Strolling Along

Even if I knew, would I tell you stranger?

[worldsandemanations]

George Callaghan (Irish, born 1941) Ancient Stock Route, 2024

[homunculus-argument]

Top 10 branches of science ranked by how bad it would suck to be killed by them (from best to worst)

Physics - probably the nicest just on the grounds of how fast that's gonna be. Like if you're a goner before any of the other sciences can get to you, you probably don't even have time to feel anything.

Biology - the most standard default way of dying. Most of the time it sucks but not badly enough to warrant you its own wikipedia page.

Geology - one of the oldest OG classics. Rock hits Og. Og is gone.

Psychology - slow tigers are chasing you.

Zoology - fast tigers are chasing you.

Sociology - idk me and the rest of the angry mob agree that you had it coming.

Chemistry - this is a hard one to place because there's a lot of variation. But anyhow you're getting undone on a cellular level.

Mathematics - how the fuck did you even do that.

Cosmology - why the fuck did you even do that?

Theology - what the fuck did you even do?

[irnspdr]

11. Marine biology - sea creatures are chasing you

[mikkeneko]

There are many detriments to being a marine biologist.

[huariqueje]

Unknown - Pasi Tammi , 2026.

Finnish , b. 1971 -

Oil on canvas , 120 x 120 cm.

[nemfrog]

The flight of the lepidoptera. Elementary Science Readers: First Book. 1927.

Internet Archive

[casualtimetravel]

Tehachapi, CA

@ Sinziana Velicescu

[reveriepml]

"Saturn V F-1 engines at Rocketdyne", dry pastel

Drawing I made 2 years ago, depicting the inside of the Rocketdyne factory while the Saturn V Apollo rocket's engines were being built.

Why did i draw this picture? More about the F-1 engines below!! They're a lost craft!!

The techniques used to built them have been lost with the engineers that have passed away in the 60 years since then, with nobody to pass them on. We have documentation, but not all the expertise. The engines required incredibly skilled welders, and practically everything was done by hand

this guy in blue isn't to scale! he's supposed to be the smallest person in the picture, with perspective (oops). The current SLS rocket powering the Artemis program uses surplus 1980s RS-25 engines meant for the Space Shuttle rockets, repurposed, modified, and stacked to give enough thrust.

The Rocketdyne F-1s made use of the labor of WW2 era engineers and welders, so absolutely no computerized manufacturing in sight

These guys are to scale. The colors used are my own artistic interpretation, and the drawing is based on a real photo from inside the factory :D I think they are still the most powerful rocket engines EVER built. They are absolutely enormous, and the Saturn V used five of them

Fran Blanche (incredible youtube channel about old technology) posted extensive videos about the Saturn V rockets and the F1 engines that allowed them to take off. Her work is amazing, her youtube channel is an absolute gold mine if you're interested in anything 1960s-1970s. Trans legend also

I can't find the original reference picture. But have this one for scale:

And here's a cool article that explains more about thz insane engineering of those engines, and why it's a marvel:

Day 8: The Lost Engineering Marvel of Rocketdyne’s F-1 Engines

As we advance our technology ever forward, you would think that remaking a 50-year old design should be easy; however, things are not quite…

[bugshroom]

Antique Czech Glass Charms

(c. 1890s-1930s)

[lichen-bones]

in a box

[g00]

[thelibrawrian-deactivated201912]

i was thinking about the weirdest phone calls i got when i still worked at the public library and i remembered this one phone call. it was probably less than 20 seconds long, but it still makes me laugh.

anyways, this woman called and without even saying hello after i said the usual “public library, how can i help you?” spiel, she said, “i have a very important question: when you shelve books, do you push them all to the front of the shelf or all the way back?”

it took me a second to process the question and then i answered that, at the library, we always shelve them so that they are even with the front edge so they’re easier to grab and see. she was obviously delighted by this answer and then, as if an afterthought, she asked, “okay, what about you? what do you do at home with your books?” i said i did the same thing. she hummed in obvious agreement and then just like that she said “thank you!” and hung up.

i never heard from her again. i hope she won whatever argument she was having.

[tehzii]

for about a year, i worked at a call center for sprint. i have a similar kind of story. a woman called, and said she had a question about the call history on her bill. “sure, let me just pull up your account-” and she cut me off going, “no, no, it’s not anything specific, it’s just. so, if you change the time on your phone, does that change the time on the bill?” “uh… no? the time on the phone doesn’t matter, the call history is recorded by the towers.” “ohhhh” she said in the saltiest voice i have ever heard “so even if you changed the timezone it wouldn’t change the time on the bill? to, say, the middle of the night?” i stg yall i looked into the camera like i was on the office. “um… no? it would still be the local time of the tower. is there anything else i can help you with?” to me, overly chipper: “nope! thank you! have a great day!” turning on someone as she hung up: “she says yoU’RE A LYING SACK OF-” i still mean-snicker every time i think about it.

[ladyzolstice]

i used to work in a call center for a roadside assistance company, from late 2015 to early 2016. it was easily the most miserable job i’ve ever had, and the turnover rate was very high. people stuck on the side of the road tend to be quick to anger - understandably so - and it wears on you after awhile.

so i had been having a string of very time-consuming, draining calls. my line rings again, i steel myself for another angry caller, and i pick up. “[redacted] roadside assistance, how can i help you?” i chirp, in my Customer Service Voice.

“yeah, hi,” a gentleman with a thick southern accent responds. “my motorcycle won’t start.”

i brace immediately for another long call. motorcycles were notoriously difficult to work with - a lot of insurance companies wouldn’t insure them, and a lot of tow companies refused to pick them up because they require a specific sort of trailer.

“i’m sorry to hear that, sir. what’s your current location?”

“oh, i’m just at my house. i was wondering if it would be okay for me to just load it into my trailer and take it to my buddy’s shop. would that interfere with my insurance?”

i click through his account and am Relieved to discover he’s in the clear. “No sir, it looks like you’re good to go. Can I help you with anything else?”

A pause. “Have you heard the good news?”

My Anxiety, which had been receding, suddenly spikes into the fucking stratosphere. I live in the rural south. The “good news” usually means “Jesus” and i was in no mood to be proselytized to for god knows how long.

i steel myself for the Religious Talk. “What news, sir?”

“McDonald’s is now serving breakfast all day!”

I laughed so hard I almost cried. I hope that guy ate as many hashbrowns as he could.

[gemini-enthusiast]

Ed White floats outside Gemini IV spacecraft

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

Boris "professional idiot" Johnson wanted to build an island airport in the immediate area.

it's fucking visible

This post requires authentication to view.

It is fun to learn.

[therealraewest]

Hey what the fuck

You weren't kidding they've been trying to get the masts off for 5 years and keep getting foiled because there's probably bombs leaking out of her

[angeluslupus]

Fun fact: Doxing myself but I live in the blast zone if that thing ever goes up! It's even immortalised in a local artwork:

[slowlymychaos]

@tatzelwyrm

[ivyadrena]

So they can’t remove or defuse the bombs bc they keep discovering more bombs where they want to put stabilizing equipment??

[sesamie]

learning that addiction is a progressive narrowing of the range of things that make one happy was kinda life changing for me. i apply it to everything not even just addiction i am always checking to ask if i am narrowing my range of happiness or widening it

[argumate]

always good to check whether your coping strategy has become something that needs its own coping strategies

[gothredy]

[annafridacharlotte]

[theinternetarchive]

design for a floral pattern; gouache, graphite, watercolors, and ink, christopher dresser, british, 1883.

[ateazure]

"and the universe said i love you."