Month: September 2019

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Take a Look at the World’s First Cheese Conveyor Belt Restaurant

I remember my first sushi experience like it was yesterday: it was in San Francisco, and the little plates went around on a conveyor belt, and you could just grab off whatever you wanted and then pay at the end.

I thought it was amazing; my 15-year-old mind was well and truly blown!

Well, now it looks like I’ll need to make a trip across the pond to England to check out a place called The Cheese Bar. Located in London’s Camden Market, the restaurant specializes in fine cheese that is delivered to customers on a conveyor belt, making it the first cheese conveyor belt restaurant in the world.

Customers can choose from 25 different cheeses off the moving belt while they sip wine. The plates are color-coordinated by price, and customers are encouraged to gorge until they are content.

The restaurant also offers grilled cheese sandwiches and, for dessert, blue cheese soft serve.

Wow, never heard of that one before, but it sounds amazing.

The founder of The Cheese Bar, Matthew Carver, said, “We want to show that cheese and wine bars don’t have to be boring and can be enjoyed by everyone, whether you’re dropping in for a quick plate of British cheese and a glass of something unusual, or settling in for a cheese flight and a bottle of natural wine.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m on board with this idea. I can’t get enough of the stuff, even though I know I should cool it on my dairy…

Pass the cheese, please! All of it!

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A Homeless Mother Went to Jail for Enrolling Her Son in the Wrong School District

You’ve heard all about the college cheating scandal in the news – a bunch of super rich people and celebrities paid to get their average kids into Ivy-caliber schools – but for most of the country, there was little surprise that the education system (higher or otherwise) is rigged to favor the wealthy.

This case, in which a homeless woman was arrested and forced to spend time in jail simply for putting her son in a public school (which, in theory, are for everyone), really drives that point home for people still unsure how wealth inequality in America works.

In 2011, Tanya McDowell was a homeless mother in Bridgeport, Connecticut, when she was charged with first-degree larceny for enrolling her son Andrew in a Norwalk, Connecticut, kindergarten class.

McDowell says that though she and her son slept in a Bridgeport apartment at night, during the day they lived in her van or visited shelters for food.

She took a plea deal and received five years in prison (she served them concurrently with a sentence stemming from charges of selling drugs to support herself and her son), but only regrets part of what she did.

“Who would have thought that wanting a good education for my son would put me in this predicament? I have no regrets seeking a better education for him. I do regret my participation in this drug case.”

McDowell isn’t alone, either, according to New York City public defender Rebecca J. Kavanagh.

“In Ohio, Kelley Williams-Bolar was charged for lying about her residency to get her child into a better school and ordered to pay restitution of $30,000. When she did’t pay it she was sent to jail for 15 days.”

Since all public schools aren’t created equal, the practice of using friends and family’s addresses to enroll children in a “better” school district isn’t all that uncommon. It’s hard to blame poor communities and communities of color for wanting access to what should be the same for everyone – especially once you learn that white school districts get about $23 billion more in state and local funding than their nonwhite counterparts.

So while people like McDowell spend five years in jail for wanting their children to have what is available to other children, wealthy folks like Felicity Huffman get off with a slap on the wrist.

Kavanagh says this type of injustice is fairly common.

“This is really just an extension of what people do to get admitted to university already – donating money to buy buildings and fund endowments. The line between legal and illegal, donation and bribe, is blurred.”

She’s also quick to remind us that, regardless of Huffman’s (and others) sentence in this latest “scandal,” McDowell and those like her have suffered an injustice.

“While there is a part of us that may feel some sense of vindication at the idea of these parents serving five years in prison because Tanya McDowell served five years in prison when she was so much more deserving, that’s not justice. Justice is for Tanya McDowell to have never been charged, convicted, or sent to prison and to have the same educational opportunity for her son as these parents have for their children.”

As for McDowell, she hopes that things will be different for others – including her own son – in the future.

“I’m not only doing it for Andrew. I’m doing it for any other parent, any other child out there that has the potential to succeed and excel at a certain level and is just being deprived, period. My son exceeded all of my expectations.”

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A Study Showed That Older Parents Still Lose Sleep over Their Adult Children

I’ve wondered if my parents still do this, even though all five of the kids they raised are grown up and out of the house.

And now I have an answer.

A study published in The Gerontologist Journal shows many older parents worry about their adult children as much as they did when they were raising them as youngsters.

It also found that there was a correlation between sleep quality and parents worrying about their adult children.

It makes sense when you think about it: when kids are raised by their parents, mom and dad are always home and around the children. It’s when the kids leave the house to go out into the world for college or a job that mothers and fathers begin to experience more worry and stress due to uncertainty and not being in close proximity to their sons and daughters at all times.

Amber J. Seidel of Penn State York, the leader of the study, said:

“I feel that many share this value, yet I think much of the socialization in our culture focuses on the family when children are younger. I seek to study topics that help us understand how family continues to be a central part of our lives throughout adulthood, and I encourage considering family-level influences in all situations.”

The study is obviously more reflective of parents in the West and in Europe, as it is more common for children to live with their parents longer in the East. In the U.S. and Europe, children are pushed toward independence at a younger age.

Seidel ended the study by encouraging parents to consider the type of relationships they have with their adult children because the level of involvement they have with their kids and how much support they offer them affects parents’ sleep cycles. The questions Seidel thinks parents should ask themselves include, ‘Are you enabling your child by rewarding lazy or destructive behaviors?’, ‘Are you trying to control your child in any way?’, ‘Or are you simply letting your adult child live their life while providing unconditional support?’

Asking and contemplating these questions can lead to a more transparent relationship between parents and adult children.

Hey, adults who are out of the house, your parents are most likely worried about you and wondering what you’re up to, so check in once in a while.

Call your mother.

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You Can Spend 30 Hours in a Coffin with Your Partner and Win $600, Courtesy of Six Flags

Amusement park Six Flags has celebrated Halloween by daring their guests to spend 30 hours trapped alone in a coffin for the last couple years. People surprisingly jumped at the chance (and some of them actually made it!), so this year, they’re upping the ante and offering the challenge for couples.

That’s right – it’s a chance to test your relationship by spending the night trapped in a 6-foot by 5.4-foot space together!

Or, you know, if you’re up for a super adventure, you could also do it with a perfect stranger.

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#sixflagscoffinchallenge

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You’re allowed to bring pillows, sleeping bags, or whatever else you’d like, as long as everything fits inside and allows the lid to be closed. You’re also allowed to leave for designated bathroom breaks, to eat meals, and to use your phone (that last one is crap, if you asl me).

Each contestant is also issued a “Get Out of the Coffin Free Card” to use in exchange for a 6-minute breather.

There are mini-challenges throughout the main event, like fishing a mystery item out of a bucket, lying still while covered in worms, or other Fear Factor Lite experiences.

Both participants must complete these challenges together, though everyone does get one “Skip the Challenge Card” at the outside of the event.

The reward for surviving all of this intact – and hopefully still in a relationship – is $600 (to split), two 2020 season passes, and a Fright Fest prize pack.

There’s an online application if you’re interested, and if this year’s deadline is passed, well…there’s always next year.

Maybe you and your partner can spend the intervening months trying to survive hours on end pressed together in a tight space.

Remember, though, for the real challenge, you’ll have an audience.

So no funny business to pass the time.

The post You Can Spend 30 Hours in a Coffin with Your Partner and Win $600, Courtesy of Six Flags appeared first on UberFacts.

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You Can Now Stay at Downton Abbey Through Airbnb for One Night Only

Don’t miss out on this opportunity!

I have a feeling this place will be booked up for a while…and quick. Highclere Castle, the main filming location for the Downton Abbey TV series and recent feature film, is now available for guests through Airbnb.

This has to be a dream come true for fans of the show. I know how excited I’d be if a room opened up in the Psycho house, so I can feel their excitement.

This actually sounds like a hell of a deal. You get dinner and drinks with Highclere’s Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, and you get waited on by a butler (a personal dream of mine). You also get a tour of the grounds and a stay in a private bedroom.

The gist? It’s for one night only and only for two people.. Guests will be able to stay at Highclere on November 26 only, at least for now. Reservations go on sale on October 1 at 12:00 pm BST (British Summer Time), so, if you’re an American, be sure to set an alarm early that day to book your spot.

The pricing starts at $159, which is actually WAY less than I thought it would be.

Here’s how the Airbnb page describes the visit:

“Lord and Lady Carnarvon will welcome guests into their home on arrival, and after settling them into their bedroom, will ask the guests to join them for cocktails before dinner. Throughout the stay, Lord and Lady Carnarvon will immerse the guests in the rich history and heritage of Highclere Castle with a private tour of the Castle, the Highclere Estate.”

If this is a big hit (which I’m sure it will be), maybe more dates like this will open up and you’ll have other opportunities to live in style…at least for one night.

What do you think? Are you going to try to get in on this action?

The post You Can Now Stay at Downton Abbey Through Airbnb for One Night Only appeared first on UberFacts.

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The Man of the Future

Back in the early 1980s, orthodontist David Marshall, from Syracuse, NY, liked to speculate about what humans would look like 2 million years in the future. Or what “Future Man” would look like, as he referred to our descendants. Based on previous trends in our evolution, he concluded that Future Man will be hairless, big-skulled, […]

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TVs emit a tone during ad breaks…

TVs emit a tone during ad breaks that are inaudible to humans but that smartphones are listening for; now corporate entities can link the tv & phone as belonging to the same person. It means government entities can play a tone through the TV and ping all the phones in the room, identifying the whole […]