They’d probably make even more jokes about my ego.

I’m actually fascinated by a lot of these studies. But these titles actually detract quite a bit.

“A study shows that people are more likely to take care of their health if they could afford it”

There, fixed it.

Sometimes I feel like I’m just going through the motions. But right now I’m sitting on the back porch and my wife just finished rambling on about how blessed and spoiled she feels. She’s retired now and doing things she’s always wished she could do but couldn’t, and she’s been talking about how it’s only because of the home and income I’m providing. So that means a lot. I don’t feel like I’m wasting my life because I’m taking care of my family and they appreciate what I do for them.

In two years I went from well below the poverty line and having to choose between food, rent and utilities, to middle class with a home of my own.

Then inflation hit. And I pray to the gods every damn day to keep an eye on the ones still stuck in the circumstances I was in.

I used chantix.

Not much I guess, sorry. There, it’s gone now.

You know that’s the easiest and cheapest argument right? You can not debate someone who’s entire argument is “you’ve been lied to”.

Hell yes. Fear is the mind killer.

John Wayne once said, “courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.”

I once told a group of Marines, “Any one of you that isn’t afraid is a liar or an idiot, and neither one belongs in my platoon.”

Fear is completely natural, especially when you’re making such a huge lifestyle change. You’re not talking about a simple change either, you’re talking about leaving your entire life behind and starting a new one. That’s something to be terrified of! But you know what? You can do it. It will be hard, sure. Nothing in life worth having is easy. And unfortunately there is no cure for fear. But no one is going to hand you your dreams. You have to go out and fight for it. Something I tell myself every day when I wake up miserable and in pain, “There’s nothing to it but to do it.” This applies well to dealing with fear. It’s my own version of “saddling up anyway”.

Hell yeah, we gonna take away the batteries!

I am a time traveler. I come from the year 3487.

Great. The germs have tasers now.

This sounds so boring, but it’s really fascinating as hell.

I downloaded it just now thanks to this post.

You can’t swim in aerated water and I’m sure there was aeration in progress nearby. The solids and FOG (fats, oils, and grease) present their own hazards too. I’ve been dunked a time or three myself. To say it’s unpleasant is an understatement. I fell into a wet well once, and as if bouncing off an iron pipe and smacking the surface of the grease cap weren’t bad enough, getting back up through the grease cap with two broken ribs, a concussion and the resulting disorientation were even worse. That day I decided that fall harnesses were my best friend. Sometimes a grease cap can be thick enough to walk on.

The plant that I run now produces potable quality water. It’s considered non potable because of the source and because the quality simply isn’t as reliable as something like the Sparta facility or whatever system they’d be using in SF. I’m running a low tech system that only processes a few hundred gallons per day. With a bad weather upset I could end up discharging some pretty gross stuff, then I have to get the health department involved, environmental impact studies, get in some trouble, get fines levied against my company and it could have a big negative impact on nearby communities if it goes uncorrected. For obvious reasons, I try to avoid that. My old plant processed 3 million GPD, and I think the Sparta plant is designed for a 10 million GPD max capacity and I don’t believe it’s ever had to run at max capacity. It was built with the prospect of expansion in population. Large plants are MUCH more labor and energy intensive, but also more reliable. In very simple terms, the much larger volume acts as a bit of a shock absorber when something happens. Like if some jerk decides to dump a bucket of bleach or car wash soap in one of my manholes, I’ll have to take my plant offline, have it pumped out, go get some activated sludge from a friend at another plant and start from scratch. If that happened at the Sparta, they wouldn’t even notice it.

But the whole point here is, water is recyclable, especially if we make sure our waste is “clean”, as in chemical free, trash free. Only thing that should ever go down a sewer line besides water, is the four P’s: poop, pee, puke and paper. In a closed system such as maybe a space station, the biggest obstacle I’d see right away is the equipment. You’d need a way to dewater and disinfect the waste. I’d personally advocate a dewatering press and UV system, but doing that in zero or micro G would require some extensive modifications. The most economical way with the tech we have now is to resupply fresh water and vent the waste. Someone else mentioned there’s plenty of ice floating around out there. I wonder how space ice would taste?

It’s about scale and expense more than anything. The more you need to clean, the more difficult and expensive it is. The source quality will make a difference too. I treat mostly ground water, it’s about the easiest and cheapest. Most expensive part is the electricity to run the pumps. Then there’s desalinization, reverse osmosis, surface water treatment too.

I’ve been reading the expanse series and I’m a water treatment operator. This has raised my eyebrows a bit. If you’re talking about something like space station or asteroid located bases, the loss would occur through “gas-off” in a way. Gas-off is what we refer to as certain compounds going volatile and dissipating. You might be looking at something along the lines of steam escaping from somewhere. Rocket scientists probably have a different term.

Water should be nearly infinitely recyclable. But clean water? That’s the challenge.

Y’all can look up the Sparta Reuse Facility in West Monroe Louisiana. I used to work for the city, albeit on the other end of the water system producing fresh water. The SRF takes raw sewage, run off, storm water, all the dirty stuff, and processes it into clean water used in local industry. It is “potable”. Tastes like crap, but you can drink it. The point behind the project was to take some of the burden off the Sparta Aquifer here in Louisiana, and it’s done a phenomenal job.

I did give myself permission, it’s that damn bank account being the asshole and holding me back.

You know the whole “lose weight, get healthy” schtick?

About two years ago I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes. I was 300#. I got my weight down to 215# and had no signs of diabetes. Since then I’ve put some weight back on, 255# now, had to get back on metformin. I know I can lose it though.

I also quit my 24 year smoking habit several months ago.

So yeah, I’m doing the bullshit New Year’s resolution that everyone seems to give up on. It sounds shitty, but I’ve BTDT and I can do it again. I want to lose weight and overall be healthier. My goal is 165#.

I’m not from Florida and have been there several times.

All of ‘em. We wouldn’t be where we are without them.

Now if you asked me who my favorite religious leader is I’d have an entirely different attitude.

OP, I feel that’s a perfectly valid question and I’ve been curious about it myself.

OP, I feel that’s a perfectly valid question and I’ve been curious about it myself.

Actually I said “next week”.