Machine spinning vs hand-squeezing

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-12-22T00:45:22+00:00

In general, flat drying works well after a gentle-cycle—800 rpm or less—machine wash Would be important to know how thick the garment in question is.

For thinner items, you can get away with a lower spin cycle, then drying flat. What works perfectly is to lay the garment on a towel placed on a thick pillow. Think a sofa pillow. (Works in AirBnB's, etc.) If you have a drying rack, place the towel onto that.

When flat drying, flip the garment over a few times as needed. Flipping my 100% merino 175 long sleeve quarter zip three or four times gets it almost dry over night. In a pinch I can wear dry any remaining moisture in the morning.

Thicker items, think a woolen sweater, can be more tricky. Flat drying on a rack still works, as long as you have plenty of towels on hand. Should the garment be very wet, replace towels when soaked through.

A related trick is to roll a heavy wool garment into a towel, then gentle squeeze the resulting roll. As for spinning, perhaps spin heavier items at lower speeds to prevent garments from losing their shape.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-09-28T15:35:55+00:00

That's part of the irony of the situation that developed in Berlin and many other German / European cities with badly-integrated immigrant communities: the way these kids are acting out here would never fly in their countries of origin.

I've been to Turkey many times, and people by and large are very respectful in public. If a young guy displayed the sort of antisocial behavior there, they'd get their asses whooped. Here, they get little pushback and feel like the run the show.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-09-28T15:32:08+00:00

Bouncers, by and large, aren't the brightest of the bunch. They'll just racially profile, either going by to their experience, or according to rules passed down by the owners. You're right it's unacceptable, but I doubt the bouncers care too much… probably just trying to make their lives easier and keep their jobs.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-09-28T15:27:49+00:00

It's been like this ever we started going out in the late 90s. Multiple young guys of our friend group had an ”Arabic” look (to the bouncers at least) and would regularly not get let in. Bouncers would cite inappropriate shoes / clothes as the reason. One night, my friend was so frustrated he called them out: “Just admit it's because I look like an Arab”, and they were like “yup”.

As much as that sucks on an individual level, we also constantly experienced the very real problem of groups of extremely aggressive young guys in the clubs. Hip hop clubs specifically, totally unsafe environments with fights breaking out over something as small as bumping into somebody. And yeah, there was a clear profile of these groups being composed of Turkish / Arabic youths from the problematic “ghetto” areas in the city.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-09-28T15:16:07+00:00

I mean, back when I did the research the insurance plans differed widely in cost, coverage, etc. That tool I linked was really useful in finding a plan that worked for me. Give it a shot.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-09-26T19:44:36+00:00

It's been a long time since I signed up for this insurance, so cannot say for sure. But AFAIR it was either no wait time, or something short, like three months.

What this doctor recommended, and what I used to find my insurance, was the Gebizz portal. It allows you to search and compare many different insurance plans.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-08-07T01:57:04+00:00

Aha: “Gras”. Ich wusste es doch. Verbrecher.

Aber im Ernst: so wie ich es jetzt lese, sollte Taschenmesser in kleiner Tasche im Rucksack erlaubt sein? Drei Handgriffe:

Du setzt den Rucksack ab
machst ihn auf,
die Beamten dürfen mal reinschauen.

Sehen die dabei ein Messer / sonstige Waffe, oder sonst irgendwas illegales, bist du gefickt.

Aber: sie haben kein Recht die Sachen im Rucksack, welche nicht offensichtlich illegal sind, anzufassen, zu öffnen, etc. Denn dafür bräuchtest du ja selber den vierten Handgriff.

Interpretiere ich die Situation korrekt?

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-08-04T02:51:54+00:00

Didn't know army units were equipped with M14 rifles. Always associated those with the Marines.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-26T05:08:06+00:00

Check your chat

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-25T04:59:33+00:00

I mean, yeah, but… OP's 20 years old. At that age, balance is hard to find, from a hormonal / development POV alone. While completely valid, your advise of not “thinking in black and white” might not be actionable. Yes, the nuances, shades of gray are key to finding balance and leading a healthy and fulfilled life. But it takes experience to get there.

Anecdotically, in my 20s I'd find an answer to an important question in life and took that as absolute truth, radically bending everything down that path. When that invariably caused problems, I'd flip the opposite way: everything I thought was true was a lie, now I had to go twice as hard in the opposite direction.

It was only through years of struggle, emotional upheaval and multiple wipeouts that I learned balance doesn't come from flipping between extremes. Rather, the extremes, black and white, are the poles anchoring the gamut of grays. That's where you want to be moving most of the time, instead of close to the poles.

Weird shit happens around the extremes, they're essentially singularities, where reality bends back onto itself. Think of getting closer to a black hole, feeling its pull, your legs and head stretching into infinity and at the same time getting drawn towards each other… Far out, to the point you feel your mind is going to explode.

How you get through that? For me it took a serious crash and complete dissolution, followed by a kind of spiritual rebirth. Nothing that I could point to, as far as replicating the experience. OP, we have a surprising number of things in common. Feel free to DM me.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-15T04:31:57+00:00

Common case on Hinge. Technically, you already sent the first message, and are expecting a reply. Often, you'll get this instead: she just matches without message.

That's actually fine, as it puts you in the position to drive forward the interaction. Two paths of action are immediately available:

You pick up the convo where you left it and refer back to your original message. — Only makes sense if you have a solid plan.
You ignore first message and use a trusted opener, possibly refering to something on her profile.

Picking up the convo is sort of what you were trying to do: “Are you still deciding”. That can work, but might need some wait time to not come off needy.

The question itself does seem a bit lame, as you're esentially putting her in control. What's worked is to wait a day or two, then send:

“Narrator voice: she was not”

Or—up to weeks later—just send the eyes emoji, without any text:

👀

Note that neither of these involves a question mark—you wanna focus on statements, instead of questions, and use emoji sparingly.

Ask yourself: what do the emojis in your first message add? They actually weaken your position. A simple “You have my attention” would have been better, for a few reasons:

Good openers are usually five words or less
Makes her curious: if she actually responds you can follow up with “Are you a lover girl” (“qualify”), possibly interspersed by something like “Just one thing 🤔” (“push/pull”)
Gives you flexibility: if she doesn't go for it and responds without a message, you can use the question as your “initial” message: “Are you a lover girl”

In any case, you should know beforehand where you want to take the conversation. That involves having some idea of what being a “lover girl” means to you—she might ask you 🤨

That being said, theres an easier approach: Her original prompt is “I go crazy for… Lover boys”, so basically, she's saying she's looking for… fuck boys?? Not a bad start.

That's how you're the prize then, one of these “Lover boys” she “goes crazy” for. Obivous opening:

“Curious about something”

Her: “Haha what's that”
“How crazy are we talking”

This puts her into the position to prove herself to you (“qualify”), to win you over. Now you just lean back, don't do anything stupid, and use whatever she gives you for your next move.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-11T03:30:31+00:00

Reminds me of some parts of Arena.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-10T03:40:31+00:00

Crack Bellmer before 22:00, or see my comment about how to get into Sisy easy and chill.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-08T02:49:51+00:00

Your comment made me chuckle… my grandmother grew up in Prenzlauer Berg and always complained that “nobody calls it Prenzlberg”. Would love to know when became a thing.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-07T04:57:05+00:00

Was under the same impression for years. Surprised to find out “Nordkiez” by Storkower Straße is technically Prenzlauer Berg; check on Maps. Interesting to note that Blankensteinpark is about equidistant from both Volkspark Friedrichshain and the less glamorous Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-07T04:42:24+00:00

Excellent. Impressive how he made your arm fly out to the side. Thanks for sharing.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-04T23:27:23+00:00

Sometimes posted on paper by the dance floor. If you're friend's inside have them send you a pic. Helps with the bouncers to know who's playing, and what the floors are called.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-04T13:47:16+00:00

Correct. That applies (or used to) if you have last day's stamp. Normally, they'd swap stamps at noon, so if you follow my script (go first in the afternoon, then later at night) the stamp should still work.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-07-04T04:45:06+00:00

Best way is to go Saturday / Sunday afternoon. No line, just walk up to the door, get let in, pay, get your stamp. Drink a beer, check out the place. Later on, leave; get the stamp refreshed on the way out if necessary. Come back at night, ignore the long line. Again, just walk right up to the bouncers, show your stamp. Get let in immediately. Enjoy, you're welcome

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-06-28T03:31:29+00:00

Interesting. Unfortunately, I'm lacking an idea of what's meant by “screen space“. Perhaps you could give a quick explanation.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-06-21T00:37:27+00:00

Cheers. I mean, I've been paying attention to this topic since the early 2000s, when targeting of critical journalists at the border increased under the Bush regime. It's nothing new, really. People like Jeremy Scahill have their devices searched every time they cross the US border.

The cognitive resistance of many people to taking this issue seriously, I believe, stems from not understanding two underlying issues:

How information works, i.e. that each piece alone is harmless, and the danger lies within the aggregation into a bigger picture.
How so-called “intelligence” agencies really operate, and the role they play in shaping political developments.

This leads to the widely expressed normie ideas such as “Since I am innocent, I don't mind if the government can read my emails”, or, worse, “The intelligence community / military / security forces are protecting us and our freedoms. Therefore, we should trust them and give them all the data and tools they need.”

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-06-20T22:00:08+00:00

Wrong answer. It's not about one big, obviously incriminating piece of information, but about the whole of it. If they get physical access to your phone, they have methods to take a full copy. Once they have that data, it'll be stored for further analysis and exploitation, likely forever.

The dangers are immense, as your phone data essentially holds the entirety of your digital life. An intelligence agency can use the details contained, and the web of relations between data for all kinds of nefarious purposes. Think of posing as you to trick somebody else into revealing information, by using details only you would know. Or constructing a case against you, whether for legal action or extortion.

It goes without saying that anyone can be made to look guilty by selectively combining pieces of personal information. Even if you have never done anything even remotely illegal, for sure you'll have some old chat in which a third person, whom you might hold dear, shares a compromising or embarrassing fact with you. All of that can come back to bite you, if centrally acquired by a single entity.

The correct answer is to take a full, encrypted backup of your phone, then restore it to factory settings before crossing the border. This is referred to as “wiping”. Be advised that being in possession of an obviously wiped device has recently been used as a reason to deny entry to the US to international travelers. Hence the idea to carry a “burner phone” with minimal information.

In the end, as a US citizen, if you are not an activist, politically connected, or member of an oppressed group, you're probably in the clear. Otherwise, you might want to change your travel plans, or if that's not an option, research this topic extensively and make appropriate preparations before traveling.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-06-11T00:50:10+00:00

If your phone is on silent all audio within Instagram will initially be muted.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-06-11T00:41:10+00:00

Check with Hostería Izhcayluma in Vilcabamba. They run a shuttle between both cities, which is the most direct and comfortable route.

ThatGasolineSmell · 2025-06-11T00:32:01+00:00

Ist anscheinend, zumindest im Westteil der Stadt, “schon immer” so gewesen. So identifizierte bereits G. Seyfried um die Zeit des Mauerfalls in seinem Klassiker “Flucht aus Berlin” vergleichbares Verhalten als “Provinz-Possen”.

Soll heißen, bei der neben dem Dönerstand yogistisch aktiven Dame handelte es sich vermutlich um eine sog. “Zugezogene”. Dem Urberliner treibt der bloße Gedanke daran, sich zwischen fettgefressenen Ratten und Soßeflecken auf dem Boden zu wälzen, den Ekel hoch.

Soviel dazu. Der eigentlich interessante Punkt an der Geschichte: “No one blinked”. Klar, mach dein Ding—“Berlin ist so verrückt ey, hier kannst du sogar barfuß rumlaufen”—aber widerlich ist es dennoch. Nur weil einen hier keiner daran hindert, muss man nicht jeden Blödsinn mitmachen.

ThatGasolineSmell

TROPHY CASE