I roll my own. See my comment above. I’m broke, but I’m getting some olive oil tonight. Spending way too much on Irish Spring. Bar a week vs. a bar every month or two.

I roll my own Castile soap. Recipes abound if you’re interested. All you need is olive oil and a bit of lye, cheaper in bulk of course. Follow the recipe, pour into cheap silicone molds of your choosing, wait. If you have enough molds and make a big batch, an hours work yields a year+ supply.

There’s another chemical I’m adding next, kinda expensive per gram, only takes a pinch per batch, supposed to harden it in days instead of weeks.

Best part is the bar lasts forever. Haven’t made any in awhile, but I’d forget how old the bar was when I finally replaced it. And that was without the hardening agent! Using Irish Spring, I’m clocking a bar a week.

Also, gets you really clean without feeling harsh or drying your skin. No idea how this voodoo works on a chemical level. But the fear of “lye” soap is a modern old-wives tale. Maybe it was harsh in great-grandma’s time? In any case, the lye is no longer lye after it all reacts.

PROTIP: There is a load of water in commercial bar soap. Step-mom would take it out of the waxy cardboard and leave it open in the cabinet. Dries out, lasts longer, feels no different. Takes months to dry enough to notice, buy ahead of time.

ALL soap is antibacterial. And you’re right, you don’t need the extra bullshit. Whole thing is a marketing gimmick, and I’m old enough to remember when it began.

Soap pops their little lipid cell walls. I want to ask the antibacterial soap people, “So, uh, does that shit pop their cell walls harder?”

It’s the difference is shooting someone in the face with a 12-gauge and insisting an RPG is what’s really needed.

Saw an investigative video about Shenzen, almost 10-years ago I think? Yeah. I was terrified. They have their shit together, have no concept of IP, steal whatever and compete amongst each other to innovate faster and better.

If you have a clever idea in electronics, and you got the education/experience, you can wander down to the market and buy almost any parts you wish, no matter how weird, right off the shelf. These guys were talking about building working prototypes within 24-hours.

Meanwhile, in America, we lost Radio Shack and Fry’s (which was only in big cities) and have to wait weeks to get a pack of LEDs off eBay. Imagine a mega mall where you can get any electronic widget you like, cheap.

Their culture, government, people, all were totally alien to my American senses, but it was clear they were fucking smart and moving fast. Looks like there are lots of new videos to check out, get me updated.

I was a kid in the 80s and remember the fear of Japan. Funny in retrospect, but it was real and it was pervasive at the time.

That would be like a magician explaining the trick, would lose the drama.

Zelensky was a comedian.

It’s been in quite a few articles since last March.

You can make your own 90%+ isopropyl if 70% is all that’s available. The stronger stuff is better for many/most home cleaning and science projects.

Put your 70% in a jar, add a shitload of salt, give it a shake. Siphon the alcohol off the top. There’s a clear boundary layer so you can see what you’re doing. It’s pretty cool!

Also, most desiccant beads are reusable. Notice the rare, colored bead mixed in there? Those are indicators of how wet the beads are. You can microwave a bowl and recharge them. I cut the tiny packs open and pour in them in a jar for later. Also, paper coffee filters are great for making your own, larger packs.

In any case, open your electronics and pull the battery ASAP. And no, don’t try to put it back together any time soon unless you chase the water out with alcohol. Let that shit sit a day or two. One time I pulled an old school monitor out of the rainy trash. Let it sit 48-hours, worked fine.

Uh, how mineral rich is your water?!

I used to raise mystery snails and sell them on eBay and Aquabid. Margins were too thin. After shipping in their special bags, and worse if I had to add a hot or cold pack, only netted me about $5 a sale. Still, never met another that did that for kicks and the same couple of sellers were still active after 10 years last I checked Aquabid.

My American brain refuses to believe this is a real hobby.

Classic sci-fy novel The Heart of the Comet has the lead doctor releasing tailored cold “challenge viruses” to keep the crew’s immune system up. (They were in a space ship, nothing much organic around to grow bacteria.)

People today think “bacteria BAD” and try to live like bubble boy. Then they wonder why they’re sick and allergic to everything. Most y’all, particularly the younger set (I think?) would be appalled at how little I give a fuck about bacteria.

I don’t want to sound like an antivaxxer, but, “I hAve aN ImmuNe SySTem!” And so do you.

Only time I go full-court press on bacteria is when I have a flesh wound. I get hurt a good bit, especially on my hands, gotta heal that kinda thing fast.

I wash my hands with plain soap, dish or bar soap usually. My wife wraps dinner and leaves it on the table overnight. From time to time, I get into seriously nasty anaerobic bacteria while outside. I always putting random stuff in my mouth. Don’t always wash my hands after I piss since my hands have more bacteria than my dick. I’ll drop food on the floor and pop it in my mouth.

And I simply don’t get sick. Main things that hit me are related to my fucked up, former smoker lungs. Observed COVID protocols for the duration, wasn’t worried about washing my hands more than normal, just now got it 2 months ago.

That’s unthinkably rare.

These are the civilian hostages taken by Hamas on the October 7th attack, not Israeli POWs.

If Earth has been around 4B years, do that mean there was a relative shitload of uranium when it formed? And that’s why lead is so common?

Imagine the US House kicking MTG or Boebert out on their ass. Or better yet, we need to get back to fist fights and dueling. Sick of the decorum. Especially, ahem, from one side.

If you keep moving the mosquitoes won’t catch you, unless you’re somewhere insane like Siberia. Dude like that probably has his balls covered in OFF!.

Also, funny trick I keep trying, and it works. Hold your breath and walk quickly. They no longer have a lock on your CO2 and will drop back. My lungs are jacked from smoking in my youth, can’t go too far.

Never thought of that! We’re bags of mostly oxygen.