Florian Haas

Humanism, open source, some music, art, and nonsense.

Account is locked; a significant fraction of what I post is followers-only. Got a blank or nonsensical avatar, no visible activity, no pointers to your identity? I'll ignore your follow request. I might choose not to accept it for other reasons, too. 🙂

Sometimes I ask questions here. When I do, I would ask you to please reply with your own thoughts, not an LLM's.

Tröts auf Deutsch derzeit unter Florian Haas (npub1cuk…7raw).

Nationality: 🇪🇺🇦🇹
Pronouns: he/him
Native pronunciation: [flo:ʁian ha:s]
Web site: https://xahteiwi.eu

Public Key

npub17qx9xgu0huytmfx52gsn6dfj0jx09hqnun969thqq2wg8jushfyqx2q43v

NIP-05 Address

xahteiwi_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs0qrznyw8m7z9a5n29ygfax5e8er8jmsf7fjaz4msq98yrewgt5jqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds5v8g4q

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub17qx9xgu0huytmfx52gsn6dfj0jx09hqnun969thqq2wg8jushfyqx2q43v

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Last Notes

2026-04-19 20:16:27 UTC

Excuse me, hello. Sorry to bother you.
Any Canadians reading this? Would you be so kind to answer this question, or boost it for reach perhaps?
Thank you.
Will Jeremy Hansen become Canada's next space icon?

2026-03-31 06:56:30 UTC

Serious question, if a little philosophical.
If you look back at big personal decisions you've made in your life that turned out right in retrospect, what's an accurate way to describe most of them?
A — I made them quickly.
B — I mulled over them for some time, and modified my thoughts, so what I eventually decided was better than my initial hunch.
C — I spent a long time thinking about them, but in the end I went with something that largely matched my initial hunch.
Boosts appreciated!

2026-03-11 13:31:43 UTC

Hey, do you know a thing or two about #email and mailing list management, and do you (or does your organisation) use #Ceph? This is your time to shine:
https://lists.ceph.io/hyperkitty/list/ceph-users@ceph.io/thread/LJKZPLNNHHU5RKZY2WCWN3ZXCSJVRWZK/
(Please boost for reach, thanks!)

2026-02-20 07:04:54 UTC

If you're an English native speaker, do you ever use the word "minute" as a verb¹ to mean taking notes at a meeting?
A — I do
B — I would use the word, but that context normally doesn't come up in my life
C — I would not, because that meaning is archaic
(Boosts appreciated.)
¹ Emphasis on "as a verb". An example sentence would be to say "could you join us to minute the conversation?"

2026-02-15 16:39:27 UTC

Do not disparage our audio engineer; he is a sound man.

2026-01-23 15:26:38 UTC

"You'll find the recording for our Digital Sovereignty meetup on Zoom" is certainly a statement.

2026-01-01 00:33:00 UTC

To everyone who builds, facilitates, promotes, and participates in the fediverse: this place is infinitely less shitty than so many other networks and platforms out there.
Look beyond the flaws. This place is good. Take pride in that.
Let's all resolve to not fuck it up. Like literally, just that. Don't think about how you can "improve" or "drive" something or "move it forward".
First, do no harm.
Goes for other parts of life, too.

2025-12-28 10:30:08 UTC

Not everyone needs to be outstanding, famous, or noteworthy.
Admire people who show up, chip in, and do the work.

2025-12-13 11:58:11 UTC

When it comes to cooking, my spouse is a bit of a germophobe and tends to prefer a plastic cutting board that can be cleaned in the dishwasher. I am more of a microplasticphobe and thus prefer wooden cutting boards that I clean with hot water, soap, and a brush.
Whose phobia is more in line with the current state of science?
(This is a genuine question, not a rhetorical one. Replies from subject matter experts would be excellent. Boosts appreciated!)
#AskFedi #AskScience

2025-10-20 10:03:58 UTC

"Nextcloud Hub 25 Autumn"
Stands to reason that @npub1rk6…hv4q haven't that many customers in the Southern Hemisphere?
https://nextcloud.com/blog/nextcloud-hub25-autumn/

2025-10-19 07:52:19 UTC

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When Erdős learned of the existence of this limerick, he resolved to write a paper in Kurdish. Sadly, no mathematical journal published in that language existed at the time.

2025-10-19 07:45:17 UTC

“A conjecture, both deep and profound,
asserts that a circle is round.
In a paper by Erdős
(written in Kurdish)
a counterexample is found.”
— Leo Moser (attributed)

2025-09-02 15:29:16 UTC

I've said this before and I'll say it again: using an LLM for generating a conference proposal is incredibly disrespectful to reviewers who volunteer their time.
"Why should I read what you couldn't be bothered to write" is an entirely adequate response on the reviewer's part.

2025-08-25 19:23:26 UTC

I'd quite like this case, but it seems it's only available from
- The Pi Hut (link below), where I'll have to mess around with post-Brexit toll and customs nonsense;
- Amazon US (urgh).
It appears to be out of stock everywhere else.
If you
- own one and wish to part with it, or
- can recommend a reseller in the EU that I've missed that has it in stock, or
- recommend a similar product available within the EU,
I'd love to hear from you!
https://thepihut.com/products/uctronics-complete-enclosure-for-raspberry-pi-clusters-v3-0?variant=42461822124227
#BoostsOK #RaspberryPi

2025-08-22 18:29:18 UTC

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That's about my ballpark too. One 4 with the PoE+ HAT (with fan), another 4 in the Argon Eon case with 2 HDDs (with a case fan). That seems to be about 20°C above what others report; any idea why our devices get so hot?

2025-08-22 16:02:42 UTC

Raspberry Pi users: what's a typical temperature of your system, as reported by the `vcgencmd measure_temp` command?
(Boosts for reach appreciated.)
#RaspberryPi

2025-08-21 18:51:05 UTC

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Well, hmm. Apparently it's a bit of a sordid story with the PoE+ HATs... I suppose this is what I get for being such a hardware nitwit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/nv934l/raspberry_pi_poe_hat_problems/

2025-08-21 16:57:11 UTC

Okay folks I would appreciate your help here.
I have purchased an unmanaged PoE+ switch (TP-Link TL-SG1008P, seen in link below), and 2 rPi PoE+ HATs.
One of my Pis is an rPi 3, the other a 4; both should be fine with the HAT.
Neither draws power from the switch PoE port. I have tested several cables; sadly I have no other PoE devices to test with.
When USB powered the Pis do fine. The fan on the HAT spins, so I think it's installed correctly.
What do I check next?
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/ekieuq/my_first_homelab_project_4_x_rpi_4_4gb_kubernetes/

2025-08-19 06:39:52 UTC

— "Can you believe how stupid and primitive the ancient Greeks were? When they didn't know something, they asked an oracle, and they believed whatever it said!"
— "That's nuts. Where was this oracle?"
— "No idea. Let's go ask ChatGPT."

2025-07-12 11:16:54 UTC

Native English speakers: how do you pronounce the word "longitudinal"?
(Boosts appreciated!)

2025-06-25 21:12:31 UTC

If your tech writer asks, "how the hell are we supposed to document this so it makes sense to people?", what's more likely?

2025-06-01 11:41:44 UTC

Those of you who use an *open* text chat solution at work, what protocol is it based on?
Select multiple options only if you use more than one of these with some regularity, please.
Boosts appreciated.
(For avoidance of doubt, "something else" does *not* include proprietary solutions like Slack. If all the chat options you have at work are proprietary, you're not an intended respondent. 🙂 But you can still boost!)

2025-05-10 06:52:37 UTC

A question for the #HomeAssistant and #Valetudo crowd: if you have a #Roborock S7 (or S7+, but not S7 Pro Ultra), and you put Valetudo on it, how did it turn out for you?
I know about the lack of multi-floor map support in Valetudo, which I don't mind. I would very much like to keep my no-mop zones (separate from no-go zones), though.
If you can share first-hand experience, please sound off below. Boosts for reach appreciated, too. Thanks!

2025-04-05 11:20:55 UTC

Open source garden planner apps, got ideas for me? https://garden-party.io/ looks very interesting. Powerplant appears to be dead. https://openolitor.org/ and https://farmos.org/ both look great, but might be overkill for just planning your own back garden. Anything else you use and enjoy?
(Boosts OK)
#Gardening #SubsistenceFarming

2025-03-23 07:07:46 UTC

Have you ever been part of an organisational restructuring that you deemed successful?
I don't mean for "restructuring" to include things like a person changing roles, even if it involved someone temporarily leading two organisational units. Rather, I mean things like reshuffling departments, merging divisions, adopting a new management hierarchy, etc.
(Boosts OK. Comments are fine too, especially if you're in the "yes" category.)

2025-03-06 07:49:29 UTC

Fill in the blanks:
"Ideally, bread crust should feel ______, and my native language is ______."
(Boosts OK)

2025-03-05 07:36:43 UTC

If you had a need for a hosted/managed #Kubernetes platform (meaning, all you get is API access and a kubeconfig, anything underneath you don't need to care about), and you or your company are based in Europe, where would you look?
(Boosts and comments welcome.)

2025-02-06 09:30:23 UTC

This is bang on. And obviously doesn't apply only to Australia.
https://youtu.be/JBqVVBUdW84

2025-02-04 07:55:14 UTC

Current status: in position as first-row nodder for keynote speaker encouragement.
#CfgMgmtCamp #CfgMgmtCamp2025

2024-12-18 21:55:56 UTC

Suppose you're defining a technical or organisational procedure.
There are two scenarios you have to cover.
There are two methods to cover those scenarios.
Method 1 works perfectly for scenario A, but doesn't apply to scenario B.
Method 2 yields acceptable results for both scenarios, but is less perfect than method 1 for scenario A.
What do you define in policy?
(Boosts OK)

2024-12-13 06:46:12 UTC

Have you considered the possibility that we're not in in an ADHD pandemic but that the advertising and tech industries are actively engaged in wrecking our ability to concentrate or focus on anything?

2024-12-11 22:15:30 UTC

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I agree on the mediocrity of its battery life, and this is my coping strategy:
https://xahteiwi.eu/resources/hints-and-kinks/solar-powered-laptop/

2024-12-04 21:23:53 UTC

I have lost count of how many people came up to me at Cephalocon today to tell me that they appreciated blog posts I wrote years ago.
Write things up, people, and publish them. You have no idea just how useful they will be to other people.

2024-12-01 21:19:20 UTC

Considering all that Google and YouTube know about my online behaviour, they're truly great at showing me exclusively ads about products I don't give a rat's ass about.

2024-12-01 10:17:14 UTC

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I'm very sorry for being wildly off-topic, but your blog post reminded me of this absolute gem.
https://youtu.be/Nl0HqlbX7dc

2024-11-30 11:46:26 UTC

Question for people from North America: have you ever demanded, or witnessed someone else demand, a free meal at a restaurant because as a result of a complaint (a.k.a. expecting a meal to be "comped")?
I'm led to believe that such an occurrence is not uncommon in your neck of the woods — but I struggle to believe that this is actually so. Here, such a demand would be considered ridiculous. Sure, if the cook botched one of your dishes you might get it remade, but you'd still pay for it.

2024-11-26 18:56:17 UTC

This a Very Good Talk™, which will make you think. This is no surprise, as the speaker is @npub1rxq…388y.
Please consider watching this talk. You might not agree with every point being made, but it'll still be very well worth your time.
https://youtu.be/bf_6EVTlZOY
(Boosts OK, of course.)

2024-11-24 08:03:00 UTC

33 years ago today, Freddie Mercury died.
I'll always remember November 1991 for two things: Earvin "Magic" Johnson's retirement from the NBA because he was HIV positive, and Freddie Mercury's death from AIDS.
When Freddie found out he was HIV+, like many others, it meant practically certain death within a decade.
Magic is alive and well, like many others, nearly 3½ decades on.
That is an incredible achievement of human medicine and public health.

2024-11-23 10:11:15 UTC

“While our 5,000 mile warranty does not technically cover sole damage from attack by Tasmanian Devils, we may make an exception if you save all the pieces (Yes, this actually happened!)”
https://www.xeroshoes.eu/warranty/

2024-11-23 09:32:10 UTC

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I am not a lawyer so I don't know if any age limits would apply by default, but as far as i can see Codeberg's ToS contains no such age restriction?
(Tagging @npub1fh7…ee83 here just in case they want to weigh in. But if they do not, please do not take their silence for assent.)
https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/org/src/branch/main/TermsOfUse.md

2024-11-12 21:54:57 UTC

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Isn't pretty much anything, though?

2024-11-12 21:47:15 UTC

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Happy Tuesday!

2024-11-10 08:27:47 UTC

Here's a question that recently came up and where I surmise that what's "common knowledge" differs widely between (ex-)soldiers and lifelong civilians:
When do you think a war ends?
Select the most likely reason.
A — when one side wins and the other loses.
B — when one side decides it can't realistically win any more significant gains.
C — when both sides decide they can't realistically win any more significant gains.
(Boosts OK, of course.)

2024-11-07 06:28:26 UTC

I humbly submit that more people who menstruate deserve to be aware of @npub1nyc…5dpf.
People who do not should as well. To tell others, to help make it better.
https://bloodyhealth.gitlab.io/

2024-11-07 06:23:32 UTC

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In that case, may I suggest you have look at @npub1nyc…5dpf? Publicly funded code, open source, explicitly privacy conscious, stores data only on your device.
(I'm not affiliated with it, but am very happy that a sliver of my tax helped fund it.)

2024-11-02 09:15:08 UTC

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Thank you! That's an explanation that my brain can work with. Much appreciated.

2024-11-01 22:11:32 UTC

Any physicists around who can help me understand something?
How should I picture neutrinos in a QFT context? If particles are ripples in their field, and we can detect only a teeny-tiny fraction of neutrinos, what does that say about their field? Is it somehow quiet, and only ripples when we make a chance detection of a neutrino? Is it constantly rippling, but so noisily we can hardly ever detect a signal in it?
Or have I got this all wrong?
(Boosts OK, of course.)
#neutrino #physics #QFT

2024-11-01 07:11:09 UTC

You know what the world needs?
Graham Chapman stepping into the scene dressed as the colonel, proclaiming "this is too silly!"
And then everything resets.
That'd be nice.

2024-10-27 22:14:23 UTC

Another question primarily for the native English speakers.
In German, the expression "Papier ist geduldig" (literally, "paper is patient") means that just because a rule is written down, doesn't mean anyone is following it.
It is commonly used as a sarcastic comment upon learning of a new rule, law, or norm that the speaker believes will never be properly enforced.
Is there a similarly succinct idiom for this in English?
(Local/regional or slang expressions are perfectly fine.)
Boosts OK.

2024-10-24 13:43:43 UTC

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Way-back when Twitter wasn't shit, I would routinely include a QR code that opened a Tweet Intent that was pre-populated with the conference hashtag, and cc'd my handle.
Maybe I'll find a way to come up with a fedified version thereof at some point.

2024-10-23 19:24:42 UTC

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When I do talks, my complete slide deck is available with speaker notes for people to open on their own devices, where the slides advance in sync with what I present on the main projector. I think of this as an essential accessibility feature for people with impaired vision.
A QR code is far and away the best option to share in that context.

2024-10-23 19:01:19 UTC

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See, that's a nuanced and balanced view.
"Don't scan a QR code, ever" by contrast is as stupid as "don't ever click on a link."

2024-10-23 07:30:04 UTC

Pet peeve: when people dunk on things they don't like, without considering that the alternatives are worse.
In our latest stupidity craze, apparently QR codes are now evil.
Look, "normal" URLs are a fucking pain. That's why we came up with link shorteners. Those are now grossly enshittified advertising profile building machines. Yeet them.
QR codes are infinitely better.
And just like you shouldn't open a link from a shitty person, you shouldn't open a QR code from a shitty person.

2024-10-21 21:25:26 UTC

Fun facts:
The most sustainable commute comes with working from home.
The most fuel and power efficient commute comes with working from home.
The fastest commute comes with working from home.

2024-10-20 19:24:49 UTC

I can not tell you just how grateful I am for @npub1t4g…z58f's recommendation for Des Lantham's History of South Africa podcast.
193 episodes (and counting) of about 20–25 minutes each, narrated by a professional broadcaster with excellent elocution and a great voice, giving me an excellent opportunity to lose myself in a new rabbit hole. This will accompany me in nearly 60 hours' worth of workouts.
Thank you kindly, South African fedinaut!
https://www.ecr.co.za/podcasts/history-south-africa/

2024-10-20 15:07:56 UTC

I haven't been following pro basketball much since I was a teenager, so bear with me on this one: has any professional player mastered the no-look pass as spectacularly and as consistently as Magic Johnson of the Showtime era L.A. Lakers of the 1980s?

2024-10-16 20:04:51 UTC

Can someone help me out with a podcast recommendation along the following criteria please?
1. English language.
2. Not US centric.
3. Not hosted by a USian.
4. Not the podcast edition of a BBC radio programme. (If you were going to recommend one of those, chances are I'm already subscribed)
5. Scientific, historical, or biographical focus preferred.
Boosts OK.

2024-10-14 19:45:01 UTC

That 1982 Grace Hopper lecture that you've surely been watching is giving me jolts because it's so similar in delivery to this one (undated, but probably from within a 10-year window of Hopper's talk) by Russell Ackoff. They even use and pronounce the word "marvellous" identically.
https://youtu.be/EbLh7rZ3rhU

2024-10-10 17:53:02 UTC

I am constantly amazed at people who argue along the lines of "well they can't be serious, surely they don't want that, because it would fall back on them" when it comes to goddamn fascists.

2024-10-05 13:51:02 UTC

How do you pronounce Jira?

2024-10-04 19:38:05 UTC

About that thing about so-and-so many percent of U.S. CEOs thinking remote work will be gone in 3 years, you need to understand that most manager types are truly incapable of any kind of extrapolation other than a linear one from the last two quarters.
Whatever has gone up for two quarters will go up forever, whatever has been flat will be flat forever, whatever has gone down will dive straight into the ground.
Trend reversals? Cycles? Saturation? Unheard of.

2024-09-30 14:34:51 UTC

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Pretty sure sqm means square miles here, because why tf not.

2024-09-28 08:09:27 UTC

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I am appalled, APPALLED, at this insinuation.
@npub1j7f…270h

2024-09-28 07:58:31 UTC

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Oh I did get that part. I would not publicly admit to post-noon cappuccino.

2024-09-28 07:51:02 UTC

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Okay I should be a little more precise: I had what passes for cappuccino this side of the Brenner pass. 🙂

2024-09-28 06:37:08 UTC

I have a cappuccino, a custard croissant, and the cafe is blasting The Cranberries' Zombie.
Life could be a lot worse.

2024-09-24 19:31:25 UTC

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This is what happens in Australia; send a delegation and learn.

2024-09-22 13:31:17 UTC

Question for people from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America: I'm curious, to what extent does it annoy/bother you when people from the U.S. speak of values that are very particularly USian as "American values", or the USian way of life as the "American way of life"?
(Boosts OK.)

2024-09-21 05:21:02 UTC

Best hot breakfast?
(Boosts OK. For science!)

2024-09-15 13:44:48 UTC

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Right now that trip is definitely off as the stretch of rail between St. Valentin and St. Pölten has been closed.

2024-09-14 11:26:45 UTC

If anyone has successfully enrolled *and* verified a fingerprint (with `fprintd-enroll` and `fprintd-verify`) on a @npub1sfg…fqh4 Aura 14 Gen3 on Ubuntu Jammy, would you like to tell me your secret?
I can successfully enroll a fingerprint, but have been failing to get it verified.

2024-09-12 20:52:14 UTC

You are in a public space with seating, approaching a seat in which no person is sitting, but there is another person sitting in a seat nearby. You make eye contact with the person and point at the unused seat.
In your culture and language, what's the polite question to ask?
(Boosts/comments OK)

2024-09-12 19:52:18 UTC

What kiddo asks before falling asleep:
”Could you fly a kite on the summit of Everest?”
That's… not a bad question, even if you disregard the practicalities of needing firm ground to stand on. Sure the summit of Everest is usually windy, but is the air pressure great enough for wind resistance to fly a kite designed for roughly sea level?
Anyone done the math?
(Boosts and comments welcome!)

2024-09-12 06:15:26 UTC

Cancelled next week's trip to Germany. Would have travelled the night of the 16th/17th, when they institute checks on all land borders for the purpose of appeasing far-right fucktards, with so much as a week's warning, and I expect their crumbling rail system to grind to a screeching halt as a ripple effect.
On the plus side, this enables me to meet with Open Source Summit folks in Vienna. Silver lining, I guess?
Anyway though, to hell with borders and all the idiots that want them back.

2024-09-10 04:45:32 UTC

Liebe Kunden in Deutschland. Jegliche Verzögerungen bei Terminen, die aufgrund von Grenzkontrollen entstehen, sind zum selben Stunden- und Tagessatz verrechenbar wie Arbeitszeit vor Ort.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Ihr IT-Berater aus dem feindlichen Ausland.

2024-08-27 20:59:26 UTC

This year's Fibonacci Conference had record attendance, as much as the last two COMBINED.

2024-08-25 12:44:02 UTC

The most self-contradicting product name in existence is the Dodge Ram; I will not be taking questions at this time.

2024-08-21 15:30:06 UTC

Lesen hier vielleicht Arbeitsrechtler:innen aus Deutschland, Österreich, der Schweiz mit? Ich hätte da mal eine Frage (im nächsten Tröt), als Teil einer Recherche für einen Vortrag.
Wer selbst nicht vom Fach ist, darf gern weitertröten, aber bitte unterlasst spekulative Kommentare.
Wenn ihr antwortet, dann sagt bitte dazu, über welches Land ihr sprecht. Danke!

2024-08-07 12:13:04 UTC

Question for USians: who among the following, according to your personal hunch or impression, live in a "capitalist" system?
(Select one or more options. Boosts appreciated.)

2024-08-02 07:24:04 UTC

Wie verwendet ihr eigentlich die Sichtschutzfolie bei eurem Laptop?
(Gern weitertröten.)

2024-07-04 15:07:56 UTC

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Good pace! Congrats!

2024-07-03 06:00:44 UTC

"My feelings and faith are just as important as your reason and facts" is not only bullshit bothsidesism and a malicious hack on empathy, but more importantly a rollback of the enlightenment.
When that happens, shockingly enough, we get everything we had before: autocracy, quackery, and plague.

2024-06-27 19:56:26 UTC

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Mr 9 made the family lunch today and aced the risotto.

2024-06-24 18:41:24 UTC

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That said: if you were, say, a minister in the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption, I might turn up for worship.

2024-06-24 18:40:12 UTC

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Occasionally.

2024-06-24 18:33:14 UTC

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You sure about that?

2024-06-21 19:02:14 UTC

Took the ol' road bike out of the shed.
Every bit of this machine is replaceable or repairable by a moderately talented person. It requires no electronics, electricity, or fuel to run. All it needed after years of disuse was a wash, some air in the tubes, some grease on the chain, and two screws on one pedal tightened. It rides exactly as it did when I bought it off my first salary, nearly 30 years ago.
Bicycles are engineering marvels. Hardly ever has humanity come up with anything close.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/656/122/727/258/171/original/ca9d1bef3c349926.jpg

2024-06-21 11:24:32 UTC

"Government can ban wearing masks but can't ban carrying guns": statement dreamed up by the utterly deranged.

2024-02-25 07:50:11 UTC

It's come to my attention that some people don't know this so here goes: if you have a piece of puff pastry (croissant, pain au chocolat etc.) that you bought yesterday and that's gone a bit stale, it will turn perfectly crisp and fluffy again if you reheat in on your toaster — if you give it a rinse under the tap for a second or two and shake off the excess before popping it on.