#us aluminum services

[rhk111sblog]

An Anti-Corruption Watchdog has found a couple of Issues with the Plan of the Department of National Defense (DND) to acquire 36,000 Service Pistols for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), saying it could be overpriced and made to favor certain Suppliers

[unsoundedcomic]

Hello friends!

I got home from the shelter mid afternoon yesterday, and the neighborhood is a mess. I did have some damage to my place but as far as I can tell, it's all going to be manageable. There's roof damage but it doesn't look like anything leaked, so that can be tarped up and just vibe until it's fixed. My neighbour's aluminum shed exploded and blasted through the fence two feet from my room window, leaving a cartoonish hole which I will take a picture of as soon as I have stuff back.

Which leads to the immediate question of comic-related services. Eighty percent of my county was left without power, and they're estimating one to two weeks to get everyone back online. That's everyone - I don't know where my little place falls within that timeframe. I just have no idea.

Almost more annoyingly, I don't have cell service at home so I'm completely cut off there. I drove to my brother's office today in Largo and am camped at his secretary's desk using the power and wifi. I have been forbidden to speak to him while he's doing Important Office Man Things.

To add insult to injury, there's a boil water thing because there were like 40 water main breaks, but I can't boil water without power, and my butane camping plate doesn't get hot enough. I have plenty to drink but it means I can't wash dishes and I have to brush my teeth with the water I left in my bath tub, and that's weird, man.

Still, I'm very lucky. I'm just itching to get back to Kasslyne! Hopefully that will be very soon. Thank you for all your patience, my darlings <3

[allurilove]

Celebrating the fourth of July with Henry and yandere husband. Also happy 4th of julyyyyy 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I'm celebrating by eating a lot of hotdogs! I haven't had them in so long, and I sort of forgot how good they could be.

Your husband grunted as you handed him the aluminum pan, heavy with copious amounts of tiny hamburger sliders you made for the neighborhood party. You made sure that you looked nice and that Henry was presentable too. Your husband wasn't the celebrating type, and he was confused when you handed him a shirt with an American flag printed on the front. He shook his head, refusing to even touch or wear it. It just felt wrong to be overly patriotic like that.

Your husband still wanted to "blend" into the crowd, so he opted to slick his hair back and wear a hat backward, a dark blue t-shirt with a fun graphic on the breast pocket, jean cargo shorts, and his black Sambas. From afar, he looked like a college student—in better words, he looked like the typical frat boy. You were surprised he even had clothes like that.

You held Henry's hand as you walked to your neighbor's backyard. You pushed the gate open for your husband and guided him to the table where the food was. "Now that looks good..." You took a banana pudding cup for you and your son. Your husband huffed and finally put down the heavy tray. He took off the top and tossed it into the trash. He looked around to see the other people who decided to show up, and he gulped as he saw his number one rival... the Skylar family.

Fuck, were they the perfect family.

They could model for Gap or Old Navy with how amazing they looked together. Like the good man he was, your husband approached Lucas Skylar. Lucas was sort of an odd man (your husband thought), and he was a sex therapist who mainly worked with those horrible reality TV couples. You know the ones: people who came onto a show for clout and fame, really only looking to win money and cheat into having an easy life. The ones who pair up with other people who matched their physical aesthetics. It was sort of genius, and your husband slowly started to wish he was in that profession.

"Lucas! It's so great to see you." Your husband opened his arms and pulled him into a "bro" hug. Lucas equally threw himself into the hug. Of course, he was an amazing greeter.

"How are you and your wife? I can see that you guys got down and dirty, huh?" Lucas smirked and nudged your husband. You were about six months pregnant with another child—a girl, as you two had found out. "If you two ever get into a rut, you know where to find me."

Your husband would rather die. This wasn't the first time Lucas Skylar offered his services, and your husband was starting to form an idea in his head that Lucas just wanted to fuck you. I mean, he stares at you way too often. His green eyes would linger on your form, even if he was standing by his wife. Maybe your husband should take up the offer and start boasting about how you two had this amazing sexual chemistry.

"Yeah. Thanks." Your husband laughed humorlessly and slapped Lucas's shoulder a bit too roughly, brushing past him. The pissed-off man went straight for the beers. He spent the rest of the night sulking in the corner, nursing his drink, and watching Henry run around the backyard with lit sparklers in his hands.

"Hey." The man cleared his throat and pushed his body off the fence, his expression softening as you came up to him. You handed him some food and he accepted it gratefully.

"Let me guess..."

"You don't even have to." Your husband groaned and his shoulders tensed up. He rolled his eyes and looked right back down at you. "That prick wants to meddle into our sex life again."

"Why don't you tell him that it's great and he needs to back off?" You shrugged nonchalantly and your husband sighed.

"I... I didn't want to embarrass you like that. Plus, I don't want to create any bad blood between us and them. We still have to live near them after all." Your husbands expression soured. He crushed the empty beer can before making a shot into the trash bag. He then took your hands into his and he pulled you into his embrace.

...

Your husband wanted to make it up to you for pouting all day, and he took the family out to a secluded and open area. He opened the trunk of the car, and he pulled out a box of fireworks. After he was done scolding Henry for not listening to his little safety seminar, he finally lit one and took a step back. The firework shot up into the sky and burst into red and blue colors.

He subtly reached for his phone and took a picture of you and Henry both looking at the sky. Your husband would talk to thousands of guys like Lucas Skylar if this was the end result. His heart warmed at the sight of his two, and soon to be three, favorite people holding hands.

[theoxenfree]

NIGHTFALL

elk god x ranger!reader | wc; 759

no one dared to question why you chose the night shift; it was simply superstition that it was better not to ask. but, you were always in good company.

warnings; brief mentions of gore, ritualistic/cultish stuff, some lore things that may be confusing if you aren't aware of the series, roughly proofread

repost from 2kmps ➔ theoxenfree. would love to know if you guys would be interested in a full story!

No one dared to ask questions of you when you had volunteered to take up the lonesome night shift at the ranger’s station.

Workplace superstition wasn’t one to discriminate, whether that meant you were tweaking a bullet out of someone's chest in the operating room; sterile gowns splattered with carmine like a rorschach inkblot, adrenaline dampening the noise in the room while the surgeons honed into that sweet spot of impenetrable focus, or you were reclined in a creaky wooden chair, prodding agitatedly at your phone screen with a thumb because the service had turned to shit for the fifth time that night.

The reason why you were so adamant to burden the staggering quietness of the Atticus Forest behind aluminum walls that'd amplify the whispering winds and long claws of trees’ appendages trying to gain purchase into the metal went unchallenged, incurious—if no one knew why, they would be spared of knowing about you, bonding with you, catching your eye and expected to act in sympathy if you were to ever change your mind about the arrangement.

You, however, used the cover of nightfall, the endless shroud of darkness produced from a sprawling canopy of lush treetops to roam freely, uninhibited by the daytime shuffle of campers and hikers and other rangers scouting the trails for no-good-doers.

Every night you wandered out some ways from the station, somewhat nettled by the fact you were leashed from going far from the radio, needing to standby in case of contact, and whistled tunefully. It was a sweet sound that aroused the owls and sleeping doves, sometimes the tree frogs would chirp after you, suddenly turning the vast, placid place into a euphony of colorful sounds.

Only when the forest was at its noisiest did he come out from hiding. He did not know shame or fear of the sun, nor quail at the concept of walking among humans, but he preferred to share the forest with the untamed creatures and your company alone.

“Orruth,” you greeted the lumbering thing as he came away from the trees; the gray of his skin, and gleaming white elk skull were a seamless blend in the inky black all around. “Are you in the mood to walk tonight?”

He did not speak any human tongue, not any that you were aware of at any rate. You were no linguist, but the things he said couldn’t have been mistaken as latin nor some other dead language from forgotten empires and cultures buried by concrete and gentrification. They were guttural, strong echoes that anchored you with awe, overwhelmed by power, the unfathomable words of an ancient who always tried so desperately to converse with you. There could never be a middle-ground between what he said and what you understood because you were never meant to know.

So, he whined instead, lowered his hulking form close to the ground for you to reach his face. You felt the fissures in his long nose, how dry and brittle the bone felt under your fingertips and observed the glowing pupils within hollow sockets staring back at you. Apart from his arms and legs, which were long, sinewy, and gray, his head floated mysteriously by a thick vapor you had ever shied from touching and he seemed to not want you to touch.

“I heard a complaint about a fire about eight kilometers away. I'm hoping it's just a few campers thinking they're above the law of the land, but we can never be too sure.” You explained this while he tucked the flat bone of his nose into your chest, mindful of the sprawl of his antlers as you adjusted to petting him around the eye sockets. “We keep finding animals—gored, disemboweled, almost ritualistically at some campsites. If your old followers keep this up, they may try to ban people from camping out here at all.”

He would probably like that, you thought in hindsight once he had had his fill and pulled away from you. In his own tongue, he tried to say something else. It remained indecipherable to you, but you could have from how he nearly flattened his body to the ground that he was offering you a ride.

“Just try not to throw me into a bunch of tree branches again, yeah?” you sat on the broad shelf of one of his shoulders, arms wound in the network of forks and beams of his antlers as he rose to full height, walking onward off the trail and through the trees towards distant piles of smoke.

[zerofuckingwaste]

Easy zero waste tip no. 3: Know your R's

Refuse: If you don't acquire the thing that will become waste in the first place, it won't produce further waste. Simple enough. Refuse that which you do not need. Example: All that cute stuff on that Buzzfeed article? You don't need it. Don't even click the link.

Reduce: If you need something, get the minimum. Note that this doesn't mean the cheapest option- it means the most effective and environmentally friendly option. Example: Instead of buying disposable razors, or a razor with changeable heads, try out a safety razor. Instead of using plastic toothbrushes, try out bamboo, and instead of toothpaste in disposable tubes, try out some toothpaste bits. Instead of buying chicken breasts for one thing and chicken broth for another, get a whole chicken and learn to butcher its meat, and make broth from the skin and bones.

Reuse: This means both being mindful of purchases, so you're only buying things that are reusable whenever possible (Example: use beeswax wrap instead of saran wrap), and repurposing things you've already bought (Example: use those little Oui yogurt containers to start seeds for your garden).

Recycle: Find out what your local recycling program actually recycles, and be mindful. Aluminum is a safe bet most of the time, as is paper/cardboard; but plastics, most of the time, are a dud, so try to refuse, reduce, and reuse plastic whenever possible so you don't even need to worry about recycling it. This also refers to donation- that's another valid way to recycle things!

Rot: If you have a yard, start a compost pile! Just try to get a 50/50 balance of food scraps to brown matter (paper, dry leaves, etc). If you have a freezer, you can stick a container in there to act as a compost thing until you can bring it to a compost facility, such as a local garden, or farm. If you don't have the ability to do either of these things, then you can see if there's a subscription compost service in your area (I used CompostNow for ages, they're great).

Understanding these five principles, and looking at them in this order, can make things easier. Next time you're buying something, or about to throw something away, consider which of these might allow you to reduce your waste output in the future.

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian Coupe

It’s the early 1950s, and the world of custom cars is booming with excitement. In the midst of this automotive frenzy, one car stands out—the Polynesian. Crafted in 1952 by the talented folks at Valley Customs in Burbank, California.

1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian Coupe

This special car was ordered by Jack Stewart, a car lover from Canton, Ohio. Fresh from military service, Stewart fell in love with custom cars when he saw Dunn’s Ford at the Motorama show in Los Angeles.

The Exciting Transformation

1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian Coupe

Completely captivated, Stewart got in touch with Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen of Valley Custom. He had a dream to transform his ’50 Oldsmobile 88, and over nine months, the car underwent an incredible makeover.

The changes included a 4-inch body section, a redesigned front, unique fender skirts, and a cool front bumper/grille made from a ’47 Olds bumper. The headlights got a special touch, and ’52 Studebaker taillights were treated the same way.

Emory and Jensen, who were true experts, used hammer-welding and metal-finishing to make the car look fantastic, ending with a beautiful orchid metallic finish.

In the Limelight

1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian Coupe

Debuting in Hot Rod magazine in September 1953, the Polynesian became a star. It even won ‘best of show’ at the first Michigan Auto Rama in 1953, proving it was a showstopper. The car appeared in many magazines and books, becoming famous in the world of custom cars.

A Mysterious Disappearance and a Glorious Comeback

1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian Coupe

But like many classic cars, the Polynesian disappeared mysteriously, hiding away in storage for a long time where it faced the effects of time. It wasn’t until 2005 that a dedicated owner decided to restore it to its former glory carefully.

Under the Hood

1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian Coupe

Beneath the shiny exterior is the powerful heart of the Polynesian—a strong 324 cubic-inch Oldsmobile V8 engine. With a .030 overbore, egge cast aluminum pistons, and a 9:1 compression ratio, this engine brings the iconic custom coupe to life.

In essence, the Polynesian tells a story of a time when people put their hearts and skills into making timeless cars.

With its triumphant return, this Oldsmobile 88 Holiday 2-door coupe keeps capturing the imaginations of car lovers, showing that classic custom cars will always be fascinating.

1950 Oldsmobile Polynesian Coupe

[cleolinda]

I am so fucking pissed. We’re hearing forecasts that we might get FIVE FUCKING INCHES OF SNOW overnight from Monday to Tuesday. In ALABAMA, where we have no snow removal equipment. Like I think we got one bag of sand for the whole town. No snow tires, I don’t even know what those are. This isn’t cute “Haha it’s just barely below freezing! Snowball fight!!!” snow. This is 14° Fuck (-11° Come the Fuck On) snow. FIVE INCHES? We get flurries and the city descends into madness.

What if we lose POWER. Everything runs off USB cord stuck in the outlet charging nowadays. This is why everyone used to run out and buy Milk Bread Batteries. Listen. I have this memory of the power going out during this wild snowstorm when I was a kid--I want to say it was Winter Storm '93. Ask anyone who lived in Alabama at the time. Like we had Desert Storm '92 the military operation one year and Winter Storm '93 the next. It was that serious in our minds, and I'm not sure you can blame us:

The storm dumped several inches of snow each hour on Birmingham, which ended up with officially 13 inches of snow.

Due to the high winds some parts of Birmingham reported drifts 5 to 6 feet deep. One state trooper reported that the roads were in the worst shape he had ever seen. "People can't tell what's road and what's not."

Low temperatures during the storm were in the 5-to-10 degree range on that Sunday.

IN A TOWN WHERE WE DON'T KNOW WHAT A SNOW PLOW IS. I think we had one for the entire county. Like I'm only kind of joking here.

And our power went out.

The snow was so heavy that it pulled down power lines either by its own weight, or by the tree branches its weight broke off. Meanwhile, the power at my house already went off every time a squirrel sneezed. I don't how many days this lasted; it was probably like, 2-3 days, but in my head, I was 14 years old boxed up with my family with no heat and it lasted two weeks. Maybe three years. The four of us slept in sleeping bags layered with quilts, huddled on the floor around a wood burning fire. (In the haunted house, no less.) The carpet was really nice, at least. We had a--do people still call them boomboxes? A big portable cassette player--battery-powered--with AM/FM radio. We listened to whatever TV shows were broadcast from the ABC station at night. We did have hot water; I took a lot of hot baths. We cooked food over the outdoor grill (which we moved to the comfortably large area under the deck, to hold off the falling snow), sometimes using aluminum foil as a kind of thin impromptu frying pan, and kept perishables like milk and meat in a cooler. Oh, did we have a bag of ice for the cooler? No, we used snow. God knows there was enough of it. Of course, I'm sure the refrigerator was perfectly serviceable even without power, because it was TEN DEGREES FUCK ALL.

I remember going outside a good bit and playing, as much as a teenager plays, in the snow with my seven-year-old sister. I remember that all the neighborhood kids got big rubber trashcan lids and used them as toboggans, going up to the top of the hill on our street and pretty successfully sledding down. Maybe it was "lmao snowball fight!!" snow when I was 14. I'm 45 now, and the cold makes me hurt. It makes me hurt all over. Maybe Winter Storm '24 will be a fun core memory for my nephew. I am pissed. And also charging all my electronics.

(ETA: It’s ‘24 now, isn’t it. My brain hasn’t clicked the date over yet. What is time.)

[buffetlicious]

The lazy Susan was quickly filled with dishes as we continued with our reunion dinner. The Prawn Paste Chicken (虾酱鸡) featured plump and juicy mid-wings coated in a batter of fermented shrimp paste. Also known as Har Cheong Gai, it is crispy with an umami aftertaste and a hit with young and old.

The stir-fried French Bean with Dried Shrimp (虾米四季豆) might look deceptively plain but plain and simple it is not! The string beans or green beans is flash-fried with minced hae bee (dried shrimps) to absorb the wok hei (wok thermal radiation or breath of the wok) yet maintained the crunchy texture and aroma of the sea (dried shrimp). This dish was one of the highlights of the dinner.

My nephew asked for this Fried Rice with Chicken (鸡丁炒饭) as he preferred it over the steamed white rice the rest of us are having. The Yam Ring (佛钵飘香) featured a ring of deep-fried mashed yam (taro) and filled with sautéed seafood such as prawn, squid and also various vegetables. Normally one would also find cashew nuts in it, but I didn’t notice any this time. Plating is done haphazardly as the chef just poured everything into the yam ring. If I will to do it, I would place the vegetables at the bottom and present the seafood on top with a sprinkle of crunchy cashew nuts over it. Anyway, dish is passable but not fantastic in taste and an “F” for presentation.

Popeye’s power booster canned vegetable is reimagined into Spinach with Trio Eggs (三皇苋菜). To enhance the power, three kinds of egg are used – normal chicken egg, preserved century egg and salted duck egg. Finally, the eyes is also protected with goji berry or wolfberry added into the thick soup. With all the above ingredients used, how can a vegetable soup like this not be good for you?

Fish Maw & Crab Meat Soup (蟹肉鱼鳔羮) is the most expensive dish of the night at S$45 (large portion) due to the two premium ingredients. The thickened soup is chocked with the spongy fish maw, succulent crab meat and I also detected mushrooms in there. Before eating, drizzle a few drops of the black vinegar and add a dash of white pepper.

The Emperor Chicken (皇帝鸡) is also known as herbal chicken. In the olden days, the emperor’s diet was strictly prescribed and monitored by physicians, because it was important for the emperor to be in excellent health in order to focus on governing the Kingdom. This was one of the healthy dishes the emperor ate! The chicken is wrapped in the waxed paper and aluminum foil then steamed for a few hours until the meat is tender and the flavours of the herbs is infused into the chicken.

The last dish to be served is the Poached Prawns (白灼虾). If the ingredients are fresh, you just need minimum condiments and simple cooking style to bring out the best in taste. So here the prawns are boiled in basically water, ginger and scallion for a couple of minutes at most. Chinese cooking wine is then drizzled into the broth to enhance the overall flavours.

For this reunion meal, we spent S$331.76 for the dishes, steamed rice and drinks including 10% service charge. I can foresee the next year we will be back here for our dinner again. After all the food is good and the place is nearby our houses.

[the-bar-sinister]

The M-1965 Field Jacket (also known as M65, M-65 Field Jacket, and Coat, Cold Weather, Man's Field), named after the year it was introduced,[1] is a popular field jacket initially designed for the United States Armed Forces under the MIL-C-43455 standard. It was introduced into U.S. military service in 1965 to replace the previous M-1951 field jacket, itself an improvement on the M-1943 field jacket introduced during World War II, although the M-51 continued to be issued for quite some time. The front portion of the jacket has two large hip pockets and two medium-sized breast pockets. The collar of the jacket features a zipper which houses a protective hood. The M-1965 field jacket can be combined with a button-in insulated lining for cold-weather wear, as well as a button-on fur trimmed winter hood. The jacket is fastened with a large aluminum (later brass, then nylon) zipper, with a storm flap fastened with snaps covering it. The jacket has also been produced for civilian use since at least the early 1970s, and has been available in many different colors and patterns, many of which were never used by the United States Army or any other armed service.

[transgenderer]

The Goodyear Inflatoplane was an inflatable experimental aircraft made by the Goodyear Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, well known for the Goodyear blimp. Although it seemed an improbable project, the finished aircraft proved to be capable of meeting its design objectives, although orders were never forthcoming from the military. A total of 12 prototypes were built between 1956 and 1959, and testing continued until 1972, when the project was finally cancelled.

The original concept of an all-fabric inflatable aircraft was based on Taylor McDaniel's inflatable rubber glider experiments in 1931. Designed and built in only 12 weeks, the Goodyear Inflatoplane was built in 1956, with the idea that it could be used by the military as a rescue plane to be dropped in a hardened container behind enemy lines. The 44 cubic ft (1.25 cubic meter) container could also be transported by truck, jeep trailer or aircraft.[1] The inflatable surface of this aircraft was actually a sandwich of two rubber-type materials connected by a mesh of nylon threads, forming an I-beam. When the nylon was exposed to air, it absorbed and repelled water as it stiffened,[clarification needed] giving the aircraft its shape and rigidity. Structural integrity was retained in flight with forced air being continually circulated by the aircraft's motor. This continuous pressure supply enabled the aircraft to have a degree of puncture resilience, the testing of airmat showing that it could be punctured by up to six .30 calibre bullets and retain pressure.[2][3] Goodyear inflatoplane on display at the Smithsonian Institution

There were at least two versions: The GA-468 was a single-seater. It took about five minutes to inflate to about 25 psi (170 kPa); at full size, it was 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m) long, with a 22 ft (6.7 m) wingspan. A pilot would then hand-start the two-stroke cycle,[1] 40 horsepower (30 kW) Nelson engine, and takeoff with a maximum load of 240 pounds (110 kg). On 20 US gallons (76 L) of fuel, the aircraft could fly 390 miles (630 km), with an endurance of 6.5 hours. Maximum speed was 72 miles per hour (116 km/h), with a cruise speed of 60 mph. Later, a 42 horsepower (31 kW) engine was used in the aircraft.

Takeoff from turf was in 250 feet with 575 feet needed to clear a 50-foot obstacle. It landed in 350 feet. Rate of climb was 550 feet per minute. Its service ceiling was estimated at 10,000 ft.

The test program at Goodyear's facilities near Wingfoot Lake, Akron, Ohio showed that the inflation could be accomplished with as little as 8 psi (544 mbar), less than a car tire.[1] The flight test program had a fatal crash when Army aviator Lt. "Pug" Wallace was killed. The aircraft was in a descending turn when one of the control cables under the wing came off the pulley and was wedged in the pulley bracket, locking the stick. The turn tightened until one of the wings folded up over the propeller and was chopped up. With the wings flapping because of loss of air, one of the aluminum wing tip skids hit the pilot in the head, as was clear from marks on his helmet. Wallace was pitched out, over the nose of the aircraft and fell into the shallow lake. His parachute never opened.[4]

To Die For the InflatoPlane

[trivialbob]

The rest of last weekend I spent in Chicago.

I went there to visit my college roommate, Ross. We've known each other since freshman year of college, back in the fall of 1984 -- 40 years of friendship!

Friday afternoon I drove to to the city. Normally I experience horrendous traffic there, pretty much after crossing from Wisconsin to Illinois. Someone smiled upon me this time, because the midday Friday traffic was smooth on the highways.

Things got aggressive on city streets. Twice I saw people driving over a double yellow line, directly at me, as they wanted to make a left turn without waiting for traffic.

GPS warns me of Chicago's red light and radar cameras. At times I wonder if Chicagoans don't have to pay tickets they get in the mail, because I thought I was going to get rear-ended simply for obeying the speed limit and stopping at red lights. No one with Land of Lincoln plates seems to worry about traffic tickets.

Ross had game tickets to a Blackhawks game Saturday night. The team did poorly, but I enjoyed hanging out with him and watching the game.

I like walking through his neighborhood and looking at houses. My own home in Minnesota has a fireplace made of Chicago Brick. After the Great Chicago Fire, bricks from destroyed buildings were re-used in new home construction. It would be fascinating to me if there was a way to find out what Chicago building my bricks came from.

The Lincoln Square business area is a favorite of mine. I had arrived in the city before Ross was done working for the week. So I made my usual tour of that area on foot.

There are plenty of restaurants and bars I'd like to try. Saturday morning Ross and his wife took me out for coffee at a neat little shop with an airplane theme. Check out that booth made from airline seats and aircraft aluminum. The trash bins were re-purposed airliner serving carts.

There was mushroom coffee on the menu. I'd heard of it before, but never tried it. So I ordered a cup of "Morning Mud" which is mushroom coffee and some sort of mushroom extract. It tasted earthy. I don't know that it made me healthier but the coffee had caffeine. I'd give it another try sometime.

Ross and his wife picked up the tab, so I also grabbed a can of seltzer, two croissants, and a large assortment of essential oil soaps that were for sale in the attached gift shop.

The coffee shop had two "unvested service dogs." One was quite comfortable sitting in customers' laps.

Throughout my stay Ross and I hung out, had martinis and pizza, talked politics and current events, and relaxed. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

[genloss-confessions]

brecht anon here so german playwright bertolt brecht thought that generally people who watched plays would engage only in the emotional aspect of the play and the characters and not interact with the political or artistic statement s that the writer was actually trying to communicate. he founded the concept of epic theater around using the medium of the play and the theater to estrange audiences from their empathetic reactions to characters and instead make them have an objective reflection on the play's contents and allegories for real world issues. this would appear as deliberately low-budget scenery, printing stage directions on the scenery, having actors speak directly to the audience, perform musical numbers, or play multiple parts in the same show, essentially always reminding the audience that they are watching a play, removing their ability to become immersed in its reality. this estrangement or alienation effect is what the word Verfremdunseffekt refers to. (real brecht-heads, feel free to yell at me for being reductive)

for episodes one and two, tse uses these same ideas to create a barrier between the audience and its characters: the linear cabin set that doesn't resemble a house, the fight scenes, the moment where you can see the aluminum baking dish the patient's slime-guts are being kept in. in the very creation of these scenes, we as an audience are primed to not care about anyone in them, since we are reminded all times of the falsity of the reality we are being presented. we are separated from the characters (especially the carousel actors!) as whole empathetic beings by the fact that we are not shown the characters as whole three-dimensional beings, but as tools to serve an allegorical frame work.

arguably this also appears in episode three, in the scenes where we are shown the camera operators, and especially in the founders cut with its use of adr for hetch and the interstitial cuts to the in universe slmccl stream. even in these moments of purported reality, the bones of the show itself estrange us from the characters.

until the final scene, where we see the truth for the only time.

of course, tse is definitiely not intentionally brechtian, since the finale centers around our empathy for the blight of the main character. additionally, brecht's theories were often not successful in their execution, as playwatchers still found the plights of the characters emotionally moving despite this efforts to distance them from the audience. still, tse's focus on the space between the audience and the characters, use of "flat" characters in service of its larger allegorical message and deliberately low-quality set design in service of alienation mean that i can say with confidence it's at least a bit brechtian. now if you'll excuse me the pretentious police are putting out extradition orders.

.

[ladychandraofthemoone]

What is Nia's backstory in your headcanon? Has she had some interesting incidents like for example, crashing into the stationmaster's house or accidentally leaving the guard behind?

Hi! Well for starters, Nia is actually narrow gauge in my au (a NGR Class N 4-6-2T 1906/South African NG 4-6-2T 1906)

Nia was built by and for the Natal Government Railways in 1906, she worked around the KwaZulu-Natal province mainly the Weenen-Estcourt line where she worked for mixed traffic either delivering produce (after all the line was known as the Cabbage Express) then after being sold off to the Moçâmedes Railway in 1915 she ends up globetrotting about in South Africa and neighboring regions like the Cairo to Cape Town line (she was also a participate in ww1 delivering supplies to the locals she had entirely mixed emotions which is why she secretly leaves but ends up in Western Front where she meet Freddie and Stanley)

The trio ended up bouncing around together thanks to Stanley's "jinx" though both familial figures never held any grudge against him and defended him especially during their old railway (not the msr) where they were all mistreated badly, especially Stanley thanks to his "bad luck" the manager who also hailed from South Africa (the Western and Eastern Cape) often used Stanley being mistreated by the other engines as leverage where she and very fierce arguments with until he got rid of her (his uppercommence doesn't come until years later

She came to the Mid-Sodor in the late 1920s where she worked in the mines with Millie, Luke, Bertram and Atlas so when Stanley finally was reunited with her and Freddie in 1938, they're quickly took him under their nonexistent buffers to show them the ropes, when the railway started in decline after ww2, Nia was along soem of the engines who willingly themselves herself to be sold off to keep the railway afloat, wanting Stanley to having a regular working service.

She, Luke, Mighty Mac and Freddie were actually brought together to work at the aluminum works and electric power station companies. Now she tends to work on the either the skarloey's northern end of the line doing shunting at the quarries, being part of the Gleigh Fell Quarry Company, she now works with Luke Freddie and mighty Mac the most occasionally she takes up maintenance alongside atlas rusty and Fred even the weed killer train which she doesn’t mind often taking advantage of being alone with her thoughts and observing her new surroundings

Like She sometimes also helps taking passengers on the narrow gauge express that runs alongside with duke from ulfstead to crovans gate, even to the estate railway and even revisiting the cronk and harwick scenic heritage railway where’s shes reunited with kwaku after discovering he wasn’t scrapped and helps with her recovery of survivors guilt

Fun fact she was the maintenance engine for the skarloey railway until atlas comes in who in turn he and Nia take rusty under their nonexistent buffers, she’s tends to sees all of them (Falcon they bond over their fear of heights, Stuart cause he's cheeky she keeps Andreas on his wheels when he gets too big-headed), as brothers/siblings/familial, Luke and Stanley are her kids. She's a polygot and is one of the engines who helped Ivo Hugh learn to "speak" with whistles/morse code though she does have to tendency to put her work first before her own needs and health like if she's working with someone who's is giving her a difficult time or a mechanical issue she tries to complete the job first (having participated in a war totally doesn't help at all)

Nia often sings when she works to help her concentrate. She’s pretty popular with the coaches and passengers because of it. Unlike Duke's relationships, she and Stanley tease each other and push each others buttons, but it’s all in good fun. And when push comes to shove, they’ll always have each other’s backs. The other engines assume that Stanley or Freddie is Nia’s best friend, and while she does think he’s a good friend, he’s not her best friend. That honor goes to Millie, having also been part of a war but they got along swell the moment they met at the mines on the MSR, Nia offers to take passengers or anything to visit Millie at the Ulfstead Castle and keeps her updated on everything, from gossiping to a quick chat.

When they first met Duncan and Nia 100% teach each other swears. Why, imagine the thin controller’s (sir Handel Hans brown) surprise when he overheard Nia calling a particularly rude passenger a… well I don't think it’s best to know. And to be fair it was well deserved after the passenger called Luke and Stanley names and drove Luke to tears (bonus: Stanley joins in) She also expressed disappointment and tried to help both sides with strict tough yet understanding love over the remaining MSR engines treatment of Duncan when Andreas scarified himself and ended up in a coma

Some interesting incidents included her nearly falling off the tracks which was off the cliff during her wartime years, hence her fear of heights (she and Falcon bond over that), searching in the crystal caverns alongside some of the narrow and standard gauge engines Nia also has a flower garden and greenhouse I’m still figuring out where I’m thinking at Cros-by-curin by or inside the apple orchard but somewhere alongside the skarloey railway and she loves completing puzzles during game nights (she's up to a 1000 pieces right now) her and Stanley info dumping about creepy animals (she wants to see Duke squirm as she’ll clap back without hesitation for her loved ones or she and Stuart quiz each other with numbers equations or stargazing with kwaku and her friends

[drstonetrivia]

Chapter 222 Trivia (Part 1)

Fun fact: this chapter is from issue #2 of WSJ's 2022 collection!

The Apollo mission had spacesuits tailor-made to each astronaut, but these days it's easier to use interchangeable parts and switch them out according to the size of the wearer, rather than having the whole suit fitted.

However, the gloves are always custom-sized for dexterity.

Vinyl fabric doesn't seem to have ever been used as part of a spacesuit, however spandex and nylon have, especially in the inner layers.

Outer layers include Teflon, Kevlar, and aluminized Mylar.

It's possible that rather than being used for the fabric, the vinyl is used for the suit's interior cooling tube system, and the aluminum is used for the Mylar rather than for the exterior metal parts, as pure aluminum is easily scratched.

You probably recognize this panel from the end of chapter 219. The only difference is Ryusui's head has been swapped with Stanley's.

Japanese doesn't have a "V" sound, which is why Chrome says "by" rather than "vi" or "vy".

Generally English words used in Japanese make this switch, for example "violin" becoming "baiorin" due to the lacking of "V" and "L" sounds.

This building may be where they're assembling the SENKU 11 rocket, however in this first panel it appears completed, but in later ones it's still under construction.

The PS5 was first announced in April 2019, and released November 2020. First images of the console were revealed on June 11th 2020.

The first global petrification happened in June 2019, so this person would know about the console but not known what it was meant to look like.

The robot maid request is most likely a reference to "Me and Roboco", another manga currently being published in Weekly Shonen Jump alongside Dr. Stone. It's a comedy series that follows a powerful-but-clumsy maid robot in a grade schooler's service.

(Later, Me and Roboco came out with a Dr. Stone parody for the 15th volume cover)

The vacuum tubes are back in the form of cavity magnetrons. These produce the microwaves that bounce around the microwaves' interior body.

The cooking effect was first discovered in 1945 when Percy Spencer noticed a candy bar had melted in his pocket after testing magnetrons.

Plastic wrap is vinyl that has been flattened to between 8-12 μm thick, (approximately 0.001 cm). For context, this is about as thick as a spider's web or the size of a droplet of water in fog.

The film Senku makes here is cellulose triacetate film, which is less flammable than earlier celluloid film, earning it the nickname "safety film".

The 8 mm part is the width of the film strip.

Unlike reusable hand-warmers that use supersaturated sodium acetate, these are one-time use and rely on oxidation to create heat. Once the packaging is opened, air penetrates the bag, oxidizing the iron. Vermiculite is added to remove moisture & salt is added as a catalyst.

Chrome's design wouldn't work properly because he uses iron sand rather than iron powder. Iron sand is mostly magnetite, which is already an iron oxide and thus won't have the oxidation reaction or create heat.

The fridge (or maybe mini wine cellar/fridge?) design is a parody of Smeg, a kitchen appliance brand.

You can also see the Senku-brand PlayStation, robot maid, and protein powder.

(Next part)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

In a wild presidential election featuring dozens of criminal felony charges, fallacious claims about election fraud, and sexist invective, it's easy to forget a fundamental truth: The real impact of the election will be expressed through changes to federal law and policy. 

[...] There is one policy area where Trump has been much clearer. At his Madison Square Garden rally on October 27, Trump said he would put RFK Jr. in charge of the nation's health policy. "I’m going to let him go wild on health, I’m going to let him go wild on the food, I’m going to let him go wild on medicines," Trump told the crowd. At an online event the following day, RFK Jr. said that Trump had promised him "control" of all federal public health agencies. What are RFK Jr.'s plans once he controls federal public health policy? On Saturday, RFK Jr. posted on X that he would "advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water" on the first day of Trump's presidency. 

According to the CDC, fluoridated drinking water in the United States is "one of the ten greatest public health achievements in the United States."  Specifically, "[d]rinking fluoridated water keeps the teeth strong and reduces tooth decay by approximately 25% in children and adults." Fluoridation of community water supplies is "recommended by nearly all public health, medical, and dental organizations including the American Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Public Health Service, and World Health Organization." According to the American Dental Association, "every $1 invested in water fluoridation saves $38 in dental treatment costs." While the federal government is not directly involved in fluoridating water, there are many ways for the federal government to influence state and local policy.

Community water fluoridation has been criticized by cranks and conspiracy theorists since the 1950s when some claimed it was part of a plot by Communists to brainwash the American public. Others falsely claim that the practice was started by the Nazis as a method to poison and pacify Jews. In his post, RFK Jr. incorrectly describes fluoride, a naturally occurring mineral, as "industrial waste." Fluoride can be a byproduct of the production of aluminum and certain fertilizers, and conspiracy theorists have claimed that water fluoridation was pushed by corporations looking to offload their excess fluoride.  [...]

The Trump campaign, notably, chose not to contradict RFK Jr.'s claims about the Trump administration's plans for fluoridation. “While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, he is focused on Tuesday’s election,” Trump adviser Danielle Alvarez told the Associated Press.  Fluoride is not the only issue where RFK Jr.'s views deviate from public health experts. RFK Jr. has also falsely linked childhood vaccines — which have saved millions of lives — to autism and chronic diseases, claimed that COVID-19 was engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people, and claimed that 5G technology "damages human DNA [and] causes cancer." 

[...]

The truth about Project 2025

Dozens of people appointed or nominated to positions in the first Trump administration and transition created a policy blueprint called Project 2025 under the auspices of the Heritage Foundation. Project 2025, which spans 922 pages, calls for withdrawing approval for the abortion pill, banning pornography, slashing corporate taxes, abolishing the Department of Education, replacing thousands of experienced federal workers with political appointees, imposing a "biblically based… definition of marriage and families," and placing the Justice Department and other independent agencies under the direct control of the president. Trump has sought to distance himself from the document, saying he "has no idea who is behind it." Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, however, told the Financial Times that he is "personally close" with Trump and talks to him "often."

Putting a conspiracist crank like RFK Jr. in office is a bad bad idea.

See Also:

MMFA: Fox vouched for RFK Jr.’s health views. Now that bill may come due.