Installed some fluorescent strip lights in my lighting workshop today! Fixtures are all 1988 Lithonia Lighting C240 strip lights. Lamps are a mix of 34W halophosphate CW and 40W triphosphor 4100K, all different brands. Ballasts are a mix of Advance R-2S40-TP and Universal 446-LR-TC-P. I quite like the way this turned out, it has a very oldschool vibe to it.. Lighting is much more intense and even than the single shoplite that was there before. Eventually, there will be two switches controlling two sets of fixtures, but for now, everything is plugged into an outlet until I can get a new run of wiring installed for switches.

There's a guy on a FB group with a collection of 1880s-1910s, mostly functional carbon arc lanterns. Apparently there were many replaced in the 1930s and 1940s.

I haven't got an issue with smoking, or weed for that matter. it's nice enough. Vaping tasted horrid, makes you look stupid, and still has nicotine 9/10 times. Smoking things is bad for your health, and everyone who does should know the problems and risks.

Recently I was in McDonalds and I saw a guy waiting at the counter pull out his vape and blow smoke out.

The vaping does have a smell to it, it’s more like a chemical smell to me.

I do smell weed outside from time to time in public places. I went for a walk one evening a few weeks ago and a car passed by and I could smell it strongly for some reason. 

One of the neighbors that passed away recently used to sit on his back porch and smoke cigars, they smelled vile!

A lot of baseball players chew on tobacco, and apparently other sports as well. I don’t understand why, as it’s absolutely disgusting! In high school a lot of people thought it was cool to do that because they could “hide” that they were doing it and then spit it out everywhere.  Just dumbest thing, it’s not cool, it’s gross. I don’t know why women put up with that nasty habit.

I often think of T12 fluorescent tubes as being responsible for replacing the incandescent schoolhouse flushmounts and pendant light fixtures from the 1920s to 1940s.

Very interesting technology, uses what is essentially a larger version of a microwave magnetron and a ceramic ring to make a plasma torch. Obviously this is not super portable, but it claims is can reach up to 6000C. This would be ideal in my eyes for glassworking (mainly quartz), with no need for any special gases other than compressed air (you can use argon or other gases as well if oxidation is a concern, which is useful for making molybdenum foil seals). And from what I can tell it will be a while until it wears out since it is completely electrodeless.

They made many models of these, but the most interesting to me being the 1kW model. I can only assume it is possible to go even smaller with an actual magnetron from a microwave oven. Of course I would never try to do this, but some other witch/wizard or other knowledgeable RF spellcaster might be able to figure it out. The only difficult to obtain thing that I can think of is the ceramic ring, but there could be a solution for that. It has been a while since I read the patent and I don't feel like doing it again but I think alumina will work for this.

I found this Ebay listing of these bisque-fired machinable alumina rings. I would assume machining them to the right dimensions would be fairly simple, but of course I haven't tried it. Looking at Radom Corp patents more carefully might clear up whether this is actually possible. That Ebay seller also sells what appears to be PCA HPS arc tubes for some reason, which is interesting, though some seem to be cracked unfortunately.

They have some very cool videos on their Youtube channel showcasing how the torch works:
https://www.youtube.com/@RadomCorporation/videos
Looks very magical, I doubt many people find this interesting but that is what off topic is for I guess

I get it, I’m in my mid 30s, and I can’t believe sometimes that I am basically halfway through life already. Life sometimes seems so slow yet sometimes looking back it goes fast.

I have social anxiety too, and I’m probably autistic. I get overwhelmed in public and just have a hard time talking to most people. I don’t like small talk and just rarely talk to anyone unless it’s one on one. I believe this offends some people and they just don’t understand why someone would not be sociable and talk constantly like everyone else.

I’m doing okay I guess. The biggest issue is I still live with my parents and some people just see that as laziness, so I avoid telling people that. All of my friends didn’t like that about me.

Sometimes I feel really behind because I’m the only person I know my age that isn’t married and doesn’t have children. I used to want children around a decade ago, then I decided they just aren’t for me. I don’t make enough money to support them and I don’t need the stress. Plus they don’t need my genes, I don’t need to just mindlessly keep the lineage going because that’s what everyone else does.

Marriage and a relationship I’m not sure about, but I’m leaning toward it not ever happening either.

In your 30s it’s just really hard to meet people. Most people are involved with their own family and aren’t interested in being friends or going and doing stuff. If they do, it’s with other couples or parents.

Sometimes I start to get depressed and feeling sorry for myself but I can’t let it get too far because it’s always the same rabbit hole I end up going down and it just makes it worse.

Financially I guess I’m doing alright, but it’s mostly because I don’t have much in the way of expenses. At least I’m not in debt, but I got a very late start on saving for retirement unfortunately, so I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to buy a house, because I feel like I have to contribute so much to it.

I think a lot of people get into a relationship and start wanting kids because past your mid 20s there is just so much extra time that you don’t know what to do with, and like I said you stop being able to hang out with people. But if you’re not going to be pursuing those things it feels like you’re alone and missing out.

Give yourself a rest for a while.  Hopefully you'll get better

@LightsoftheWest ??

Thanks for the mention. However, I'm nowhere near as good with European luminaires as I am with American luminaires, so I have no idea. The vapor-tight low-bays on the right are giving Holophane vibes.

Sorry you’re carrying so much of this alone. You don't sound like someone who is “going nowhere”, just sounds like you have been fighting something for a long time.

The whole social anxiety thing is very understandable, it makes sense that it would wear you down over time. I have definitely felt horrible about my social life before, I went a period of about three years without talking to anybody but my family (mostly my brother), and it definitely feels very difficult to get out of that once you are sort of "out of practice". Having to relearn how to follow other people's social cues and how to play the "public-friendly" version of yourself. And even then it is still incredibly difficult.

The decision on whether to medicate or not is definitely a big one, I only learned about the potential SSRI side effects many years after starting them. Of course there is no solid right or wrong to this, obviously if they make you feel nervous then they aren't really doing their job to make you feel better. Good that you found something grounding in religion/spirituality. Obviously I am a random teenager from the Information Superhighway, but it does take a certain amount of determination to share this with people. I wish you all of my luck, stay strong