For some inexplicable reason, Psych (one of the lamest “detective” shows e-vah) is the best thing on TV right now. Yeh, good reason to turn it off, right?
But wait! There’s more! Lassie has a puppy! Yeh, not enough.
The De-evolution of Man
From “How to Cook with Hot Peppers Without Getting Burned”
“The Risk of Jalapeno Hands
“While the heat produced by the capsaicin in hot peppers is actually enjoyable for many in food (in moderation, of course), it is not so pleasant when it comes into contact with the skin, eyes, or ears when preparing the peppers for cooking. Home cooks are especially at risk for “jalapeno hands,” or the prolonged stinging and burning of the skin after it comes into contact with the capsaicin-rich oils of the pepper when slicing or chopping fresh hot peppers. The “jalapeno hands” effect can last for hours as the oil containing the capsaicin is not easily washed away. But this risk should not be a deterrent from cooking with these peppers, you just need to be prepared.”
I’d just bet this guy also gets humongous bruises from sleeping on a pea hidden under 10 or 20 mattresses, too.
Sure, capsaicin on one’s hands transferred to one’s eyes can sting a wee tad, but it causes no damage, and the pain–what there is of it–abates after a while. But “burned” skin elsewhere, in much less sensitive areas (well, much less sensitive on normal humans who’ve evolved, we are told to have skin that will protect them from such minor insults), indicates a genetic flaw that The Darwin Effect should be allowed to eliminate. Please. *heh*
Wear gloves when prepping capsaicin-loaded peppers? Nah. I’drather lick my fingers and then wash them. If I fail to wash well enough and end up with capsaicin transferred to my eyes or other *cough* “sensitive” *cough* areas, no problem. My genetics don’t belong to what very well ought to be (if it isn’t for sure) an evolutionary dead end.
There is a not-so-fine line between. . .
. . .”the ancient boor” and “the ancient booer.” I think I have the first one down pat. The second one. . .
Now, I’m Not a ‘Gun Nut,’ but. . .
. . .all the ignorant, emotional, lie-filled arguments by anti-gun, anarcho-tyrannist statists and wild, slavering, stupid calls for gun confiscation kinda irk me. In light of that, here: a .30-caliber, DIY, fully-automatic air rifle.
Make it in your garage. Completely unregulated, as far as I know, in any of the federal firearms laws, because: air rifle. It is not a firearm.
And that’s just if someone doesn’t decide to get their hands on various pieces of low-quality steel and emulate third world home “gunsmiths” the world around and manufacture themselves an AK-47, since it was designed for ease of low-tech reproduction, of download any one of the widespread sets of plans for making one’s own AR-15, go out along the highway collecting aluminum cans, forge and machine a receiver, etc.
Yeh, that very thing has been done by some guy in his own garage and back yard.
Idiots just irk me, and these willfully stupid, electively-ignorant, anti-gun, anarcho-tyrannist statists wildly screaming for gun confiscation, are just that: self-made idiots.
Oh, the “I’m not a gun nut” comment? Currently, entire “arsenal” consists of an 89-year-old revolver. I’d be happy with a couple more firearms, but right now, I just do not need them, and the lil revolver is enough for my current use. This is only possible, because I live in a county that is about as safe as Switzerland, probably because most folks are armed. *heh*
But.. . I will admit I am a “knife nut.” “Never bring a gun to a knife fight” might be something I would think, and even say. . . *heh* OK, just kidding. It’s always good to have both at hand in a “bad actor” scenario, but at or within arm’s length, I’m MUCH more likely to do serious damage with a knife, even with my teensy lil Spyderco Squeak Sprint1, a really, really small knife.
1Thanks again to my Estimable Son-in-Law. I use this knife–and those given to me by Son & Heir–daily, many many times daily.
It’s the Little Things #8,492
#sigh
*heh*
OK, now that that is out of my system. . .
Some of the absolutely stupid things some writers do baffle me, but at least I have found a way to be amused by them.
Recent “Dan Brown wannabe” book where the writer apparently felt even less desire to get anything right about any of his premises than Brown typically does went Brown even further by finding… unique ways to misuse plain English ( for example, misused “infallible” when groping for “unflappable”), have an “expert pilot” grab the “steering column”. . . on a helicopter whose propellers were making enough noise to keep the writer from thinking, “Maybe I ought to do my homework on helicopters before making a fool of myself in print.”
Hilarious.
Another? How about a fun-filled romp through a zombie apocalypse book filled with things like super-competent, manly-man hero filling up a late-model vehicle with gas and then “topping it off” after the pump clicks off. “Manly-men” know that can harm the vehicle’s evap system, cause the vehicle to run poorly, and even lead to hard starting or failure to start. In today’s world, it’s an easy fix (though sometimes complicated) to repair an evap system. . . IF one can narrow down the part or parts damaged by topping off, and costs can range from $10-$200, depending on several factors. In a zombie apocalypse scenario, having to repair the evap system on one’s go-to vehicle is sub-optimal.
But that’s OK, cos the book was chock full of this kind of stupid stuff, so reading it as a farce (OK, OK, skimming it, cos it wasn’t really worth reading *heh*) was. . . OK.
The problem with all these hilariously stupid books–not bad or “suckitudinous” books, just stupidly executed–is that the errors of logic, fact, grammar, punctuation, and usage they embody are just reinforced in whatever uncritical readers glom onto them. *sigh* There were once literate editorial staffs at tradpub houses to correct some of these problems, but even there, the quality of literacy in tradpub editorial staffs has waned.
Oh, well. At least I can laugh at and mock such things, and such amusement is worth something as the world generally goes to hell in a handbasket.
At Least THIS Illiterate Practice Is Still Deprecated
The occurrence of “try and [verb]” as against the correct “try to [verb]” in print in general is still minimal. Unfortunately, the #gagamaggot misuse of “and” still seems to be very common in (typically) very poorly edited self-pub text and in social media, etc., all over the increasingly “mass man”-dominated1 Internet.
Social democracy sometimes sucks.
Do note that I have no objection to the use of “try and” when it is genuinely appropriate and adds meaning. For example,
“Two Judges Try and Fail to Shut Down Union Strike” in a headline is OK, though in a sentence in the body of a text it would be better-written as, “Two judges try–and fail–to shut down union strike,” or, slightly less clear, “Two judges try, and fail, to shut down union strike.”
Or,
“It’s better to try, and regret, than not to try, and regret.”
In neither of the cases above would “try to” convey the meaning intended, but cases like this are rare compared to misuses of “try and” where “try to” is appropriate. Sadly, the colloquial misuse of “try and” contributes to a poorer language rather than enhancing English.
Leaving a Legacy
“Die, my dear? Why, that’s the last thing I’ll do!” ~ Groucho Marx.
Well, even in this life, I don’t plan on dying being the last thing I “do.” I plan to rig the “urn” (a coffee can, of course) designated for my cremains to prank the person who opens it to dump my ashes in. THAT’S the last thing I’ll do. . . from beyond the “fiery trial.” Well, unless someone in my family spoils the surprise. . . I probably need to have some backup pranks set up, just in case. Maybe I can stretch my “presence” out a few years that way. 😉 Kinda leave an active legacy, ya know.
This olde pharte needs to get busy. . .
Matters of Principle or just Irrational Overconfidence?
I have ceased being shocked at the *cough* “deep thinkers” *cough* who share their “thoughts” in various print and eprint media whose “deep thoughts” are too deep to allow mundane things like spell checkers, and whose “literacy” extends only to what they have heard (and dependably misunderstood) others say.
It’s as though being stuck on a wad of gum at the far lefthand side of the Dunning-Kruger Curve is a matter of idiotic pride for them. Yeh, it’s a principle. #gagamaggot
Continue reading “Matters of Principle or just Irrational Overconfidence?”
Asked and Answered. Move on.
I wear a scanable medalert bracelet with online med info that includes my allergies. Listed FIRST under “allergies” is my serious adverse reaction to being asked the same question more than once. When asked the same question a second (or third or. . . ) time, I tend to answer, “Asked and answered,” and let ’em look it up. I have no patience with lazy, arrogant, insulting asshats with nothing better to do than waste my time.
I answer cops the same way when asked the same question more than once: “Asked and answered. Move on.” (Last time I did so it was the local chief of police. He had illegitimately stopped me for a traffic infraction I had not committed. I don’t take their crap. I declined his offer of a ticket and moved him along. Seriously. Coincidentally, he resigned two weeks later. . . Yeh, seriously.)
I am too old to take crap from anyone. Period.
Forget “civil disobedience.” Such disrespectful behavior from people who think of themselves as authorities calls for less than civil disobedience. Outright disrespect returned for disrespect from people who are NOT one’s “betters.”
But maybe that’s just me. And maybe I should work on that. . . but I doubt I will.
“Men are Expendable”. . .
. . .according to this, but I had a slightly different takeaway from the chart below (of course).
Lists “civilian” jobs but excludes LEOs (whom I count as civilian1, regardless what LEOs WANT to be thought of as). Doesn’t matter. Even if they were included (and even if this were a more or less accurate chart, which I doubt), cops would only rate somewhere around seven or eight on the chart. Not nearly as dangerous as they would have us think.
1 This pretty well sums up my views about cops and their job hazards: No One Cares If You Go Home Safe At The End Of Your Shift. Michael Z. Williamson deals with the issues of police safety very well, but another post of his details why I really DGARA about cop safety. Cops NOT policing themselves to eliminate the incidents detailed there are the reason for my disinterest in their safety. I don’t wish them ill, but neither can I work up a lot of interest in their safety. They’re adults, I assume, and chose the job, AND do not properly police their own ranks, so. . .