On Decision Making

When your heart tells you one thing and your mind tells you the opposite ...

Plan A:

go for what your heart tells you and leave the rest for Plan B

Plan B:

admit you're an idiot and try to fix everything

Plan C:

go for a drink with a friend

On Important Things

"Importance" of things usually comes from two different sources - our individual interests and the norms and expectations imposed by the society we live in.

Our individual interests are also often influenced by the society, and if you don't want to follow the crowd all your life, you'd better separate the two.

Therefore, whenever someone says me that something is "important", I remember a Russian joke involving popular Soviet cartoon characters: the monkey, the python, the parrot, and the elephant.

Elephant: Do you know what is the most important thing in a tank?

Monkey: The gun!

Elephant: Yes, the gun is important, but it is not the most important thing!

Parrot: The armor!

Elephant: Yes, the armor is important, but it is not the most important!

Python: The caterpillars!

Elephant: Yes, the caterpillars are important, but it is not the most important thing! The most important thing in a tank is not to shit your pants!

Got Pink?

Have you ever found you clothes in shades of pink after washing? I am trying to be very careful and wash always my white clothes separately. Unfortunately, last Friday I washed most of my white things with a red napkin hidden in a pocket of my shorts.

The first reaction was, of course, panic and despair. Then I tried to put them overnight into "Vanish", containing hydrogen peroxide, I guess. No results. Then I left it for a day in a bleach for wool, silk, and cotton. I guess it did not contain any chlorine. So, no difference. Then I asked internet, and it appeared that there are several products designed exactly for this cases. The one I could get in Italy is called "Remedia" and it contains sodium carbonate and sodium ditionite. It comes in two packages solvable in 8-10 liters of water. I emptied one package into 15-20 liters of water (yes, I spoiled a lot of clothes) and left overnight. In the morning I found everything almost white, so I used the second package and left the washes for some more hours.

As a summary, this thing cost me just around 2 euros and saved my 6 T-shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 3 pairs of socks, and a bar of underwear. I made a promise if it worked I would made an advertisement for it. So it here is. In addition, they write it is also applicable to non-white clothes. I did not try!

Bug Attack

Recently we fell under attack of little worms coming out of the section where we store our of flour, rice, polenta, semolina and other dry supplies. A similar attack has happened to another student flat some time ago.

I told my mom about the accident and she said that if I want to avoid such thing happen again I should put a slice of garlic in each pack. Who would imagine. Let's see if it is working.