Michael Cox

I relate to this thread a bit too much.

Geology, maths, engineering, environmental science, beekeeping, debating, union work, scouts, bushcraft, woodland care, websites, general tech stuff, various deep dives into computer games and physical games, mountain leadership, gardening, mushrooms growing and foraging, dog training, economics... I just goes on and on.

I've been watching the rise of AI with interest, and looking carefully at the spaces where it can enhance, rather than replace, human effort.

Most people at the moment think of AI as text text-generating tool... but my experience of it for that has been disappointing. It produces stuff that superficially looks like good answers to problems, but lacks the depth of detail and nuance that a human who really knows the domain would bring to it.

A case in point. I'm in the process of applying for a job. AI allows me to write a few bullet points about my experience, add the detailed job spec, and then generate a personal statement. That statement looks superficially plausible, but at the same time is generic and bland. On the other hand, if I write it myself, I get much stronger statements with much more relevant detail - but perhaps not hitting the requirements of the job spec. So what I did instead was to get AI to review my own words against the job spec and recommend areas that need more detail or improvement. This, to me, is a lovely balance of using the tool to enhance, rather than replace, my human expertise.

Of course, it will end up replacing human labour where generically "good enough" answers are adequate, so humans need to be working in the territory where that isn't the case.

Alternatively, humans should be working in the domains that cannot be replaced by machines. I've spent the last week completing my Mountain Leader Assessment. There is no AI in the world that can or will, be able to replace the need for humans to take responsibility for guiding others in remote mountainous country.  It's a role that requires physical presence, excellent people skills, technical expertise, and good decision-making under pressure.

It's been a bonkers mast year in the UK for all nut crops. Bumper harvests of chestnuts, and the size is much bigger than normal. Over the past few weeks we have filled multiple bags with BIG nuts of great quality. No one seems to know exactly what triggers a mast year.

Also, if we are genuinely talking about "medieval peasants" it's worth looking at the systems they actually used in practice. Again, in the UK the common agricultural system was "ridge and furrow". A field was ploughed in strips with ridges and troughs that grew over decades of consistent use. These were tended communally by people from the community with crops grown on the ridges. I have always envisaged this more like market garden agriculture than the typical modern mono-crops.

In ridge might be planted in a single crop, but it would be unlikely to be a whole field because a modern "field" didn't really exist. In this context sowing your peas and then using pea stakes on a long broad row seems much more reasonable.

Actually I think they probably did it exactly as you describe.

Here in the UK  many of our ancient woodlands were actively managed as coppice - hazel, hornbeam and chestnut are the most common species.  A common product was bundles of pea sticks made with the brash from trimming other more valuable products.



Here you can see them tied with twine, but they would likely have been bundled with twisted withies of hazel.

Coppice products were used extensively - faggots for bread ovens, stakes for fencing, hurdles etc... and then most furniture for common folk would probably have been made in the woods by a bodger.  I think we underestimate hugely the amount of manual labour that was dedicated to these crafts.

I get the point you are trying to make, but I'm not sure it is as strong as you suggest.

1) Capacity issues are resolved by just having a chest freezer in the garage. I have one. Why not fill it with meat? It is running anyway and costs no more to run empty than full.

2) I don't think anyone is opting to buy multiple whole chickens without at least having a plan for when and how they will process and store them. Even if your scale is small like mine, taking the opportunity to buy 4 when the price is right and circumstances allow is making the most of an opportunity. I'd happily walk away from that opportunity if I knew I had no spare time or energy to deal with it.

3) What you end up buying is just better - chicken breasts, for example - are not my favourite. But when I look at the drum sticks, wings or thighs they look insipid and watery. But when I buy a whole chicken the pieces I end up with just feel more satisfactory. They tend to cook up better, and have more flavour. That probably says more about the quality of processed chicken normally available in the supermarkets than anything else. With whole chicken it is more transparent that you are getting a good quality bird.

4) I can't buy bags of bones. I want bags of bones for stock making. It's worth the extra effort just for the chance to have beautiful stock in my fridge.

I do this from time to time, if I see good quality chickens at a reasonable price. The most I have done I buy four at once. It took about 30 minutes once I had the kitchen cleared and ready, and my butcher knife sharpened, to break them down into portions and packed in vacuum sealer bags. The bones all went to make stock (roast them first for the fabulous deeper flavour and colour). It saved a lot of money, compared to buying that same amount of chicken in portions.

Nina Surya wrote:With a clogged up sink I do this - it works but I'm not sure if it's "good" so feel free to comment:

Pour some baking soda in/on the drain.
Follow up with boiling water.

One time out of ten that doesn't work, then it's pulling out all of the stops by doing the upgraded version:

Pour some baking soda in/on the drain.
Follow up with vinegar.
Wait a bit.
Flush with boiling water.

Tried these multiple times. Didn't work sadly.

r ranson wrote:
A snake is awesome!  Especially if it's only a few feet down.

We are big on prevention in this house - all scraps go to the chickens, no grease down the sink, always have a mesh over the drain etc... but i think there is some kind of design fault/obstruction further down the pipes that is just prone to settling stuff out and building a clog.

The snake hasn't worked for me on this. I'm not sure why - it gets so far and then just stops. I can't pull anything back and can't make progress. I suspect there are some tight bends it gets jammed on.

This trick of blowing to clear the clog was brilliant though.