Remember when we had a whole impeachment hearing against Trump for withholding aid to Ukraine so he could get a political hit piece on Biden? I’m wondering how long it will take before a quid pro quo scenario pops up again. Either in Ukraine or elsewhere. So ya, we’re all feeling for Zelensky in the next few years.

Well now I need to go watch Duck Soup.

The tines may be too tight so my suggestion would be to floss the tines. It should be no problem if you have a brass shim. It’s worked wonders on a number of my cheaper pens to fix ink flow. Although I have noticed that the flow is slower on my 9019 as well.

Yup! I’ve only been into fountain pens for a few years but I use them every day for journaling, work notes, and most other writing I do.

It probably more depends on what you’re looking for in a nib. Gold nibs typically have some kind of bounce to them. The Viper is a hooded steel nib so it’ll probably be a much more stiff writing experience. But I’ve heard Diplomat nibs are pretty smooth writers. In my experience, Sailor nibs have some feedback and can “sing” on the page.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/joseph-ducreux-archaic-rap

For the uninitiated

Shredding beef

I’m not necessarily familiar with subfloor heating systems but I’ll give it a shot. I found this video that helped sort some of it out.

https://youtu.be/OSJkjcTHVLE?si=aGyvO6ue3Ng0FT9I

From what I can tell it looks like the hot water comes in from the top line and heads into the manifold but also down to the mixing/regulating valve on the bottom line. After the water runs through the system it comes out to the return line and back out to the heating system.

My first thought is to try closing the blue valve on the return a bit and give it a minute. My thought process is that reducing the cold/out flow will help the circulating pump pull the water from the mixing valve. You could also try messing with the regulator to see if the temperature changes when you adjust it.

My favorite story about Charlie Watts:

“One anecdote relates that in the mid-1980s, an intoxicated Jagger phoned Watts’s hotel room in the middle of the night, asking, “Where’s my drummer?” Watts reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, put on a tie and freshly shined shoes, descended the stairs, and punched Jagger in the face, saying: “Never call me your drummer again. You’re my fucking singer!”[44][45] He expressed regret for the incident in 2003, attributing his behaviour to alcohol.[20]”

I’ll say a vacuum.

When I was a college kid in an apartment I bought the bottom-shelf, bagged Dirt Devil vacuums and dealt with it. All the clogging, hair in the brush, cheap quality/you get what you pay for, etc. Then I moved into a house I got a mid-range Bissell to help deal with all the pet hair. The thing was questionably designed, still got a bunch of the hair in the roll, and needed regular upkeep to make sure it functioned properly. When that one went out I wasn’t going to pickup the same thing even though it technically lasted for years.

I recently picked up a Shark Rotator and it sucks in the best way possible. Was it expensive? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I can vacuum my whole house knowing I’m getting as much dirt, dust, hair off the floor as possible. And I’m not going to have to deal with even half the problems the low-end vacuums have. It pivots and gets right up against walls. There is a clear window to see the brush roll from the top. It also uses fins that just don’t collect hair anyway. The whole canister comes off in one easy motion and I can dump it without spilling all over the now clean floor. There are two roll speeds for hard floors and carpet. The brush roll doesn’t spin when it’s locked upright so it’s not flinging stuff around or grinding into the carpet while I try to clean corners or the couch. And even though it’s one of their “heavier” models it’s still lighter than the Bissell I lugged around for years.

This is a case that better design and features comes with a price. And those design choices can directly make your life easier. So if you can afford it, go for it.

In the last year or so I heard about how the water level is dropping due to drought which is concentrating all the pollutants in the lake. It’s also becoming l so saline that the few species living in the lake are dying and washing up on shore. Then the high winds are blowing around extra salty sand combined with dead carcass particles so it’s actually a breathing hazard to be around. This is also combined with the runoff of pesticides from the farms to the north that also polite the water. So it sounds like a great place to hang out!

I was literally just thinking today how much fun this would be to play once it’s out and now I’m sad.

Pretty much. I recently had my mastodon feed spammed with racist, homophobic, and gore-filled posts just because they would post with a list of unrelated hashtags. You could keep blocking the poster or the instance but they would pop back up from another instance or with another account. It eventually stopped but I’m sure it’ll happen again. You’re apparently able to filter out certain offensive terms with a filter but I think you have to manually enter the terms yourself.

Welcome to the rabbit hole. A ridiculous good pen for the price. Hope you enjoy it!

Saved their ass.