English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

alphabet

00:49

I love it when people give me presents

Cerberus

Yum.

HippoSawrUs

@Mitch I never thought of that as a book before; I don't remember the movie.

Mitch

01:09

Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary is a 1983 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. The novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and adapted into two films: one in 1989 and another in 2019. In November 2013, PS Publishing released Pet Sematary in a limited 30th-anniversary edition. == Plot == Louis Creed, a doctor from Chicago, is appointed director of the University of Maine's campus health service. He moves to a large house near the small town of Ludlow with his wife Rachel, their two young children, Ellie and Gage, and Ellie's cat, Winston Churchill ("Church"). From the moment...

@alphabet it's a trap!

Cerberus

01:30

Is that real?

What is it supposed to mean?

tchrist

01:50

@alphabet sick

Why couldn't an eight-year-old walk around his neighborhood? He should be biking through the alleyways in drag races.

Cerberus

If you live in a car-centric neighbourhood, then cars are the danger.

But an eight-year-old can be taught not to cross the street.

tchrist

Yes.

I couldn't cross the busy street a block from my house when I was eight.

Cerberus

Less busy streets may be more dangerous.

tchrist

I had to cross the street corner to walk to school, but not up that direction.

Cerberus

If they don't have speed bumps and everything.

tchrist

01:55

Humble hamlets don't need those, or think they don't. I now wish for an obstacular roundabout there these days.

Cerberus

Fewer cars generally means more speeding, and children being less watchful.

tchrist

But really, kids should be expected to go all over quiet residential neighborhoods. They shouldn't be living somewhere that's all racetracks.

Cerberus

Racetracks may actually be safer.

tchrist

Than somewhere with a 15 mph speed limit? Really?

Cerberus

Then they will see all the cars, be aware of them, and go to the traffic lights to cross.

@tchrist Maybe.

tchrist

01:57

Traffic lights, you funny! What are traffic lights? We had one in my entire town far away.

Cerberus

Well, you mentioned racetracks.

I assume a busy thoroughfare will have traffic lights.

tchrist

Living next to a highway.

Cerberus

The street where I grew up was quiet.

tchrist

No, there are no stop and go lights in a regular residential neighborhood. Not even here in the big city.

Cerberus

But cars drove fairly fast, could be 30 km/h as you said.

@tchrist Well, you mentioned a busy street.

Not a regular residential street.

tchrist

01:59

Yes, there was one. We could not cross it until we went to the seventh grade.

Yes, that's an "arterial".

Cerberus

That arterial road may be safer.

Because you wouldn't cross it so easily.

tchrist

People drive fast on it. 25 even 30 mph although they might get a ticket for 30.

Cerberus

But I am repeating myself.

tchrist

The point is there are always cars there. You can't ever dare just dart across it unthinkingly.

Cerberus

You can't, but that is what people do who are hit by a car.

tchrist

02:00

True.

Cerberus

Which is why I suggested that busy streets may be safer than quiet streets.

I see lots of accidents in front of my house.

You know how busy my neighbourhood is.

You know when the accidents happen?

tchrist

I see.

When people are drunk and walk across without looking?

Cerberus

Nope.

In the dead of night on a weekday.

tchrist

Aren't there headlights?

Cerberus

Two bikes or a bike and a moped crossing each other and not watching out.

tchrist

02:03

Oh but there are streetlights.

Cerberus

Occasionally a car and a bike, but care are rare here.

Yes, there are streetlights.

That spot is very bright.

But you can't see around the corner.

tchrist

A car's headlights are hard to miss.

Cerberus

And, at night, when you see noöne at all in the streets, you assume you can just go ahead without lowering speed.

tchrist

But in residential districts where people drive slow you would see around the corner because it isn't built out to there. Everybody has a front lawn or something. That sort of thing.

Cerberus

Not here.

tchrist

02:05

It is in places with single-family homes, not apartment complexes.

Cerberus

But the point is, the accidents happen when people don't expect traffic.

No apartment complexes here.

Just normal terraces houses.

tchrist

So don't change lanes.

Cerberus

There is only one lane.

tchrist

Down in the student area where there are a lot of bikes, you see minor accidents from time to time.

Cerberus

So my experience at my parents' house is similar: you don't watch out all the time when you expect no traffic. And then it happens.

tchrist

02:07

Mostly the problems are that the cars don't see the bikes, the bikes don't see the pedestrians, and the pedestrians don't see the bikes.

Cerberus

When I was playing in my friend's street, in the town, there would be cars coming all the time, so we were constantly aware not to cross the street without looking left and right.

And the cars would be paying more attention as well.

tchrist

Cars are too busy looking for cars.

Cerberus

Where, in my parents' street, the car would see an empty street.

tchrist

Same.

Cerberus

And then suddenly a child crossing out of nowhere.

Luckily, cars had no phones yet.

tchrist

02:09

We have "go slow" signs posted at 15 mph a lot of places. I swear it should be 10. Alleyways are tight.

Cerberus

We have those signs near schools.

tchrist

Yes, exactly. I've certainly run out into the alley and run into a moving car.

Cerberus

But, honestly, a group of children is harder to overlook than a single child in a quiet place.

Oh, dear, were you ever hit?

tchrist

Not exactly. I ran into the side of a car a couple times.

But it never hit me.

Cerberus

I cannot think of a single child I know who was seriously injured by a car, to be honest. So it's probably very rare.

@tchrist That is better.

tchrist

02:11

And I've rearended cars riding a bike before. Not fun.

Cerberus

Hmm no.

user 726941

I was seriously injured as a child when hit by a car.

They kept doing brain tests on me.

But, in general, it's pretty rare.

alphabet

02:27

Here walk signals are customarily interpreted as mild suggestions. I find it rather funny that the city continues installing them.

A number of times I've seen people just walk directly into oncoming traffic, expecting the cars to slam on the brakes.

user 726941

They've installed these smiley face electronic signs to signal to cars if they are travelling at the right speed around the local school. It changes to a sad face if you travel too fast.

alphabet

A few decades from now, we'll wistfully remember the days when any kids were allowed to leave their houses off-leash.

HippoSawrUs

@Mitch We rode everywhere on our 10-speeds or on my friend's horses, a morgan and a barrel-racing quarter horse. And now, I'm afraid to go to the mall, and she's in prison. Anybody could've predicted that 50 years ago. Freedom is exhausting if you're the only safety monitor.

alphabet

"Below age 8, of course, we kept Timmy on a leash. Then we switched him to the GPS collar."

(I suppose that that already exists, they just call it "Life360" or what have you.)

"Did you know they now make stuffed animals that double as wireless chargers? That way, you don't need to take the collar off at night to recharge its battery."

user 726941

02:49

Helicopter parents have circled the wagons around their kids

alphabet

"Of course, once they get past age 16, you can switch to an ankle monitor. They now come in a wide variety of colors to suit your teen's individual fashion sense."

user 726941

These are the same kids who are going to grow up expecting everything handed to them on a golden platter.

Cerberus

@user726941 Oh, that's terrible.

CowperKettle

"Artificial intelligence" on Ngram

Cerberus

Probably not up to date?

CowperKettle

02:56

Yes, only up to 2019

user 726941

Prepandemic

HippoSawrUs

Fast runners become slow parents with fast-running children. Who doesn't understand this? My son ran 100 miles for fun; held his sh*t for 75 miles. He can't catch his own kid. Nobody can if they get a head start.

CowperKettle

100 miles? Ultramarathon? This is very hard.

I only ran 33 km once.

My feet felt numb.

user 726941

Sounds so Darwinian

HippoSawrUs

IDK, they had to run it in less than 24 hours. He usually ran 6 to 12 miles nearly every day. He became depressed if he didn't. I think that is common for athletes in my family.

alphabet

03:06

Bucky Covington - A Different World (Official Video)

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The only time I've heard someone be nostalgic for lead-based paint.

Robusto

04:20

@HippoSawrUs The system does get clogged if you don't clean it out regularly with serious exercise. That's both mental and physical aspects.

Rootl game #154

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M.A.R.

@alphabet it's the lead talking

M.A.R.

05:24

11

Q: What does this sentence on BBC means: ""All baa myself: Is this Britain's loneliest sheep?"

All baa myself: Is this Britain's loneliest sheep? BBC - Britain's loneliest sheep What does "All baa myself" mean? I couldn't quite understand it.

Okay which one of you guys works at BBC?

CowperKettle

05:34

It was very slippery. Yesterday was the warmest 3 November since 2008, and today it's below zero, so it's ice everywhere.

Unexpectedly I met a squirrel right on my way to the ParkRun

But I was without nuts, I forgot to put a new walnut in the running bag.

It almost started crawling up my leg

@HippoSawrUs I become depressed and .. "hysterical" (??) when I run for more than 40 minutes, even though physically I can run for a couple hours.

This started when my "depression" turned heavier in 2020.

But with methylfolate this effect has diminished.

Rumination + affect (emotion)

Back before 2018, I could run without becoming depressed and ruminative

I wish there were some way to investigate the actual mechanisms of this derangement. Depression, rumination, affect, etc.

@alphabet But according to "peak-oil historians", the whole period from maybe 1620 to these days is abnormal, and the 20 and 21 centuries are the most abnormal. The really different life was before we started such amounts of energy per each person. So 1950 will be seen not much different from 2020, for some future historian.

In 1620s, the Brits first started using mined coal for heating houses and cooking. Thus started the unique increase in the use of energy/person. Now we are using so much energy as if each of us had some 70 slaves toiling for him or her.

> In 1575, Sir George Bruce of Carnock of Culross, Scotland, opened the first coal mine to extract coal from a "moat pit" under the sea on the Firth of Forth. He constructed an artificial loading island into which he sank a 40 ft shaft that connected to another two shafts for drainage and improved ventilation. The technology was far in advance of any coal mining method in the late medieval period and was considered one of the industrial wonders of the age.

George Bruce of Carnock

Sir George Bruce of Carnock (c. 1550 – 1625) was a Scottish merchant, ship-owner, and mining engineer. == Family == George Bruce was a son of Edward Bruce of Blairhall and Alison Reid, a sister of Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney. His older brother Edward Bruce (1548-1610), was created Lord Bruce of Kinloss in 1602. Edward Bruce built the large mansion known as Culross House or Abbey House (now reduced in size) and George built Culross Palace. == Coal, salt, and silver == Bruce was an innovator in coal mining techniques, introducing undersea mining into the Upper Hirst seam with use of new drainage...

SmokeDetector

06:34

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Manually reported answer (93): What do you call a full monopoly?‭ by aminezy‭ on english.SE

Xanne

07:27

Wordle 868 5/6

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CowperKettle

08:16

Word of the day: Water Poet (John Taylor (24 August 1578 – December 1653) was an English poet who dubbed himself "The Water Poet")

@alphabet Oh, curious. I never saw a child on a leash in Russia.

Child harness

A child harness (alternative: child tether, walking harness, British English: walking reins) is a safety device worn by children when walking with a parent or carer. Child harnesses are most commonly used with toddlers and children of preschool age, though they may also be used with older children, especially if they have special supervisory needs such as ADHD or autism. Various types exist, though all are worn by the child and have a lead (tether) or rein which is held by a parent or caregiver. As child harness designs and purposes have evolved with cultural norms and parenting techniques, they...

user 726941

Treat your kid like a dog and put'em on a leash. Guess what they'll grow-up to be like.

CowperKettle

08:31

I guess they will grow up okay :)

Turns out that in the Soviet times, there were also leashes for toddlers. They were made of leather auction.ru/offer/…

Nice.

user 726941

Yeah, child psychologist should've preformed a meta-analysis of this a long time ago.

CowperKettle

08:46

Walkodile

Walkodile is a child safety device consisting of "a flexible plastic spine and safety belts" to keep groups of six young children together while on walks outside of their school or nursery/kindergarten. Walkodile was released in the United Kingdom in 2007, and has won many awards in the fields of innovation, design and business. Its inventor Elaine Stephen was also awarded Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in British Queen Elizabeth II's 2011 New Years Honours List for services to Child Safety. == Background and product == Stephen, a Scottish primary school teacher...

Robusto

13:21

@CowperKettle You are the Squirrel Whisperer.

user 726941

And I'm just a nut.

Robusto

how antimatter spacecraft will work

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Angela busts ChatGPT ^

user 726941

Charged particles forming "molecules"

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Robusto

#Worldle #652 2/6 (100%)
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https://worldle.teuteuf.fr

Wordle 868 6/6

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Robusto

13:58

UPDATE: Angela didn't bust ChatGPT. She busted the modern "information superhighway" and longs for the days of real information.

user 726941

RIP real information

Robusto

We go looking for real information and we find ... Search Engine Optimization.

user 726941