See, this is what I like -- the coworker and I don't have a relationship where I can go, "Hey, are your legs bare? That's OK for you, religiously??? I had no idea!"

Only the most strict Orthodox women (what you'd probably call "Hasidic" in English?) wear socks all the time.

That's interesting. My co-worker wears thick flesh-colored tights all the time (I've never seen her without them), and she also wears either a wig or head covering--since she had her first child, she sticks with the head covering (maybe the kids pull the wig off?).

Nilly! Have SO much fun with your Muppet Show access!!!!

Even mineral makeup makes me break out (summer, winter...whenever...). I'm just not meant to be made up, apparently. Sigh.

Nilly! Big article on local traffic bottlenecks and recent studies on flow etc..

Big article on local traffic bottlenecks

San Francisco needs Random Early Detection queuing.

Maybe I've just never noticed her bare legs before, even when they've been there!

If she usually wears long skirts (which, here, are practically easier to find lately, because they're somewhat in fashion now, even for non-religious girls), maybe it wasn't easy to notice, either way.

does wear a wig, for example.

I know it's different between Israeli and American Orthodox Jews, but here, the strict married women always cover their heads. A wig vs. a hat/scarf/handkerchief is an issue, though. Ashkenazi women are more likely to wear a wig than Sepharadi women (some of the Sepharadi rabbis say that wigs are not a good head-cover if it's difficult to tell that it's a wig and not the woman's hair), for example.

Also, there was a big mess a couple of years ago regarding the wigs. It turned out that the hair used in making the wigs was cut in India, IIRC, as part of some religious ceremonies there (and then sold to make wigs). Since the hair was cut for religious purposes which seemed to be far from monotheistic, and there's a problem in using materials with such a meaning in a Jewish religious way, a lot of the women threw out their wigs and started using some other hair-covering instead, at least for a time, until they could find wigs which were made from "non problematic" hairs.

don't have a relationship where I can go, "Hey, are your legs bare? That's OK for you, religiously??? I had no idea!"

I absolutely *love* it that you feel comfortable enough with me to ask. I remember, in fact, that you were quite attentive to when I washed my hands before eating and when I didn't, when we were walking around in NYC. I loved it then already!

My co-worker wears thick flesh-colored tights all the time (I've never seen her without them)

Some go even further and wear non-flesh-color stockings, so it will look even less like a bare leg.

since she had her first child, she sticks with the head covering (maybe the kids pull the wig off?).

I don't know of any rules regarding any change in head-covering after giving birth.

Have SO much fun with your Muppet Show access!

Trudy! Thanks! I'm sure I will.

Hec! Thanks for that link. We *did* try to suggest a way to time traffic lights based on our model, just like they said they need, in the article. Nobody listened to us, of course, because what do theoretical physicists know about such practical things. Sigh.

this is what I like -- the coworker and I don't have a relationship where I can go, "Hey, are your legs bare? That's OK for you, religiously??? I had no idea!"

You have my workplace attitude. Of course, no one here seems to share it. But as far as things to bitch about go, it's really very low on the list.

I may be growing up.

In sad news the drycleaner stained my favourite dress in all the world. Which I'm wearing right now, at work. Grr.

Hey--anyone have any travel mug recommendations? They're all pretty much the same, right?

In return I will say that using dryer balls with my laundry has resulted in shorter drying times.

If we're trading.

We *did* try to suggest a way to time traffic lights based on our model, just like they said they need, in the article. Nobody listened to us, of course, because what do theoretical physicists know about such practical things. Sigh.

"So...wait. Wait. Is this one of those you don't know if my cat's dead or alive until you put it in a wave pool things?"

"What? No, no, it's actually..."

"Does it have to do with the speed of light at sea level?"

"At sea...? No. It's just..."

"Is my car a particle or a photon?"

"I have to talk to the baby now."

A while back I saw a web page (I may have linked to it) that had a Java traffic simulation. You could control the traffic density and choose routes that had lane closures, etc. What was fascinating is you could have traffic flowing smoothly, and all of a sudden it would just choke up and cars would be bumper to bumper. I've read about this too - it can happen when a highway is at significantly less than its maximum traffic capacity.