Wow, it's been a while since I read my email

[conuly]

And now I have 168 emails from various news organizations to read. You know, this is how the Collier brothers started. All I can say is, thank goodness my backlog of news is in the form of nagging emails rather than a newspaper maze in my house!

Anyway, I'm going to go through my open tabs here, then start in on the emails in another post. I should get through the backlog pretty fast once I actually bother.

*****

Vintage Photos Show the Early Days of Washing Machines, 1880s-1950s

I find swan parenting so interesting and relatable

An Extremely Detailed Guide to an Extremely Detailed Map of New York City Neighborhoods

Everything I Thought Knew About Nasal Congestion Is Wrong

People with autism less likely to succumb to bystander effect, research finds (No shit)

When you win a Nobel Prize, this illustrator beautifully explains your idea

This guy collects Do Not Disturb signs from Hotels around the World

Apple hunter’s 16-year quest for rare ‘lost’ variety was just the start

How ‘armless archer’ Matt Stutzman transformed a Paralympic sport

The 420-year-search for Shakespeare's lost play

The Mystery of Florida’s Flamingos

Home schooling’s rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

Home countries of major rainforests agree to work together to save them

Soap Sally, a Villain of Appalachia and the American South, Echoes Old World Evil

How to Hijack a Quarter of a Million Dollars in Rare Japanese Kit Kats

25-Year Lasagna, Special Ops Oatmeal, and the Survival Food Boom

Dismantling the Walls in Our Heads

The CIA Rectal Tool Kit for Cold War Spies

It is, for real, the beginning of the end for Tumblr

Slavery and the Modern-Day Prison Plantation

What the Golden Gate Is (Finally) Doing About Suicides

Why 'Following the Money' Isn't Enough to Stop Organised Crime Anymore

The US is quietly arming Taiwan to the teeth

Exclusive: Inside Ukraine’s secret drone factories

Ukraine war: Russian attacks force evacuations of children

Afghans return to Taliban rule as Pakistan moves to expel 1.7 million

Comments

[frith]

I found about nine fresh new faces from Tumblr on the Latest Things page this morning and I welcomed them to Dreamwidth. ^_^ Alas, while I did point out some resources, I didn't see anything fresh and Tumblr friending relevant on dw community promo. So many Tumblr newbies at once, they should confer! Yer Dreamwidth reading plot isn't going to seed itself. y'know. ^_^

[conuly]

Wasn't there a Guide to Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users floating around a few months ago?

[frith]

Nope, missed it. Might have been drawing ponies. Yesterday morning was just a serendipitous convergence of time on my hands, motivation and an unusual demographic in the Latest Things. ^_^

[bismuth209]

i'm doing my best to find other tumblr immigrants here, arrived yesterday myself, after i was spooked by the news like so many others

however, i think tumblr might actually be... fine? they're downsizing in a way that we probably just will have way less annoying and big changes, and the moderating team isn't downsizing. they're not aiming for growth anymore because that failed. they're maintaining what is there.

despite my worry for tumblr having subsided, i like it here! so i'm staying!

[frith]

Oops! I should rather have said I think there was! I was in a bit of a rush to get out the door this morning so I thought you'd asked me why I didn't guide Tumblr ex-pats a few months ago...

What I was looking for though, was a way Tumblr ex-pats could like, smooze, trade tips and plot how to make their Dreamwidth experience look a bit like what they liked about Tumblr.

[frith]

Welcome to Dreamwidth! It looks like you've already got a good handle on it. ^_^

[foms]

I used a couple of the old-style wringer-type washers, in the early 1990s. They looked a lot like "Maytag Wringer Washer, 1940".

I worked as a limousine dispatcher and part of that was to wash them between uses. To minimize water spots from natural drying, we went over the whole outside of each car with a dry or damp kitchen towel or tea towel, after washing and rinsing. The tub allowed us to keep a good supply of soapy water for washing cars and towels and the wringer got the towels dry enough for purpose.

At the time, if one broke down, the boss would get another one, used, for very little money. I don't imagine that one could do that, easily, today. They seem to be available but not commonly and not cheap (sold as antique/collectible). I wonder how many of my contemporaries have used one.

[conuly]

Not many, I'd imagine! One of the reasons we switched to spinner washers is because wringers are a serious hazard. Lots and lots of people got their arms mangled in them.

[foms]

Not for nothing are the wringers called mangles. On the other hand, once in a while, I see a news article about someone having an arm torn off by a spinning washing machine.

[conuly]

Yes, and not for nothing do we say people look like they've been through the wringer.

But how do people lose arms during the spin cycle? Are they opening the washer while the spin cycle is running, overriding the safety latch which stops it automatically when the lid is up, and then sticking their arms in? Why would they do that?