“yours has the suffering been, the memory shall be ours.”
-henry wadsworth longfellow
on memorial day
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photo credit: marde ross and company
when people continue to push the wrong button
over and over and over again
attempting to turn out the light
opening the garage door instead
it’s clear they need more help
and calls for drastic measures.
they may not be sure what this is
but at least
they are now sure what it is not.
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“there is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
-sir arthur conan doyle

With remote work on the rise and email so easily accessible on smartphones, it’s become increasingly difficult to feel like you can truly unplug from your job—even when you’re on vacation. In a recent U.S. survey conducted by Visit Iceland, 45 percent of participants confessed to checking their work email during vacation. And because Visit Iceland doesn’t want you to check your work email during your Icelandic getaway, the organization has enlisted a few of the peaceful country’s most adorable horses to make sure you don’t.
First, team members created a fully functional QWERTY keyboard that was large enough for the horses to prance across—and then they let them do exactly that. Afterwards, they used the nonsensical messages to create an “Outhorse Your Email” service. Basically, you hire one of three hoofed office assistants available on the site. There’s Litla Stjarna frá Hvítarholti, a chestnut beauty who “types fast, but might take a nap”; Hrímnir frá Hvammi, an “assertive” and “efficient” shiny-haired gray horse; and Hekla frá Þorkellshóli, a “friendly” pinto horse who boasts an impressive knowledge of corporate buzzwords (not to mention an eye-catching black and white mane).
“Our talented horses took naturally to the OutHorse Your Email service, tölting and galloping their way across the fields and creating a range of unique emails that will help holidaymakers enjoy their trip without any interruptions,” Horses of Iceland project manager Jelena Ohm said in a press release. “From curiosity, intelligence and independence, our horses are special for many reasons, and so now we can add email responders too.”―
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-ellen gutoskey, visit iceland, mental floss
my favorite indignant complaint of the month
straight from our local ‘next door’ site.
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“So half of ann arbor doors are PUSH. But the other half are all PULL. Can’t the CITY make up their minds about anything??? I’m drafting a letter to Governor Whitmer if you want to sign. We can not be expected to remember which is push or which is pull! I am just tired of this. Life is stressful and having to constantly push or, wait, PULL is nonsense at this point.”
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“a man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that’s unlocked and opens inwards;
as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.”
ludwig wittgenstein
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art credit: gary larson, the far side