o-ceti

    my one skill is expertly manipulating the shape of the eggs I’m cooking so that they fit perfectly onto my toast every time

    o-ceti

    Bow down to your king

    o-ceti

    I can’t stop outdoing myself

    crying-over-really-dumb-things

    Remember that post? The one that said “what if we all have super powers but they’re so mundane we don’t realize?” That post? This is proof that post was right

    If you're in an area that is suffering from wildfire polluted air, I just saw this on Twitter:

    As someone who lived through the 2020 Oregon wildfires (and other bad smoke condition years), in which in PDX we had air quality as bad as 516 on the air quality index here are some things I did to help myself when we couldn't get a air conditioner and didn't have central air—>

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    Keep your doors and windows shut! Soak rags and towels and ring them out to make them damp and stuff them into any door gaps or drafty windows. You need to try to keep any smoke you can out and this will help filter that out as well as keeping ash from getting in

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    Wear a mask if you go outside! A KN95 or N95 mask is best, but literally a cloth mask will do in this case because the goal is keeping out the ash and other particles. Do not go maskless, it will destroy your throat and harm your lungs

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    This may sound weird, but try to cover up from the ash and smoke. Wear long sleeves, wear pants, wear hats, you don't want this on you and I'd advice showering or bathing when you come home. If you have glasses wear them! This stuff does get in your eyes and it hurts

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    Fill your tub with water! This was key to when I didn't have an air filter, it was advised by some in our city at one point and they said it helps with the air it also can pull some of that bad stuff out of your indoor air. Use cool water. It did make our home feel better

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    Drink a lot of water! It helps process toxins our of your body through your kidneys and keeps you hydrated. You will need all the help you can get to keep from getting a sore throat (which will happen no matter what), and this is very important to do

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    Do not vacuum! It tosses up more ash and dust you do not want to breath right now. Wait until after the smokes clears to clean. If you must clean something use a damp rag or paper towel to keep the ash from flying around

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    These seem simple but:
-don't exercise
-try not to smoke
-don't exert yourself
-keep lights off if you're hot and indoors and have no AC like I did

By the time smoke hit here there wasn't even enough supplies to make a makeshift air purifier. This stuff happens fast. Stay safe

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    We lived with our bad air for around a week in PDX last time and it was awful. These all may be obvious, but I do hope something here helps someone! It is so jarring to have your skies turn orange and for the air to hurt to breath. Lay low, do as little as possible, it will pass

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 7, 2023
    The wildest thing after the smoke cleared here was how much soot was in our apartment, even with every window closed/locked, even with rags in the gaps in doors. Be ready to clean that out after the smoke clears, cause even airtight seeming spaces can let these fine particles in

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 8, 2023
    Again I hope this all helps, and if anyone who is smarter than me wants to add or notices an issue (I'd hate to spread misinformation) with anything I said feel free to post! I am not a particle expert, just a girl who lived through some of the worst air quality possible

— Samantha Mash🌿 (@samanthamashart) June 8, 2023

    Bonus:

    I taped a HEPA filter to a box fan and that worked really really well. I just brought it with me to whatever room I was in and on the really rough days in that 2020 smoke out it was so nice

— The Mad Dog of Big Wet Smoochies (@CraneCulture) June 8, 2023

    Here's a site I found that can tell you how to make these:

    not-the-perfect-wagnerite

    This is really sad, but it's at least kind of encouraging that he's still trying

    euronymous4e

    Absolutely. The spirit of learning should be nurtured at any age. Read on, info warrior!

    gay-jesus-probably

    Hey, this is exactly how you expand your vocabulary - stumbling across new words, looking them up, and then remembering that. And they're still having fun reading the book, so they're probably going to remember the words they pick up. This is good!

    I see y'all in the notes making fun of this, don't fucking shame people for learning stuff late. It's not like this guy can go back in time and do more reading as a kid/teenager, do you want people to learn new things, or do you expect everyone to just wallow in ignorance if they weren't lucky enough to be taught things as a kid/teenager? And they don't need an easier book either, if they're engaged with this one and understanding it, they're fine.

    petermorwood

    Looking up those words is doing the right thing, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

    I was given a dictionary as a present when I was about eight years old (my parents were like that) and I still have it.

    However I also read it right through like a novel, because nobody told me that's not what you do with dictionaries, and there was a result.

    After so long I'm not so sure about my own grammar and syntax, but - my Mum used to joke about it - for a while my vocabulary ranged from impressive to remarkable to downright ostentatious.

    And even somewhat odd, because being able to read a word and say it aloud didn't always mean it was being correctly pronounced (the delights of English strike again...)

    Looking up word meanings doesn't even need a dictionary nowadays, just a few open tabs; I have no idea how Small Me would have responded to that, and finding the properly succinct descriptive term for such a response would probably require a thesaurus... ;-P

    neil-gaiman

    Ditto. All the dittos. Also encyclopedias, thesauruses and books of quotations. Because nobody ever told me I shouldn't.

    sungodsevenoclock

    I know, I know, gatekeeping the outdoors, that's supposedly bad, right, but I think if you show up to do a hike and you brought a portable speaker with you to play music while you hike, I think, like hear me out, there should be a gate, and someone at the gate should keep you from doing the hike.

    nicdevera

    playing music in public should get strong social disapproval

    squareallworthy

    Recorded music, anyway. Live music is different rules. If you want to lug an entire cello up a mountain you can do whatever the hell you want.

    headspace-hotel

    Carrying a speaker on a hike to make everyone listen to your bullshit, and simply sitting under a tree and playing a fiddle in the woods, are two activities so different they may as well not exist in the same world.