When you are young, 2 or 3 years actually seems like a reasonably long length of time. When you are fifty it feels like a couple of weeks, so replacing products that last 2 years feels like you're replacing the damn thing every month.
intersting point. I think one other difference is that as a kid, you don't have much stuff, but if you're old, you have a houseload of stuff you own and maintain, so each failure is a responsibility and an annoyance.
Absolutely right about the paper. I use copier paper to write on, and a specific brand of it, because even between the brands of identical looking paper there are huge differences. Some branks seem to suck up the ink like blotting paper with more feathering than an explosion in a pillow factory, others are just too rough and feel horrible to write on. The ink also makes a big difference. Some inks just kinda suck, others work really well.
(Currently I'm running Platinum Blue-Black in a cheap Platinum Plaisir on 'Double A' brand copy paper. Parker Quink also works very well for me.)
I've been using a Platinum Plaisir as my daily driver for 5 years now. ( < $20) It uses the same nib as the ultracheap Platinum Preppy ( < $5 ) (of which I also have far more than I need).
For the last few decades I've been using Avery Lee's VGAPaint386. I downloaded it in 1997 and I should really get around to updating to the 1.4 version he released in 1998. One of these days I guess.
Makes me think of Krikkit in HHGTTG (from whence the view of the rest of the universe was cut off by a dust cloud. When its inhabitants finally did get to see it their immediate reaction was "It'll have to go")
For a VERY different take on this concept, do yourself a huge favour and read “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov. Just thinking about it sends shivers up my spine.
Its been years since I've seen any bottles or packs of full dose Aspirin in a pharmacy here (Singapore). Seems like nowadays you can only get those low-dose tablets for blood thinning and they cost a fortune (compared to generic Panadol or what normal Aspirin used to cost)
I moved to Asia and suddenly found it nearly impossible to get full strength Aspirin. Kind of frustrating as it seems to be the somewhat less harmful NSAID.
Some research later, I found that it possibly interacts with certain bacteria that cause stomach ulcers and that these bacteria are more likely to be in poorly stored food. So, street food basically. This is a risk factor that would be much lower back home in Europe.
I wasn't able to get a definitive answer on this, but it's the best one I found so far as to why Aspirin is common in Europe and almost totally absent in Asia.
I take a pill of ibuprofen every once in a while when I have a bad headache, and paracetamol-based drugs only as a last resort when I have a bad cold or similar.
Same here, aspirin is as accessible as ibuprofen and paracetamol. I’ve switched away from it for the odd pain management, but mostly because I get nosebleeds easily, and aspirin is not helpful then.
Ah, my bad. So, could look for "acetylsalicylic acid + caffeine" combos from brands other than Bayer. Except if there's some special legal restriction for acetylsalicylic acid in Singapore.
Hm, now that you mention it, it's not common to see Aspirin here in the drug stores. Apparently you can buy low dosage Aspirin online but the regular dosage seems elusive. I'll ask in the pharmacy next time...
Yes, there were viable alternatives right up till quite recently but unfortunately that wrong something seems to be ubiquitous now.
My work and all our customers do most communication on Whatsapp now.
My spouse's work is just the same.
Ditto for most other potential employers / customers / clients now.
Everyone I know pretty much exclusively uses Whatsapp for messaging now.
It sucks and I don't much like Whatsapp but its the reason I even own a smartphone - and without it I doubt I'd even be able to put food on the table now.
I'm a prolific follower and follow several thousand accounts making it my primary source for getting a heads-up on what people all over the place in those fields that interest me are thinking and doing (IT, politics, gaming, art, business, etc).
That said, I really miss the good old days before 'social media' when there used to be actual forums and blogs and IRC channels for everything under the sun. Thank heavens we still have HN.
