emit greenhouse gases at levels ranging from 10 to 130 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour of power — lower than fossil fuels but higher than wind and hydroelectricity (and roughly on par with solar).
That’s interesting. The article they link gives a bit more detail:
These energy intensities translate into greenhouse gas intensities for LWR and HWR of between 10 and 130 g CO2-e/kWhel, with an average of 65 g CO2-e/kWhel.
While these greenhouse gases are expectedly lower than those of fossil technologies (typically 600–1200 g CO2-e/kWhel), they are higher than reported figures for wind turbines and hydroelectricity (around 15–25 g CO2-e/kWhel) and in the order of, or slightly lower than, solar photovoltaic or solar thermal power (around 90 g CO2-e/kWhel).
The wide range for nuclear apparently comes from difficulties in estimating the carbon footprint of mining/processing the uranium, but that nuclear is sort of in the middle of the pack in carbon footprint relative to renewables in spite of the fueling costs is good to know.
I suppose these sort of numbers may change dramatically in years to come. Take solar. A lot of focus seems to be on the efficiency of panels, which would almost certainly lower the carbon cost per unit of energy as it improves, but a breakthrough in panel longevity would also do that in an amortized emissions sort of way.
Looks gorgeous! Thanks. You’ve got me exploring what there is to explore. :)
That’s a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing. My mom was an avid gardener also. I miss her so much!