What Have You Learned Recently?

[TheoFleury]

I've learned that I'm destined to be alone. I wasted my youth on a job that ####ed me over and a wife who fell out of love with me. Lost touch with all my former friends. Mid life crisis. Don't know what to do. 2 kids that I love but she keeps them from me. Mentally ill too so there's that. Living in poverty despite a good wage, crushing child support and debt from the marriage. Car engine went and used cars are literally non-existent and a new car is just more crushing debt. I make $32/hour and I'm walking and cabbing everywhere. So much bitter anger. Don't know why I'm posting this here. Just done. Finally sober after a two decade struggle. Not because of a heroic struggle but because even drinking provides no joy for me anymore.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

I've learned that I'm destined to be alone. I wasted my youth on a job that ####ed me over and a wife who fell out of love with me. Lost touch with all my former friends. Mid life crisis. Don't know what to do. 2 kids that I love but she keeps them from me. Mentally ill too so there's that. Living in poverty despite a good wage, crushing child support and debt from the marriage. Car engine went and used cars are literally non-existent and a new car is just more crushing debt. I make $32/hour and I'm walking and cabbing everywhere. So much bitter anger. Don't know why I'm posting this here. Just done. Finally sober after a two decade struggle. Not because of a heroic struggle but because even drinking provides no joy for me anymore.

Maaaan… sounds like a real wringer so far… dude. Hard as it seems there has to be a “bottom”. Gotta stop the drain of money physical and mental resources. But it doesn’t happen over night. Sounds like you have already identified a few areas you can improve on… and that’s actually a good thing.

Somehow gotta figure out what you ARE in control of, what you can and must do positively. That could be small free things like looking at money management, notes to your kids and calls, finding some type of community or group (even if temporary or a support group), working on mental Health, getting and keeping a reasonable set of positive habits and daily schedule.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

I've learned that I'm destined to be alone. I wasted my youth on a job that ####ed me over and a wife who fell out of love with me. Lost touch with all my former friends. Mid life crisis. Don't know what to do. 2 kids that I love but she keeps them from me. Mentally ill too so there's that. Living in poverty despite a good wage, crushing child support and debt from the marriage. Car engine went and used cars are literally non-existent and a new car is just more crushing debt. I make $32/hour and I'm walking and cabbing everywhere. So much bitter anger. Don't know why I'm posting this here. Just done. Finally sober after a two decade struggle. Not because of a heroic struggle but because even drinking provides no joy for me anymore.

TF - sounds like a lot of rough things going on for you. Please give 211 a call - they have resources that can help you through this.

[Macman]

I learned recently that the runway markers at airports are actually degrees and the number on one end of a runway will be 180 degrees from the other. They're real world co-ordinates as well. The letter is basically if there's more than one runway like (L)Left or (R)Right.

It's the degrees minus the last digit, so 180 would be 18.

[Strange Brew]

I learned how to clean my dog’s ears today. Noticed immediate difference in how much he shakes his head.

Feel bad for not doing this more often instead of relying on vet.

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

I've learned that I'm destined to be alone. I wasted my youth on a job that ####ed me over and a wife who fell out of love with me. Lost touch with all my former friends. Mid life crisis. Don't know what to do. 2 kids that I love but she keeps them from me. Mentally ill too so there's that. Living in poverty despite a good wage, crushing child support and debt from the marriage. Car engine went and used cars are literally non-existent and a new car is just more crushing debt. I make $32/hour and I'm walking and cabbing everywhere. So much bitter anger. Don't know why I'm posting this here. Just done. Finally sober after a two decade struggle. Not because of a heroic struggle but because even drinking provides no joy for me anymore.

You'll get past this and things will get better.
Life can change in a heartbeat from the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times, but you have to keep plugging away to get there.

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by Macman

I learned recently that the runway markers at airports are actually degrees and the number on one end of a runaway will be 180 degrees from the other. They're real world co-ordinates as well. The letter is basically if there's more than one runway like (L)Left or (R)Right.

And the heading corresponds to magnetic North, not geographic North. So, as the magnetic pole drifts over time, runways may need to be renumbered. This was done in Calgary a few years ago when Rwy 10/28 became 11/29 and 16/34 became 17/35.

[Macman]

To TheoFleury, you're making a decent rate so that's a positive building block. Bad stuff happens to everyone really and the past is the past. If you aren't already I would recommend some books on money like Dave Ramsay and also self help books by people like Tony Robbins, they're great resources to help you get back on track. Just a suggestion.

[Lubicon]

The other day I learned that the Juno awards were not named in relation to Juno Beach in Normandy. I had always assumed there was a connection between the two.

I also learned that Juno beach was originally code named Jelly Beach. Each of the three British/Canadian invasion beachheads in Normandy were named for fish - Swordfish, Goldfish, and Jellyfish which were shortened to remove 'fish'. Winston Churchill apparently felt Jelly was not a dignified name for a beach that was likely going to see a large loss of life and requested it's name be changed. Juno was the replacement name.

[SutterBrother]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

The other day I learned that the Juno awards were not named in relation to Juno Beach in Normandy. I had always assumed there was a connection between the two.

I also learned that Juno beach was originally code named Jelly Beach. Each of the three British/Canadian invasion beachheads in Normandy were named for fish - Swordfish, Goldfish, and Jellyfish which were shortened to remove 'fish'. Winston Churchill apparently felt Jelly was not a dignified name for a beach that was likely going to see a large loss of life and requested it's name be changed. Juno was the replacement name.

I’m a big WW2 history buff, but I’d never heard this before! If you don’t mind me asking, where did you learn it?

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by SutterBrother

I’m a big WW2 history buff, but I’d never heard this before! If you don’t mind me asking, where did you learn it?

Wikipedia , but it does have a citation and a quick search of other websites seems to confirm it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_Beach

https://www.junobeach.org/dou-vient-...de-juno-beach/

[Swift]

Time for a bump.

I had been somewhat aware of the story surrounding the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, that it had been written during a stay in Geneva in 1816 with superstar poets Lord Byron and her yet-to-be husband Percy Byshhe Shelley. I didn't learn until recently that the modern tradition of vampire fiction was created at that time too. Byron and his physician and friend John Polidori were staying in Geneva when the Shelley's and Mary's step-sister came to stay. One evening whilst reading ghost stories, they challenged each other to write their own stories. Shelley (then Mary Godwin) came up with her famous creation. Byron came up with an idea of a noble vampire. Polidori later took that idea and published the short story The Vampyre in 1819. There had been fleeting references to vampires in the English literature of that time, but this was the first time a sustained fictional treatment was written in English, and the first time vampirism had been taken from eastern European village tales and introduced into not just an urban setting, but a high society, aristocratic setting. The story of Lord Ruthven was hugely popular spawning many translations, plays and operas and laid the groundwork for later vampire stories Varney the Vampire (1847), Carmilla (1872) and of course Dracula (1897).

Crazy interesting that two of the most famous cultural creations of modern times both sprang from the same occasion.

[Fuzz]

Frankenstein is a great read. Dracula? Uhm, I'm kinda stuck halfway through that one..

[Swift]

I didn't hugely care for it when I read it but some scenes have stuck with me years later as terrifyingly written (Dracula crawling up the wall of the castle, the arrival of the Demeter)

[agulati]

Nm

[pylon]

I know way more French than I ever thought I did.

We spent 12 days in Tahiti and got back a few weeks ago. The amount of cereal box French you learn in Canada, can actual make you semi-useful in a French speaking country. My wife is fluent in French so I was feeling total useless at first.... and all of a sudden, I am ordering dinner, asking how much things cost, stuff I learned in the late 80's all of a sudden starting coming back. It's amazing though, how many general items you remember subconsciously from bi-lingual packaging.

So I got Babbel French when we got back, and after 3 weeks, I can have very simple conversations with her, and getting more advanced weekly. We only speak French after 8:00pm. I'm very happy about this, as I thought I'd never learn a second language. My goal is to be fluent by next Christmas, which from my understanding isn't impossible if you semi-immerse in it.

[BloodFetish]

I was recently told that fork and knife placed separately on the plate means "I'm still eating", but fork and knife placed together means "take that #### away".

[pseudoreality]

Originally Posted by pylon

I know way more French than I ever thought I did.

We spent 12 days in Tahiti and got back a few weeks ago. The amount of cereal box French you learn in Canada, can actual make you semi-useful in a French speaking country. My wife is fluent in French so I was feeling total useless at first.... and all of a sudden, I am ordering dinner, asking how much things cost, stuff I learned in the late 80's all of a sudden starting coming back. It's amazing though, how many general items you remember subconsciously from bi-lingual packaging.

So I got Babbel French when we got back, and after 3 weeks, I can have very simple conversations with her, and getting more advanced weekly. We only speak French after 8:00pm. I'm very happy about this, as I thought I'd never learn a second language. My goal is to be fluent by next Christmas, which from my understanding isn't impossible if you semi-immerse in it.

Good for you. My wife and I have been trying really hard to upgrade our french over the last few months. So far it has been primarily through Duolingo and some YouTube videos. We are meeting an online tutor later this week. The plan is to move the family to France for a year starting sometime in 2025. So we have some time, but a lot to learn.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by pseudoreality

Good for you. My wife and I have been trying really hard to upgrade our french over the last few months. So far it has been primarily through Duolingo and some YouTube videos. We are meeting an online tutor later this week. The plan is to move the family to France for a year starting sometime in 2025. So we have some time, but a lot to learn.

If you're not going to write it, I've have positive and hilarious interactions with people after using pimsleur. I've always had interest in linguistics but for language, but I've never been able to feel conversational without just going for it and not using my mother tongue as a crutch. When I worked in canmore with Quebecers, I started speaking in French with them at levels far surpassed than my years of French immersion in 3 weeks. No becherlle, no writing and conjugation, no reading, pure conversarion and asking how to improve my vocabulary and grammar in French as much as possible and English as little as possible (Franglais).


Korean, two friends said my pronunciation was on point, but he asked why I was speaking formally and politely like an ancient character. It was supposedly akin to, "Art thou a citizen of Korea? I myself am a citizen of Canada!"


Spanish, I was joking with a friend who was moving to a Spanish speaking country but adamant she wasn't going to learn the language... "Habla Castellano?" I said mockingly. "What the #### is Castellano?" She replied. From the background someone yelled, "the poetic language of my forefathers!!"


Pimsleur I believe, focuses on pronounciation and a basic verbal communication you can adapt on the go when you're immersed in the language. It does genuinely seem like it anticipates you'll embrace adding and improving to the spoken language. Many other language software seem to be too much too fast, or feeling like preschool making it easy to information overload or feel self conscious about your poor language skills. Pimsleur on the other hand is purely conversational and while the basis is perhaps odd and seemingly outdated, I'll say I felt more confident to jokingly try and respond in a language after Pimsleur (Korean and Spanish) than after 1-2 semesters of language classes (Japanese and French immersion). I think it was easier for me to attempt a language from the perspective of "I speak weird" vs "I speak poorly", especially when the conversations included a bit of humor about how over the top formal it was. It's like the opposite approach of "teach me how to swear" but for me, it works. Many other methods criticize the lack of reading/writing, but for me, the best way to learn a language is just speak it and just try. Kids speak for years before attempting to write and IMO that is a better path towards fluency vs attempting to read and write and speak nearly simultaneously from ground zero. Criticisms of it being kinda boring are fair, but IMO I feel like language learning is always boring unless you're actively using it as a survival tool or as a means to build a genuine connection with someone. One or both or those are immensely important. I vastly improved my Cantonese in 6 weeks speaking with my grandmother (no parental translation and no chinglish) than I had improved over 6 years of Chinese school.


I just toyed with the Pimsleur tape from the library eons ago. I only spent an hour on it, but I still remember a lot of what was on those tapes. I think they have an app now that's a fixed fee for all their languages. I think it has a trial. It might be worth having someone do the free trial and see how the tutor reacts. My guess, they'll have a good chuckle. During the holidays, I've been thinking I should do Pimsleur Mandarin to improve my conversations with the inlaws. I might give French a go on the side as well as Spanish (more than the first few hours) and perhaps Russian for some extra layer of something to laugh at over drinks.

[Lubicon]

Last night I learned that Kiss started their first tour (outside playing clubs in NYC) in Edmonton of all places.

"February 5, 1974 - KISS begins first North American tour in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, as an opening act."

https://www.kissonline.com/history