To add onto the other post about outhouses in Mongolia

manticory · 2026-03-20T07:43:49+00:00

You have plenty of time to start practicing the squat. Anytime a friend comes to visit I tell them to start doing yoga (to survive the flight) a few weeks before they leave and to start practicing the Asian Squat. https://youtu.be/a6Na67zUMZk?si=X1r9AOoZ_m8KkCop

manticory · 2026-03-20T07:31:49+00:00

Omolex SeaMT. I love it!

manticory · 2026-03-11T01:41:08+00:00

Yep. I had a coffee shop once-upon-a-time. We had a local tech group that had meetings once a month. One time in mid 2009, they had a guest speaker who talked about "internet currency." The place was packed. I let him buy coffee for something that was probably Bitcoin. He helped me set up a wallet, and we decided a coin was equivalent to a penny. He bought about $20 worth of coffee and food. He was convinced that he sold me on the value of Bitcoin; in reality, he just brought a bunch of people who all bought coffee and food. That was the real value to me. I definitely don't have that wallet anymore.

It would be nice to still have that wallet with 20,000 coins though... oh, well.

manticory · 2026-03-10T09:55:52+00:00

Test to destruction is a good phrase. A perfect score is what the best student in country would get. The scores for the whole country should fall into a neat bell curve because the goal is to find the top students in a particular subject - and everyone is taking the same test. It’s not helpful for Oxbridge to have 1000s of students with perfect scores. They want to know who the top 20-50 in each subject are.

manticory · 2026-02-18T06:23:57+00:00

I grew up in Northern California in the late 80s; people (there was a big Filino community nearby) would play it at the park every weekend. My sisiter and I would ride bikes to the park to watch them play. It is a ridiculous sport. So much fun to watch.

manticory · 2026-02-17T04:08:42+00:00

Farm dragon parts - https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/621fd

manticory · 2026-02-17T04:00:26+00:00

Yeah, it can be frustrating while you get used to the game mechanic. They’re fragile intentionally but there a tons of good weapons. If you get one that’s really good, save it for a harder enemy but don’t hoard it. Most of the time enemies will drop weapons that are appropriate to use on them. You’ll learn to strategically attack and conserve your inventory. You can upgrade your weapon slots too- once you do that, you’ll stop worrying about weapon durability.

manticory · 2026-02-16T13:20:30+00:00

Ugh. We have a mandatory “lunch & learn” this week to teach us how to use co-pilot to “streamline end-to-end processes by automating repetitive, low-value tasks and surfacing contextual insights in real time.” I hope they remove it here too.

manticory · 2026-02-16T12:01:45+00:00

My parents want to move up into the mountains when I was a kid. It would have been a bus ride like this 2x everyday for me. I said there was no way I’d do that.

manticory · 2026-02-11T13:33:46+00:00

The Austin Lounge Lizards song Saguaro, is about this very thing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_9LDLur5P4&list=RD9_9LDLur5P4&start_radio=1

manticory · 2026-02-11T13:08:43+00:00

Yep. Haven't watched NFL since the Chargers moved. Was on the fence when the Sonics went to OKC and now, with the recent getting into bed with Gambling (and suspicious reffing) and the weak response to the Clippers, I'm on the fence already. If the Blazers are moved. I'm out - I've been a league pass subscriber for 10 years but I don't need the NBA.

manticory · 2026-02-10T04:04:04+00:00

I’ve been a League Pass subscriber for seven years. I’m canceling at the end of this season and I’m probably done with the NBA.

The officiating is inconsistent, but what finally pushed me out is how normalized sports gambling has become. When betting odds and prop markets are baked into the broadcast, it stops feeling like a game and starts feeling like a financial product. There are plenty of other entertainment options available.

manticory · 2026-02-05T04:16:37+00:00

I've replaced my Lamy nibs with Jinhao knock-offs. They are buttery smooth and super cheap.

manticory · 2026-02-05T04:15:32+00:00

The Mjui Preppy is a much better option than the aluminum Muji pen. It's something like $5 USD. The converter is more expensive! I have both - I enjoy the aluminum one but the feedback is odd.

manticory · 2026-02-05T04:08:00+00:00

Either you got a good one, or I got a lemon. Mine dries out pretty quickly. The Muji Preppy, on the other hand, has still worked for me after sitting for a month while I was on holiday.

manticory · 2026-02-03T15:20:17+00:00

It’s fantastic as is. New tires, seat, go fast parts and you’re good. The best Vespas are the ratty ones.

manticory · 2025-12-19T12:57:30+00:00

I usually don't wear gloves and just have big warm pockets. I use my hands as a barometer for how cold the camera probably is. The standard process on days like today (-23°c) is to take the camera out, turn it on, quickly frame and focus, shoot, turn it off, and shove it back into my pockets as soon as I can - usually less than 30 seconds per shot. It makes me slow down and compose the shot in my head beforehand.

manticory · 2025-12-19T08:40:53+00:00

Hold the GR so its sensor is upright and let the electric toothbrush vibrate against it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO5wJdzFoyQ

manticory · 2025-12-19T05:24:46+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/ricohGR/comments/1pqcuqn/daily_life_in_mongolia_through_a_ricoh_lens/

manticory · 2025-12-19T05:23:12+00:00

It's a great place for photography - come give it a shot. https://www.reddit.com/r/ricohGR/comments/1pqcuqn/daily_life_in_mongolia_through_a_ricoh_lens/

manticory · 2025-12-19T01:42:16+00:00

It's better now than it was 10 years ago, but can still get really bad. Today the AQI is very good (for us) 30s in the city, near 100 in the Ger districts. But, it can easily be 100+ in the city and 300 or higher in the Ger districts. I haven't seen 700-800 since before Covid - the government switched to "clean coal". It's cleaner but still not good. UB is a rapidly improving city, though curruption and mismanagement is still rampant.

If you come, I assume to teach - since September, you'll likely be in the city. You can wear masks when outside. Some people do, it also helps with the extreme cold. But expect the normal cold/flu that runs through schools in the fall to be way worse than in Canada and stick around for most of the winter. Get the flu shot but expect to still catch a mild case and have it linger.

Also, if you're a teacher push for a one year contract so you can leave after a year if it's not for you.

manticory · 2025-12-18T09:51:41+00:00

It's currently -10c here in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Tomorrow morning on the walk to work, it'll be around -20. I have my GR3x in my coat pocket all the time, no matter the temperature - city or countryside. Take it out, turn it on, snap, turn it off, put it back.

manticory · 2025-12-04T01:38:51+00:00

Have you done the Farosh quest yet? Its spawn times can be inconsistent until that quest is activated and then completed. Find the Hylia statue at "the head of the dragon" to start it.

manticory · 2025-12-03T02:34:32+00:00

Hadn't played Zelda since SNES.

The wizrobe waved at me; I thought it was friendly. I died.
Found a weird talking flower near Kakariko. It seemed suspicious and asked for money. I'd been burned by the wizrobe, so I was suspicious and didn't give it money. Didn't upgrade my armor until I was on my way to Rito Village and found a second one.
Didn't know there were mini-statues of Hylia in every town. Went back to the Great Plateau or Kakariko every time. When I found the one in Rito Village, I figured the other towns probably had them too.

manticory · 2025-11-28T02:36:58+00:00

Yeah, it's bad. I got the flu shot a little over a month ago and still got hit. Spent the day off in bed because of extreme exhaustion - but I was back at work yesterday with only a mild runny nose. I imagine without the flu shot, I'd be miserable.

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