marius

Re: "languge of Flourescent lights"
Solosater ... should we start a new thread so Polenta can progress with her differences of other cultures. Ideas for title and location?

I need to know what four dry sockets are? Do you have four eyes? (Giggling and very confused.)

Dragon

I saw a thing on Daily Planet (a science show up here). Someone had done studies on flourescent lighting and found that while most people aren't affected by them there is a small percentage of the population who are. It seems flourescent lights do give off something (I can't remember if it's radiation or a chemical or what) most people have no reaction to it whatsoever unless they're are working in extremely close proximity for several hours a day (I'm talking like inches from the light for hours) but some people are more sensitive and have adverse reactions. Sounds like solo and marius fall under those categories. So flourescents may be better for the environment but not for all the people in it!

solosater

I've heard about that somewhere else Dragon, always second hand, I'd love to see it for myself.

I started a new thread!

Dry Sockets, Fluorescent Lights & Other Crazy Things

I put the story of my 4 dry sockets and our somewhat crooked conversation so far on there too. I do hope no one minds that I copied from here to paste there…

Anyway, I now return you to our regularly scheduled broadcast, enjoy!

solosater

Dry Sockets, Fluorescent Lights & Other Crazy Things is in the General Discussion forum.

NADIA

Hi everybody.
Marius and Indigo asked me to tell you about my home(Windhoek),which is in Namibia.So here goes.I'm not a very good writer so please excuse the spelling mistakes.
Let's start with the Geograhy part.Windhoek is situated in a dead crater with Mountains on all the sides.On the North side we have the Eros Mountains and on the South side we have the Auas Mountains,and to the west side we have the Khomas Highland all the way down to our namib and coast line.We have an estimated population of about 300 000 people,and Windhoek is the capital of Namibia.
We do have alot of cultures here which includes the Indigenous Group of Herero,Damara,Nama,San(Bushman),Batswana and Baster Comunity,Kavengo,Caprivians.Then there is the German,Afrikaners.We have alot of German settlements and Restaurants here,which is also considered a third basic language here.
Art is everywhere and in every form avable in our city.
Then we have some of our biggest notable landmarks according to me,which is our Alte Feste(Which means Old Fortress in German),and that hosts our National museum now.Then there is our Zoo Park,where we have an open air theatre and playpark for kids and we have Our Christ Church which was dedicated as the "Church of Peace in 1910".The main street(Independence Avenue),stretches from the one corner straight through to the other.It will surely take you more than 2days just to walk through it,and visit each of the shops on both sides,but trust me it's worth the sore feet at the end of the day!I have lived here since birth and I'm 27 now,and there is still aspects of this place that surprises and delights me at the same time.

mouse

Hi Nadia
I went on the Web and looked up your homeland. There were many pictures of the places you described. It looks like a beautiful place. It is nice to hear of other places and other cultures. Thanks

Robindcr8l

I think this forum thread is so interesting. Thanks for educating us, Nadia. I found this link on Wikipedia, too, for those who want to read more. I think it's interesting that the official language is English. I was surprised to learn that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia

polenta

Nadia,
Thanks for your information. You've said German is the third language. What would be the other two? And how many people speak each one or is everybody tri-lingual? And when did these German immigrants come ?After World War II?
Thanks. Africa is so little known here!

marius

Nadia, I have questions too. You wrote: "...to the west side we have the Khomas Highland all the way down to our namib and coast line."

What is "our namib?" Also, does the word, "Namibia" mean something you could explain to us in English?

And, that is a long list of Indigenous groups! Have never heard of Nama, Kavengo, Baster Community or Caprivians.

Can you explain some about the different Indigenous groups. Do they still speak their own languages, as well as German/English or other commonly used languge? Do they still practice their traditional customs and religious beliefs?

And last question - how far are you from the coast? It looks like a very beautiful coastal area.

marius

Truck stops ... which I almost wrote about in the drugstore thread but moved to here.

Truckstops in the US are like mini-markets. They sell EVEYTHING and often have restaurants too. Some of the food at truckstops can be amazingly good - but this is at the privately family owned truck stops. You can get home-made pies and other foods that are not the super-processed stuff you find at the chain truck stops.

I remember one truck stop, in Oklahoma I think, that had a few Middle Eastern food items on the menu! That was, and still is, a very unusual thing to find on a truck stop menu. So I asked and the lady said the owner had some Middle Eastern food when he was on a trip and he liked it so much he got recipes and they started making it. She said the locals really liked it so it stayed on the menu.

so what are truck stops like in Uruguay, in Namibia and other places?

polenta

Well, if they are where trucks stop on the highways, I'm not so sure because we can go from one place to the other here in less than 6 hours. I think there are kind of restaurants on the route and they can sell something else too but not too much. You really caught me off-guard marius. Truck drivers don't have to drive so much time so that they need much more than a place to have a drink or snack or go to the bathroom. And then on the route there are many towns and villages. Uruguay is pretty small and very well communicated and its geography makes all this sort of easy. Sorry..... I don't know what else to say about this.

marius

It's funny - in another life (or so it seems) I dated a man who had a small trucking business. It was fascinating to learn about. Here the truck drivers may be gone from home all week and sometimes longer. The truck stops even have showers, towels and all that so you can stay clean on the road!

Many of the large trucks have big cabs so that the drivers can sleep in their cabs at night. Is much cheaper than a motel room. They have TV's, stereo's, a bed and all kinds of amenities in their cabs.

It never occured to me that trucking in a small country would be different.
Duh!

marius

This was many years ago so don't know how things have changed - but there used to be "heists" of the large trucks. When the cost of coffee went up (think in mid-1070's) there were quite a few large trucks of coffee that just disappeared. Well, later the trucks were found - empty of coffee. I forget what else was stolen ... whatever product suddenly became more expensive. Then the stolen product was sold on the black market ... where else would it be sold??? : )

According to my friend of many years ago, our country "runs" on big trucks. They move enormous amounts of product. Yes, trains are used, but what gets product to and from the trains, boats and all of that? Some things are moved by air ... but trucks are cheaper so, they "rule."

marius

Um ... don't think the price of coffee went up in the mid 1070's ... how about 1970's? " )

polenta

I think our country also uses trucks and trucks a lot, much more than railroad or else. What could be different is if the trucker had to take goods to Brazil or Argentina or Paraguay. Then their rides could take days, Brazil is enormous but I'm not sure about that. You don't need to have these enormous truck stops here because there are many towns on the way and there are all the services in the towns.
This reminds me of the boy whose teacher asked him:
-Johnny, where does milk come from?
-From the shelves of the supermarkets, Miss.
I know I go to the supermarket and find the groceries on the shelves. I don't know all the process. LOL LOL

Dragon

Here's what I want to know. How come if you send something by truck they say "We'll ship it." but if you send it by ship it's 'Cargo' (Get it - Car-go!)

marius

Dragon - are we by any chance related? Your question is exactly like something I would say. : )

So, why do they call product on freight trains, freight; versus product on cargo ships being called cargo?

NADIA

Hi Guys,sorry that I've not answered yet,kind of busy at work.As soon as I have some free time,I will answer all your qeustions.

polenta

Dragon and Marius,
I think this must be because language changes with time.... slow or fast changes. I remember when I first began to study English more than 50 years ago, I saw the word GAY as happy and maybe only in a poem or song. Now it means mostly homosexual. Here everybody even in Spanish uses the word GAY and they are very surprised when I tell them its meaning was originally happy.

polenta

Maybe long time ago they could only use ships to deliver goods. They didn't have trucks, planes or trains. Then the word SHIP became a synonim of to DELIVER. This is only an opinion, I haven't looked for its real etimology.