There you go

I posted this below, but I used to be able to whistle in a way to make a modem or fax handshake and connect. Couldn’t do any data, but I could make it connect.

My parlor trick back in the day was that when a call came in from a modem or fax, I could whistle in a way that it would connect. Couldn’t do anything past that, but it was fun.

One interesting thing at my local one in southern California: several people were waving large state flags. Lots of American flags as well, but I thought the state flags were interesting.

Remember that you should be interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you. Ask questions, not due the sake of asking them, but to find out if they’re a good fit for you (so the questions depend on what you care about). You might ask things like how many hours of OT a typical employee does, or what percent of turnover the area you’re interviewing for has typically experienced.

Otherwise, be professional but try to have a relaxed conversation as much as possible.

I think in 1925 their ability to cushion big hunks of glass was lower, and they didn’t have safety glass. It was probably a good call, even though it was a cool idea.

I went downstairs and took one just for you:

His thing was that he didn’t want obvious electric lights in the lobby because Aztecs didn’t have electric lights. But it was decided that giant glass columns in earthquake country in the 20s was a bad idea, so they didn’t do it

My dad was friends with the guy who designed the Aztec Hotel. He didn’t want regular light fixtures originally, so he came up with an idea for lighted columns, and he made a prototype table-lamp sized. The was in 1925. The prototype is in my living room and I use it every day.

Apparently you’re a modern horror story.

Yeah, good point. I can’t think of anything I had as a kid that would be drastically improved with modern batteries, but for sure cordless power tools are a big change. I have a cordless electric chainsaw - that wouldn’t have been feasible in the 70s.

Are batteries that much different? I was born in the early 60s, and the batteries my toys used seemed like the same AAA, AA, C, and D batteries we use mostly today. I think the key difference is that a lot of things take a lot less energy than they used to.

But if you read the article, is not what we assumed. The boxes were being shipped from the German embassy in Japan to Argentina, and were marked as personal effects. The Argentinians did a spot check and found the propaganda, so they confiscated it because they were worried it could impact their neutrality. It went to the courts, up to their supreme court, though no one knows what action if any the court took. Obviously the Nazis didn’t get the material back.

Argentina being a safe haven for Nazis didn’t happen until after the war, if I understand things correctly.

That really sucks. I’m not sorry for Tesla, but I’m sorry for the workers caught up in the shit show.

I’ve discussed work/careers with a lot of people around your age over the years. Here’s what I end up saying - it’s broader than your specific situation, but includes it:

• If there’s something that you’re so passionate about that you’ll do it as an unpaid hobby, you might as well take a shot at making money from it. If it’s something like art or music, where there’s a huge amount of competition and only a tiny percentage are able to sustain themselves from it, you should have a Plan B, and set yourself some guidelines for long you’ll try it, but you might as well give your a go if it’s a passion.

• If there’s nothing you’re super passionate about, but a number of things you enjoy, you should take some time to look into what a career in each of those things is like. What are the hours, what is the typical pay, etc. Pick the one that fits with a lifestyle that clicks with you.

• If you don’t have anything from either of the two above, do you have any skills or aptitudes that are sellable? For instance, if you’re good at math, you might be a good fit for accounting. If you’re good with your hands, you might consider a trade skill like plumbing or mechanic. You funny have to be passionate about those things to have a good job doing them.

• If you have zero from any of the above, look for a job that wouldn’t suck after some years. A business that’s willing to take untrained people, doesn’t chew them up and spit them out, and that has room for advancement so that you have some possibility of increasing pay over your career.

There are lots of big chain retail stores that will take people right out of high school, but for many of them their model is to train you up quickly, load you up with responsibility, promote you if you work out well, and then within a couple years start cutting your hours to drive you away because they can get a new high school kid for cheaper.

There are lots and lots of jobs and businesses that just suck, and you want to position yourself to not be in them. Most people don’t have something they’ve always wanted to do and are super passionate about. It’s fine to have a job vs a career, but you don’t want to find yourself at 40 slaving away at a shitty job for little pay, wishing you’d gotten a degree in one thing or another so you could be working fewer hours for more pay. And I’m not saying it’s all about money, but lack of a living wage is a real problem for a lot of people.

That really does sound like a nightmare. I’m glad you’re in a better place now.

Is he still around doing his lying thing to other people m

Wow, that’s horrifying. He sounds psychotic and psychological. That must be hard to come back from without permanent trust issues. I hope you’re doing okay. Was it long ago?

That must have been horrible. Did it all come out at once, or did you piece things together a little at a time?

Recently retired from a place that makes rocket engines, and there’s just so much. Start with a rocket engine itself - the combustion gasses are like 3300 C (6000 F) with more than 400,000 lb of thrust. But there’s a lot associated. We dealt with lots of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. We have a giant braze oven that we can put a whole rocket nozzle into. It’s quite an arsenal.

They’re delicious too

Peaches are great to have because they’re so different from what you get at the grocery store. A peach ripened on the tree is much more flavorful than once picked unripe, but a ripe peach is so soft that they pick them unripe for shipping. Pulling a ripe peach off the tree and eating it is a religious experience.