[Smile] What's something small that really makes you smile?

Forums › Off topic › [Smile] What's something small that really makes you smile?

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Smpl Mnmlst
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#2648009 5-Feb-2021 07:21

Rikkitic:

I recently learned that wombats excrete cube-shaped turds. Isn't nature wonderful?

Having time on my hands and finding this slightly interesting, I googled it and found that in 2019 researchers into this trivioid won the Ig Noble prize for Physics.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Lizard1977

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#2648038 5-Feb-2021 09:52

I was getting my haircut on Wednesday (thankfully, without the wittering from the hairdresser that usually goes on) and I heard on the news that the Covid vaccine had been given a green light in NZ.

As the scissors snipped quietly around my head, I marvelled inwardly at the position I was in: it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day; I was getting my hair cut amongst many others, none of us required to wear a mask; business was being conducted with very little restriction; an hour later I would be picking my daughter up from school, where she was able to start the new school year with no discernable difference to a year ago. Yet, almost a year prior we were embarking on one of the most uncertain, terrifying journeys as we faced the grim reality of a global pandemic. It's by no means a small thing, and there are so many countries still deeply ravaged by the pandemic, but it brought a small smile to my face as I appreciated (not for the first time) how impressive our country's response has been to Covid - that we could turn around from something so oppressive, and less than a year later be in such a priveliged position to face the challenge.

I know many people have made similar observations, and I myself have made the comments to others, but it was the serenity of the moment, and the casualness with which the news was delivered with barely a murmur, that registered with me. Back when all this started, if someone had told me that I would be in the position I was in less than 12 months later, I would have laughed hollowly. It serves as a reminder that even when things seem very grim, we collectively have the resilience to come out on top. Not to downplay the many tragic outcomes for so many people, who have got sick, lost jobs, or even lost loved ones, but rather to appreciate the position we find ourselves in.

Handsomedan

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#2648040 5-Feb-2021 09:57

Lizard1977:

I was getting my haircut on Wednesday (thankfully, without the wittering from the hairdresser that usually goes on) and I heard on the news that the Covid vaccine had been given a green light in NZ.

As the scissors snipped quietly around my head, I marvelled inwardly at the position I was in: it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day; I was getting my hair cut amongst many others, none of us required to wear a mask; business was being conducted with very little restriction; an hour later I would be picking my daughter up from school, where she was able to start the new school year with no discernable difference to a year ago. Yet, almost a year prior we were embarking on one of the most uncertain, terrifying journeys as we faced the grim reality of a global pandemic. It's by no means a small thing, and there are so many countries still deeply ravaged by the pandemic, but it brought a small smile to my face as I appreciated (not for the first time) how impressive our country's response has been to Covid - that we could turn around from something so oppressive, and less than a year later be in such a priveliged position to face the challenge.

I know many people have made similar observations, and I myself have made the comments to others, but it was the serenity of the moment, and the casualness with which the news was delivered with barely a murmur, that registered with me. Back when all this started, if someone had told me that I would be in the position I was in less than 12 months later, I would have laughed hollowly. It serves as a reminder that even when things seem very grim, we collectively have the resilience to come out on top. Not to downplay the many tragic outcomes for so many people, who have got sick, lost jobs, or even lost loved ones, but rather to appreciate the position we find ourselves in.

I have a lot of video calls with people from around the world and I have to be very mindful of just what an amazing position we are in here in NZ...it really is a special place to be right now...especially as we are in high summer with great weather and freedom for all.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

Tinkerisk

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#2648822 6-Feb-2021 21:15

Got managed to fiddle those 269 parts together ...

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

freitasm

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#2650033 9-Feb-2021 10:17

Being important enough that some sad human (a banned user most likely) thought it was worth calling the police and give them an anonymous tip - causing them to show up at my door step this morning.

Smiling because the police officers were really nice, we had a good chat, they are doing their jobs the best they can and all is well that ends well.

networkn

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#2650067 9-Feb-2021 10:42

Finding a lost item!

Rikkitic

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#2650113 9-Feb-2021 11:27

freitasm:

Being important enough that some sad human (a banned user most likely) thought it was worth calling the police and give them an anonymous tip - causing them to show up at my door step this morning.

Smiling because the police officers were really nice, we had a good chat, they are doing their jobs the best they can and all is well that ends well.

Wow. That is disturbing. Lucky you weren't in America, where the police would have shot you on the way in. Fortunately most of ours have a better attitude. Any suspicions who it might have been?

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Quic Broadband

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#2650120 9-Feb-2021 11:31

Rikkitic:

Wow. That is disturbing. Lucky you weren't in America, where the police would have shot you on the way in. Fortunately most of ours have a better attitude. Any suspicions who it might have been?

A couple. But that's for the police to find out. I am sure their "anonymous tipster" will find it soon enough that's not always the case.

freitasm

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#2650229 9-Feb-2021 12:36

Posted the story here now.

frankv

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#2650314 9-Feb-2021 13:26

Rikkitic:

Lucky you weren't in America, where the police would have shot you on the way in.

Yeah, nah! Police in the USA shoot at people about 3,000 times per year for about 1,100 deaths. There are about 700,000 cops. So one cop in 233 shoots at someone each year. Or, on average, a cop shoots his gun once per 233 years. Or, (baselessly) assuming an average career length of 30 years, seven out of eight cops never shoot at anyone. Ever.

So you're pretty much the UNluckiest person in America if the police shoot you. In more ways than one.

Rikkitic

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#2650385 9-Feb-2021 14:12

I wonder if black people have a genetic predisposition to bad luck!

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

elpenguino

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#2650507 9-Feb-2021 17:34

frankv:

Rikkitic:

Lucky you weren't in America, where the police would have shot you on the way in.

Yeah, nah! Police in the USA shoot at people about 3,000 times per year for about 1,100 deaths. There are about 700,000 cops. So one cop in 233 shoots at someone each year.

The article doesn't say how many cops shoot at those 3,000 people so it's not quite accurate to come up with 1 in 233.

What we can infer is that cops need to spend more time at the shooting range. If a cop decides to shoot at someone and misses he/she has failed.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Ge0rge

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#2650579 9-Feb-2021 18:30

@chorusnz spray painting graffiti on the footpath outside my old man's place.

neb

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#2650608 9-Feb-2021 19:29

Ge0rge: @chorusnz spray painting graffiti on the footpath outside my old man's place.

Was it Chorus or utilities? The codes used for marking those are near-universal, it was interesting being in France on a street where work was about to be done and seeing, in great detail, the underground layout of everything there marked out on the street surface like an X-ray vision map.

Tinkerisk

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#2650736 10-Feb-2021 07:54

Influencer - especially those wasting time by 'lifestreams' with no real message behind.

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