Navigating a Luxury Hotel: A Maze of Misdirections | October 16 2025, 05:55

I currently live in a luxury hotel (as they describe themselves) for $400 a night. It must be said, I barely found a hotel – everything was sold out. It all started with the fact that there was no hot water in the room. They gave me a new room, which also did not have hot water. But in this new room, a plumber came and whacked the faucet, causing it to turn even more, and then the warm water started flowing. Well, good, now I know how to bang it. But I spent almost half an hour searching for this second room, wandering the corridors and following signs that lead nowhere. When I told the receptionist that only ghosts could improve my mood from the lack of hot water and the forced move, the lady at the reception smiled cunningly and said that anything can happen. And after that, I spent half an hour looking for the room.

Imagine, you are given room 446. You exit the elevator. There you see signs

“to the right 438-456”

“to the right 466-476”

“to the right odd rooms”

“to the left 400-432”

“to the left 478”

You follow the corridor and at the very end of it

“to the right 439-487”

“straight 429-437”

“back 427-401”

Ok, I have 446, so to the right. There’s a door

“straight 439-477”

Hm. Ten rooms just lost by turning towards the door. Well, alright, my 446 is somewhere here.

You enter, and it’s not there. There’s 445 and 447.

It turned out that as I walked from the elevator following the arrow “to the right 438-456”, it wasn’t in vain it said “to the right – odd”. But then where are the even ones? Also to the right! Just not mentioned. The even numbers are behind one of the doors marked “to the right – odd”. You have to walk about ten meters and see on the right side of the corridor a blind door of the same style as the wall with a “exit” sign and numbers 438-454. So the even numbers are behind this door, but how would you know? And what if you have 445? Well good, we go through the door. But there’s nothing there.

Absolutely nothing, just stairs to the fifth and third floors. But there’s also an unmarked door. And behind this door, hurray, even numbers.

Whoever navigated this needs to be beaten with whips. The fact that the hotel is 132 years old does not excuse it)

Adjusting to Unexpected Checks: Virginia’s Surplus Distributions | October 03 2025, 00:22

I just can’t get used to the fact that when the state sends a $400 check just because they collected more from Virginians (everyone) than expected, it’s normal. They are the state of Virginia.

Hyperinflation Memories: Collecting Zimbabwe’s Trillion Dollar Notes on Etsy and eBay | September 27 2025, 21:20

On Etsy, you can buy five billion Zimbabwean dollars for a billion times less (minus one cent)

And a 50 trillion note can be bought for 30 dollars (minus two cents)

And there is also a 100 trillion note

Classic Art with a Twist: Discovering Humor in “Рживопись” | September 16 2025, 19:12

Judging by the likes and shares, the previous collection was a hit, so here’s more! Context: Found a group on Telegram called “Pun Painting,” which was very delightful. Spent an hour during vacation using a script to download the paintings and apply their custom titles from their channel.

Like & Share!

Exploring Kal Gajoum’s Masterful Blend of Abstraction and Realism in Cityscapes | September 15 2025, 13:45

An interesting artist — Kal Gajoum (Canada, 1968). His works are amazing. Mostly cityscapes, but there are also a few still lifes. Judging by the number of works, Kal somehow manages to create these masterpieces almost like on a conveyor belt, yet you never feel like adding or removing anything from a single piece. For me, it’s the perfect balance of abstraction and realism. Enjoy 🙂

Creative Mashup: Exploring Telegram’s “Rzhivopis” Art Parodies | September 12 2025, 20:12

I discovered a hilariously wacky group on Telegram, “Rzhivopis.” I spent an hour on vacation using a script to download their paintings and overlay them with their custom titles from their channel. Then two more hours reviewing them all and picking out the best. Definitely subscribe, there are about 2000 paintings, I won’t post that many, but maybe next time there will be a second part of the funniest:)

Like & Share!

Solar Simplicity: How Turkey’s Homes Heat Water with the Sun | September 11 2025, 06:44

I constantly see such panels on almost every house in Turkey. Of course, my first thought was that these were solar photovoltaic panels for generating electricity. But the second thought — they are expensive, there shouldn’t be so many of them, plus typically just two panels on a roof seems too few. I started googling.

It turned out, these are solar water heaters, more precisely, flat-plate solar collectors. The system is simple, reliable, and inexpensive — that’s why they are installed on every other house.

The principle of operation: the panels consist of an absorber (usually copper or aluminum plates with a black coating), a transparent cover (low-iron glass for greenhouse effect), and thermal insulation (glass wool or stone wool). A heat-carrying fluid circulates in the tubes — either water or antifreeze (glycol).

Solar rays heat the absorber up to 60-90°C, the heat transfers to the fluid, which by the principle of thermosiphon (natural convection, without a pump) rises to the tank, which is usually nearby. The tank is a thermos of 100-300 liters, with insulation, so the water stays hot for 2-3 days.

This too was a surprise. I actually thought the tanks were just metal and heated up in the sun by themselves. That’s how it was in Baku. It turns out, no, and so they are white here, not black.

In Turkey, with over 2000+ hours of sunshine a year, such a system covers 70-90% of the hot water needs for a home. The efficiency of the collector is 40-60% (depending on the model and angle of installation, optimally 30-45° to the horizon for the latitude of Antalya). For a family, this costs from 500-1500 euros, with a payback period of 3-5 years due to savings on gas/electricity. Electricity is expensive in Turkey. Plus, government subsidies and tax incentives encourage installation.

Probably, there are also electric panels, but I haven’t seen them yet.