Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: rbowman Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,alt.usage.english Subject: Re: GNU Date: 30 Mar 2026 06:49:48 GMT Lines: 15 Message-ID: References: <1rsoqz0.19zzbh71ebfb7bN%snipeco.2@gmail.com> <18a11176d0ed8bfb$1717$2710841$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <1rsp93i.i0zwza16xvqdfN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <18a11b491becb6ce$558$2491104$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <1rsq78a.9hgxro1eczx2yN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <10qb9df$1inu5$14@dont-email.me> <1rsr591.1ssq8oh1dihjwuN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <10qc4dc$1silm$10@dont-email.me> <0cqjskp5oprp9v1utu6t3q8u0urkpnjbvs@4ax.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net akj3FjL8Zts8tYW7WiWNXQt+rRRdgCzd1u84u3LIdapXTWncOm Cancel-Lock: sha1:IY2zOfxrVe1DrjxByU4MN2IES54= sha256:WSQBV2gY9ldzBCaFmxkvTq9Gi51QbP8tJdpkKriMHQw= User-Agent: Pan/0.162 (Pokrosvk) Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:84592 alt.usage.english:1141550 On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:17:17 -0400, Tony Cooper wrote: > Many of us in the US are old enough to have had our blood pressure > checked with such a device. And, to have used glass thermometers with > mercury in it. When broken, and the little blob of mercury fell out, > to have squished the blob into many smaller blobs and been delighted to > have seen them all reunite into one blob. That was done by a forefinger > before we knew that the mercury was harmful. In grade school the desks were old enough to have both a cutout for an inkwell and a groove, presumably to hold a pen or pencil. The groove was just right to shuttle a blob of mercury back and forth. Eventually they were replaced with the chairs with the integral writing surface. Those suck if you're left handed.