Re: Food Prices

On Mon, 02 Jun 2025 05:54:29 -0400, Catrike Ryder
<Soloman@old.bikers.org> wrote:

On Sun, 01 Jun 2025 12:40:20 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:
>

On Sun, 1 Jun 2025 11:24:01 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>

On 5/31/2025 10:26 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 31 May 2025 20:49:21 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
 

FWIW, I missed the keyboard question and the $10 bill questions.

 
Most people will recall what's on 1 or 2
addition bills, but have forgotten the others.  (No, it's not short
term memory failure).
 
However, if I do the same party trick with a group of 8 to 11 year
olds, they using get both sides of the bills correct on the first try,
except for the $50 and $100 bills.
 
Ok, want to speculate on why this happens?

>
I've got no clue.

>
Think of money as a symbol:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_and_His_Symbols>
Just about everything can be used to represent something else.  In
this case, money represents responsibility and maybe a complex life
style.  The more money one has, the more complexicated one's life
becomes. 
>
The typical 8 to 11 year old doesn't know much about responsibility
and therefore doesn't worry about it much.  However, they do know that
paper money can be used to buy things and certainly pays attention to
paper money when it appears.  At that age, they also spend
considerable time learning how things work, including paper money.
Eventually, they learn that bigger numbers buy better thinks.
>
As we get older, we become more involved in using and understanding
money.  Initially, we learn that it must be protected or someone will
steal it.  As we get older, we learn about interest, banking,
checking, loans, stocks, bonds, etc.  That rapidly converts money into
being a symbol of a responsible and complex life.  The typical 8 to 11
year old probably doesn't recognize the symbology.  Almost every adult
certainly does recognize what money symbolizes.
>
Kids take everything in.  The good, the bad, the simple, the complex,
etc.  They are a sponge for information.  They can't remember where
they left their jacket or hat, because they're not important to them.
Similarly, the 8 to 11 year olds will leave paper money in strange
places, because they haven't recognized its (symbolic) importance.
Adults are quite the opposite, choosing to hide money from sight,
possibly hiding it in a bank.  I can provide more examples if anyone
wants them.
>
What happened is that the 8 to 11 year olds were not afraid of money,
while adults do their best not to think about money because it
represents a responsible lifestyle to which they're probably not
certain they can tolerate.  So, they forget about money and its
symbols.  I guess I'm still doing this because I can rarely recall
where I left my checkbook.
>
I can demonstrate the difference with magazine covers.  Perform the
same test I described including the 2 hr delay.  Those who failed to
recall the details of the various denomination paper money will do
much better with something that doesn't symbolize something that
they're not quite prepared to deal with.
 

In the distant past, I use an analog watch:
<https://www.wikihow.com/Use-an-Analog-Watch-as-a-Compass>
The tricky part is dealing with daylight savings time.

>
I do know that trick, but never use it these days.

>
It has the advantage of working anywhere, without the need carry an
"instrument".  When hiking, I like to travel light. 
>

One of my more
satisfying purchases last year was a tiny flat compass that clips
perfectly onto the rear center of my handlebar bag's lid.
https://www.rei.com/product/857612/suunto-clipper-lb-nh-compass

>
<https://www.suunto.com/Products/Compasses/Suunto-Clipper/Suunto-Clipper-LB-NH-Compass/>
1.2 inch diameter.  Luminescent dial and fluid filled (waterproof).
Good enough for most uses. 
>
Have you tested it for accuracy?  I've found the very small diameter
compasses to be very inaccurate.  I prefer the somewhat larger
diameter hiking compasses:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=compass%20parts&udm=2>
The larger diameter oil filled marine compasses are much better, but
are unfortunately unsuitable for hiking and bicycle riding:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=marine%20compass&num=10&udm=2>
>

I've proven to myself many times that I have no talent for guessing
which way is north. My notoriously cloudy riding area doesn't help.
>
But about analog watches: I've always preferred them to digital watches.
I can process the information more quickly. I still treasure the
chronograph (mechanical of course!) my father gave me when I finished my
engineering degree (mechanical of course!). I have had to open it up a
couple times to tune up the chronograph clutch, and I now wear it only
for special occasions, but still wind it every day.

>
I've never owned a chronograph.  I still have a rather expensive Cyma
wind-up watch.  I started wearing watches when the LED digital watches
first appeared in about 1972.  My employer at the time (Alpha
Electronics) manufactured ceramic hybrid watch modules.  I still have
one, although it doesn't work.  I gave up on wearing a watch when I
bought a Motorola StarTac flip phone in 1997(?) which provided a built
in clock.

>
>
Wouldn't it be easier to just wear a watch with GPS and a compass?

That would depend on what was available over the past 50 years.
Technology that is commonly available today, didn't exist when just
about everyone was wearing analog watches.  This might have worked if
I was willing to tow it in a bicycle trailer:
<http://leapsecond.com/pages/atomic-bill/>

Steve Roberts had the right idea, but was probably too far ahead of
the available technology for the 1980's:
<https://microship.com/bikes/>
<https://nomadicresearchlabs.substack.com/p/the-first-digital-nomad>
<https://www.google.com/search?q=satellite%20roberts%20on%20bicycle&udm=2>

There are also wearable computers:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=wearable%20computers&udm=2>


--
Jeff Liebermann                 jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558