h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Isn't it known as manspreading?

Actually, Caiman, I meant right foot on right hip, etc.

I did some checking. It seems that akimbo now means "limbs flung out widely or haphazardly". Arms akimbo still means what it has always meant, it's just that legs akimbo has become an accepted phrase. I suppose I'll have to go with the flow, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it.

"Scratches toe behind ear"

Why do you have a toe behind your ear, Caiman?

Today's PH: The way towels get all frayed at the edges when otherwise perfectly serviceable.

I've had that - and they come out of the washing machine with a loose thread that's wrapped itself around and tied itself too everything else that was in the washing machine. Almost as bad as the duvet cover eating all the socks...

<BB<

I'm having an internal discussion regarding the "ECO" setting on our dryer. As I understand it, this setting lowers the heat and extends the drying time to save energy. My concern is with the amount of lint in the trap. I'm wondering if the extended tumbling time results in more lint and therefore more wear on my articles. Towels produce the most lint and I do hate it when a bath towel goes from a soft comfort to a rough abrasive. Am I willing to even minutely contribute to global heating to extend the period of softness in my towels and postpone the appearance of holes in my trousers and socks?

I can *almost* consider the alternative of a proper clothesline.
Where would one even get a clothesline? I remember the ones we had when I was a kid, two Ts made of approximately 5" pipe with several taught wires strung between them? Did homeowners install these themselves or were there professionals that did it for them? As often as we have pop-up showers come off the Gulf and the bay, I'm sure folks around here were often scrambling to get the wash down and out of the rain.

I know some people who hang sheets etc out all year round. Mine only go out when it's warm enough to dry them properly. I used to have a clothes line attached to garden shed at two separate points & through a pulley on a post a fair distance away. A clothes prop to raise the line after pegging the clothes on. But that sort sags & the washing tends to bunch up.
Now I have a rotating one that folds up when not in use - I much prefer this.
Clothes line or rotating type would be from a homewares/hardware type store. Probably online too.

Sheets dry nicely outdoors with less creasing than tumble drier, but towels are much stiffer & harsher when dried outdoors.

We used to have the folding type in the garden (Central pole with four extending bars (like an umbrella) creating a spider web). This will give you 40-60m of line within a 2m diameter circle. You can install that by digging in a bucket with an oversized pipe in the middle, filling it with concrete (outside the pipe).

We currently have a folding rack (some 30m of wire length) we use inside (next to the washing machine)

Regarding the drying of laundry, the only things we tumble dry are towels. They are much nicer to use after tumbling. Everything else is hung on a large drying rack that we bought years ago. In good weather we stand it outside.

Today's PH: plastic delivery bags. Some of them are recyclable, but the address labels don't come off easily (for obvious reasons). I don't know what happens to plastic when it's recycled, but I'm guessing that the labels affect the process. It's a lot of hassle cutting the labels off, so most of the time the bags go in the waste bin.

As for heat settings on the tumble dryer, we use the lower setting for everything regardless of what the label says. I haven't thought about how much lint comes off in the process. Our towels are more than twelve years old and still in pretty good condition, so tumble drying can't be doing too much damage.

I'm not sure if this is well known, but many places in the US, either through Home Owner Associations or local statutes, have made line drying illegal. There's been a lot of movement in recent years to void many of these bans but many still remain.

This week's Petty Hate is: not feeling physically rested when I get up in the morning. I'm mentally alert when I wake up, but I move around like an old woman for some time after getting up. I'm not a restless sleeper. In fact, I think that I don't move at all while I'm asleep unless I wake up during the night. Maybe that's part of the problem, but not feeling physically rested has only become an issue recently.

From this I deduce that you are not an old woman. (You should see some of the vital old women nowadays, that is probably not what you meant though).

Nevertheless, I know what you speak of. To me this usually happens after days where I didn't move enough due to meeting-filled working days from home.

I've tried moving around more during the day. I set a timer on my phone to encourage myself to get up for at least ten minutes every hour. I either do gentle exercise or light housework. Unfortunately I have health issues that mean I tire easily. Maybe ten minutes every two hours would be better, and work from that.

Today's PH: Pedestrians in a rural area with no (or sparse) footpaths) who walk on the wrong side of the road. Local village is currently a popular sightseeing sroll - came up behind a couple today who ambled into the road past a parked car, without looking, then stopped suddenly, with a car coming the other way.

I'm with you on this one, Teaswill. We live on the outskirts of a large village and you only have to go a short distance to reach roads that don't have footpaths. We often see people walking on the wrong side of the road. Then there are people walking their dogs with the dog on a long lead, wandering into the road. The dog owners don't seem worried about traffic and what might happen to their dog. They'd blame the driver if anything did happen, of course.

As for motorists, don't get me started on the people who think that Sundays are a great time to give their spouse/children/whoever driving lessons on country roads. It hasn't been so bad during lockdown, but I'm not looking forward to going out on a Sunday once lockdown is lifted.

PH: Snow storm on Easter Monday.

I remember an occasion when "snow stopped play" for a cricket match in August!

Is that late or early snow? Had some in July (at altitude).