Random Thoughts

[Rothman]

I seem to remember them not wanting you to listen to them during takeoff and landing or something like that, but not an outright ban.

Thats because takeoff and landing is the most critical time of the flight for a emergency to occur. Just ask the passengers of US Airways Flight 1549 whose flight ended up in the Hudson due to a collision with geese.

Well...yes.

[D-Dey65]

Me once believing the future would be more interesting than the past feels quaint when I think over it.

I'm going to massively date myself here but so be it.

Thinking in 1975-1976 ---- boy, 1979 is so far off, and then it'll be 1980, and then way way off 2000. Thoughts of anything after that did not cross my mind.

During the 1970s, I started to realize the next few decades weren't going to be anywhere near as fantastic as we used to believe they'd be, and I was right.

I've had this saying (and belief) since I was a teenager -- The future died in 1973.

[Rothman]

Me once believing the future would be more interesting than the past feels quaint when I think over it.

I'm going to massively date myself here but so be it.

Thinking in 1975-1976 ---- boy, 1979 is so far off, and then it'll be 1980, and then way way off 2000. Thoughts of anything after that did not cross my mind.

During the 1970s, I started to realize the next few decades weren't going to be anywhere near as fantastic as we used to believe they'd be, and I was right.

I've had this saying (and belief) since I was a teenager -- The future died in 1973.

How so?

I'm just thinking about how the Internet changed the world.  My mother was on ARPANET, but it seemed that the world went from using card catalogs and interlibrary loans to being able to connect to each other through computers to the advent of the Internet as we know it in pretty short order.

[Rothman]

Oh, and the future is in plastics.

[ZLoth]

For me, the Internet has come a long way from dial-up in 1989 when I had to know bare-bones *nix and terminal emulation on a Apple //c. Some of it was for the better, some of it... well....

Although one thing that I noticed is that, between 2019 and now, there have been some... controversies... that have occurred involving the social media sites that have many of my friends to become less active, if not go entirely "radio silent". This also affected the web forums as well. I personally deleted my Facebook and Twitter accounts during this time as well, and set up a new, minimal presence on Twitter. I'm not saying it's the only reason, just one of several that accumulated over time.

[1995hoo]

Me once believing the future would be more interesting than the past feels quaint when I think over it.

I'm going to massively date myself here but so be it.

Thinking in 1975-1976 ---- boy, 1979 is so far off, and then it'll be 1980, and then way way off 2000. Thoughts of anything after that did not cross my mind.

During the 1970s, I started to realize the next few decades weren't going to be anywhere near as fantastic as we used to believe they'd be, and I was right.

I've had this saying (and belief) since I was a teenager -- The future died in 1973.

Damn, my trail of destruction started even earlier than I'd ever realized!

[kphoger]

Oh, and the future is in plastics.

Ugh.  It's hard to believe people decades ago embraced plastic as desirable.  When I hold a plastic item in one hand and an equivalent metal or wooden one in the other, the plastic one strikes as decidedly cheap and inferior.

[Max Rockatansky]

Oh, and the future is in plastics.

Ugh.  It's hard to believe people decades ago embraced plastic as desirable.  When I hold a plastic item in one hand and an equivalent metal or wooden one in the other, the plastic one strikes as decidedly cheap and inferior.

One place to plastic isn't inferior is single-use bags.  One of the fringe benefits of working a Federal facility is that I can have all the single-use plastic bags (useful for many purposes) I want.  My wife (native to California) has much to say about my scofflaw nature regarding the plastic bag ban in California.

[mgk920]

Oh, and the future is in plastics.

Ugh.  It's hard to believe people decades ago embraced plastic as desirable.  When I hold a plastic item in one hand and an equivalent metal or wooden one in the other, the plastic one strikes as decidedly cheap and inferior.

One place to plastic isn't inferior is single-use bags.  One of the fringe benefits of working a Federal facility is that I can have all the single-use plastic bags (useful for many purposes) I want.  My wife (native to California) has much to say about my scofflaw nature regarding the plastic bag ban in California.

Those little plastic bags from the stores make über-useful mini trash bags, too.



Mike

[kphoger]

I only find them useful for trash if they have no holes in the bottom, because I typically only use them for food trash.

[JayhawkCO]

They also make excellent bags for scooping cat litter.

[formulanone]

Oh, and the future is in plastics.

Ugh.  It's hard to believe people decades ago embraced plastic as desirable.  When I hold a plastic item in one hand and an equivalent metal or wooden one in the other, the plastic one strikes as decidedly cheap and inferior.

It's not going away from car parts any time soon; lightweight, production simplicity, and great for energy dissipation in an impact.

(Or just another reason to hate cars, I guess.)

[kphoger]

I'm OK with it in cars.

[Rothman]

I'm OK with it in cars.

I'm not.  My Rogue gets dented if hit with a pool noodle.

[Max Rockatansky]

Wouldn't having a pocket full of sunshine immediate result in instant death due to vaporization?

[Scott5114]

Wouldn't having a pocket full of sunshine immediate result in instant death due to vaporization?

That's why you put it in a bag first.

[kkt]

Me once believing the future would be more interesting than the past feels quaint when I think over it.

I'm going to massively date myself here but so be it.

Thinking in 1975-1976 ---- boy, 1979 is so far off, and then it'll be 1980, and then way way off 2000. Thoughts of anything after that did not cross my mind.

During the 1970s, I started to realize the next few decades weren't going to be anywhere near as fantastic as we used to believe they'd be, and I was right.

I've had this saying (and belief) since I was a teenager -- The future died in 1973.

How so?

I'm just thinking about how the Internet changed the world.  My mother was on ARPANET, but it seemed that the world went from using card catalogs and interlibrary loans to being able to connect to each other through computers to the advent of the Internet as we know it in pretty short order.

Libraries still use lots of interlibrary loans.  But the online catalogs and internet makes them happen much faster and cheaper than they used to.

[Scott5114]

We've been taking everything down from the walls and packing it up (doing that first so that the holes can be patched). It's kind of amazing how much emptier it makes the house feel to just not have anything on the walls, even though we haven't actually removed anything from the house.

[formulanone]

We've been taking everything down from the walls and packing it up (doing that first so that the holes can be patched). It's kind of amazing how much emptier it makes the house feel to just not have anything on the walls, even though we haven't actually removed anything from the house.

When we sold our home in Florida, we put about about half our possessions and furniture in storage, and took down almost everything off the walls. (Realtors suggest that it removes any psychological barriers for a prospective buyer, it pictures of people make them feel they're in a stranger's home.)

It was liberating in a way, and made my home feel "just the right size" again...though I do like having photos back up on the walls again.

[Brandon]

They also make excellent bags for scooping cat litter.

Nah.  They don't seal at all so we tend to buy cheap zipper bags (gallon size) for that.  No smell in the garbage can then.

Honestly, I find the plastic bags practically useless for anything other than gathering up all the other filmy plastic to take back to the store and place in their collection bin.  Paper bags on the other hand have a lot more uses from collecting paper and paperboard recycling to collecting old clothing for donation.

[Rothman]

The sad thing is that those collected plastic bags just end up in the garbage anyway, rather than going to some sort of recycling center.

[1995hoo]

They also make excellent bags for scooping cat litter.

Nah.  They don't seal at all so we tend to buy cheap zipper bags (gallon size) for that.  No smell in the garbage can then.

....

We buy rolls of pet waste bags at the grocery store and we have a separate small metal can, with a very tight-fitting lid, in the garage that we use to store the cat litter bags until either trash day or the night before (depending on when I take the trash out to the street). At that time, I bring the trash bag down from the kitchen trash can and add the cat waste bags to it before putting it in the trash can. The metal can doesn't stink too much during the winter when we take the lid off, but during the summer it's certainly unpleasant and at that time of year I either hold my breath or breathe through my mouth while transferring the bags.

I looked into whether it's OK to flush the cat turds down the toilet instead of throwing them out, but I read that it is not because apparently they typically contain something that the waste water treatment plants are not designed to treat. The cat litter we use can't go down the toilet because we use a clumping variety, so there would be too much risk of a plumbing clog. Supposedly the pet waste bags we use are biodegradable, but you're making me wonder whether some sort of recycled paper lunch bags might be better.

The sad thing is that those collected plastic bags just end up in the garbage anyway, rather than going to some sort of recycling center.

Do you mean the plastic bags from the grocery store, including the produce bags? Most grocery stores here have a plastic bag recycling dropoff at the entrance. We don't generally use many plastic grocery bags (in addition to the ubiquitous reusable bags, we have reusable produce bags), but we recycle the ones we do use, along with the plastic bags in which the newspaper is delivered on the weekends.

[Rothman]

They also make excellent bags for scooping cat litter.

Nah.  They don't seal at all so we tend to buy cheap zipper bags (gallon size) for that.  No smell in the garbage can then.

....

We buy rolls of pet waste bags at the grocery store and we have a separate small metal can, with a very tight-fitting lid, in the garage that we use to store the cat litter bags until either trash day or the night before (depending on when I take the trash out to the street). At that time, I bring the trash bag down from the kitchen trash can and add the cat waste bags to it before putting it in the trash can. The metal can doesn't stink too much during the winter when we take the lid off, but during the summer it's certainly unpleasant and at that time of year I either hold my breath or breathe through my mouth while transferring the bags.

I looked into whether it's OK to flush the cat turds down the toilet instead of throwing them out, but I read that it is not because apparently they typically contain something that the waste water treatment plants are not designed to treat. The cat litter we use can't go down the toilet because we use a clumping variety, so there would be too much risk of a plumbing clog. Supposedly the pet waste bags we use are biodegradable, but you're making me wonder whether some sort of recycled paper lunch bags might be better.

The sad thing is that those collected plastic bags just end up in the garbage anyway, rather than going to some sort of recycling center.

Do you mean the plastic bags from the grocery store, including the produce bags? Most grocery stores here have a plastic bag recycling dropoff at the entrance. We don't generally use many plastic grocery bags (in addition to the ubiquitous reusable bags, we have reusable produce bags), but we recycle the ones we do use, along with the plastic bags in which the newspaper is delivered on the weekends.

Right, you put the bags in their collection bin and...you just think they automatically go to a recycling center from there?

I have had more than one employee of different big box stores tell me the bags just get thrown into a garbage dumpster along with everything else, despite the nice, friendly recycling logos on the bins.

There's good reason why NY banned plastic shopping bags altogether, despite the existence of those bins...

Have to say we're used to using reusable bags here now.  It's been for the better.

[hotdogPi]

They seemed to be recycled at the Stop & Shop where I worked. I don't know what happened after they left the store, but they were taken from the store as a large bag of plastic bags and nothing else.

[Max Rockatansky]

They also make excellent bags for scooping cat litter.

Nah.  They don't seal at all so we tend to buy cheap zipper bags (gallon size) for that.  No smell in the garbage can then.

Honestly, I find the plastic bags practically useless for anything other than gathering up all the other filmy plastic to take back to the store and place in their collection bin.  Paper bags on the other hand have a lot more uses from collecting paper and paperboard recycling to collecting old clothing for donation.

I'll do one better, plastic bags make a handy receptacle for outdoor dog waste.  My wife bought me a plastic bucket for Lowe's for the same purpose but ended up repossessing for her own garden purposes.

They seemed to be recycled at the Stop & Shop where I worked. I don't know what happened after they left the store, but they were taken from the store as a large bag of plastic bags and nothing else.

Likely the adherence to internal recycling centers varies by store.  Some individual stores in chains I've found are hyper obsessed with recycling credits as a form of protecting margin erosion (particularly with cardboard bales and pallets).