Living Space

How much living space does a person need? What happens when these space requirements are not adequately met? Sociologists and psychologists are conducting experiments on rats to try to examine the effects of overcrowding on humans. Recent studies have shown that the behavior of rats is greatly affected by space. If rats have adequate living space, they eat well, sleep well, and reproduce well. But if their living conditions become too crowded, their behavior patterns and even their health change perceptibly. They cannot sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and tension become obvious. The more crowded they are, the more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, population and violence are directly related. Is this a natural law for human society as well? Is adequate space not only desirable but essential for human survival?

Source: Kumpulan Soal Ganesha Operation, UMPTN/1999/R-A/43,hlm. 798

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To Cutting out Coffee

Coffee is as much part of the average adult’s morning routine as is brushing their teeth. Coffee really is a comfort “food”, but how good is it really for you? Some studies suggest that coffee is practically a health food with its abundance of antioxidants, while other studies highlight the negative side-effects of caffeine on our bodies. If you’re deciding to cut down on your coffee all together, maybe you’ve tried to stop and have been suffering from painful headaches.

This is because caffeine narrows blood vessels in the brain and decreases circulation, and when caffeine is suddenly missing from your diet, there is a sudden increase in circulation both to the brain and the digestive system. This may lead to severe headaches as well as constipation or bowel upset. So, although it is ideal for your body to be rid of this addictive substance as quickly as possible, it is best to take a gradual approach to cutting out coffee in order to achieve the most success pain-free.

Source: Kumpulan Soal Ganesha Operation, SPMB/2006/R-I/411,hlm. 796

 

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About Humor

It is easy to understand why there is so much disagreement about humor. No pattern of human behavior is so full of paradoxes. A joke is “one man’s meat but another man’s poison. “or, as William Haziit  put it,” sport to one but death to another.” If you laugh without restrain, you are thought to be either mad or mentally health. A joke is trivial and nonsensical, yet it may express a profound truth. Understanding joke is  an intellectual achievement, yet reflective thought destroys humor.

We laugh for many reason,  some contradictory;  we may laugh in sympathy or in soon, from anxiety or relief, from anger to affection, from joy or frustration. In view of one way, humor is regarded as a trifling, destructive, and degrading force in morality, religion, and art. Seen differently, it is a liberating, socially constructive, and even ennobling art.

The difficulty was well expressed by W.C.Fields: “The funniest thing about comedy is that you never know why people laugh. I know what makes them laugh, but trying to get your hands on the why of it is like trying to pick an eel out of a tub of water.”

source: Kumpulan Soal Ganesha Operation, UM UGM/2005/621, hlm. 794.

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Between The American and The Englishman

Between The American and The Englishman

When listening to a conversation between an American and an Englishman, a person will become aware of the most significant differences between the two varieties of the language. While the Englishman does not pronounce r sound before a consonant sound or at the end of a word, the American does. This might lead to a rather humorous misunderstanding it, when asked by the American what his job was, the Englishman answered that he was a clerk (pronounce clock to the American ear). Failure to use the r sound at the end of a word might also lead to confusion between words like paw and pour, moreover a noticeable difference exists between the basic rods used to express the same thing. The American might want to know the price of gas in London, but the Englishman will answer him by using the word petrol. Unlike the American, who wears an undershirt when the weather is cold, the Englishman wears a vest. The American wants to know where the elevator is, while the Englishman asks the location of the lift.

Source: Kumpulan Soal Ganesha Operation, UM UGM/2004/32 Text 22, hlm.792

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Kursus Pertanian "Taman Tani" Salatiga

Pengalaman di KPTT (Budidaya Jamur)

 

Akhirnya bisa melihat dan merasakan bagaimana mengembangkan jamur di KPTT Salatiga.

 

Tiga hal menarik yang membuatku ingin ke KPTT adalah pengolahan biogas, pembibitan, dan budidaya jamur.  Pada hari pertama, aku bekerja di bagian perkebunan yaitu mengolah tanah. Hari kedua, aku bekerja di bagian peternakan. Dan, akhirnya di hari terakhir, aku mendapat kesempatan di budidaya jamur.

 

Membudidayakan jamur memang relatif sulit. Butuh banyak pengalaman agar mendapatkan hasil yang memuaskan. Tak jarang, kegagalan sering didapat. Namun, keberanianlah yang harus menjadi semangat petani jamur. Berani dan tidak takut mencoba.

 

Hal-hal penting yang harus diperhatikan dalam membudidayakan jamur, yaitu suhu, kelembaban, cahaya, dan tekanan. Empat hal tersebut sangat mempengaruhi apakah jamur  bisa bertumbuh dengan baik atau gagal di tengah jalan .

 

Kita memulai proses pembudidayaan jamur dengan menyiapkan serbuk gergaji. Serbuk ini bisa berasal dari kayu apapun. KPTT Salatiga menggunakan kayu sengon (kayu lunak) sebagai serbuk gergaji. Keuntungan dari penggunaan kayu lunak adalah proses fermentasi yang lebih cepat dibandingkan menggunakan kayu keras (jati).

Setelah itu, serbuk gergaji dicampur dengan dedak/bekatul, kapur (dolomit), dan air. Perbandingan yang bisa digunakan adalah 100 kg serbuk, 25 kg dedak/bekatul, 3 kg kapur, dan komposisi air 60%. Campuran ini juga bisa ditambah dengan gula (gula merah, tebu), tepung jagung, tepung singkong, dan EM (Effective Microorganism). Penambahan gula dan tepung supaya jamur memiliki daun yang lebih tebal dan bernutrisi baik. Sementara itu, penambahan EM supaya proses fermentasi lebih cepat.  

 

Kemudian, campuran itu didiamkan selama satu hari (jika menggunakan kayu lunak). Campuran yang sudah siap (untuk mengeceknya: ukur suhu awal dan suhu akhir), dimasukkan ke dalam wadah (plastik, botol, ember). Campuran lalu ditekan dan disteam pada suhu berkisar 100⁰c. Proses akhir, campuran disimpan dalam ruangan yang bersuhu sedang, dan lembab. Jamur tidak bisa terkena sinar matahari langsung, jadi harus dijaga dengan baik.

                                                      Pohon kaktus di depan halaman KPTT

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Titik Balik

Sebenarnya, saya sudah punya beberapa blog. namun, saya lupa dengan alamat blog-blog itu dan sudah lama tidak saya "rawat".
akhirnya, saya memutuskan untuk memiliki satu blog dan fokus kepada satu blog saja.

Semoga semua berjalan sesuai harapan. God bless us, always.

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