It is the fediverse welcome package.

Shouldn’t it be “Trump’s Derangement Syndrome”?

Maybe even more.

The real mental illness here is the “Trump following syndrome”, where people still support him despite what he does.

Why should anyone feel with this Gregor? It is just a story, and a horribly bad one to boot. In a story that is good, capturing the mind, etc, I can easily see to feel with the characters, but this story does simply not warrant wasting any more thoughts.

As an Earl Gray drinker, no. I don’t watch ST.

Is that the smartest politician Alabama could (in-)breed?

Some areas will be hit with a double whammy: Unemployed due to Trump playing tariff roulette, and then no social security.

One has to give it to Canada, China, and the EU: They know where it hurts.

First of all, don’t drink that stuff, and don’t water your plants with it.

Loads of metals (Lead!) and still acidic. Not good. What is the source of the acidity? CO2? Acidity leads to metals getting dissolved, so this might the the point where to look.

Have a look at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations - This does not sound good for your case.

Your worst problem is definitely the lead. Look at https://www.epa.gov/lead/will-my-filter-remove-lead for more information.

AND: Download the information from EPA - you’ll never know how long they will still be available under the current administration.

If there was anything to think in his unhinged writings. Sorry that this guy was a nutcase, but it shows in the stories he wrote, and they were simply not worth the time I had to waste on them.

I don’t agree here. Classical literature is often less refined as current literature, simply because there is progress over the centuries. And because classical literature is “classical” and therefor important, many people who consider themselves knowledgeable read things into those texts that were never there to make them sound more relevant. Which is fundamentally wrong.

In the end, one has to accept that humanity progresses, and that things from a hundred years ago really are more primitive than things today. A hundred years ago, people did calculations on a slide rule, now they have computers. And while a slide rule was technically top of the pops back then, nobody would call them bleeding edge today. In a similar way, one has to accept that a story that old simply is a story that old, and simply does not appease the modern mind, because it lacks the technique and finesses that has been developed in storytelling over the last hundred years.

Yes, there have been authors that have been far ahead their peers, like Shakespeare in English or Goethe in German. But they are old literature now, and one still has to read them with the correct timeframe and matching expectations in mind to value their genius. Kafka, on the other hand, never was anything special, at least in none of the works I was forced to read, even if generousely put in the time matching frame and a ton of benefit of doubt. I simply don’t understand why anyone puts this nutcase on a pedestal.

It always amazes me how much people hallucinate into a bland and witless story like that.

Of course you can hallucinate about everything into that story, but that still does not change the fact that it is boring like hell.

I’ve read it in German, and it was that bad.

From the image, the left could have been carrot, the center piece pineapple, and the right one something black pudding-ish. The usual cafeteria dog food.

The most boring story ever. A guy wakes up, notices he is a beetle for whatever reason, and is afraid his family might notice. That’s it. Why anyone would waste paper on printing this shit is incomprehendable.

Ages ago, before i started to teach my techniques to the masses, i was considered the international specialist in that field. I have withdrawn since then, but I am still good.

Japanese mint oil. I believe that would be a very interesting experience.

And chocolate.

There was a booth on a Rotterdam market named “Spice Girl”. They sold a number of interesting things like the chili oil we are using (very carefully, and we are used to hot food!), and the pickled gherkins - with a habanero in the jar. Absolutely recommendable. Sadly, they no longer run that booth, as they have gone online.