Weird peeve time. Calling lab grown gemstones “fake” is stupid because it’s the same shit just not formed naturally. An artificially grown diamond is the same shit as a natural diamond it is the exact same material bro it’s all fuckign carbon
There is so much bullshit in the diamonds industry to be mad about tbh. It also ties into the bullshit of the wedding industry as a whole but we don’t have the time to unpack all that
not even going to lie, the day i learned i could get like 15 lab grown rubies the size of dimes for $20 is the day i spent $20 on rubies, and i have never once said to myself “man, i wish this cost $1,600 and the lives of eight children to produce”
another very cool lab grown gem is Moissanite. It has a 9.25 on the mohs hardness scale where diamond is a 10. Moissanote also has a 2.69 refractive index in comparison to diamond’s 2.419 and here is the difference
and the best thing about moissanite? It is all lab grown and it costs only a fraction of what diamond costs. So fuck the diamond indsutry and buy lab grown gems which cost significantly less
Also it’s just cool to think of some mad scientist lookin person doing shit against the law of the universe and making pretty gems for you. Like cmon. This shouldnt be allowed probably. But humans really be like on gOD i want some shiny an just started MAKIN em
for years people wanted alchemy, well now we have alchemy and we’re making gemstones out of it and suddenly “it doesn’t count” anymore
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#…there’s something interesting here about the clash between gems-as-decorative-shinies and gems-as-store-of-value #if you were wearing jewellery because it was beautiful then increased availability is an improvement #but if you were wearing jewellery to display wealth‚ and jewellery becomes cheap‚ then it ceases to fulfil its function #more sympathetically‚ if you used to take comfort in the idea that if you ever hit financial rock bottom #–(and‚ especially‚ if you were ever cut off from access to the local financial system)– #you’d be able to get by through pawning your jewellery‚ and jewellery becomes cheap‚ you’ve lost that safety net #(a safety net your ancestors and/or past selves paid good money for‚ money now wasted) #((a few months back I had my mom help me go through the jewellery I’ve accumulated as gifts over the decades #and figure out which ones are valuable and which ones are costume)) #((I store the valuable ones separately from the others so that I can grab the container and run)) #((because silver is a better trade good than steel even if they’re equally shiny)) #((the world is full of stories of refugees who got the starting funds for a new life by selling the jewellery they wore when they escaped)) #I know a whole lot of people place a whole lot more value on decoration than I do #so I expect cheap gemstones are still *net* good #but I see the downsides here #tag rambles #jewellery #101 Uses for Infrastructureless Computers #adventures in human capitalism #proud citizen of The Future #disappointed permanent resident of The Future #is the blue I see the same as the blue you see #death tw? #this probably deserves some other warning tag but I am not sure what
I like being the kind of boringly self consistent guy who will, across a span of a decade, choose to name the same kind of thing the exact same way, such that my trigger which I hadn’t yet got around to actually implementing will just work by running the script from 2013
ime one of the upsides of gas is that as long as you have gas or electric your home has heat and cooking capability
also I’ve never had a gas outage. presumably they run those underground? whereas I’ve lived in places where you were, at some point, definitely going to have the electric out for hours
…how is your heat set up? Is that from having a gas stove?
I have an electric stove and a gas furnace (also a gas dryer and water heater), and I would have said the exact opposite: one of the *downsides* of gas is that your heat needs *both* gas and electricity to work, and fails if either is missing.
(Not that gas has ever been missing, true, but “works when electricity is out” is like the *one* major advantage combustion-based heating can have, and it can’t even fucking do *that*. It had one job! What am I paying all this carbon for, if not that?!)
(I can*not* fucking wait to get a heat pump and some hybrid solar.)
huh, TIL. has this always been the case? most of my lengthy power outage memories occur the late 90s / early 00s and the furnace might have been old at the time.
maybe the kerosene space heater people are right after all
What am I paying all this carbon for, if not that?!
my understanding is that vs resistive heating you’re not paying carbon, since gas furnaces are extremely efficient. heat pumps can change this equation, yeah
My furnace is from 1990. I doubt it’s very efficient; it should, however, give pretty accurate results regarding “what things were like in the late 90s”.
We had a 16-hour power outage in late December a few years back, and it got pretty cold in the house. (Though the downward slope over time was shallower than I would have expected: I guess our insulation is better than I thought.)
I’m not sure what you mean about not paying carbon relative to–oh, are you assuming the electricity is *also* produced by burning gas? We’re mostly nuclear and hydro around here, though with a minority of natural gas.
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>>maybe the kerosene space heater people are right after all
I’ve thought about it, but I’d rather not risk it. My current plan for extended cold-weather power outages is to set up a family-sized tent in my kitchen (the only large enough open space for it) and pile on the insulation.
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#reply via reblog #domesticity #101 Uses for Infrastructureless Computers
Holiday greetings. It is I, Winston George Higgensbooth Sr., real estate tycoon and hater of children and Christmas cookies… or at least that’s what the perky soap-opera star who runs the corner cocoa shop has been telling everyone on Main Street in this close-minded, glitter-choked, fabric-snow-stuffed Hallmark movie town.
In reality, I’ve decked many a hall and “fa”ed many a “la.” My wife used to make incredible gingerbread cookies, which I would mold and shape into staggering gingerbread houses and—better yet—gingerbread multi-family properties.
So why am I a villain? Oh, right, because I believe the most valuable commercial space in town could be used for something more vital than a store solely dedicated to Santa hats. Yeah, I do believe that, and you know what else? I think the growing and diverse community of Pine Creek or Snowy River or whatever-the-fuck would be better served by a thriving city center than a free-standing, dilapidated toy shop.
After spending a few days in this community with my son—who, incidentally, is falling in love with the owner of said toy shop—I feel even more dedicated to my efforts. That toy shop owner barely even opens her business on a normal day. Most afternoons, she’s visiting tree farms and baking sugar cookies with my son. Yesterday they had a snowball fight and nearly kissed in the gazebo. Cool job, lady, but the rest of us have a living to make.
I intend to build a five-story mixed-use complex in the middle of town, thereby making the city center more prosperous and accessible while relieving our strained housing market. But these NIMBY cocoa-snorters would rather that space be used for their favorite Christmas tree lot. Well, sorry kids, there are eleven other months in a year, and people need homes to live in.
Before I was made a widower (in a family tragedy some townspeople cruelly dismiss as my “backstory”), my wife would remind me not to lose sight of the reason for the season. And I agree. Joy, cheer, and togetherness are all very important, but lest we forget on that blessed Christmas night referenced in our carols, baby Jesus needed a room, and the town DIDN’T HAVE ONE.
So screw every single one of you reindeer-clad, ornament-obsessed weirdos who forbid progress because your one month of traditions are more important than creating affordable housing and a functional local economy for everyone year-round. Fuck the cocoa shop lady, and the Santa hat store manager, and that toy store chick. I don’t care how happy she makes my son. She’s a fascistic yuletide narcissist. The only way to solve this housing crisis is to build more ho-ho-ho-HOMES. And no climactic town square singing or Jingle Bell Ball buffoonery will convince me otherwise. Not this time.
I’m buying every Christmas inn from here to Sleighbell Springs and filling them up with families before you can say “auld lang syne.” If that makes me a villain, then I, Winston George Higgensbooth Sr., cordially invite you to kiss my fat, furry, sugarplum ass.
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#I didn’t actually laugh aloud but it still amused me enough to reblog #storytime #Christmas #this probably deserves some other warning tag but I am not sure what
ime one of the upsides of gas is that as long as you have gas or electric your home has heat and cooking capability
also I’ve never had a gas outage. presumably they run those underground? whereas I’ve lived in places where you were, at some point, definitely going to have the electric out for hours
…how is your heat set up? Is that from having a gas stove?
I have an electric stove and a gas furnace (also a gas dryer and water heater), and I would have said the exact opposite: one of the *downsides* of gas is that your heat needs *both* gas and electricity to work, and fails if either is missing.
(Not that gas has ever been missing, true, but “works when electricity is out” is like the *one* major advantage combustion-based heating can have, and it can’t even fucking do *that*. It had one job! What am I paying all this carbon for, if not that?!)
(I can*not* fucking wait to get a heat pump and some hybrid solar.)
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#disappointed permanent resident of The Future #reply via reblog #domesticity #101 Uses for Infrastructureless Computers
You were born of a sacrilegious union. Your green dragon mom never figured the knight she seduced while masquerading as a noblewoman was a silver dragon in disguise. You’d no idea either, born a human orphan. When your dragon blood awoke, so did the dangers which all your heritage entails.
Brinens and Things 