TIL: Today I Learned... (Join in!)

[Eternal_Freedom]

TIL In England Notaries charge huge fees.

Once that's taken care of I'll be one step closer to selling the Forester.

Yup. This is why in the County Court we get a lot of people coming in to get affadavits and similar sworn. Because unlike solicitors who act as a "Commissioner for Oaths" we are required to do it for free. And I must admit, "Commissioner for Oaths" sounds waaaay cooler than "Notary Public." Sorry yanks!

Anyways. Today I learned about the wreck of HMS Gloucester, sunk in 1682 off of Norfolk (in England), discovered in 2007 and made public in 2022. Quite fascinating, especially since the sinking was partially caused by (and the loss of life greatly exacerbated by) the soon-to-be King James II and VII, who wound up getting deposed for being a) Catholic and b) incompetent.

I have also learned that mature, sensible adults who have either worked in senior government roles and/or those who lived long enough to retire can be just as petty and whiny as teenagers - I've caught up on a bunch of emails for my astronomy society after my holiday, and several of them boil down do "waaaa, he's saying mean things."

Now I have to deal with this. Barely a month after the last time this happened, FFS.

[aerius]

TIL there's such a thing as World LeftHanders Day.

There's also an International LSD day, which is known as Bicycle Day after the inventor's spaced out ride home on his bike.

[LadyTevar]

TIL In England Notaries charge huge fees.

Once that's taken care of I'll be one step closer to selling the Forester.

Yup. This is why in the County Court we get a lot of people coming in to get affadavits and similar sworn. Because unlike solicitors who act as a "Commissioner for Oaths" we are required to do it for free. And I must admit, "Commissioner for Oaths" sounds waaaay cooler than "Notary Public." Sorry yanks!

I have to agree, "Commissioner for Oaths" has a nice ring to it.
In WV, if you're in business as a Lawyer, banker, or just "A Notary", you are legally not supposed to charge more than $5 per signature.
When I was part of the Vital Registration Office, I could not charge, as I was a Government Employee. Same goes for being a Librarian -- I am a Notary, but I can only sign when I am at work as a Librarian. I can't have someone come to my house and charge them, it's solely part of my Job.

[J]

TIL that every adult in my family is a pothead cannabis user. Even my 95 year old grandmother.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Well at least you all have something in common!

LadyTevar: Same here. I can witness and swear affadavits only in my capacity as a "Proper Officer of the Court" and only at work. Not that I'd do it outside of work even if I could frankly, I find it tedious and irritating.

[madd0c0t0r2]

Til that spider boots do help.in minefields. You are still injured, but the foot should be attached
https://kbin.social/m/fosscad@lemmy.wor ... s#comments

[LadyTevar]

Well at least you all have something in common!

LadyTevar: Same here. I can witness and swear affadavits only in my capacity as a "Proper Officer of the Court" and only at work. Not that I'd do it outside of work even if I could frankly, I find it tedious and irritating.

I find it interesting. After all, I'm just watching them sign their name, making sure it matches their ID, and then signing and stamping. We usually chat a little as the paperwork is filled out, but it's not tedious to me.
Unless there's more work you have to do?

[Eternal_Freedom]

Well at least you all have something in common!

LadyTevar: Same here. I can witness and swear affadavits only in my capacity as a "Proper Officer of the Court" and only at work. Not that I'd do it outside of work even if I could frankly, I find it tedious and irritating.

I find it interesting. After all, I'm just watching them sign their name, making sure it matches their ID, and then signing and stamping. We usually chat a little as the paperwork is filled out, but it's not tedious to me.
Unless there's more work you have to do?

Oh yeah we have to get them to swear on oath and everything (for affadavits anyways). And it's a distraction from the rest of the job - typing orders, listing cases, referring stuff to Judges, clerking hearings, and in my case, fixing the insufficiently-cursed IT system. And printers. Fuck those things.

[LadyTevar]

Well at least you all have something in common!

LadyTevar: Same here. I can witness and swear affadavits only in my capacity as a "Proper Officer of the Court" and only at work. Not that I'd do it outside of work even if I could frankly, I find it tedious and irritating.

I find it interesting. After all, I'm just watching them sign their name, making sure it matches their ID, and then signing and stamping. We usually chat a little as the paperwork is filled out, but it's not tedious to me.
Unless there's more work you have to do?

Oh yeah we have to get them to swear on oath and everything (for affadavits anyways). And it's a distraction from the rest of the job - typing orders, listing cases, referring stuff to Judges, clerking hearings, and in my case, fixing the insufficiently-cursed IT system. And printers. Fuck those things.

Swear an oath? THAT is interesting. Is the oath different depending on what they're getting notarized, or is it a generic "I am who I say I am and I avow this is truly what I want"?
Oaths like that are rare outside signing up for the military or swearing in as a witness to a legal case.

Now, there's usually a bit on the paperwork where *I* have to sign a bit that says "I <name> do hereby state that I have witnessed the signature of <name> on this date and time", and that's where I put my commision expiration, my signature, and my stamp. (stamp has my name, signature, address and date of expiration as well)

[Eternal_Freedom]

For affadavits it's essentially "i do solemnly, sincerely and truly avow and affirm {or I swear by almighty god/Allah etc} that this is my signature and the contents of this, my affadavit, are true to the best of my knowledge."

We don't have to swear an oath, but we do sign and stamp it with the specific Court seal.

[His Divine Shadow]

TIL that we're better prepared to face climate change than we thought where I live.

While climate change is one of those things that countries like Finland will be the least affected by, we just found a hereto unknown underground aquifer. And it's a big one. The biggest underground aquifer in the nordics. And it's not far inland from where I live.

Due to some interesting geological quirks which means the aquifer is very drought resistant and is continually refilled from the rainfall of a very large area that all runs into it eventually.

Feels like this will be an important discovery for dealing with climate change, unpredictable weather patterns and farming for us.

[LadyTevar]

TIL -- After centuries of culinary delights, Londoners no longer like to eat Eel Pie. "People are too squeamish about it now" quotes the BBC.

Considering that Eel was one of the few cheap sources of protein available along the Thames for centuries, I would say one reason would be the current ease of obtaining beef, chicken, and pork, which do not have the image of snakey/slimey/wiggly.
There's also the fact that *something* is happening to the European Eel between Europe and the Sargasso Sea, where they live before returning to Europe to spawn in the streams. Overfishing (because there's no limits on catches)? Microplastics? No one's sure, but the European Eel is drastically endangered

[Eternal_Freedom]

Today I learned that the idea I honestly thought was a piss-take (new wind-powered merchant ships) is actually a thing.

And everyone is ooh-ing and aaah-ing over it as something pioneering! We used this for thousands of years FFS.

[LadyTevar]

TIL -- One probable reason why the wildfire spread to houses in Lahaina so fast. The majority of them had ASPHALT Roofing.

All those embers, and in some cases whole branches thrown by the wind, hitting asphalt roofing atop drought-dry wooden houses. Once the shingles caught fire and the asphalt started melting, the houses were doomed. Add in most houses had shrubbery and huge flower bushes right against the side of the house, all drought-striken dry, the embers had plenty of fuel.

That photo of "The Red House" that survived?
It'd recently been renovated with a metal roof, and all foliage had been removed from the sides of the house, replaced by gravel pavers. There was nothing for the embers to catch.

I hope all of Lahaina can be rebuilt with metal roofs.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

And walls made of bricks instead of wood.

[LadyTevar]

And walls made of bricks instead of wood.

Possibly. The "Red House of Lahaina" was still wooden, but sat further away from other houses and had that 'fire break' of no foliage.

[His Divine Shadow]

Brick is a terrible material in all other respects IMO.

[Broomstick]

There are no perfect building materials, they're all trade-offs.

[muse]

TIL that they're doping our dope with extra dope.
It seems the ~30% THC designer strains aren't strong enough.

[LadyTevar]

TIL that they're doping our dope with extra dope.
It seems the ~30% THC designer strains aren't strong enough.

Why are y'all getting so much dope anyway? You're getting more than a friend of mine whos' on total disability!

[aerius]

Why are y'all getting so much dope anyway? You're getting more than a friend of mine whos' on total disability!

Legalization + Capitalism = More dope & stronger dope

Most consumers here in Canada think that more THC is better so the commercial growers are having an arms race to see who can grow the highest THC pot. THC numbers in weed are like horsepower numbers for muscle cars.

Some consumers and a growing number of smaller boutique growers have learned that THC isn't everything, the terpenes in the weed also have a significant effect on the type & intensity of the high. Get the balance right and the weed will knock you on your ass even with relatively modest THC numbers.

[Broomstick]

Frankly, my interest in weed is not so much in getting high as to shut up my brain when it gets stuck in an anxiety-generated loop so I can get some sleep. Fortunately, the "budtenders" I've encountered in Michigan have the whit and wisdom to listen to what the customer wants and I've been quite satisfied with my weak edibles.

This, despite being within walking distance of Illinois, pretty much everyone around here goes to Michigan because the cost is between 1/5 and 1/10 that of Illinois and greater choice. I suppose proof that some flavors of capitalism are better than others?

Out of deference to my doctors I've been abstaining recently so as to not complicate anesthesia (I'm already a complication to a history of asthma, and effects of canabis weren't covered in medical school back when my gas-doc was studying). It would have been nice the night before the operation.

[J]

TIL the fluoride they put in our drinking water (hydrofluorosilicic acid) is NOT the same as the fluoride in our toothpaste (sodium fluoride).

[Eternal_Freedom]

TIL that, in a hilarious bit of irony, you can visit Karl Marx's grave if you pay an entry fee of about $6.

[The_Saint]

TIL the fluoride they put in our drinking water (hydrofluorosilicic acid) is NOT the same as the fluoride in our toothpaste (sodium fluoride).

TIL this.

TI-also-L that there is a lot of spare lunch left over from parent-teacher last night because none of the teachers ate the sandwiches and sausage rolls and opted for the woodfired pizza (school has a woodfired pizza oven and an italian ex-pizza-shop owner on staff) that was supposed to be for the parents.