A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
Traveling with a towel in my carryon bag has saved my ass more than a couple of times. It’s a towel, it’s a pillow, it’s a small blanket, it’s a privacy shield, it’s a surface to sling your fake watches to passerbys and earn enough for your return flight home.
Want to freshen up prior to landing or during a connection at an airport? That towel will get you dry after washing up, brushing your teeth, etc. No silly paper towel, or Dyson hand dryer nonsense.
Astrophysics/cosmology. I'm more artsy geek than STEM geek, but there is a tremendous amount of beauty found in what we know and don't know about the universe.
Keeping to a resolution requires resolve which is an emotion. You need to introspect and make sure that the resolution that you have chosen is consistent with the price you are willing to pay whether it is monetary or a personal desire. Prepare yourself for the cost. It’s easy to say you’re going to give up alcohol but your mind is going to try to sabotage you every step of the way. Keep your goals to yourself and meditate on them. Take some time out of your day to cultivate the feeling of resolve within you. Literally just remember the feeling you have when you have felt determined to finish something and cultivate that feeling. It’s a fire that burns within you that can become stronger if you feed it. Finally, don’t get discouraged when you fail. You will likely fail a lot but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Keep to your resolution even if you keep tripping up.
I've lived in America for almost my entire life and I've never once heard an American say "Happy Christmas". "Happy Holidays", sure, but that's mostly reserved for the days leading up to Christmas. On Christmas Day it's always just "Merry Christmas".
asklemmy
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