Rant VII: Now With 25% Less Drama

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David

David

I've been reminiscing on my old grade school days a lot the last few days, and I just realized a fundamental flaw in the K-12 education system.

I had it ingrained in my head all those years that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

How the cotton gin FUNCTIONS, on the other hand, I couldn't tell you the first thing about.

If there were ever a nuclear apocalypse destroying all of society and I were one of the few survivors left to help rebuild humanity from scratch, I would be absolutely useless at reinventing the cotton gin. I could write down stories of it's purpose. I could pass on legend of a man named Eli Whitney who possessed the power to spin cotton at a godly rate. Recreating his success would however be beyond me.

I could look it up and learn exactly how it works, but I'd probably only remember long enough to answer it on the test.
 
Bones

Bones

easy it works with a array of barbed rods that spin pulling the cotton and removing the seeds that are brushed away by a rod covered in brushes. basically like a sadistic taffy puller.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

And don't get your hand caught in one. Those gins will yank your arm clean off. I had two different Great Uncles that lost an arm in those damned things. One lost it at the shoulder, the other at the elbow.
 
General Specific

General Specific

One of my friends may have tried to commit suicide last night. Details are sketchy, but a crisis prevention hotline worker called one of my other friends and had him talk to friend 1 and arrange for care of his cats. Hot line worker could not divulge info on what exactly was going on and all friend 1 would tell friend 2 was that he was "going away for a while."

:(
 
General Specific

General Specific

Well, it is confirmed, he did attempt suicide. However, it is believed at this point that it was an issue with meds he is taking for various issues. He is back home now and we are making plans to get together this weekend, so we'll see how he is then.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
Cheating on my diet yesterday was apparently much worse for me than I imagined. I thought I was doing fine until just after dinner, when I started feeling a little nauseous. Then I was suddenly soaked in sweat and nearly passed out. I had to get my sister to steady me as I made my way to bed. Not sure exactly what caused that, but I'm going to be much more careful in making changes in the future.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Lost Uncle Virgil two months or so. Lost my Uncle Harold today. There were 9 brothers total. 2 never made it out of infancy and Uncle Kenneth died about 10 years ago. They are down to 5 brothers and they are all in their 70s/80s and almost all have cancer of one sort or another.

It's going to be a long couple of years.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Dave said:
Lost Uncle Virgil two months or so. Lost my Uncle Harold today. There were 9 brothers total. 2 never made it out of infancy and Uncle Kenneth died about 10 years ago. They are down to 5 brothers and they are all in their 70s/80s and almost all have cancer of one sort or another.

It's going to be a long couple of years.
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That's one way of looking at it... the other way of looking at it is that they've already beat the odds to lived such long, full lives. Most men don't make it TO 70, let alone past it. You should be enjoying the time you can spend with them now, albet however brief it was. I know I'd have been more active with my Uncle Jerry if I'd known cancer was going to take him a few months back...
 
fade

fade

Staff member
Holy crap. The coal company just sent a $29,000 bill to my dead sister-in-law for the damage her death caused to their massive coal truck. My brother's lawyer says it's a standard tactic, but damn. This has unfortunately sent my little brother into a downward spiral.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I am sorry for the situation, Fade.

I can't believe the callous balls on some of these companies...

And now it is fashion to make it sound like the working man is the enemy in this nation.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Check the alignment of the stars, I agree with DarkAudit - at least about the publicity. This is a headline waiting to happen - COAL COMPANY TRUCK KILLS WOMAN, SUES HER ESTATE FOR DAMAGE TO TRUCK.
 
evilmike

evilmike

My Mom passed away last night. She had been doing better recently even though she still needed to be in a health care facility. She took a turn for the worse early this week.
 
B

Biannoshufu

evilmike said:
My Mom passed away last night. She had been doing better recently even though she still needed to be in a health care facility. She took a turn for the worse early this week.
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I'm so sorry to hear that. Try to stay busy and reflect on good moments.
 
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