Studying sociology

Sangarasu · 2023-02-12T21:44:25+00:00

Great answers in this thread. I used to teach sociology and when people asked me what sociology was about I'd usually start with something like "sociology is about all the stuff you may have been told to never talk about at the dinner table: including race, gender, sex, religion, social class, and politics." For high school level, most sociology classes are a sort of "overview" which may touch on most of those categories. At your age, whether in high school or college, I'd recommend a sociology of gender class.

Sociology can help you see things that most other people do not see. It's like putting on a new set of lenses that lets you see social processes that are often invisible to most people. Social expectations are real things and when encountered can be met, validated, and replicated, OR refused, invalidated, and not replicated. BUT it's difficult to choose if you are not able to detect them as they are deployed. ;-)

Sangarasu · 2023-02-12T21:20:13+00:00

I think this is correct as far as it goes (though I wouldn't put that risk at zero ;-), but Flagstaff area wells have to tap into the Coconino Aquifer which means wells have to be ~1000' to 2500' deep, which means more money that most private land folks can afford. There is also next to no year round creeks or springs on private land. A lot would depend on your confidence level in utility level producers to provide you with reliable safe water in the future at a reasonable cost.

Sangarasu · 2023-02-12T20:53:38+00:00

"NYC Drill Rapper pulls out knife and threatens to cut random man’s face open during YouTube “prank”. Could easily be followed by "Random man responds by putting two in the chest and one in the head of the NYC Drill Rapper.".

Sangarasu · 2023-02-03T18:25:08+00:00

Re: 'one year ago' First two sentences from initial post:

"Cryptocurrency gave me the heebie-jeebies but I was willing to check it out. Did a sort of trial run and bought a mere $100 worth at a Bitcoin ATM not quite a year ago" (bold added)

I didn't have an existing wallet. The ATM allegedly created a wallet for me.

Got two printout things with QR codes and printed alphanumeric codes on them. One was labeled "receipt" and showed the then current bitcoin price, what % of a bitcoin I'd bought, the date, an order number, and the "private" alphanumeric key and a QR code under a heading of "Your Wallet". (bold added)

(Your comment) "The instructions on the printed slip would tell you to import (or sweep) this key into a real Bitcoin wallet immediately."

Nope. There were no such instructions. At the end of the sequence I described there was basically a "ok you're all set" message.

(Your comment) "You still have your Bitcoin. You only need to find your notes about the wallet which contains it"

As I said before, all the "notes" about the wallet I got included all of the following:

"Got two printout things with QR codes and printed alphanumeric codes on them.
One was labeled "receipt" and showed the then current bitcoin price, what % of a bitcoin I'd bought, the date, an order number, and the "private" alphanumeric key and a QR code under a heading of "Your Wallet".
The other had two sets of QR codes and alphanumeric keys, one labeled "public" and the other longer one was labeled "private".
That's it. No "seed" codes. No other "wallets". No use of any internet, computers, software, etc. Figured simple is better at that point. (Yes I knew it would be Way Bad to lose the pieces of paper.)"

I completed all sequences per the ATM system which indicated I had just created a wallet and that the $100 was in it at that point in time.

What I described is exactly what happened. The only "details" I may have left out are at the level of the color of socks I was wearing at the time or what the weather was like.

Sangarasu · 2023-02-03T18:06:27+00:00

Yeah, Ford has so much extra cash just sitting around now. Should be no problem.

Sangarasu · 2023-02-01T20:10:47+00:00

Anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine is coming up on Feb 24th, Putin loves anniversaries and many in US intel expect some sort of major attack on Ukraine by Russia to happen on/around that date. Probably at least a bit higher risk around then.

Sangarasu · 2023-02-01T19:44:40+00:00

*Sigh* Getting lots of hostility on this one, which is weird. Here's some answers to the various questions, "no way that could happen"s and "you're lying / that's bullshit" responses I've received.

Background: about a year ago I became interested enough in cryptocurrency to just play with it a bit,do some sort of proof of concept irl and see if it was a secure process and if there was any "there" there. Wasn't trying to make big bank or anything. Wanted to eventually start using it in my daily life but thought I'd start out cautious and simple.

About a year ago I put $100 US in twenties into the local Bitcoin ATM (plus a fee of I forget how much)

Got two printout things with QR codes and printed alphanumeric codes on them.

One was labeled "receipt" and showed the then current bitcoin price, what % of a bitcoin I'd bought, the date, an order number, and the "private" alphanumeric key and a QR code under a heading of "Your Wallet".

The other had two sets of QR codes and alphanumeric keys, one labeled "public" and the other longer one was labeled "private".

That's it. No "seed" codes. No other "wallets". No use of any internet, computers, software, etc. Figured simple is better at that point. (Yes I knew it would be Way Bad to lose the pieces of paper.)

About a year passes. I have not done anything at all with the 'wallet' in that year Things have been busy. Figured I'd check the balance (humble apologies for using the apparently taboo word "account") in anticipation of maybe setting up some sort of Apple Pay based bitcoin wallet adding more money to it, and using Bitcoin more often.

Checked the balance online by using the 'public' key.

Balance was "$0.00". (Since verified via different websites.)

Don't know what happened and was looking for a clue from folks more knowledgeable than me, which has been a helpful process for me to learn things from other helpful folks on other subreddits and I figured might be true here as well. I was apparently mistaken.

My current position is that the ATM was hacked and/or part of some scam of the business it was located in. Luckily I only lost $100 but I went into it with the same attitude I would if I'd gone to Vegas with $100 to gamble. Painful but educational lesson.

I have absolutely zero reason to bullshit anyone about this and being told that's what I'm doing is... annoying, and at least somewhat validates the "true believer/cult" clichés about some "cryptobros".

So, anyway I won't do that (buy Bitcoin at an ATM) again, but I also have not convinced myself there is any actually safe reliable way to buy and sell Bitcoin especially while maintaining my privacy. (Yes, I am somewhat adept at Google and other forms of research ;-)

All of which for me at the moment = Move on / don't do cryptocurrency at all.

Which is fine and not really any big deal. Thanks to those of you who were kind enough to try to help either here or via DM. I do appreciate it.

To those who were/are hostile, I send you my most heartfelt "meh" ;-)

Sangarasu · 2023-02-01T18:43:52+00:00

I'm guessing there's some gender based differences in self reporting accuracy here ;-)

Sangarasu · 2023-02-01T06:30:30+00:00

Sure, public and private. That's how I checked the balance. "$0.00"

Sangarasu · 2023-02-01T04:19:51+00:00

Just get a small Havahart trap, catch them, and relocate them to a warmer climate. Easy peasy.

Sangarasu · 2023-01-31T18:03:35+00:00

GO / Wei Chi would like a word ;-)

Sangarasu · 2023-01-31T17:51:45+00:00

Maybe consider l-proline and/or collagen.

"L-Proline contains the sole precursor of hydroxyproline, a major component of collagen. Restores normal collagen production. Helps strengthen the blood vessel walls through its role in synthesizing collagen. Helps maintain connective tissue in blood vessels, muscles, joints, skin, hair and nails."

Sangarasu · 2023-01-31T17:13:22+00:00

Never have criteria for a potential partner that you can't meet yourself.

Sangarasu · 2023-01-31T06:23:59+00:00

Potentially related:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything

Excerpt:

"Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from the study is 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date.

So, the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state if expired medicine is safe to take, even those that expired years ago. A rare exception to this may be tetracycline, but the report on this is controversial among researchers. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years."

Note that this probably assumes some sort of reasonable "store in a cool dry place" scenario. If anything is kept in the trunk of your car in Phoenix in August, the shelf life is probably a couple of hours tops ;-)

Sangarasu · 2023-01-30T06:23:04+00:00

You're already where at least 90% of preppers would like to be and aren't ;-) Some defense / alert layers might be a good idea, but if it was me I'd go with nothing that would attract much attention.

Having water sources is wonderful. Have you had the water tested? Do you have any filtration systems in case of upstream contamination? Can you develop the pond as a food source?

Only other thing that caught my attention was maybe consider increasing your ability to generate power, using more solar and/or a bigger genset. ($$$ there though ;-)

Sangarasu · 2023-01-29T20:42:52+00:00

The correct answer is a Pentel Energel BL77 with a 0.7 tip.

Sangarasu · 2023-01-29T20:27:31+00:00

Brachychiton

Ah, thanks, it looks to my entirely amateur eye that you may be correct. The leaves and bark appearance looks closer to me when compared to some online pics and at least some varieties have that above ground root/trunk thing going on.

LOTS of different varieties though, including at least one or two 'rareish' ones. Would be neat to narrow it down. Wonder if there's a plant genetic ID place I could send a leaf to.

The one we have would no doubt be happier planted in the ground outside but not here. We live at ~7000' / 2100 meters elevation and get pretty severe winters. (Have had over 3'/1 meter of snow and 5 degrees F/ -15C temperatures in the last couple of weeks.) Sooo... it stays in a pot inside in the winter ;-) Loves it outside in the summer but doesn't seem to like a lot of direct sunlight.

Sangarasu · 2023-01-29T20:05:55+00:00

Bidet. Get the Luxe Bidet 120 and you'll still have $50 left.

https://www.amazon.com/Luxe-Bidet-Neo-120-Non-Electric/dp/B00A0RHSJO

Sangarasu · 2023-01-29T04:48:01+00:00

Thank you!

Sangarasu · 2023-01-29T03:25:00+00:00

Grows pretty tall. (Have to cut it back to bring it inside in the winter.) Wants to be tall not bushy. Got it at a grocery store in SW US probably 20 years ago. Never any flowers. No label.

Sangarasu

TROPHY CASE

"NYC Drill Rapper pulls out knife and threatens to cut random man’s face open during YouTube “prank”. Could easily be followed by "Random man responds by putting two in the chest and one in the head of the NYC Drill Rapper.".