ArtieShaw

I like the mnemonics of c (copy), v (get in there), x (snip-snip), and z (bad idea) as much as I like the similar ones for bold and italics.

text you’ve already typed and change the format. Control (shift) + F3 used to do that in MS word. Highlight your text and Toggle Through The POSSIBILITIES.

I’m not sure this is true. Current US federal food and drug law has been in effect since the 1970s (for specifics, I’m thinking 21 CFR 211, which was codified 1979-ish) and it hasn’t really been repealed so much as it was never very explicit and rarely enforced, in part because of the difficulty of enforcing something so vague.

Example: The law clearly says, “you must have a written procedure in place to prevent contamination,” But it leaves it up to the manufacturer to determine what that procedure should be. In contrast, some of the EU legislation (EUDRALEX) is much more prescriptive: “you must do X, Y, and Z to prevent contamination in a multi-purpose facility.”

What little legislation was in place as US law before 21 CFR 211 was worse.

It’s also worth noting that much of the US’s regulation via agencies like the FDA is actually released as “guidance for industry.” Or to paraphrase, “don’t be a freaking idiot about things, but we can’t legally prosecute you for it if you don’t.” That’s a big loophole.

Consider the legal fiasco that was the trial of the owners and “quality manager” of that peanut company that caused multiple salmonella deaths about 10-15 years ago. Their QA manager’s legal defense was literally: I’m not qualified to do my job and should never been hired. 21 CFR says that “employees should be qualified to perform their jobs.” What does that mean? Should she have a degree in biology or chemistry? A degree in early childhood learning and k-12 education? On the job training on the day to day of the peanut factory and what to do if you have in infestation of birds? Beyond that, who is in charge of making sure she’s qualified? The regulations are unclear, and in the system that’s been in place for 40 years, all of those questions will be hammered out in the randomness of court and in the worst way possible. Like so.

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2020/02/ill-fated-quality-control-officer-for-peanut-corp-of-america-freed-from-federal-custody/#google_vignette

I’m sorry - I could write a whole freaking book about this.

That looks amazing.

I was just thinking about “quirky” because my sister-in-law recently used it to describe her daughter. Her contrasting word (for her son) was “straightforward.”

Personally, I fit the former even though I’ve learned to “pass for normal.” NOT my words. That was a direct quote and it was meant as a compliment. Weird is definitely meant as an insult in the US Midwest.

I thought there was a tangential reference to that recent question about whether there’s a critical mass of water to corpses that people find objectionable.

The example: There are plenty of corpses in the ocean, but people will swim in it. If there were one corpse in a pool, most people would decline the invite that particular pool party.

Mixed with that very recognizable graphic of Saddam in his hiding hole. And balls, for reasons that escape me.

edit: my friend is also a little confused.

Internment was a bit complicated, but my understanding is that the US army wouldn’t turn away young Japanese-American men who were willing to fight in Europe.

There was also a secret program where second generation men served as translators for US naval intelligence in the Pacific. They translated intercepted messages and assisted with prisoner interrogations. They were also in very real danger of being mistaken by the enemy by US or allied troops. The existence of this program was only revealed in the 1980s. If anyone is interested, google “Nisei linguists” or check out these references

https://www.nps.gov/goga/blogs/nisei-linguists-in-world-war-ii.htm

https://history.army.mil/html/books/nisei_linguists/CMH_70-99-1.pdf

Environmental, Social, and Governance programs are a trendy topic with investors. For example, if Walmart’s shareholders force it to adopt an ES&G program, that that same pressure gets applied by Walmart to their vendors.

That’s how it’s supposed to work. Devil is in the details, of course. And plenty of “yes buts” to go along with them.

There’s an entire industry devoted to auditing and rating companies on their overall score. Ecovadis is one that I can think of off the top of my head. They’ll audit you, give you a score, and give you areas where you need to improve.

I haven’t decided exactly how cynical I am about the whole thing, but I’m way past letting the perfect strangle the good.

I missed out on those! We were there for less than a week and never saw them on a menu.

They were on my list, though.

I’d say that both White Castle and McDonalds are a separate food entity. In form, they’re both burgers. That much is true, but the overall thing that you eat is consistently something else.

This is may be more obvious for WC because in spite of being the oldest fast food hamburger, they also depart more radically from the norms of cooking and presentation. Whatever McD’s is doing is a little more arcane. It presents itself as a burger, but doesn’t really taste like a burger.

And if you’re adding regional chains, Culver’s deserves a mention.

I noticed that they had a presence in London. We didn’t stop to compare them to the US version, though. I had weirder things to try.

That’s kinda brutal, but I’m going to back you up on the thing with hamburgers in Canada. Maybe it’s just limited to Ontario, but when we moved there we were consistently shocked by the weirdness of the burgers. For the first year or so we shopped around trying to find a good burger and eventually just gave up. Our local pub served some that were OK.

And before anyone chimes in with the thing about all Ontario burgers being prepared well-done by law, it’s not that. I’m pretty sure our time there pre-dated that law. I think they may have been “spicing” them with onion powder, but who knows.

The burgers at Burgermeister in Berlin were quite decent. Those were the only ones we tried, though.

I went to a weird conference about 10 years ago and it was very much about data retrieval and long term storage of digital media. I’d say that the speaker was 80% dead on and 20% full of shit. One thing he was very clear about: he lost his own wedding photos due to his own overconfidence in digital storage technology and his wife is still deeply pissed about it.

I still have my wedding photos on CD rom somewhere, so I’m sure they’re safe. /s

In related news, my parents are downsizing and my mom just asked me if I wanted my great-grandparents’ wedding certificate. It’s in great condition.

I feel like she also has Trample.

Barbra

Don’t let her crimes be forgotten.

Well, now I’m subscribed to Bat Facts. (Thanks!)

Speaking as a new hobbyist (2 months), I went with an Creality Ender 3 V3 KE. The cost was in the $250-300 USD range and it had a decent range of features.

I’ve used it almost every day since unpacking it. It’s pretty easy to get to know. The Creality cloud slicing tool is good enough for me (for now), and can be run via a browser or app.

Microcenter has a variety of display models that you can check out. If I had known about it I probably would have gone prior to making my selection. I’m not sure my choice would have been different, but a little extra knowledge never hurts.

I have a low key interest in birds and have been using the Merlin app to ID them by photo, description, or their song. You can set it to record, then just chill in the backyard while it lists the birds it hears.

Fluffy: “Quite mad, indeed!!!” <cackles in dog>

I’m not a soda drinker, but Green River gets me right in the nostalgia.

Occasionally, I’ll have some club soda with a bit of vanilla or hazelnut syrup. Not too sweet, but enough to taste. Plain soda water is also good.

I knew someone this happened to. Several months after moving into their new house they started working on a neglected secondary bathroom on the 2nd floor. They didn’t go back there too frequently because it wasn’t a priority, but it was a really cool space connected to their bedroom via a small dressing room/closet.

One day she noticed a low, humming drone and checked the wall of that closet. She claimed that the whole wall was warm to the touch and vibrating. That was not an easy or cheap job, but we got to make jokes about bees for a couple of months.