And the rest of the food was just really Chinesey. I know, Chinese restaurant... But it tasted kinda weird. Whenever they give you a clear soup that doesn't taste like any particular animal, you wonder what's in there. I mean, at least for western meals you know that there'll only be bits of ants and grubs and maggots in your mashed potatoes. For Chinese food there could be a freaking penis in there for all you know. I hope you weren't having a meal when you read that. If accidentally read, induce vomiting.
Come to think of it, I'll be flying off to Shanghai this Saturday. That means that I'm going to have to be wary of animal placentas and the like in my soup for the week after. I know Shanghai is supposed to be really modern and all, but traditions are traditions. It's probably a good thing that I can go, "ah, the rotting carcass of a dog. Cool." or I might not be able to handle all the quirky stuff I might see.
Another thing, is that apparently, it's about 20 degrees on the centigrade scale over there during the day. I sleep with the thermo on 25. At night, it'll be about 2°C. I have no idea what I'm going to do there, other than sit in a room and watch HBO all day. While eating chips and drinking warm coke. With a heater dangerously near to my specials so that I won't get frostbite. Okay, maybe not that near.
And to fill this post with a little more content than my boring escapades to wherever... I'm going to give a little background information on frostbite. Just in case anyone wants to reach the South Pole, or climb Everest. Without legs.
Well, first it's important to understand the body's natural response to low air temperature. The lower the temperature goes, the more the blood vessels in the skin constrict, so as to prevent heat from being lost from our oh so precious blood. When temperatures drop by a large degree, a dangerously low amount of blood reaches the skin. At the same time, the skin's temperature is being dropped(since it's not maintained by blood flow) and the tissue begins to freeze.
At this point, there are little icy crystals poking into your skin and your muscles. Naturally, it hurts a lot. You would also notice how your skin has turned a funny black colour. Eventually, the pain sorta goes away. But wait, don't touch it. All because it doesn't hurt, it doesn't mean that the problem is solved. It doesn't hurt because erm... well it's definitely gotta do with your nerves committing suicide.
When treating a frostbitten part of your body, never massage or rub it, because the ice crystals will act like sandpaper. On the inside. Now that's a sensation you don't want to experience. Warm affected areas slowly, allowing them to thaw. If you have a very severe case of frostbite, do not thaw, as the cold blood that now flows back into your main system will shock your heart, making it stop. Instead, say "Go Go Gadget, amputation instruments!" and your mechanic brain will know what to do. If you happen not to have such equipment, you're pretty much left to your skill with a flame.
Home experiment!
You need:
1) A body part that you don't need/want OR a small animal that has wronged you in the most terrible way.
2) A cannister of liquid nitrogen.
Well, open the cannister, and let the escaping vapour flow over your body part/hamster until the above symptoms appear. Assuming that you still have hands, record your observations and draw a conclusion!
Oh yeah, and erm, unless you've got a death wish, or have amazing healing powers like that cheerleader from Heroes, don't actually do this. But if you decide to try, tell me where you got the liquid nitrogen from first.
And since I found that I have no related pictures to today's topic, here's a completely unrelated one!
Spaces are VERY important. I wonder what's their age limit for the swap.
-Joe