• 3 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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  • IMO the law is intended to reduce consumer electronic waste, making batteries that anyone from kids to grandparents can easily replace themselves. Currently the steam deck battery isn’t all that difficult to replace for the tech savvy “brave” folks who happily open up their devices and see the internals, but for most people that’s not good enough. I would never expect my 68 year old mother to replace it herself. IMO the aim is to make batteries replaceable like the PS5 SSD expansion capacity is. Just need a screwdriver and a few minutes, without every feeling like you might break something. Needing anything more than that and most people won’t do it out of fear they’ll break their device.

    But only time will tell what actually happens.





  • I used to worry about this a lot, I still do but I used to too.

    Joking aside, it’s a shit show that us plebians can’t really do anything about but I still try. I’ve driven a hybrid for the last 6 years, I have a smart thermostat to try to save energy, I try to eat less meat more often. I recycle a lot more than most. I even make my own bread and nut milks and many other things which is not only cheaper and healthier (and WAY more delicious) but requires less transport related greenhouse gas emissions than buying premade breads and nut milks. Nut milk is especially better than dairy milk in that matter.

    Oh yeah! And yesterday I picked up 10 large trash bags of litter: yesterday picked up 10 large kitchen trash bags



  • Yesterday I (30m) hosted my first house party ever! I had 6 friends over, plus my brother and I, for 90 min before I was all socialized out and the party concluded.

    It all happened because 2 weeks ago I watched the Ethan Chlebloski video on balsamic vinegar, and I searched and found some traditional balsamic vinegar that instead of costing $33 - $50 / oz, was less than $1/oz! And from what I can tell, yes it is legit. It just is an import blend from multiple Italian manufacturers and sold by a California company called Calivirgin. So instead of a single certified vinegar from one manufacturer that is a guaranteed specific age, it’s an uncertified blend of vinegars from Italy that is aged “up to” 18 years which is fine by me if it’s 98% less costly!

    So after reading tons of glowing reviews for this “Calivinegar” product, I ordered a gallon jug for $125 ($112.50 after a 10% coupon I found after some googling) and I planned to open it at my house party which we did.

    It was delicious! Everyone loved it! The label says only 10 cal and 2g of sugar per tablespoon, but it’s really sweet and thick, just like the balsamic in the video. I also bought empty hot sauce bottles and gave each of my friends one of them to take home too, and one of their wives texted me after that it was the best they’d ever had too! Then we watched fireworks later that night, and watched an episode of the Orville. Overall, a really really good day. 😊


  • Yesterday I (30m) hosted my first house party ever! I had 6 friends over, plus my brother and I, for 90 min before I was all socialized out and the party concluded.

    It all happened because 2 weeks ago I watched the Ethan Chlebloski video on balsamic vinegar, and I searched and found some traditional balsamic vinegar that instead of costing $33 - $50 / oz, was less than $1/oz! And from what I can tell, yes it is legit. It just is an import blend from multiple Italian manufacturers and sold by a California company called Calivirgin. So instead of a single certified vinegar from one manufacturer that is a guaranteed specific age, it’s an uncertified blend of vinegars from Italy that is aged “up to” 18 years which is fine by me if it’s 98% less costly!

    So after reading tons of glowing reviews for this “Calivinegar” product, I ordered a gallon jug for $125 ($112.50 after a 10% coupon I found after some googling) and I planned to open it at my house party which we did.

    It was delicious! Everyone loved it! The label says only 10 cal and 2g of sugar per tablespoon, but it’s really sweet and thick, just like the balsamic in the video. I also bought empty hot sauce bottles and gave each of my friends one of them to take home too, and one of their wives texted me after that it was the best they’d ever had too! Then we watched fireworks later that night, and watched an episode of the Orville. Overall, a really really good day. 😊



  • This is an uncomfortable conversation that needs to be had, but it sadly likely won’t until too many lives have been irreplaceably altered.

    Now firstly, I support trans people! I support all LGBTQ+ people, and Cis Straight people, to find themselves and be themselves and accept themselves for who they are! People need to learn to love themselves and not need to change to find happiness. Trans people are unfortunately stuck in a body that doesn’t match their brain so they need to change to become who they are inside. Just as everyone’s fingerprints are unique, everyone’s brains are unique, and sometimes the brain is so different from their sex that they need to transition to truly be themselves. But IMO not all people who say they are trans actually are, let me explain why.

    People want to support minorities, and lonely people want to find a community that will support them. So some people will surely become a minority just for the social support being a minority offers, not necessarily because they actually are that minority but they may convince themselves that is the case even if they aren’t. But the issue is there’s no easy way to know who’s who in this situation, and it’s arguably not our business to challenge them in their personal decisions. These are lonely people who need people to hear them and be their friends regardless of what they choose to do, and people who preach anti-trans arguments often aren’t able to do that and instead are very hateful.

    People today are lonely, in large part because of social media’s affect on our psych. And what support is there for straight cisgender people? Essentially none. Especially white straight cisgender people who are practically seen as the “bad guys” throughout history (Which isn’t necessarily an unfair assessment considering what Europe has historically done to basically everyone (including each other for that matter) but that was largely the actions of the wealthy few again). Why do so many kids and adults commit suicide? Where’s the support network for people who need it regardless of minority/majority status? Real life social networks are dying. I’m sure there is some support, but it’s not as visible to those who need it.

    There’s a conversation that needs to be had which is being shutdown because of the “look everyone a bigot(!)” mentality that bringing this up has. However, there’s no simple way I can see to really separate that honest discussion from those who do want to ban the practice entirely, so it’s understandable why the reaction is the way it is. It really is a shitshow from all sides. (Transitioning should not be banned BTW in case I haven’t made it clear that that’s my position.)

    I think that some kids should be allowed to transition, based on their physicians and families assessments of the situation. But in the end it’s not my business if someone believes they truly need to transition to be happy. I do think currently too many are transitioning because it’s become the new social fad like being goth or emo, though perhaps I’m wrong. But if I’m right than it’s a lot harder to reverse being trans, if it’s possible at all.

    Personally, I’m just dropping the subject IRL because of the reaction that happens after any mention of that honest concern comes out.

    I expect someone will say I’m a bigot just for this comment showing any concern at all that too many people think they’re trans and are harming themselves long term. My goal is the largest amount of happy people who love themselves as possible. And sometimes in trying to do that society inadvertently causes some people unnecessary suffering as I’m sure is the case here, but there’s nothing we can really do about it, it is what it is. So just love everyone and accept everyone and do your own thing. Things will work out for most people in the end if you just accept people and don’t worry about things. Which is what I try to do.