RoyalHenOil's recent activity
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Comment on Do you cook with cast iron? Is it the hassle everyone says it is? in ~food
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Comment on Do you cook with cast iron? Is it the hassle everyone says it is? in ~food
RoyalHenOil Link ParentIf you really want to see rust, take a steel brush grinder to the inside of the skillet to strip off the seasoning, and then put it through the dishwasher. I've done this before, and it's a pretty...If you really want to see rust, take a steel brush grinder to the inside of the skillet to strip off the seasoning, and then put it through the dishwasher. I've done this before, and it's a pretty shocking change! But after you remove the rust and re-season it, it's silky smooth — better than new.
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Comment on Do you cook with cast iron? Is it the hassle everyone says it is? in ~food
RoyalHenOil Link ParentEh, very easily fixed. Rust is super easy to remove, and the edge is super easy to sharpen if it gets a little banged up. You should be sharpening them frequently anyway. Lots of high-carbon...Eh, very easily fixed. Rust is super easy to remove, and the edge is super easy to sharpen if it gets a little banged up. You should be sharpening them frequently anyway.
Lots of high-carbon blades (axes, chainsaw blades, whittling knives, carving chisrls/gouges, etc.) get far harsher treatment than a kitchen knife's occasional trip through a dishwasher, and they last for years and years and years.
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Comment on Do you cook with cast iron? Is it the hassle everyone says it is? in ~food
RoyalHenOil (edited )Link ParentPutting it in the dishwasher will destroy the finish, but not the cast iron itself — except, arguably, the very outer layer, which turns into rust. It would take many, many, many washings to...Putting it in the dishwasher will destroy the finish, but not the cast iron itself — except, arguably, the very outer layer, which turns into rust. It would take many, many, many washings to damage it irreparably.
I once picked up a really dirty, rusty old cast iron dutch oven from a garage sale. Its owner used it for camping and left it outside in the weather for months or years, so it was in a pretty sorry state. I used a wire brush to knock all the crud off, ran it through the dishwasher to finish cleaning it, soaked it in vinegar (to remove the resulting rust), hand-washed it to remove the iron acetate (i.e., what vinegar turns into when it touches iron), and re-seasoned it in the oven. You would never know it had been neglected.
My partner and I have a very cheap enameled cast iron saucepan that we put through the dishwasher, even though there are some chips on the underside where my partner accidentally dropped it on the stove trivet. We've run it through the dishwasher over hundred times or so since the damage occurred (we use it about once a week and we've had it for several years), and it's definitely rusty where it's chipped, but it's holding up fine. I think it will probably survive many hundred more washes before we have to replace it — and that's with never de-rusting or oiling the exposed cast iron.
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Comment on Do you cook with cast iron? Is it the hassle everyone says it is? in ~food
RoyalHenOil Link ParentThis has been my experience — not with searing steaks specifically (I'm a vegetarian), but with other kinds of high-heat cooking, especially stir fry. I don't have a fancy stove with a wok burner,...This has been my experience — not with searing steaks specifically (I'm a vegetarian), but with other kinds of high-heat cooking, especially stir fry.
I don't have a fancy stove with a wok burner, but with my cast iron wok (which has a particularly thick bottom because it's designed to sit flat on a trivet), I can get absurdly high heat even on just my medium burner. It's way too heavy for tossing, but the poor conductivity of the steel also means that I get a lovely temperature gradient up the sides of the wok, which is super handy for stir fry that you have to actually stir instead of toss.
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Comment on Around twenty drown in France as French seek relief from heatwave in ~enviro
RoyalHenOil Link ParentHumidity really does make it so much worse — both hot weather and cold weather. I moved from Georgia (USA) to Victoria (Australia). Victoria has hotter, drier summers than Georgia and warmer,...Humidity really does make it so much worse — both hot weather and cold weather.
I moved from Georgia (USA) to Victoria (Australia). Victoria has hotter, drier summers than Georgia and warmer, wetter winters. I strongly prefer a dry 40°C (104°C) here over a wet 30°C (86°F) back home, and I likewise strongly prefer a dry -5°C (23°F) back home over a wet 5°C (41°F) here.
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Comment on Around twenty drown in France as French seek relief from heatwave in ~enviro
RoyalHenOil Link ParentIt sounds like your apartment is well insulated. Insulation works great when you're artificially heating and cooling your home, but if it's hot outside and you don't have A/C, insulation is...It sounds like your apartment is well insulated. Insulation works great when you're artificially heating and cooling your home, but if it's hot outside and you don't have A/C, insulation is stifling — usually worse than being outdoors.
Historically, homes in hot climates made uses of cross breezes (using strategically placed windows, doors, courtyards, and covered walkways) to passively cool buildings in the summer.
If it's possible, I recommend trying to replicate this in your apartment using windows/doors — and fans if you have them. What you want to do is draw in cooler outdoor air (generally located lower to the ground and in shade) and push out hotter indoor air (generally located near the ceiling and in upper storeys). Remember that hot air rises, so you want to let it out and provide a way for cooler air to come in to replace it.
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Comment on Signs you're a dangerous terrorist: using Signal, moving zines in ~society
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI'm a US citizen living overseas, and even I'm too nervous to travel to the US now. I particularly don't want to travel there with my partner (not a US citizen).I'm a US citizen living overseas, and even I'm too nervous to travel to the US now.
I particularly don't want to travel there with my partner (not a US citizen).
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Comment on Celebrating 30th wedding anniversary - AMA in ~life
RoyalHenOil LinkWhat are the biggest (or at least clearest) differences you've observed between your relationship and other relationships around you that haven't gone the distance?What are the biggest (or at least clearest) differences you've observed between your relationship and other relationships around you that haven't gone the distance?
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Comment on If AI is sentient then so is ‘Age of Empires II’ in ~tech
RoyalHenOil Link ParentEven humans are not really maximally conscious. A lot of our thought processes are done unconsciously, like language generation and most decision making. We are only aware of a portion of our...Even humans are not really maximally conscious. A lot of our thought processes are done unconsciously, like language generation and most decision making. We are only aware of a portion of our internal processing, and even that awareness is pretty inconsistent (e.g., blanking out while driving your regular commute).
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Comment on Around twenty drown in France as French seek relief from heatwave in ~enviro
RoyalHenOil Link ParentMasonry is not insulation. Insulation uses material that doesn't conduct heat easily (which, in effect, is usually material that traps air — like foam and double-glazed windows — because stagnant...Masonry is not insulation. Insulation uses material that doesn't conduct heat easily (which, in effect, is usually material that traps air — like foam and double-glazed windows — because stagnant air is particularly resistant to conducting heat), whereas stone/bricks/concrete conduct heat very readily. This is why they feel cooler to the touch than, say, wood; they're conducting your body heat away faster than wood can.
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Comment on Not so empty nesters: record-high number of US adults under 35 live at home, new data says in ~life
RoyalHenOil Link ParentYeah, "home" has a strong connotation of belonging in English and means something deeper than where you live, so it's often used to mean something like "origin". For example, if you're an...Yeah, "home" has a strong connotation of belonging in English and means something deeper than where you live, so it's often used to mean something like "origin". For example, if you're an immigrant, your "home country" is the country you originated from.
There's also a sense that "home" is something you go back to, so if there are two places that you might call "home", it often refers to whichever one you're not presently at. If I'm at the house where I live, "home" usually means my parent's house (the house where I grew up) or my origin city/state/country more generally. If I'm at their house, it usually means the house where I currently live or my current city/state/country more generally. If I'm at some third place, like the shop or a different country, it usually refers to the house I live now — though not always.
It depends a lot on context and the exact phrasing ("I live at home" vs "I'm at home"). It's a pretty complex word.
A less ambiguous alternative is "place" (as in "I'm heading back to my place"), which refers just to whichever place you live currently, regardless of how much it feels like "home" to you. But it strikes a pretty casual note.
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Comment on Keir Starmer announces resignation as leader of Labour Party in the UK in ~society
RoyalHenOil Link ParentWhy is it so hard for political parties in the UK to make more impactful changes?It's a massive, systemic issue with the way that the UK's government operates...
Why is it so hard for political parties in the UK to make more impactful changes?
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Comment on The global fertility crisis is worse than you think in ~society
RoyalHenOil (edited )Link ParentIt's pretty hard to take the fertility crisis that seriously when the main people I see talking about it (business leaders) are, simultaneously, spouting anti-immigrant and anti-welfare/healthcare...It's pretty hard to take the fertility crisis that seriously when the main people I see talking about it (business leaders) are, simultaneously, spouting anti-immigrant and anti-welfare/healthcare rhetoric and laying off thousands of workers. Whatever they may say, their actions are consistent with a population that's too large and human beings too devalued.
Even in countries like South Korea, there are an awful lot of child-free spaces around. It's hard to believe that South Korea's leadership actually want more children as much as they say they do, while they turn a blind eye to rampant discrimination against children.
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Comment on The global fertility crisis is worse than you think in ~society
RoyalHenOil Link ParentFor demographers, "fertility rate" refers to the average number of children born per woman, without factoring in any causes. That being said, we are arguably facing a fertility crisis (in the...For demographers, "fertility rate" refers to the average number of children born per woman, without factoring in any causes.
That being said, we are arguably facing a fertility crisis (in the sense of couples being unable to have children) as a consequence of the birth control crisis (in the sense of couples choosing to use birth control). In advanced economies, children are a financial drain on a couple's resources, so they tend to delay having children until they're more financially stable — which means waiting until they're older. Modern medicine is really effective at helping older couples still have healthy children, but it's still far from perfect and it doesn't come cheap.
As a consequence, even couples who want to have children often end up having fewer children than they would like — often just one or two kids (below the replacement levels) when they would have preferred three or four (above replacement levels).
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
RoyalHenOil Link ParentThat sounds interesting. Time travel stories are my absolute hands-down favorite when they actually explore the topic (instead of just using it as a cheap deus ex machina or whatever).That sounds interesting. Time travel stories are my absolute hands-down favorite when they actually explore the topic (instead of just using it as a cheap deus ex machina or whatever).
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Comment on Accessible forms of poetry for journaling? in ~creative
RoyalHenOil (edited )LinkI really enjoy poems that are written for their sound (with rhyme, alliteration, and above all stress patterns), and one big benefit of these is that they can be very short and still strongly read...I really enjoy poems that are written for their sound (with rhyme, alliteration, and above all stress patterns), and one big benefit of these is that they can be very short and still strongly read as poetry.
Writing short poetry is really nice because it's simultaneously a challenge that will really get you practicing the craft tightly, and not as much of a time sink as a longer poem. It's like writing a strict 300-word short story instead of a 60,000+ word novel.
One thing I find helpful for writing poetry, particularly with getting the structure right, is to imagine it as lines for a song. Matching it to music can help you grasp the meter and stresses more intuitively, since song lyrics are virtually always written with close attention to structure.
Limericks are also really great for practice because they have such a familiar, regimented structure that it's usually pretty obvious if you've messed up the stress pattern. These can be really helpful as a warm-up or for identifying stresses in words that you're considering for a different poem.
Here are some short examples I've written for a fiction project, which has a lot of excerpts from a character's journal where he often writes poetry. His poems get particularly terse when he's struggling emotionally (they get longer and more florid when he's happy), so my apologies for how dark some of these are:
Steel your thought and still your heart
Lest you rend yourself apart
Black cloud on sere plain
All shadow, no rain
Sweetly sings the knife
That neatly inks my life
In threads scored red upon the floor
In the last one, I used internal rhyme ('sweetly'/'neatly', 'sings'/'inks', 'red'/'thread', 'scored'/'floor') and some alliteration (repeated 's' sounds in 'sweetly'/'sings'/'inks'/'threads'/'scored', and also some 'f' and 'th' that sound similar) to keep the last line sounding cohesive and linked to the previous two lines despite its break from their structure. By using internal rhyme and alliteration, you can get more loosy-goosy with your phrasing, even on a very short poem.
Here's another example — this one using so much internal rhyme and alliteration that it's getting toward tongue-twister territory (I love writing tongue twisters). The internal rhyme and alliteration let me break away from using a standard rhyming structure, but I'm still keeping the stresses highly ordered (you can break more rules on a longer poem, but with a shorter poem, a stricter structure helps with establishing a pattern in just two lines):
She ladled a riddle into my bowl
And fondled my soul like a fiddle
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Comment on What are some seemingly silly things in your life that have practical purposes? in ~life
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI love a tiny ruler. However, my most-used woodworking ruler is my Omnigrip quilting ruler! There's actually a lot of overlap in my sewing tools and my woodworking tools — so much so that I store...I love a tiny ruler.
However, my most-used woodworking ruler is my Omnigrip quilting ruler! There's actually a lot of overlap in my sewing tools and my woodworking tools — so much so that I store a lot of them together in the same toolbox.
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Comment on One-and-done heart disease prevention? Scientists show it may be possible. in ~health
RoyalHenOil Link ParentThat's very hopeful! I really hope they come up with a similar treatment for LP(a) cholesterol, because it's as dangerous as LDL, but it can't be moderated by changing your diet or by taking...That's very hopeful!
I really hope they come up with a similar treatment for LP(a) cholesterol, because it's as dangerous as LDL, but it can't be moderated by changing your diet or by taking statins.
It's also harder to diagnose because standard cholesterol tests don't catch it. I only found out that LP(a) is a thing after getting a CT scan for unrelated reasons and they discovered unusually high levels of calcification in my heart. This wasn't on my doctor's radar at all given my age, my low LDL cholesterol, my healthy lifestyle, etc. Turns out it's just bad genes and there's not much that can be done about it until better treatments become available (which won't undo existing calcification that continues building up in the meantime).
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Comment on Fight against escalating gang crime sees Sweden vote on plans to hold thirteen-year-olds criminally responsible – other European nations are also lowering age limits in ~society
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI can't speak to this specific case, but I grew up in an area with a lot of gang activity (mostly Crips and Sureños) — although I wasn't directly involved, so take my opinion with a grain of salt....- Exemplary
I can't speak to this specific case, but I grew up in an area with a lot of gang activity (mostly Crips and Sureños) — although I wasn't directly involved, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
The distinct impression I've gotten is that gangs (at least of that highly organized type) function like governments. Yes, they commit crimes — as governments do — but they also settle disputes, organize community activities, enforce rules, collect and spend 'taxes', maintain facilities, promote local economic development, engage in war and diplomacy with neighboring gangs, etc. People get involved in these types of gangs for the same reasons that people get involved in any local community.
Unfortunately, they're not democracies (at least none that I know of, although I guess it's hypothetically possible) and they're prone to corruption and instability — although not as corrupt and unstable as genuine lawlessness would be. They're closer to warlord fiefdoms than the highly complex national organizations we usually associate with the word 'government', and they arise naturally in power vacuums — for example, when official institutions fail to meet a population's needs for safety, economic opportunity, legislation and enforcement, education, infrastructure, community services, etc. This is why gangs proliferate most under weak governments (e.g., during periods of turmoil or in underserved communities) and why playing whack-a-mole doesn't work.
I love those chainmail scrubbers!
One of the biggest reasons I prefer cooking in cast iron is because I can use a chainmail scrubber without worrying about scratches. I wish I could use it on everything. It's so annoying dealing with burnt food, etc., on my non-cast-iron cookware. (For them, I use a EuroScrubby pad, which is pretty good, but chainmail is better.)