Random Thoughts Part 4 - Split Thread

[Astronuc]

Washington farmers are dumping unprofitable apples
Record crop and ports dispute prompt Washington farmers to dump $100 million worth of apples
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/washington-farmers-dumping-unprofitable-apples-061144538.html

Why can't they just donate the food to food banks? Whatever happened to apple pies?

 

[Ibix]

Whatever happened to apple pies?

Not American enough to trump the profit motive, presumably. :-/

 

[OmCheeto]

Washington farmers are dumping unprofitable apples
Record crop and ports dispute prompt Washington farmers to dump $100 million worth of apples
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/washington-farmers-dumping-unprofitable-apples-061144538.html

Why can't they just donate the food to food banks? Whatever happened to apple pies?

Sad situation.

Not American enough to trump the profit motive, presumably. :-/

hmmm...
$100,000,000 / ($20/ton) = 5 million tons of rotting apples.

Does anyone know the market value of fruit flies?

 

[Astronuc]

I should have mentioned apple cider.

 

[phion]

I just knowingly wrote a check that I know will bounce just so I could get rid of this caffeine headache.

 

[OmCheeto]

I just knowingly wrote a check that I know will bounce just so I could get rid of this caffeine headache.

Sounds like the recent history of the United States.

 

[phion]

Sounds like the recent history of the United States.

In what way?

 

[WWGD]

I just knowingly wrote a check that I know will bounce just so I could get rid of this caffeine headache.

Sounds like me, I am two shots short of a solo. Try a nice large Coke bottle for around $2.99, it will give you much more caffeine bang for your buck.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Posts on PF sometimes are soo thrilling.

 

[OmCheeto]

In what way?

Ummmm... I'd rather not start a discussion on it, as this is "Random Thoughts", and I'm sure there are scores of threads here at PF, discussing my analogy.

New Random Thought:

Yesterday, I was invited to go fishing, to catch local garbage fish, to use as bait, in an upcoming crab tournament, next weekend.
Knowing that it was Friday, and the tags on my truck expired on Sunday, I went to my "to do" pile of paperwork on my auxiliary coffee table full of piles of paper of things to do and think about, to find the paperwork, and discovered that I'd forgotten to switch the title for my truck for nearly a year, and that my drivers license had expired 3 weeks ago. After a whirlwind scouring of the house to find my passport, (required for a new drivers license here), I got to the DMV 2 hours late, got out 1.5 hours earlier than expected, drove to the DEQ station, got tested, got my new tags, made my way to the river, and 4 hours later, had caught no fish.

But, all in all, it was a good day.

ps. Today is the one year anniversary of my retirement. I suppose I should post an update on my (hic!) progress, towards becoming a (hic!), trillionaire.

 

[WWGD]

You should unwrap the sandwich first.

I tried, and the sandwiches actually taste better with the wrapper on, and way better if you put the wrapper in a plastic bag.

 

[Evo]

Sometimes I am just too cool for words. I buy tea in those gallon jugs, and there was just a bit left, not really enough to bother getting a glass dirty. So I just placed the jug to my lips, tipped it up and the cold tea ran past my mouth down my neck and into my brassiere. I am wide awake now.

 

[Borg]

I tried, and the sandwiches actually taste better with the wrapper on, and way better if you put the wrapper in a plastic bag.

Next you'll be saying how much better they are after freshening up in a 90 degree dumpster for a few days.

 

[Borg]

Sometimes I am just too cool for words. I buy tea in those gallon jugs, and there was just a bit left, not really enough to bother getting a glass dirty. So I just placed the jug to my lips, tipped it up and the cold tea ran past my mouth down my neck and into my brassiere. I am wide awake now.

Let the PF Wet T-Shirt contest begin!

 

[WWGD]

Next you'll be saying how much better they are after freshening up in a 90 degree dumpster for a few days.

This one is actually a close call.

 

[phion]

Ummmm... I'd rather not start a discussion on it, as this is "Random Thoughts", and I'm sure there are scores of threads here at PF, discussing my analogy.

This is totally understandable.

 

[zoobyshoe]

The cat is back.

 

[WWGD]

The cat is back.

Sorry, I am not hip to your San Diego slang. Are you the cat? I knew of someone who pronounced
Descartes , as "the cat" (more like "day caaht") .

There is a Clint Eastwood marathon "Clint's Birthday" is the them, on TV here, apparently his birthday is coming soon.

 

[phion]

 

[zoobyshoe]

Sorry, I am not hip to your San Diego slang. Are you the cat? I knew of someone who pronounced
Descartes , as "the cat" (more like "day caaht") .

There is a Clint Eastwood marathon "Clint's Birthday" is the them, on TV here, apparently his birthday is coming soon.

The "chat" is back.

 

[WannabeNewton]

Sometimes I am just too cool for words. I buy tea in those gallon jugs, and there was just a bit left, not really enough to bother getting a glass dirty. So I just placed the jug to my lips, tipped it up and the cold tea ran past my mouth down my neck and into my brassiere. I am wide awake now.

This sounds like an excerpt from "Fifty Shades of Gray"...not that I've read the book.

 

[collinsmark]

This sounds like an excerpt from "Fifty Shades of Gray"...not that I've read the book.

Yeah, Evo is awesome.

 

[zoobyshoe]

There's this 24 hour donut shop I go to. It's at the edge of a mall. On the other side of the donut parking area is the dumpster, sequestered in a chain link enclosure. So, I was there about midnight, standing outside drinking coffee, and I perceived a great deal of movement in the dumpster enclosure. Turns out there was a colony of rats cavorting in it, climbing up and down the chain link, jumping, playing tag, and wrestling. A couple had ventured out and were climbing up and down a tree. I didn't know rats climbed trees. The odd thing is that, when they climb down, they climb down head first. They have amazing grip. It was all pretty entertaining, like watching a colony of meercats.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Neurobic activities in rats ?
All four legged animals seem just able to run or walk forward.

 

[WWGD]

My opinion of Rick Springfield, who sang "Jessie's Girl" changed when I realized the lyrics read " I wish I was _with_ Jessie's

There's this 24 hour donut shop I go to. It's at the edge of a mall. On the other side of the donut parking area is the dumpster, sequestered in a chain link enclosure. So, I was there about midnight, standing outside drinking coffee, and I perceived a great deal of movement in the dumpster enclosure. Turns out there was a colony of rats cavorting in it, climbing up and down the chain link, jumping, playing tag, and wrestling. A couple had ventured out and were climbing up and down a tree. I didn't know rats climbed trees. The odd thing is that, when they climb down, they climb down head first. They have amazing grip. It was all pretty entertaining, like watching a colony of meercats.

According to some research, a good way of cutting down on rats' (animals in general) lifespan is by giving them plenty of food, much more than enough to get by.Though it is tricky, since you may just get more rats eating small amounts.

 

[WWGD]

One of the reasons I play Sudoku , the "Evil" level, is because , to solve it, requires that I apply all my attention to it, and I am trying to train myself to keep my focus for longer, maybe indefinite long periods of time. I hear Newton used to immerse himself in his research for more than a day at a time ( though he did have a nervous breakdown late in his life). Imagine if you could keep an intense focus for , say, 2-3 days at a time; you could then fully absorb some concepts in those 2-3 days, instead of having to spend months dealing with fragmented bits of material before (possibly, possibly not) "getting it".

 

[zoobyshoe]

One of the reasons I play Sudoku , the "Evil" level, is because , to solve it, requires that I apply all my attention to it, and I am trying to train myself to keep my focus for longer, maybe indefinite long periods of time.

The problem with this is that it will increase your ability to solve sudoku, but nothing else. You really have to concentrate on the actual thing you want to be good at.

I hear Newton used to immerse himself in his research for more than a day at a time ( though he did have a nervous breakdown late in his life). Imagine if you could keep an intense focus for , say, 2-3 days at a time; you could then fully absorb some concepts in those 2-3 days, instead of having to spend months dealing with fragmented bits of material before (possibly, possibly not) "getting it".

Newton's "breakdown" was almost certainly the result of mercury poisoning. His madness cleared up over a few years time after he stopped experimenting with that dangerous element. There was a point when he used to sleep in a room with mercury bubbling away over a flame, and he used to joke the premature gray of his hair was the result of working so much with mercury.

Regardless, he did get absorbed in math and physics problems to the exclusion of all else, apparently for days at a time, losing interest even in eating. I don't think he trained himself to do this, though. He was naturally obsessive.

 

[WWGD]

The problem with this is that it will increase your ability to solve sudoku, but nothing else. You really have to concentrate on the actual thing you want to be good at. <Snip>

.

EDIT I am not so much interested in getting better at Sudoku, I am more interested in training myself to
remained focused over longer periods of time, and to do so at will.
But how else do you improve your ability to concentrate/focus over long periods of time? Especially since modern life seems to push you in the opposite direction, shifting back-and-forth between phone and computer, different webpages, generally massive inflow of noise ( not information, unfortunately) , all of which, together, almost require you to shift your attention constantly.

EDIT : Something else that may have helped Newton focus for such long periods of time was his isolation, living many miles away from the main population centers, and without most of the distractions/interruptions we have today. I think at worse, he may have received mail by horse messenger monthly or so, no TV, internet, etc. to speak of.

 

[phion]

One of the reasons I play Sudoku , the "Evil" level, is because , to solve it, requires that I apply all my attention to it, and I am trying to train myself to keep my focus for longer, maybe indefinite long periods of time. I hear Newton used to immerse himself in his research for more than a day at a time ( though he did have a nervous breakdown late in his life). Imagine if you could keep an intense focus for , say, 2-3 days at a time; you could then fully absorb some concepts in those 2-3 days, instead of having to spend months dealing with fragmented bits of material before (possibly, possibly not) "getting it".

You should try the ancient Asian board game Go. I fell in love with it years ago.

 

[WWGD]

You should try the ancient Asian board game Go. I fell in love with it years ago.

Thanks, does it require a lot of "machinery" to play? Websudoku gives me billions of puzzles, available by just going to the site, and playing only requires a mouse.

 

[phion]

Do you have an android smart phone? I recommend the Go game created by AI Factory.

 

[WWGD]

Do you have an android smart phone? I recommend the Go game created by AI Factory.

Unfortunately not, I will have to wait until I get a regular job until I can plop around $70 or so for a good phone; at this point, I only have a barebones phone that cost me $10.50.

 

[phion]

Unfortunately not, I will have to wait until I get a regular job until I can plop around $70 or so for a good phone; at this point, I only have a barebones phone that cost me $10.50.

No problem. Try this website and see how it goes. You might want to read up a little bit on the rules first since it can become somewhat complicated.

 

[WWGD]

No problem. Try this website and see how it goes. You might want to read up a little bit on the rules first since it can become somewhat complicated.

Thanks Phion, I will check it out right now.

 

[Evo]

There is a really great show on the weather channel called "Three scientists walk into a bar", they do all kinds of science demonstrations and dispel myths. You should watch it.