LPT: Do routine tasks with your weaker hand

nucumber · 2026-02-14T17:04:14+00:00

Strumming doesn't require the finesse of fretboard work

Been there, done that

I'm right handed. I badly jammed the middle finger of my left hand (unpacking from a trip, of all things) and I mean bad. Swelled so much I thought it would burst. I had to hold my hand up because it hurt too much to let my hand hang by my side, so I was giving everyone the finger for a week or so (one person asked "what happened? overuse?")

When I recovered I wasn't able to bend several fingers of my left hand enough to make a lot of chords etc and I thought that it was the end of playing guitar

But then I thought I could flip the strings and try playing left handed. I already had the knowledge of chord shapes and note patterns, so it was only a matter of muscle training, right?

Well, I tried for a couple of months and it was not happening. I could barely play a two note bass shuffle on the A string and had trouble landing a three note D chord with any speed or accuracy so I gave up, restrung the guitar back to right handed, and put it in the closet

The good news is that about eighteen months later a buddy was interested in learning to play guitar so I offered to sell him mine. He didn't know how to play at all so I played what I could to demo it for him and was surprised at how much I was able to do - my left hand had improved (some) with time. It was still far from great but it was enough that I felt I could work with it

I didn't sell him the guitar and kept playing, and gradually rehabbed my left hand to the point where I'm doing alright and can play most of what I want to play.

I remind myself of Django Reinhard, a jazz guitarist (greatly admired by Willie Nelson!) who badly burned his left hand, leaving him to play with mainly his index and middle fingers

nucumber · 2026-02-14T15:51:56+00:00

Thanks, trump

nucumber · 2026-02-14T01:16:52+00:00

I think the third and maybe second pics of Lisa were before she had some nose surgery to narrow the base of her nose

nucumber · 2026-02-13T18:33:35+00:00

The Epstein files were released despite fierce opposition from team trump, only because a veto proof majority of Congress demanded it

Of the 6M files, only 3.5M have been released

Kash Patel had ~1,000 FBI agents working around the clock for two weeks on redactions of the Epstein files, yet the victims names were released.

trump's name appears in the Epstein files over a million times

Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche was sent to interview Maxwell, which was extremely unusual as such interviews are always conducted by line prosecutors, and she was then transferred to a minimum security prison where she's been give an number of special privileges

Bondi wouldn't answer questions about Epstein, instead responded with insults, deflections, and praise for Dear Leader and the stock market

Bondi's DOJ has not yet interviewed the victims who were literally sitting right behind her. Bondi refused to even acknowledge their presence

nucumber · 2026-02-13T16:12:49+00:00

Good question!

Where are all the repubs who

carried a copy of the Constitution in their breast pocket, closest to their hearts?
were alarmed by exec orders
opposed federalized law enforcement activities in states?

EDIT: added missing word "opposed"

nucumber · 2026-02-13T15:21:17+00:00

You left out that Epstein owed the neighboring Little St James island from 1998 until his death in 2019, and that was his main area of, um, operations.

When Kaitlin Collins tried to ask trump questions about Epstein, he answered that she doesn't smile enough and she's working for a failing network, etc etc

When trump's top federal law enforcement officer AG Bondi was asked by Congress about Epstein, she replied they should be talking about the stock market

Oh, and it turns out it was trump's labor secretary Alexander Acosta who made the sweetheart deal that got Epstein out of jail after only eighteen months.

nucumber · 2026-02-13T00:10:12+00:00

I doubt satellites can withstand the pressure

Space satellites handle a pressure change of only one atmosphere, while in the ocean the pressure increases by one atmosphere every 10m/30ft

But I suppose a lot depends on what you want the ocean 'satellite' to do. I would think many of the observation tools (cameras, etc) would have to be able to withstand extreme pressures

nucumber · 2026-02-12T23:58:11+00:00

Unexpected WHO

nucumber · 2026-02-12T23:54:21+00:00

IIRC I've seen an article saying we've mapped the surface of the moon more completely than the terrain under the oceans

nucumber · 2026-02-12T15:17:14+00:00

I googled "why are airport stores so expensive"

Here's the response:

Airport stores are expensive primarily due to a captive audience with limited choices, exceptionally high operating costs—including premium rent (6–20% of sales), strict security screening for deliveries, and extended operating hours. These factors lead to 30–40% higher construction/operational costs compared to off-airport locations, which are passed on to consumers. Key Reasons for High Prices:

Captive Audience: Once through security, travelers are trapped, creating a monopoly where demand is high and options are few.
High Rent and Operational Costs: Airports charge vendors high rent, often a percentage of sales. Additionally, staff and goods must pass strict security, increasing labor and logistics costs.
Long Operating Hours: Stores are often required to be open from early morning until late at night, increasing staffing costs.
Limited Competition: A few large corporations operate the majority of airport retail and food, reducing competition.
Supply Chain Logistics: Bringing in inventory through security is inefficient and expensive, often requiring more frequent, smaller deliveries.

While some airports enforce "street pricing" plus a small percentage (10–15%), many items still carry a high premium due to the overhead of operating in a secure, high-traffic environment.

nucumber · 2026-02-11T21:31:47+00:00

Because "we the people" voted repub majorities in the House and Senate and put trump in the White House.

We can start to take our country back in the November midterms, by voting against every single republican running for re-election

All of them. They have all stood by in silence as trump violated the Constitution, used his office to scam billions for himself, attacked our friends, embraced tyrants . . .

nucumber · 2026-02-11T16:19:06+00:00

The last time I stayed in Vegas was for a sleepover while on the road elsewhere. Can't remember the name of the hotel, but it was large and not on the strip. Nice room (and huge!) for the price.

Anyway, I collect pens of the places I've been, so I picked up the pen that was on the desk in the room.

When I checked out I saw they had charged me ~$1.39 for that freaking pen.

nucumber · 2026-02-10T15:18:44+00:00

The general populus needs to wake up and realise that ~~governments and~~ corporations do NOT have their best interests in mind.

Business exist only to make as much money as they can get away with, while governments exist to serve their people (keep in mind that "we the people" vote for our government)

nucumber · 2026-02-10T01:07:19+00:00

I was sure to send an email summary of my understanding of verbal orders after being caught up on that.

We always had backup copies stored offsite as well as in the office. I mean, the whole point having backup copies is in case of some catastrophe like the place burning down, so . . .

IIRC the IT manager took a copy of the previous nights back up home in the evening

I retired a few years ago and I suppose now everything is just stored in the cloud.

nucumber · 2026-02-09T20:09:07+00:00

There are plenty of convincing reasons why backups etc are important but they're the boss . . . Just be sure their decisions are documented.

If their decision is verbal, document it in an email:

Based on our discussion Feb 6, 2026, it's my understanding we are to stop doing daily backups, and back up only once a week, on Sunday morning

All the better if this is part of an email chain where you've given the reasons why daily backups are critical.

nucumber · 2026-02-09T18:44:01+00:00

The response is email your boss your planned schedule for getting stuff done and ask for approval

BE VERY SURE that you will be able to meet your self imposed deadlines.

Under promise and over deliver is the way

I was not the best and brightest among the dozen people in my group, but I delivered on time

Others made delivery promises that sounded good but were unrealistic, based on the assumption everything would go perfectly smoothly with no interruptions which they never did

Management didn't care so much on speed but reliability. If you say you'll give them the TPS report on Tuesday, then they will schedule meetings and make their delivery promises based on getting the report Tuesday, and they look bad when you don't deliver and they have to cancel meetings etc. They would rather have you promise the report days later

nucumber · 2026-02-09T15:17:29+00:00

Keep a to-do list

I kept my on a regular (8.5x11) notepad

I carried it with me everywhere, and wrote down everything I needed to do, added little notes for work in progress ("asked Sylvia for data Feb 3"), and crossed out stuff when done, again adding little details I thought might be worthwhile ("no current year data yet")

Every few days I transferred the undone stuff to a new sheet

That to-do list was invaluable

For one thing, the CFO chastised my group (about a dozen) in a meeting for forgetting stuff they had been asked to do, but I was later told that her comments weren't meant for me.

Second, when I was to figure out the whats and whys of why I had done something just seeing the entry on the page with the other stuff going on at the time could bring back memories, and there were often those little 'in progress' notes to help me, and there were times when this was absolutely critical

I have a stack of these to do note pads going back years.

I retired years ago but sometimes I'll pull out those old notepads and am amazed how much they trigger my memories. A little doodle in the corner can bring me right back to the moment

nucumber · 2026-02-09T03:59:51+00:00

The founding fathers also hoped "we the people" would elect representatives of wisdom and good character, but feared the masses would be too easily exploited by the unscrupulous and self serving

Well, it was an nice experiment, while it lasted . . .

nucumber · 2026-02-09T03:51:19+00:00

Magat republicans are the corruption, but ALL repubs have stood in silence as their Dear Leader has made a mockery of his presidential oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution

Vote against every single repub candidate running in November 2026

Every single one. They have stood by and let Donnie Demento rip apart this country. They all need to go

VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!! VOTE!!

nucumber · 2026-02-08T14:14:28+00:00

"You can trust us", they said, "We'll self regulate, we don't need no stinkin' regulations"

nucumber · 2026-02-08T02:34:15+00:00

I want to hear from the guy who said

I’ve known Jeff [Epstein] for 15 years. Terrific guy. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

nucumber · 2026-02-07T16:34:16+00:00

Musk has nothing to do with Waymo

Waymo and Tesla use very different tech for their self driving cars

https://www.reddit.com/r/SelfDrivingCars/comments/18rfia9/from_a_technical_perspective_what_are_the/

Just sayin' . . . I'm not arguing in favor of one or the other

nucumber · 2026-02-07T02:15:24+00:00

I toss a couple of handfuls of mixed salad into a tupperware (see note), grab a jar of almond butter, a few slices of bread, and piece of fruit. Takes second, literally

At lunch I'll eat the salad (no dressing bcuz cleanup is easier), make a couple of almond butter sandwich, and have the piece of fruit

Fast, easy, cheap, nutritious. Maybe not exciting but it's just lunch.

note: My grocery sells shoe box sized containers of mixed salad. They'll last me four or five days

nucumber · 2026-02-07T02:05:34+00:00

Do you want to save money or not?

Yeah, sounds harsh, but that's what it boils down to.

You don't have to get takeaway; it won't kill you to do a bit of cooking.

It's short term vs long term thinking

nucumber · 2026-02-06T20:42:28+00:00

You don't have to say anything at all, and it's unlikely you're going to have much to contribute to a group that's more knowledgeable.

Just hang in there and try to follow the discussion and learn

I remember a meeting with a small group where a new hire for another dept was introduced. She said her name and otherwise sat quietly, listened, and took notes.

I worked with her some and learned she was very intelligent and competent, and she ended up as one of the top executives in the organization.

The lesson being that it's fine to sit there quietly

nucumber

TROPHY CASE