• 6 Posts
  • 174 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: June 12th, 2023

help-circle
  • It’s not that complex.

    A mutation happens. It can result in either a disadvantage that prevents the plant from surviving to reproduce or an advantage that helps the plant survive to reproduce.

    There’s no “knowing” involved. There is no intent on the part of the plant. It’s just random. You’re seeing the descendants of the plants that got an advantageous mutation.

    What you’re not seeing in your yard are the billions of different plants that never survived because their mutation was a disadvantage.







  • My wife and I just started watching “Your Honor” on Netflix. In the first episode, the judge’s son kills someone in a hit and run and comes home and tries to wash his bloody clothes. He doesn’t know how to use the washer and ends up flooding the laundry room.

    I turned to my wife and said, “that’s why we insisted on teaching the kids to do their own laundry.”

    If you’re doing it right, by the time your kids are 18, they should be able to take care of every basic task in the home on their own.





  • The only worse choice for CEO is Chambers. She had a valid reason to just fire his ass. If he’s not willing to do what he’s told to do, then he’s not willing to do his job. It looks to me like the board wanted to get rid of him for reasons that had nothing to do with cancer. Why reference the cancer at all?

    I have the feeling the only reason they didn’t just get rid of him was because of the cancer diagnosis. Trying to be “nice”. But even if the cancer was the reason for not just cutting him loose, there’s no reason to bring it up.

    How does the CEO not know referencing the cancer would expose them to liability? Did they not sit down with their lawyers before sitting down with him?

    Now they’re probably going to lose in court and be forced to pay him off.

    They should fire Chambers.


  • I just had the odd experience of using a manufacturer’s discount card to pick up a medication for my wife. The medication is relatively expensive and seldom covered by insurance.

    According to the information on the card, if you have private insurance which covers the medication, the discount card covers the co-pay, so you pay nothing. However, if your insurance doesn’t cover the medication, the discount card covers the cost, and you still pay nothing.

    Our insurance didn’t cover the cost, and we didn’t pay anything for the medication.

    I don’t understand how that works.


  • I think it’s important to remember that the USA isn’t a single culture. Things vary dramatically even within a single state to say nothing of differences between states.

    In some areas prom is very important. In others, not so much.

    Only one of my three kids went to prom (Eastern PA).

    Prom in my high school was a relatively big deal. You rented a tux or bought a dress. Some people would rent a limo. The prom was held in some kind of banquet hall with a fairly fancy meal. There’d be a DJ and dancing.

    My wife was one year behind me in high school, and we attended FOUR proms (my junior prom, then the next year her junior prom and my senior prom, then the next year I came back for her senior prom).

    I think for most people it’s just an opportunity to get dressed up, have a good meal, and dance. If you’re already dating someone, it obviously has more significance, but I had plenty of friends who just took another friend as a date for the prom and others who didn’t go with anyone. However, there was a lot of pressure to be a “couple”, even if you weren’t actually romantically involved with your “date”.

    Typically the parents take pictures of the kids in their dresses and tuxedos. From the parents’ point of view, it’s a moment to sort of take note of how your kids are maturing and think about what the future holds for them. Lots of thinking about how old you are ;-)

    Often there’s an after party that goes on late into the morning, and for many kids the after party is more important than the prom.

    I think social media has had an effect on what prom is, but it also has the effect of distorting what it is to people who only experience it remotely. When you’re seeing the crazy YouTube videos and Instagram posts, you’re not seeing what prom is. You’re seeing a snapshot of what those particular proms are.