@spitfire6006006 I’m am IT consultant and I will remove any plastic on any piece of equipment I sit in front of. Recently I was appalled by two sheets of plastic on either side of a monitor privacy cover. It had bubbled up in places and was greying No idea how that person could have looked at that for 5 minutes, let alone years. It wss like she had a new monitor when I left.
I think it depends on the power washer. The one I have gets about 1/4 through a job then cuts out and has to be first breaker-switched, then unkinked, then other things I forget.
Spent a week designing a casing to protect an egg from a five story drop. By “spent a week” I mean took five minutes and shoved some memory foam and insulation in a cardboard milk carton and super glued a weight to the bottom. Other students came in to work on their own time, designing complex mechanisms and attachments, using parachutes and pulleys. One girl shouted at me for wasting my potential and being so lazy. Then testing day came. The teacher saved mine for last. Egg after egg cracked, leaving confident young men and women broken and humble. The teacher shook his head. Only I remained. He made a deal. If my egg survived, he’d eat a raw egg, I’d get a 100% without the normal write up AND I wouldn’t have to take the final. If it cracked, I would eat a raw egg, I’d fail the project, but no one else would need to do a write up. I took the deal. The carton was tossed. And we all stood in wait. He walked off to where it landed, opened it up. I couldn’t stop grinning as the rest of the class turned to glare at me.
Never have I felt more satisfied in my life than in that moment.
@Pantheist In a vacuum, you are correct. However, when you factor in base air friction and any air movements present in the everyday, relatively heavy/solid things do fall faster than relatively light/non-compact things.
@Kabn A weight on the bottom wouldn’t make a difference to air friction, so it wouldn’t make it fall onto that side. I can see the argument about tumbling since it would be more resistant to change in direction.
@Pantheist It does make a difference in air friction; that’s actually what causes the decrease in tumbling. The part of the box with the weight is affected less by air friction during descent, so it tends to stay on the bottom.
Simple thought experiment: a long, skinny rectangular cardboard box dropped perpendicular to the ground from a good height outside of a vacuum will tumble semi-randomly (mostly affected by release and overall air movement). However, if a small weight is secured in one end of the box, that end will always hit the ground first. This is because that end is affected less by air friction (due to higher mass) than the empty end. The non-weighted end is forced upward by the comparatively high air friction, similar to a shuttlecock.
The influence of the weight on flight is greatly affected by the distance of the weight from our example box’s center of mass and the ratio of the masses of the weight and the box. AKA, if we instead use length of heavy rectangular steel pipe instead of the cardboard box and put that same small weight in one end under the same conditions, the pipe won’t tilt nearly as much during a short flight. Similarly, if the weight is placed just off-center in the original cardboard box, the flight will be much more random.
Even with a square box, putting a small weight on the very outside (away from the center of mass) and making a controlled release is usually enough to at least dictate the side that makes contact with the ground first.
The fun part: assuming a controlled release, dropping any of these combinations in a vacuum will lead to the item dropping just as it is with no tumbling. Yay physics!
@callow And less likely to pop in the first place, and therefore easier to re-use. It’s definitely an advancement for packaging, but still a disappointment to me. I’d rather pack with those “edible” packing peanuts. (I say edible because I once had a coworker who would eat them to freak people out.)
@Kabn The admin who worked for the company I’m at for 25+ years was easy to buy presents for; we’d chip in and buy a whole roll of bubble wrap. She preferred the medium-small bubbles (about 1/4") and fairly soft; when we found the ‘just right’ kind she was ecstatic.
They make artificial bubble wrap too; little keychain toys with buttons that make the popping noise. However the lack of purported environmental impact always made those seem lackluster to me (and to our admin).
@PooltoyWolf
A person after my own heart, I first heard that sound on Captain Kangaroo! I have an extensive assortment of construction paper from my teaching days. Arts and crafts with the kids were the best! I limited my area of teaching to PreK 4 and K for the construction paper fix!
Getting ‘the fixed’ from a tub of ice cream or a jar of peanut butter. Thats the smooth factory surface you see on first opening said tub or jar. Its the best!
/giphy soooooo good
You left out the obvious choice, Meh:
Putting your batteries in the refrigerator.
It’s both useless and boring. A total Meh winner!
eating an entire pie
Nothing makes me twitch more than seeing people with years-old laptops and other electronics with the film still on.
@spitfire6006006
@spitfire6006006 Wrapping couches in clear vinyl used to be a thing. Do people still do that?
@lichme :|
@spitfire6006006 Don’t you be touching my phone’s protective film…
@therealjrn It’s almost universally just the older generation that does that.
Ill fitting slipcovers knows no bounds, though.
@therealjrn My grandparents did. They’re dead though, so I guess that’s irrelevant.
@Pantheist How’s the couch? Looking good I trust?
@therealjrn Last I saw, perfectly preserved.
@spitfire6006006 I’m am IT consultant and I will remove any plastic on any piece of equipment I sit in front of. Recently I was appalled by two sheets of plastic on either side of a monitor privacy cover. It had bubbled up in places and was greying No idea how that person could have looked at that for 5 minutes, let alone years. It wss like she had a new monitor when I left.
Pro tip. Never start power washing a driveway. Driveways are big, once you start you can’t stop.
@MrMark Power washing and sand (or media) blasting are similar. And they both make me very happy.
I think it depends on the power washer. The one I have gets about 1/4 through a job then cuts out and has to be first breaker-switched, then unkinked, then other things I forget.
@MrMark I love to power wash, I bought an electric one, love it! Easier for me to handle! Works as well as the monster I cannot start.
Tacos.
Tacos of any kind are always most satisfying.
/giphy satisfying tacos
@2many2no Are you my boyfriend?
@Fuzzalini I’d ask what kind of tacos he likes, but I don’t think we want to take the forum there.
Peeling a whole orange in one piece.
Spent a week designing a casing to protect an egg from a five story drop. By “spent a week” I mean took five minutes and shoved some memory foam and insulation in a cardboard milk carton and super glued a weight to the bottom. Other students came in to work on their own time, designing complex mechanisms and attachments, using parachutes and pulleys. One girl shouted at me for wasting my potential and being so lazy. Then testing day came. The teacher saved mine for last. Egg after egg cracked, leaving confident young men and women broken and humble. The teacher shook his head. Only I remained. He made a deal. If my egg survived, he’d eat a raw egg, I’d get a 100% without the normal write up AND I wouldn’t have to take the final. If it cracked, I would eat a raw egg, I’d fail the project, but no one else would need to do a write up. I took the deal. The carton was tossed. And we all stood in wait. He walked off to where it landed, opened it up. I couldn’t stop grinning as the rest of the class turned to glare at me.
Never have I felt more satisfied in my life than in that moment.
@simplersimon Waiting for the “PS he died of salmonella poisoning”
@simplersimon
@simplersimon Why the weight?
@Pantheist
Stability?
@Pantheist Put the impact where you want it, I assumed. Put most of the padding between the weight and the egg.
@Pantheist it made sure it didn’t tumble in the air, so I could cut down on padding. We got bonus points for a smaller volume.
@moondrake heavy things don’t fall faster than lighter things
@Pantheist In a vacuum, you are correct. However, when you factor in base air friction and any air movements present in the everyday, relatively heavy/solid things do fall faster than relatively light/non-compact things.
@Kabn A weight on the bottom wouldn’t make a difference to air friction, so it wouldn’t make it fall onto that side. I can see the argument about tumbling since it would be more resistant to change in direction.
@Pantheist It does make a difference in air friction; that’s actually what causes the decrease in tumbling. The part of the box with the weight is affected less by air friction during descent, so it tends to stay on the bottom.
Simple thought experiment: a long, skinny rectangular cardboard box dropped perpendicular to the ground from a good height outside of a vacuum will tumble semi-randomly (mostly affected by release and overall air movement). However, if a small weight is secured in one end of the box, that end will always hit the ground first. This is because that end is affected less by air friction (due to higher mass) than the empty end. The non-weighted end is forced upward by the comparatively high air friction, similar to a shuttlecock.
The influence of the weight on flight is greatly affected by the distance of the weight from our example box’s center of mass and the ratio of the masses of the weight and the box. AKA, if we instead use length of heavy rectangular steel pipe instead of the cardboard box and put that same small weight in one end under the same conditions, the pipe won’t tilt nearly as much during a short flight. Similarly, if the weight is placed just off-center in the original cardboard box, the flight will be much more random.
Even with a square box, putting a small weight on the very outside (away from the center of mass) and making a controlled release is usually enough to at least dictate the side that makes contact with the ground first.
The fun part: assuming a controlled release, dropping any of these combinations in a vacuum will lead to the item dropping just as it is with no tumbling. Yay physics!
@Kabn neat. I would think the shape of the shuttlecock would make a huge difference too, but live and learn. Thanks for explaining.
Clicky on tha meh face!
Srsly? Why was that not on the list?
Q-tips in my ear… so amazing… excuse me, I’ll be right back. Going to find a q-tip.
@tristin Dammit, my ears now itch!
The first potato chip out of a bag of chips.
The way a warm M&M crunches down when you bite it and the delicious chocolatey goo that coats your tastebuds afterwards.
Catching your breath after coitus.
/giphy orgasm
The new bubble wrap has channels between the bubbles so it’s almost impossible to pop. Very sad.
@callow And even when you do, you’re already half done with the sheet after one pop.
@callow
How cruel!
/giphy how cruel!
@alphapeaches On the plus side, it’s easier to recycle since some drop off locations want you to take the air out first.
@callow And less likely to pop in the first place, and therefore easier to re-use. It’s definitely an advancement for packaging, but still a disappointment to me. I’d rather pack with those “edible” packing peanuts. (I say edible because I once had a coworker who would eat them to freak people out.)
I’ve never really understood/experienced the oft-referenced satisfaction of popping bubble wrap.
But rinsing off a dirty car, clearing lint from the dryer trap, or updating a long list of apps…
@Kabn The admin who worked for the company I’m at for 25+ years was easy to buy presents for; we’d chip in and buy a whole roll of bubble wrap. She preferred the medium-small bubbles (about 1/4") and fairly soft; when we found the ‘just right’ kind she was ecstatic.
They make artificial bubble wrap too; little keychain toys with buttons that make the popping noise. However the lack of purported environmental impact always made those seem lackluster to me (and to our admin).
Watching pimple/cyst/whatever popping videos on YouTube. I can’t stop!!
“The first scissor cut into a fresh piece of construction paper.”
@PooltoyWolf
A person after my own heart, I first heard that sound on Captain Kangaroo! I have an extensive assortment of construction paper from my teaching days. Arts and crafts with the kids were the best! I limited my area of teaching to PreK 4 and K for the construction paper fix!
Getting ‘the fixed’ from a tub of ice cream or a jar of peanut butter. Thats the smooth factory surface you see on first opening said tub or jar. Its the best!