What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[jedishrfu]

Do random thoughts exhibit Brownian motion or are they simply chaotic in a gedanken sort of way? :-)

 

[strangerep]

I don't understand how it works, but you do fall asleep without noticing.

Think about it... when you fall asleep normally, you're not aware of the moment you fall asleep. You can't be "aware" or "loss of awareness".

For my last 3 procedues, I noticed that the anaesthetist used a modified technique. Instead of asking me to count backwards from 10, she just said "this is just a calming agent, the real anaesthetic comes later". But of course, it was the real anaesthetic and she was just trying to stop me from freaking out at the last moment (which some people do, apparently).

Several times, I've tried to count backwards anyway, but I can never remember afterwards which number I reached.

 

[strangerep]

It is really amazing that they can get us so far down and bring us back.

... and a bit scary that it doesn't always work properly...

My uncle had open-heart surgey that lasted for many hours. When he awoke, he could not comprehend where he was (even when told by a nurse), and could not even recognize the faces of the specialist doctor and nurse who had been treating him for many years previously. His personality was also horribly changed: normally a jovial easy-going easy-to-like person, he became dreadfully irritable and uncooperative. This lasted 2 weeks(!) after the procedure, until thankfully he eventually regained his old personality.

Fortunately, the hospital staff all had previous knowledge and experience of this sort of thing and gently nursed him through it, in spite of his attitude.

 

[skyshrimp]

I like bidding on eBay. I just won an auction for a 40" 4K UHD Panasonic display for £185 in mint condition. I want a 70" but 40" will suffice for now. My bedroom 27" 1080p monitor was just fine for my needs tbh.

I'll auction the 27" starting at £185.

 

[WWGD]

Drugs and chemicals are one hell of a thing. It is scary . To think that the doctor put me to sleep in like 5 or 10 minutes, performed the procedure, and when I woke up I remembered nothing. Literally nothing.

I always thought that it was stupid that people supposedly got drugged at parties and then got kidnapped, etc. I always thought it was ridiculous. Not possible. But seeing how I didn't even notice when I fell asleep, now I believe it is possible.

I don't understand how it works, but you do fall asleep without noticing. The next thing you know, you are awake and the doctor is telling you the procedure was a success.

Think about it. Someone could put you to sleep in minutes. Now that... is scary... At least for me. I mean, everyone has their own way of thinking.

Yes. Listen to a podiatrist, or most economists at a party. zzzz... A rule of thumb I heard is, for parties, never have Economists be more than 25% of all guests if you want to avoid a snooze fest. Sorry to all Economists here in the Forum.

 

[WWGD]

It seems like many of my recent exchanges/communications have been Seinfeld-like going nowhere. Misunderstandings that are not cleared and/or questions that are not addressed. It felt really good to have a conversation recently where both I and the other party had our doubts addressed satisfactorily.

 

[Posty McPostface]

Random thought, does owning gold mean in some sense that one is irrational? Gold seems to only have psychological value.

 

[fresh_42]

Random thought, does owning gold mean in some sense that one is irrational? Gold seems to only have psychological value.

Firstly, this is not true, because it is actually used, even outside the jewelry industry. Secondly, as long as all participants of the global market agree on to view gold as a global currency, there is and will be a real price for gold. Thirdly, in this regard, all existing currencies are far more an illusion, as they merely represent a promise printed on a piece of paper, which is probably the reason for #2. And last but not least, the fact that it is a rare good, makes it valuable because of #1.

 

[jim hardy]

An ounce of gold has always had roughly the same value as a fine men's suit. Not so for a twenty dollar bill.

 

[jim hardy]

Woke up this morning thinking about prairie grass, Big Bluestem .
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ange

 

[dlgoff]

Diffusion pumps are freakin' amazing.

 

[Psinter]

she just said "this is just a calming agent, the real anaesthetic comes later". But of course, it was the real anaesthetic and she was just trying to stop me from freaking out at the last moment (which some people do, apparently).

She lied! Just kidding.

I remember well getting put out for my first open heart. It was much faster than you describe.
A pretty nurse had in her hand a small valve connecting a vial to my IV port. She said "Good Night" and gave it a quarter turn. Almost immediately my vision darkened and i went out before i could give a comeback. I still marvel at how fast it was.

Next thing i remember is gradually coming back toward consciousness aware only of searing pain and darkness. My only thought was "When i open my eyes i know there'll be nothing left below my ribcage - I've been bit in two by a shark nothing less could hurt like this .. "
Then i became aware that a machine was doing my breathing for me.
Then i opened my eyes and could see only a jumble of tubes , vision pretty well blocked by a really big one coming out of my mouth.
So i tried wiggling my toes, it felt as if they were still there . Then i remembered where i was .

It is really amazing that they can get us so far down and bring us back.

But google "Bypass Brain" . It's a real phenomenon.

old jim

Open heart? I'd be too scared to have something like that. But why did it hurt later? Isn't there a chemical to block pain? If there are chemicals to put us to sleep so fast, why not chemicals to block pain?

I say mine took 5 or 10 minutes, but maybe I was not aware of time and it happened faster. I remember the walls started wobbling, I saw rainbows, confetti, and cute colored cats... then all of a sudden... poof... I can't remember anything else. So I say 5 or 10 minutes, but I'm not so sure anymore. The person that was with me said my eyes were wide open like and the doctor told her it was taking effect while nodding and smiling.

 

[jim hardy]

Diffusion pumps are freakin' amazing

I learn something every day from @dlgoff

I didn't know that steam jet ejectors were a variant. We used them around our condenser. . No moving parts and silent. Wonderful machines.

 

[jim hardy]

But why did it hurt later? Isn't there a chemical to block pain?

Probably . Morphine knocks it down from excruciating to bearable.
I'd rather have bearable pain than none so as to be aware when i do something too strenuous. I saved up my codeine pills for nighttime so i could sleep.

Don't fear a heart bypass if you need one. Quality of life afterward is way better.

old jim

 

[WWGD]

Curtis is Istanbul's mayor in the " Banana Narratives", co-starring Mobutu Sese Seko. India's Tata Tax consultants will finance the play. Say it fast three times. Mama Maria consulted for the two main roles.

 

[WWGD]

Don't fear a heart bypass if you need one. Quality of life afterward is way better.

old jim

And don't bypass a fear. Face it and quality of life will be better too ;).

 

[OCR]

Woke up this morning thinking about prairie grass, Big Bluestem .

Lol, I thought it might have been... "Woke up this morning..."

 

[dlgoff]

... and a bit scary that it doesn't always work properly...

Indeed. I've worked in a couple hospitals as a biomedical engineer; being present in surgical suites. I'll never forget the little 8 year old boy getting his tonsils removed that never recovered.

 

[Psinter]

I feel like names at my place have weird names. That goes from streets to towns. They take names from fruits, birds, animals, and common words. For example, there is Lemon Street, Sweet Town, Hummingbird Street, Blueish Town (I think it takes the name from a rare bird with blue tail that flies through the area and probably no one knows the name from so they went with "Bluish"), Mountain Town (guess what... it's a town in a mountain ), Shore Town... and so on.

Rarely you find streets with the name of people. Streets with the names of people happen only at the cities or at the metropolis. I'd like to live in a Metropolis. I think it would be cool.

 

[Borg]

I was driving to the gym this morning at my usual time of 3:30 am and I noticed that there were far more cars on the road than I normally see. I never see more than 3 or 4 cars in one 5 mile stretch but today I saw close to 20 with lots of them coming out of subdivisions. What could it be? Why were so many people getting up so early in the morning? And then I realized that yesterday was Valentine's Day. Hmmm, I wonder what they were doing until 3 in the morning?

 

[Psinter]

You know those theme parks or whatever they are called? Well, got free tickets for one and in one of these machines that was going really fast and high an unknown girl behind me yelled: "I'm scared!" to which I yelled back: "Don't worry! I'm scared tooo-aaaaaaaah!"

Never again. Those machines give the feel that you are going to be bulleted and slammed against the ground. They accelerate really fast and suddenly change directions for which the momentum gives you the chills and the feeling that you are going to be thrown away like a missile.

Would you not be scared if you got into something similar to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oktoberfest_Schaugeschaeft_2007_Richard_Bartz.jpg

I can't increase my mass, but increase my velocity and see how I go like . Sort of made me wonder... what if Earth suddenly stopped rotating? Would we be bulleted away? Just thinking.

 

[fresh_42]

Earth suddenly stopped rotating? Would we be bulleted away? Just thinking.

With known diameter and rotation period, should be easy to calculate.

 

[BillTre]

Those machines give the feel that you are going to be bulleted and slammed against the ground. They accelerate really fast and suddenly change directions for which the momentum gives you the chills and the feeling that you are going to be thrown away like a missile.

Never been on one of those machines you linked to, but I've been on quite a variety of others. Yes, sudden changes can be scary.
However, I have developed quite an appreciation for a different kind of ride.
Our family got on a Mummy (1999) themed ride. I liked it because it controlled your sensory inputs in a wide variety of sensory modalities. It had a little open top trolley on rails moving along through a series of encounters (reminiscent of the movie) in an indoor controller environment.
It involved vision (there were scenery props along the side as well as movies projected at certain places along the ride), audio (sounds with and without the videos), inertial changes like you describe due to roller-coaster like movements of the trolley (side to side and sudden drop accelerations). The thing I was most impressed with was when they were showing a scene of the scarab beetles going under the guy's skin, little squirters mounted under the seats sprays some water on the back of your legs (touch sensation), really creepy. I don't remember any bad smells, but that would not have been difficult.

 

[WWGD]

They have the signs " Wet Paint!" . Still, no matter how hard I try, I have no idea how to make paint any wetter.

 

[Grands]

This is independent of the Brexit. I like the Brexit, because UK had always been merely more than an obstacle. They had special payment conditions, didn't participate in the Schengen agreement and favor an Adam Smith capitalism I don't appreciate. To say it with Monty Python: "What have you lost?"

I have no idea. It's one of these things you pick up during a lifetime and which you don't have any idea about where, when and why. Yet, my list of unintended losses is longer ... You don't need a formal divorce to get ripped

Can I ask you what part of Adam Smith you don't like?

I mean, you don't accept the fact that there are still people that think that Adam Smith theory should still run the world today, or you never appreciated his theory considering that he published it at his time?

 

[StoneTemplePython]

An ounce of gold has always had roughly the same value as a fine men's suit. Not so for a twenty dollar bill.

speaking of random thoughts, when I first saw this yesterday, I thought it was going to say:

"An ounce of gold is worth a pound of cure."
- Ben Franklin

 

[strangerep]

You know those theme parks or whatever they are called? [...]
Never again. [...]

These 2 items might also be worth checking out:

Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids Ride disaster.

1979 Sydney Luna Park Ghost Train Fire

I loved Luna Park as a child. It was THE BEST outing one could possibly imagine. (Sigh)

 

[Psinter]

Didn't know smoking cigars was still a thing. It is incredibly rare to see someone where I am from smoke. I thought smoking was a relic of the past. So much that places rarely put signs of No Smoke anymore. It is unnecessary when barely anyone does it. And you know how corporations are. They want to profit, not spend $1 on a plastic sign of "No Smoke" since it will be considered loses for them . I joke, I joke.

If the 3 people that do smoke light one up, people get away from them quickly. When a person told me that where he comes from a lot of people smoke, I was amazed. Because for me that is just so rare. In the last 8 years I have met only 3 people that smoked. I tell you, it is super rare.

Or maybe I'm the rare one and I don't frequent places with people who smoke? Hmmmmmm... *squints eyes*

 

[WWGD]

I just sat across from a dead ringer for the world's most interesting man. I wonder if that moves me up in the "Interestingness" ranking?

 

[WWGD]

Finally downloaded (relatively) large database Adventure Works...without any data in it. Back to drawing board.

 

[fresh_42]

I really loved to watch documentations of all kind on tv. I found them entertaining. Nice graphics, short comments and outlooks. Usually pleasant voices. And now? What happened to me? All the time I really listen to what the moderator says, one silent bs comment chases the next in my brain. Thanks PF. They are not fun anymore.

 

[Posty McPostface]

I really loved to watch documentations of all kind on tv. I found them entertaining. Nice graphics, short comments and outlooks. Usually pleasant voices. And now? What happened to me? All the time I really listen to what the moderator says, one silent bs comment chases the next in my brain. Thanks PF. They are not fun anymore.

You'd think everyone here is depressed or dreadfully anxious over the incessant inner critic, which you enforce and I/we abide by.

 

[WWGD]

Just saw an image of a highway overpass with graffiti on it, some 100+ feet above ground. There was also, at the street level, an empty liquor bottle, a ragged shirt and some underwear. I can't imagine any outing of mine ever ending up in anything like that. I feel like my life is incredibly boring and predictable. Interesting I heard of someone from India in here that chose to return there, because he believes life here is" too un-random".

 

[WWGD]

I guess saying ¨morituris te Salutamus -Salutant before an exam may be too dramatic.

 

[Ibix]

I guess saying ¨morituris te Salutamus -Salutant before an exam may be too dramatic.

Mate of mine and I always said it to each other before our exams. Usually in English, though. The sailor's blasphemy ("For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful") was another favourite.