When the vacuum cleaner bag becomes full, attach it to a leaf blower, with a filter so that only the fine dust can be evenly distributed throughout the living space. The larger vacuumed up bits and crumbs will remain in the vacuum bag. If the vacuum bag is mostly empty, it can simply be re-attached to the vacuum cleaner. If the vacuum bag is too full after blowing out all of the fine dust, then its remaining contents can be:
* added to fireplace
* used as pillow stuffing
* added to garden soil
* leaf-blower disbursed into back yard
* mixed with used chewing gum as new form of play doh
* ingredient in cigarettes
* food additive, using a suitably complex ingredient name
Original source for this seems to be NPR member station WABE but I found it via antiwar.com.
I'll excerpt a bit but do read the whole thing.
President Donald Trump called former President Jimmy Carter for the first time this weekend.
Just that initial sentence was enough to brighten my day. I'm not a big fan of living Presidents, but Carter is the exception. If anyone can give Trump some good advice it will be Carter - and the fact Trump made the call indicates he just might listen to that advice.
So what kind of advice was given? Let me skip ahead a little.
(Carter) said Trump said he is particularly concerned about how China is “getting ahead of us.”
Carter agreed that’s true.
“And do you know why? I normalized diplomatic relations with China in 1979. Since 1979 do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None. And we have stayed at war,” he said.
The U.S., Carter said, has been at war for all but 16 years of its 242-year history. (China and Vietnam actually fought a brief border war in early 1979, weeks after normalization of U.S.-China relations.)
The last two sentence probably got reversed in an editorial mistake, because that reads quite awkwardly as is, but that's how my source has it.
He called the United States “the most warlike nation in the history of the world,” because of a tendency to try to force others to “adopt our American principles.”
And this is where, unfortunately, many of us obey our training, cover our eyes, stuff our fingers in our ears, and start saying something like 'hates America.'
No. This has nothing to do with hating anyone or anything. It has to do with the ability to set aside tribal sentiment and look at things objectively. What are the facts? As laid out above, China has been at peace since right about 1980, and focused single-mindedly on improving their economy, on building their originally pathetic industrial base until they are now the word leader. Over the same period, we've been at war virtually every year, and our military spending, already much larger than that of any other nation (or several put together) just keeps expanding.
We have to be able to acknowledge what that means, or we live in a dream, disconnected from reality, unable to understand the context of events we're therefore unable to respond appropriately.
Carter suggested that instead of war, China has been investing in its own infrastructure, mentioning that China has 18,000 miles of high-speed railroad.
“How many miles of high-speed railroad do we have in this country?”
It's definitely worth the click. Carter knows of what he speaks.
Chants like "Lock Her Up" look childish.
Political candidates need to learn and evolve.
Act more like adults.
Instead of each candidate promising, if elected, to lock up their opponent, they need to start labeling their opponents as terrorists and their campaign organizations as terrorist organizations. Then promise to use the full force of government against these terrorists.
It's annoying when you must hear only one side of someone's cell phone call. If they were courteous, they would put it on speaker so everyone around them could hear.
Further, when you can only hear one side, you cannot really understand what is going on.
For example . . .
Ring ring
Hello?
No! I'm not driving.
Well, yes I am in the car. But I'm stuck in traffic. Thus not driving. The car is in park right now.
No, I left the car seats at home.
Calm down, I don't need them. I don't have the kids with me.
No! No. Of course, I did not leave the kids alone. I left them safely with the dog.
Yes, I know it's my weekend.
They'll be alright. They're very smart for their age -- after all, I am their father. And the oldest is almost 7.
I just needed a break. That's all.
No. Don't worry. I am not going to the strip club. Not while this traffic is stuck.
You don't seem to understand. How can I be drinking and driving when I'm stuck in traffic, car in park, not driving? I know better than to drink and drive at the same time.
No, I'm not with my drinking buddies.
What do you mean "then where are they"? I swear, they are not in the car!
Look, they jumped out of the car because we could see a liquor store on the next block. And traffic isn't moving. I'm not with them because they haven't returned yet with more drinks for us. And we're taking turns driving, so it's okay.
Chill out. Nobody is drinking when it is their turn to drive.
What are you so upset about? I can't understand what you are saying.
Typewriters are ancient and should be abolished. People who want to keep a typewriter should be punished by being forced to use one.
One problem with typewriters is that sometimes certain letters might not work.
This would make it difficult to understand an article explaining the difference between a 3.5 inch floppy di_k and a big hard di_k, versus a mi_roSD _ard.
It would become almost impossible for the reader to infer what the malfunctioning letter might be.
Or multiple malfunctioning letters on some typewriters.
Task:
To blink an LED.
A blinking LED is required on a control panel to indicate
a warning condition.
Therefore it must be extremely reliable.
Hardware engineer:
Easy, I'll use a 555, a few resistors and a capacitor; or LM3909 chip.
Done. Did I win a prize?
DIY Maker:
Easy. I'll use an Arduino with the blink sketch and a resistor.
Done. I have more billable hours than the first guy.
Senior Software Engineer:
You guys have it all wrong.
Such a system would never be flexible enough for a real application
where a blinking LED indicator is required.
Consider the inflexibility of the 555 approach.
What if the marketing people change the requirements from a simple
on/off blink to a different blink pattern.
The simplest example would be the double blink.
Blink, Blink, long pause, Blink, Blink, etc.
Then consider the lack of sophistication that the Arduino has.
With a simple microcontroller you can't have a web interface
to configure the LED's blink rate.
You would have to re flash the firmware.
With a more sophisticated controller, like a Raspberry PI, or
even better, a Beagle Bone, the system could automatically
check on the internet for software updates; and automatically
download and apply them.
For security, downloads could be signed with 4096 bit keys
using private certificates from the manufacturer.
(This also ensures ongoing contracts since no other vendor
would have the private certificates.)
Higher end boards provide more flexibility.
The LED controller could have it's own WiFI connection to
not burden the rest of the system to provide its
internet access.
And even better . . .
(lightning bolt strikes in mid sentence)
A man is on his way home from work. Traffic comes to a complete halt.
"Wow this traffic is worse than usual. Nothing is moving."
Soon he observes a police officer moving back and forth among cars getting closer and closer.
He rolls down his window and asks "Officer, what's the delay?"
The officer replies...
"Trump is so depressed about not always getting his way, that he stopped his limo in the middle of traffic and is now threatening to douse himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. He says everyone hates him. He can't just quit because the Fake News would laugh at him. And he doesn't have, and never has had, enough money for REAL lawyers to defend himself from all the criminal prosecutions that would follow."
"So I've been taking up a collection.", the officer says.
"Oh, really, how much have you collected so far?"
"So far about 26 gallons, but many folks are still siphoning."
adapted from a "Canadian prime minister" joke