Answers to Christina's Five Questions for March 2026

 If you could own a restaurant, what type would it be?

I like coffee, and dislike cafes, so not one of those.  I'd rather not be a restaurateur but, were I
somehow compelled, I'd prefer to own a single-item restaurant.  Perhaps that item would be fried and
flaky, I know not.  Regardless, a very simple menu very simply succeeds or fails, and I'd be free of
troubles in cooking such an item, as I'd either get very good at it or remain bad for not very long.

 What is a good way to comfort someone afraid of dying?

I remind others how death's inevitability makes our feelings irrelevant.  Most apparently can't cope
with meaninglessness, but religions are monuments to obvious lies, so stoicism is one viewpoint more
should embrace.  I cry not when others die, and I'd want no one to cry upon my death for any reason.
Numbness and apathy are suitable reactions to the modern world.  I'm never called to comfort people.

 Share a fun science fact. Here's one from me: About 99.86% of all the mass in our solar system is
 inside the sun.

Admiral Grace Hopper once made a demonstration which has been recorded, although I've not watched it
fully, wherein she holds a piece of wire showing the distance electricity travels in one nanosecond.
It's easy to forget how computers comprise signals which must travel, and undergo manipulations when
not travelling.  A modern computer is disgustingly and almost incomprehensibly wasteful; I liken one
to a factory with an invisible man who runs through the factory inching the conveyor belts along and
quickly running a machine when something reaches the end.  The one reason such a system would appear
to work like a real factory is the man's great speed, but it's clear that avoiding the very fast man
would be better.  Remembering that physical nature of the machine helps one to know and envision how
such systems once worked before worse replaced them through quirks of history that will one day die.

 Share a maxim or truism you're fond of. After I narrowly escaped a collision with a vehicle
 commandeered by a distracted, impulsive driver my sympathetic friend said: "Good drivers
 occasionally miss exits. Bad drivers never do."

I'm fond of reminding an acquaintance of that saying, since I often ride while he drives.  I believe
I first heard it in regards to some traffic camera footage I saw from China where a car stops, backs
up, and makes an exit on the Chinese equivalent to the United States interstate system, with a great
many larger vehicles wrecking during.  I was when younger fond of saying ``Humans should not blindly
believe in anything.'' and this related to a saying my grandfather enjoyed about how a fool believes
anything whereas the wise man believes nothing; I suppose myself rather forced to share this saying.

 What is the oldest electrical appliance you use on a daily or almost daily basis?

I make my coffee by hand every day, unless ill, but use only items which have no use for electricity
or elements of a computer.  In programming terms, I use a more generic interface which fails in less
painful ways: heat.  I use an electric stove, not an induction stove, to heat water in my kettle.  I
pour water from the kettle into my French press with coffee ground in an old-fashioned hand grinder,
unless I've purchased coffee already ground.  Introducing electricity into any of these would worsen
it.  My Bialetti moka pot requires a stovetop, however, but this is still more generic than versions
introducing electricity and cords for befuddling reasons.  If power leaves, I still drink my coffee.
.