Shopvac

I have to do some sanding on the stairs, and would prefer not to fill the basement with dust.

I've two machines: a belt sander which would nominally work faster, but can't get to the edges well, and an orbital sander that works better than I thought--I can control pressure better.

The orbital sander throws most (well, maybe half) of its dust through a small dust bag. The belt sander lets you connect the shopvac hose to its filter port. We have a winner!

Except... I decided to vacuum out the orbital sander's dust bag, and kept getting stung. After a few moments a 2/3 inch spark told me why.

I think I'd better think it out again.

I have an intense dislike for paint strippers, based on unhappy experience, but I may have to revisit that option.

Tame fear

In comments on a recent post, AVI wrote "courage involved embracing reality not adding in risks."

Which points to an interesting (to me) question I hadn't started researching properly yet. Pick rich countries in history. How many of them developed something like the roller coaster--an amusement that provides a safe experience of fear?

Maybe the Roman animal show counts--in theory the tiger could leap up into the stands, though I doubt they ever did.

And maybe ghost stories are related, though I don't know if other cultures treated them the same way we do. I suspect they were often more for warning than amusement--they certainly don't read like entertainment to me.

It's no trick to find people (mostly young men) engaging in risky behavior--a Maasai lad isn't a man until he kills a lion. But the danger is real, and is the point--it isn't safe.

Nothing comes to mind. Are we the only culture to provide tame fear?