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

[His Divine Shadow]

Today I learned I am getting shafted on butterfat when buying whole milk. Consider the following (using local prices).

-A liter of whole milk (3.5% butterfat) is 1.50 euros nowadays
-A liter of regular milk (1.5% butterfat) can be 90 cents
-5dl or half a liter of whipping cream (36%) is 2.30€

Even just at a clance I can see I am getting a lot more fat for the buck from the packet of cream. The dairies must be making their money from the milk sales. For a regular 1l carton of whole milk you get 35ml of butterfat for your 1.50 euros, but from the packet of cream you get 180ml for 2.30.

This comes out to roughly 1.3 cents per ml of butterfat when buying cream and 4,3 cents per ml when buying milk. Sooo if you buy the light milk and a packet of cream and put 35ml of cream into it (5 cents worth from a cream packet), you've saved like 55 cents per packet. At 10 packets of milk per week (our family consumes 6-10 liters) times 52 that's 286 euros per year saved

[His Divine Shadow]

TIL of the new Zeroth Law of robotics, for our reality:
A robot may not harm capital, or, by inaction, allow capital to come to harm

[Raw Shark]

TIL Unemployment only pays out for 26 weeks, then you have to wait several weeks before re-applying.

How many weeks do you have to wait? My Unemployment payments run out in early May 2023. I can't Re-apply until October 16, 2023.

I love how Unemployment has been gutted by the GOP over the last 30yrs. After all, Poor Unemployed People can't be trusted, so we have to pay them way less than the Federal Minimum Wage, or they'll stay unemployed forever and live off their Unemployment! After all, they can always get a job at McDonald's, right?

Wow, Raw Shark knows things sometimes! I worked for the Office of Economic Security (aka: Unemployment) through 2020. My best advice is to ask your state's local help desk, because laws vary. But it never lasts forever, they let you re-up a set number of times and then you're done forever.

By the way, a lady I helped one time did work at Mickey D'S. She got laid off because of the 'vid, was six months pregnant with her sixth child, her husband had just been killed in an out of work accident, and she hesitated to apply for over a month because she doesn't like taking hand-outs. Fuck the GOP.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

TIL Unemployment only pays out for 26 weeks, then you have to wait several weeks before re-applying.

How many weeks do you have to wait? My Unemployment payments run out in early May 2023. I can't Re-apply until October 16, 2023.

I love how Unemployment has been gutted by the GOP over the last 30yrs. After all, Poor Unemployed People can't be trusted, so we have to pay them way less than the Federal Minimum Wage, or they'll stay unemployed forever and live off their Unemployment! After all, they can always get a job at McDonald's, right?

Wow, Raw Shark knows things sometimes! I worked for the Office of Economic Security (aka: Unemployment) through 2020. My best advice is to ask your state's local help desk, because laws vary. But it never lasts forever, they let you re-up a set number of times and then you're done forever.

By the way, a lady I helped one time did work at Mickey D'S. She got laid off because of the 'vid, was six months pregnant with her sixth child, her husband had just been killed in an out of work accident, and she hesitated to apply for over a month because she doesn't like taking hand-outs. Fuck the GOP.

Universal credit is similar, there's a 6-week lag between applying for it and money coming through, even when you're switching to it from another benefit. As one former job coach said, it's a good system that's been implemented badly.

TIL that when the tape measure you've been using is the same size and weight as your wallet you think you're going to the shops with your money in your pocket when you're not.

[The_Saint]

Today, well last week I learned what pointers are in C and I sorta understand the why I feel. I've decided to learn C despite it being very old language, but it seems like it can very powerful and useful to know. It brings you a step nearer the hardware than most and I think it could be beneficial to learn such basics. Also still used a lot in low level stuff which seems like it could be fun.

I will never forget this video from my University Intro to programming course:



TIL again that I'm getting older and don't recover quite as fast as I used to. 6 days of running back to back canyoning and mountain biking trips haven't done me any wonders.

[aerius]

TIL that drinking and shit-posting on the internet is more fun than making well-thought meaningful contributions.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

TIL what Global North and Global South mean

[His Divine Shadow]

TIL that my fiance makes a lot more than me. Helped her with her taxes. She made 20k more than me in 2022.

I'm not complaining about this in a macho hurt feelings way, just weird I didn't know until yesterday.

I think I should look for a new car now, mommy pays.

[aerius]

TIL that it's possible to get so high that I can't find the doors on my own home. And this is legal.

[The_Saint]

YIL (Yesterday I learned) why North American toilets are weird to everyone who isn't North American.

The weirdly high water level and always needing a plunger thing.

[His Divine Shadow]

What's with that anyway

[EnterpriseSovereign]

The toilets as far as a North American hotel I was in tended to fill up and then would suddenly empty very quickly. Except the one in my room which stopped doing that a couple of days before the end and would only empty very slowly. So that toilet ended up as full of crap as the hotel manager and we left it in that state as a final "fuck you" to said manager

[The_Saint]

What's with that anyway

Suck down vs flush down.

So in North America they tend to have a longer, thinner trap, combined with an initial high water level when you flush it creates a syphoning effect to suck waste down and out of the toilet.

Everyone else (that isn't using a squat style toilet) the trap plumbing is of a much greater diameter with a lower water level and you 'flush' a large amount of water on top which 'pushes' waste down the trap.

So everyone else is less likely to get clogged but on the flipside you're more likely to get 'stains' on the inside of the bowl compared to North America.

[LadyTevar]

Today I learned how American Toilets work.

I now wonder how much water is 'wasted' flushing the toilets, American vs Others. Especially since American toilets usually run straight from the main water pipe, while I've heard some other countries will store bath or laundry water to use for flushing, since it's already 'dirty'.
TBH, using water that's already been used (and paid for) to flush seems like a great money-saver.

Suck down vs flush down.

So in North America they tend to have a longer, thinner trap, combined with an initial high water level when you flush it creates a syphoning effect to suck waste down and out of the toilet.

Everyone else (that isn't using a squat style toilet) the trap plumbing is of a much greater diameter with a lower water level and you 'flush' a large amount of water on top which 'pushes' waste down the trap.

So everyone else is less likely to get clogged but on the flipside you're more likely to get 'stains' on the inside of the bowl compared to North America.

[His Divine Shadow]

Toilets here use clean water too. I think stuff like that might happen in places where they get droughts.

[bilateralrope]

Recycling the water like that would make the plumbing more expensive to install, so there would need to be some incentive like significant water bills.

Here the water is unmetered. So the toilets are filled from the water mains in every home where I know about the plumbing.

So everyone else is less likely to get clogged but on the flipside you're more likely to get 'stains' on the inside of the bowl compared to North America.

Why would anyone choose the clogs over the stains ?

Especially when a little toilet cleaner block attached to the side of the bowl can really cut down on the stains.

[His Divine Shadow]

Now unmetered water that's a new one on me. Unless we're talking people with their own wells of course. We pay nearly 4 euros per cubic meter of water (half of that is the sewage fee) since we're hooked up the municipality's water and sewage.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Here in the UK it's optional, in fact Environment Agency figures from March 2017 showed that 50% of households in England had a water meter fitted.

[bilateralrope]

Now unmetered water that's a new one on me. Unless we're talking people with their own wells of course. We pay nearly 4 euros per cubic meter of water (half of that is the sewage fee) since we're hooked up the municipality's water and sewage.

I did some quick poking around and turned up this article. Basically in New Zealand there are some cities with the water is metered, others where it isn't. Meters are a very unpopular idea in the areas where they aren't implemented.

[Crazedwraith]

I take it there's a flat fee or some kind of extra tax that covers the cost in unmetered areas?

[His Divine Shadow]

You aren't getting hooked up here to a municipal network without a meter here and I think that's how it was done from nearly day one.

[bilateralrope]

I take it there's a flat fee or some kind of extra tax that covers the cost in unmetered areas?

Yes. The water is included in the rates paid to the city council. I think those are calculated based on property value.

[The_Saint]

Today I learned how American Toilets work.

I now wonder how much water is 'wasted' flushing the toilets, American vs Others. Especially since American toilets usually run straight from the main water pipe, while I've heard some other countries will store bath or laundry water to use for flushing, since it's already 'dirty'.
TBH, using water that's already been used (and paid for) to flush seems like a great money-saver.

Syphonic systems (North America) historically have required far more water per flush but something I saw said that the current USA government target is about the same as everyone else at 5-6 litres. Do you guys have dual flush systems where there's a 'full' flush and a 'half flush' depending on which 'waste' has been deposited??

I've seen some compact toilets for ensuites where there is a sink built into the top of the cistern so that you wash your hands with the water that will be used to flush the next time.

[His Divine Shadow]

I have often hear americans complain about water saving toilets, saying they don't flush well. I wonder if it's because of this, maybe the type of toilet needs more water to work efficiently?

[Broomstick]

Today I learned how American Toilets work.

I now wonder how much water is 'wasted' flushing the toilets, American vs Others. Especially since American toilets usually run straight from the main water pipe, while I've heard some other countries will store bath or laundry water to use for flushing, since it's already 'dirty'.
TBH, using water that's already been used (and paid for) to flush seems like a great money-saver.

Using "greywater" to flush is, in fact, a great money-saver and good for the environment.

Here in the US you can, if you want to, get two-mode flushing (uses less water for pee, more for poo) and you can also hook up your plumbing to flush with greaywater. Off-grid homes/businesses and desert/water-poor areas are where you're most likely to see this sort of thing. But these options are not well known or popular because historically water has been relatively cheap in most of the US.