@fitheach Don't worry, i can out-dumb you :-)
When I was 11 and nearly too short to reach the cupboard above the stove I reached out my right hand to steady myself and give me a slight boost in order to reach with my left hand up into the cupboard.
Oh, thou very idiot!
The electric coil I placed my palm and nearly full weight on was bright orange hot...
@gemlog
You've got the defence that you were only 11 years old, I don't.
@fitheach Maybe we're regressing now? :-)
I somehow forgot exactly and was a bit embarrassed to have to ask my daughter how old a grandchild was on her birthday last week.
Eleven! Holy mac!
She looks like 7-8 to me.
Mind you, my 31yo still seems like a kittenish little girl to me too so...
@gemlog
Naughty, you should know the age of your grandchildren. 😉
@fitheach I know :-(
I'm completely horrible. Bad grandad.
It took me ages to remember even the birthdays of my children without a computer.
Even in my twenties I was using 'Nag' from 'Grandma Software' in Seattle on my Amiga 2000 for such chores.
@gemlog
Just make sure you don't forget their names. 😉
@fitheach When we were little one of my sisters hated that our nana would always partly say all the names of her kids and grandchildren in order before getting to the correct one i.e. that sister in her case. "Jea-Joh-Hub-pau-Jackie!"
She vowed to be better.
In her adulthood she bred collies and she was Worse.
She went through all her dog's names before getting to her children! :-)
@gemlog
One of the few I use is:
Do Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk
@fitheach Never took biology me.
@gemlog
I didn't do any biology after about 14 years of age, I preferred physics.
However, when reading anything about nature, remembering the order of taxa in biology is useful.
@fitheach I never got any in school (moved a lot) and never took it in college after.
Anything I know is just from my own reading around. Nothing formal at all.
@gemlog
Every day is a school day.
@fitheach It's true.
@gemlog
I should add that having some more formal education in biology & chemistry would have been useful for topics that I read now for entertainment.
@fitheach My thinking as a child: taxonomy - we base it on a dead language so it doesn't change and always makes sense. Discovery: we name in latin whimsically and often after their discoverer!! Well eff that! It's a stupid waste of a good idea.
I will tell you though, that seeing this lecture years ago made me regret my early decisions somewhat.
Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language...
https://www.ted.com/talks/bonnie_bassler_on_how_bacteria_communicate
And I've gone on a bit.
@fitheach warning: her actual vids from normal lectures at her uni have low information xfer and are slow and boring.
Maybe all profs should be forced to TED rules of 20 minutes and then you get the hook.
@gemlog
Eventually got around to watching that. It was good.
@fitheach My favourite from a very old Omni magazine contest is:
Damn Clever Mnemonic Makes No Prefix Forgetable
And I think that only got a mention and not a prize.
And the other way:
Decadent Hector Killed Meg's Gigantic Terrier