Phoenix Talion🏳️‍🌈

Things I wish I could put in my will except they're completely unenforceable: 1. If I am killed by a wild animal, please do not kill the animal unless it is actively threatening someone not-dead. I was probably being a dumbass and had it coming.

@NASASun Bigots here real mad that a science organizations supports reality rather than their Christian fascism. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

How do you draw a pride flag? 🤔 With SCIENCE! This flag is a composite of NASA imagery of phenomena from Earth and far, far beyond it. Details below ⬇️ Credit: Rachel Lense

@boxcar_sarah I think Rusty has other reasons for being extremely generous with the definition of "six inches."

@WindheartCogs @menwritewomen It's a whole Thing in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik that one of the main limits on the military use of dragons is the ability to feed them.

@menwritewomen That has ALWAYS bothered me. What are those dragons eating?? You're telling me there's a thriving population of carnivores who weigh double digit TONS and they haven't wiped out all the normal sized animals? What exactly is their metabolism? Pls thank your sister for me.

If nothing else, my sister will make sure that this fantasy novel is biologically sound

@dieworkwear @Clairamel What I *REALLY* need for my feet to stop hurting are custom orthopedic insoles, but my insurance won't cover them, and I can't afford to pay the hundreds of dollars out of pocket. And I am *FAR* from the most broke person in this thread.

@dieworkwear @Clairamel One of the reasons it's a debate is that I just replaced my $165 dollar pair of Hokas, whose predecessors I have worn literally every day for the past year. I could only afford one pair, but those Hokas are much better for my feet than buying two pairs of $80 Sketchers.

Vimes Boot Theory is a nice little theory that makes people think they're unfairly getting duped by the system. But it's simply not true. I think most people don't know how much it costs to buy and maintain well-made things. Let's do the math: There are three main ways to produce well-made shoes: handwelting, Goodyear welting, and Blake construction. Let's review some of the costs of each. - Handwelted bespoke shoes from the West End start around $3.5k. Most are closer to $5k. - Handwelted ready-made shoes cost about $600 (Vass) to $1.5k (Saint Crispins). Meermin has a limited line produced in China for about $300. For the purposes of this tweet, I'm lumping Goodyear welting and Blake construction together, as they're basically the same on the ready-made market. - Goodyear welted and Blake stitched shoes will cost you anywhere from $250 (Meermin) to $1,500 (John Lobb, Edward Green). So the upfront cost here can range anywhere from $250 to $5k. Remember you have to double this, as well-made shoes should be given a day of rest between each wearing. If you wear the same pair of shoes every day, you will prematurely break them down beyond repair, as the sweat from your feet will ruin the uppers. So you need at least two pairs of shoes to rotate through. This means your upfront cost is now anywhere from $500 to $10k. Now you have your shoes. You will have to resole them about every five years, depending on how much you walk (some may get a little more time between each resole, some a little less. But let's say five years). There are two ways to resole shoes. You can give them to your local cobbler, who will charge about $100. The downside is that this person is unlikely to have the original last on which the uppers were made. When you resole shoes, you are effectively removing the spine. So the uppers can get all floppy and distorted out of shape. On the upside, sending these to your local cobbler means that you only pay $100. But if the shoes have been made on a very well-crafted last (e.g. bespoke) or if you're finicky about quality, you will want to send them back to the original manufacturer. Sending shoes back to the original manufacturer will also incur some costs. If you're based in the US, this means sending things back to England or even Romania (as I have done). Shipping charges here can be expensive. A proper recrafting on Goodyear welted shoes can cost anywhere from $150 (Allen Edmonds) to $450 (Edward Green). A proper recrafting of handwelted bespoke shoes can cost as much as $1k. Remember: this is on top of your upfront cost. This is what you pay every five years to replace the sole. Most people are not even spending $200 on a pair of shoes. They may spend $100 every two or three years. In ten years' time, they've spent maybe $300 on footwear. The person who's buying high-end, well-made shoes will have spent $250 in upfront costs and about an additional $100 for resoling. Double this because they need to buy at least two pairs of shoes. And add shipping charges if they are sending things back to the original manufacturer. In ten years' time, they've easily spent more. The main reason for buying high-end, well-made things is not financial. It's because you will love your wardrobe in the end. It feels nice to be able to keep a pair of shoes or boots you've grown fond of, rather than throwing them away (see pics below). They also look nicer in outfits. But the poor are not being tricked into spending more. It's expensive to own nice things!

@UrsulaV This was one of the few my otherwise-recalcitrant dog DID know and listen to, but she felt that 'drop it' did not mean she could not pick it up if she managed to do it before you said 'leave it'.

Hound either does not know this command or has never in her life felt it applied to her, take your pick, but I suppose hope springs eternal. He trades her a treat for the bundle, only to discover that it’s a deceased squirrel.

So last night, at 2 AM, the doorbell rang. I staggered out of bed, went downstairs, and found a bedraggled Kevin, in a bathrobe, holding a dead squirrel. He looked at me and said “So I’ve had an adventure!”

@UrsulaV This was my mom when she got her knee replacement.

I gotta say, being a flabby middle-age pre-diabetic on like ten different meds, it’s rather sweet to have medical staff look at you as if you are a shining beacon of good health, even if only by comparison,

Today I have my “Chemo Education Class.” I am wondering if it’s one-on-one or if I’m gonna be holding up class demanding exact details of what will happen to Kevin’s junk if we have unprotected sex while I’m poisonous.

@Cecconi140 @UrsulaV Tagline: "WORKERS RISE UP!"

@UrsulaV I love the idea of zombies getting unionized so very much.

Took a nap, had a very complicated dream that I have almost completely forgotten, except that at one point, my dad put on a movie. ME: Dad, this is Reanimator. You hate horror. DAD: No, it’s a lost Mel Brooks movie. ME: But— TITLE SCREEN: HERBERT WEST, LABOR ORGANIZER ME: …

@moontomysea @onionweigher It's cheese that gets me. Someone had to be very brave and desperate to try primitive cheese, followed by a long hard road of trying to convince people it's great, actually.

@onionweigher i thought about that, too, but there's other animals that eat eggs all the time and we've followed their example about a bunch of things

One of my favorite paintings is the 1795 masterpiece titled "The Discovery of Phosphorus" by Joseph Wright which depicts the most impressive achievement of Henning Brand, a 17th century German alchemist who boiled down 1500 gallons of piss until it started to glow in the dark

@Blackmudpuppy you're an orc coffeeshop AU person or you're a dwarf neuroscience person.

@UrsulaV ...Rutger Howl?

And I will be playing Rutger, a Paladin of Derpsnake!

It’s DnD night! A series of explosions rocks the temple, as their associate with the explosives gets to work on the machinery! The Warlock has lost his mind and throwing Witchbolt at the Archpriest. WARLOCK: KILL YOU AND YOUR INVESTORS UNTU THE TENTH GENERATION

@RobAcoustic @UrsulaV @CamestrosF I mean, I also didn't think "flying into the heart of an interstellar civilization they know nothing about (and vice versa) to find their dad" was exactly going to be a path strewn with roses.

The downbeat end camestrosfelapton.wordpress.com/2023/06/14/the…

Davis Meltzer’s cover art for Clifford D. Simak’s ‘City’

@vixey_voter @Iron_Spike alaskalandmine.com/landmines/a-bo…

@phoenixtalion @Iron_Spike what's the backstory on that? Right now in Southern California seem to be French pastries like Scuffin-- X between a scone and a muffin

@KaylaAncrum Remember a couple years ago when some techbros bought knitting .com as a domain name and were shocked it was not as good as printing their own money?

@bongripley ...That wand handle looks a lot more sex toy like than the animated version.

@silvergelpen Someone who worked at the bank by my parents' house drove a bubblegum pink Maserati with Sailor Moon decals.

@Firr Pokemon cards got banned from my elementary the day after I unwrapped a holographic Charizard and I will never forget.