Whatzit?

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Are pumpkins, cantaloupes, cucumbers, and watermelons fruits because of the type and placement of their seeds ?
Or must fruit have single, solid pits, like peaches , plums, and nectarines?

[chuck]

Those are in the gourd categories (even the cucumber) and are all considered fruits (seeds inside surrounded by "fleshy" material).

However, in botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary or carpel that contains seeds

All "fruits" are vegetables in that they aren't "animals" or "minerals". We tend classify stuff by what part of the "vegetable" we consider "food". If it's the part with the seeds inside we tend to call it a fruit. If that part is "sweet" we really tend to call it a fruit. This generic classification schema can be further complicated by things like tax laws. The tomato is legally considered a "vegetable" for tax purposes by the courts even when the ruling explicitly noted that botanically it's a fruit.

A vegetable is defined as a plant cultivated for an edible part or parts such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, or seeds/fruit.

This discrepancy between the botanical and culinary definitions can lead to even weirder classifications like corn. If it's cultivated for flour, it's considered a grain. If it's cultivated for direct eating (e.g. sweet corn) it's a vegetable. Technically we are eating the seeds in both cases and that's actually the "fruit" of the plant.

I'm going to stick with "produce", it covers all the bases, including edible fungi like mushrooms.

[webenda]

Technically we are eating the seeds in both cases and that's actually the "fruit" of the plant.

I'm going to stick with "produce", it covers all the bases, including edible fungi like mushrooms.

In fungi, the sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne.

[robert.]

Take a look into the world of cashews. It's a great fruit to eat and a nut. We never get to see the fruit part here. all we get is the poisonous seed.

[chuck]

Thanks Wayne. I just know they taste good (at least to me). Fresh in salads or sautéed on steak or chicken.

I'm getting hungry,I think I'll go make an omelette with some fruits, veggies, meat and some fungi. Bon Apatite!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Bon Apatite!

I hope not - apatite is a mineral,

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Of course, you were correct, Chuck. I appreciate how you figured that one out.

[chuck]

When you first posted the picture I thought it might be an ore dock or bridge. The rail head is just visible indicating it probably has something to do with trains. The platform extension and the lighter weight "structure" on the platform eliminated the ore dock and any kind of truss bridge. The platform has no railing so it probably wasn't a bridge per se but the letters were intriguing. Something IR, first I thought LIRR but the initial letter is hidden and there is no lower bar for an "L", running through the alphabet yielded "F,I,P with T and Y as outliers because of the location of the vertical bar (too far to the left). So we have FIR, IIR or PIR. FIR(ST) seemed to be a likely fit and I wasn't having much luck with any Railroad names for any of these combinations. We have a "bridge like" railroad structure with "First" on it. Having seen several turntables in person I shifted to that possibility and found several PRR turntables with "Safety First" painted on the side. I looked at PRR first because of your east coast affiliation. I would have then shifted to Erie, NYC, NH as next most likely candidates.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Fascinating. Interesting. You have a wonderful mind, Chuck. I would imagine that everybody who knows you in-person feels blessed, knowing they would always be getting fair and carefully considered treatment by you, as well as information upon which they can depend.
Be well, safe , and happy, always.
Murph

[chuck]

Thanks for the kind words. As someone whose career almost always involved dealing with the public is some form I decided that I should treat the people around me like I prefer they treat members of my family, e.g. my kids, my parents/grandparents, etc. Go one step beyond treating people how you would wish to be treated.

Live in the moment (aka always be aware of what is going on around you) and not for the moment (aka as if nothing matters). The past is something to be remembered, both for the bitter and the sweet but primarily for the lessons hopefully learned. The future is something to plan for but you need to be flexible and adjust those plans as the situation changes (aka plan, don't daydream).

When dealing with an unpleasant situation it's best to work the problem to find a solution and worry about "blame" later. Too often people focus on blame first under the guise of trying to prevent whatever happened from happening again. Unless you are dealing with the grotesquely stupid or people that are operating under an agenda they rarely make the exact same mistake twice. They usually find a variation . Whenever a supervisor was heading towards non-linearity I would calmly ask them "what is your objective". This usually defused the situation and got them thinking about focussing on what was really going on.

Never go to your boss with "problems". Present then with multiple alternate solutions.

Never tell your boss you are "bored". You weren't hired to be amused, you were hired to work. Find something else that needs doing and do it.

The one thing I never wanted to hear from someone that was working for me was "That's not my job". In most cases their job is pretty much whatever I told them it was. You are either a) part of the problem, b) part of the solution, or c) part of the scenery. Choices a) and c) usually lead to the exit sign and a reasonably intelligent person should try to avoid them.

Recognize who your "boss" really is. An immediate supervisor might not be your boss. Your boss is the person that can get you a raise while only asking permission of one person above him/her they and can fire you without asking anybody else. aka Always try to make sure your boss is "happy" or at least satisfied.

As an analyst always have plans b, c, d, ... in your back pocket and never stop analyzing. Just because you think you know what's going on doesn't mean you really do.

When something is really off, "follow the money". Unless the person/people you are dealing with are actually crazy/delusional there is always some form of motivation for their behavior and that usually goes back to money/profit. aka What's in it for me? Since most people don't like to be viewed as that crass they usually come up with other rationalizations that, on the surface, may seem less crass but these rationalizations often don't hold up to close scrutiny.

Finally

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Folks that do not learn the above early on in life tend to be seriously miserable sods later in life that spend much of their time blaming others for their self-inflicted lot in life.

[robert.]

“That’s not my job” only time I every canned a guy, that’s what he said. I dumped a secretary for a stupid statement also. I told not to sit at her desk and talk on her cellphone. She told me “ when I pay her phone bill I can tell her when to use it.”.

[chuck]

[rogruth]

A view of one of the persons that Rufus sometimes posts wearing red vinyl.

[webenda]

Lid to a bomb containment chamber?