Notices by Don Romano (alt) (thor@noagendasocial.com), page 31

Feels like some people don't take a yes for a yes. You'll say "Yes" to them and they just keep asking.

Dad, who has always lived near where he grew up, and hasn't traveled much, almost defiantly does the same thing in return.

If I talk about something that is useless or irrelevant if you live where he does, he won't even acknowledge that it may be useful to people who live elsewhere.

I think what he's doing there is taking a stance for the districts. He knows how self-centred and myopic people are in the Oslo area, and insists on resisting it with his own equal and opposite force.

I remember one time when I took some adult education here in Oslo, the capital city of my country, and we were in Civics class, and the phrase "here in Norway" was used very frequently.

To my shock and horror, the teacher would assert all these things about Norway that are only true about the southern end of the country, i.e. the most populated region.

I've also had people who come from here accidentally imply that my home district isn't in Norway.

Growing up in a rural area and later living in the capital city of your country is weird.

When you watch television, listen to radio or read books produced in your country, and you're growing up in a rural area, the accent spoken and the places mentioned or depicted are unfamiliar to you.

When you later move to the capital city, you're suddenly in the middle of it, and it's actually somewhat provocative, because everyone's in this bubble, and no one cares about the outside of the bubble.

Traffic signs kind of resemble a sort of semaphore. With many of the more common signs, you just have to know what they mean, like the inverted triangle of a yield sign, or the diamond of a priority road sign. You just have to know what they mean. Had you told graphic designers to come up with these signs today, they would've used more visual metaphors, and the signs would look more like computer icons.

Traffic signs kind of resemble a sort of semaphore. With many of the more common signs, you just have to know what they mean, like the inverted triangle of yield sign, or the diamond of a priority road sign. You just have to know what they mean. Had you told graphic designers to come up with these signs today, they would've used more visual metaphors, and the signs would look more like computer icons.

There is also a similar "stopping prohibited" sign with a diagonal cross on it. For some reason, this sign does not have the letters STOP on it. Or, you know, just a drawing of a hand.

The Norwegian sign for "parking" is rectangular and blue, with a white P on it. The sign for "parking prohibited" is round and blue, with a red border and diagonal line across it. What I don't get is why the "parking prohibited" sign does not have a white P on it. Wouldn't that make it way more obvious that the sign is about parking?

I haven't been very good at reading for the driving theory exam, so I guess it's a good thing I got 75% of the answers right on this trial exam.

I tried reading a bunch of chapters, but it didn't feel like it was sticking, so I'm changing my approach to just trying to pass this trial exam, and that seems to have been a good idea, since it then goes on to suggest which chapters I should study based on what I got wrong.

Currently keeping my saxophone reeds soaked in gin, because that's what I had on hand. At least they'll taste interesting...

@harvhat @sirphenom Less than a year ago, it was fashionable to ridicule blockchains, and say that they're a solution looking for a problem, and that it doesn't really solve the problems people think it can solve... and people still do, as far as I'm aware of.

@harvhat @sirphenom Sure, but do remember that Wall Street is not that different from Silicon Valley in terms of trying new things, especially if it isn't regulated very well yet.

Americans shocked at beheading in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, in Florida...

Crimean Criminals Crazily Crave Creamed Crepe Cracker Crumbs.

This cat has adopted squirrels. Had that been one of my former cats, it would've hunted them and killed them. I found a dead squirrel in my house once that my cat had killed and brought inside. She was a very skilled hunter, apparently. Squirrels are not easy to catch.

@kf The Online Etymology Dictionary says about the noun hate:

Old English hete "hatred, spite, envy, malice, hostility," from Proto-Germanic *hatis- (source also of Old Norse hattr, Old Frisian hat, Dutch haat, Old High German has, German Hass, Gothic hatis; see hate (v.)). Altered in Middle English to conform with the verb.

So it slipped, but it was a long time ago. In other Germanic languages, like my own, it hasn't slipped.

@bifpowell How do they defend themselves?

Isn't "hate" supposed the verb and "hatred" the noun? People seem to use "hate" as a noun all the time, especially in phrases like "hate crime". If I'm going to speculate, it would seem that "hate" was once exclusively a verb, but the usage has slipped.

The Norwegian name for long-tailed silverfish is "skjeggkre", which translates to "beard critter".

The Norwegian name for Spanish slug is "mordersnegle" or "brunskogsnegle", which translates to "murderer snail" and "brown forest snail". There isn't really a word for "slug" in Norwegian except for "nakensnegle" ("naked snail"), which is more frequently used for marine species, so I guess that's why we just call them snails.