ArbitraryValue

joined 2 years ago
[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I wonder to what extent this is actually popular. I have a stereotype in mind of small but vehement and politically active groups getting laws like this passed while the majority of voters is opposed but not opposed enough to vote for the other party, but maybe I'm biased because I find the plastic bag ban where I live (not Oregon) so annoying. But not so annoying that I'd vote for a Republican because of it.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

But 500 km (or rather 310 miles since I'm in the USA) is at the upper end of the distance I'd drive. There isn't a distance for which a train is better than both flying and driving.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Nah if I'm going to shill for any Manhattan grocery store, it will be Fairway. It's also really expensive but it feels like being in the sort of store you'd go to if you were rich, not like being ripped off. Their cheese counter has prices per 1/4 pound for some of the cheeses but then if you get some $15 per 1/4 pound cheese it will taste so good that you'll think it was worth it. I haven't been there in years but I still long for that cheese.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

I don't think that's actually an unusual conversation for people who live in Manhattan to have. The comments about relative prices are accurate in my experience - I live on the same block as a Gristides and I still never shop there because of how expensive it is, even compared to Whole Foods. I get most of my groceries in Brooklyn on the weekends.

I also know a woman with a whole stack of different credit cards, so she always has the one that gives her the most rewards for whatever specific thing she's buying. I'm sure she has one for grocery shopping.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (8 children)

I fly because it's fast, not because I like airplanes. Even the fastest train is way too slow to replace a plane for a long-distance trip. Then for shorter distances cars win out because of how convenient they are. There's no niche for passenger trains except for commuting into urban areas with no parking.

It doesn't help that in the USA train tickets seem to cost more than plane tickets. I think I'd still usually fly even if the train was free, so I'm certainly not going to pay extra for a slower method of transportation even if it is a little more comfortable.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works -1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Is there a reason to think that Trump may intend to occupy Iran? I'm not aware of any, and therefore I'm not sure why "forever war" involving the USA is seen by some as a significant risk of intervention.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Heh, at least the beans and tofu are good for me. I hate shopping, I hate cooking, and I only buy vegan food so I'm never going to be low-carb, but the funny thing is that I also have high cholesterol because my own body makes way too much of it.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It sounds like he's talking about American technology used by Israel, not about America acting directly.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 days ago (3 children)

The solution for me has been to eat mostly imperishable foods - canned beans, boxed tofu, frozen desserts, grains, etc. That way I can go weeks between trips to the grocery store. (I really don't like grocery shopping.)

Israel is an ally of the USA but Iran is violently hostile to the USA.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 12 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

My mother loved Dr. Mario. She would sometimes encourage me to skip school ("Are you sure you feel alright? You look like you might be sick. Maybe you should stay home just in case.") and we would play it until my ten-year-old self got bored first. However, she had zero interest in even trying any other games.

 

The fascinating thing here is that the government's lawyer, the one supposed to argue against this guy's return, appears to have sided against the government.

"Give us 24 hours to get him back, Reuveni said. "That was my recommendation to my client but that hasn't happened"

 

When I was a teenager, I thought people in their 20's were the most attractive. Now that I'm about 40, I still think people in their 20's are the most attractive. It's hard for me to believe that I might ever be attracted to someone past retirement age, even when I'm past retirement age myself, unless the person is like one of those celebrities who look way younger than they are.

This isn't something I can comfortably ask most older people I know, but there's one man who admits that he isn't and one woman who is. Which is more normal?

 

"Deleted" sounds so casual too, like God did it as part of some routine cleanup.

 

I live a bachelor lifestyle, so I have no food in here. Just alcohol. I hope the mouse figures that out and goes away. I should get some traps in case it doesn't. I hate killing animals but there's no practical alternative.

 
 

I was supposed to move my car last night but I forgot. The ticket is for $65 but I found a dollar on the ground near my car so I'm actually only out $64.

I set an alarm in my calendar so I won't forget next time.

 

It'll cost $9 each time. They're raising money for the mass transit system by charging specifically those people who don't use the mass transit system and that feels really unfair to me.

 

Archive link.

As recently as February, Mr. Walz said on a podcast that he had been in Hong Kong, then a British colony, “on June 4 when Tiananmen happened,” and decided to cross into mainland China to take up his teaching duties even though many people were urging him not to.

But it was not true. Mr. Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, indeed taught at a high school in China as part of a program sending American teachers abroad, but he did not actually travel to the country until August 1989.

Why bother making something like this up?

 

Pretty much every major shopping website has terrible search functionality.

I usually want something very specific, for example 60w dimmable e12 frosted warm led bulb. I have not found a single shopping website that won't show me results without many of these terms in the description. I don't want to see listings that say 40w and don't say 60w anywhere, and it isn't hard to filter them out!

Are these shopping websites bad on purpose? What's in it for them?

 

Before covid, I would be sick with a cold or flu for a total of about two weeks every year. That means I spent 4% of my time sick; one out of every 25 days. Since covid appeared, I've been wearing an N95 in crowded indoor areas whenever I reasonably can. (Obviously I can't if I'm eating something.) My main goal initially was to protect my elderly relatives, but during the last four years I have not gotten sick even once, except from my elderly relatives who didn't wear masks, got sick, and then infected me when I was caring for them.

Why isn't everyone wearing N95s? Sure, it's uncomfortable, but being sick is much more uncomfortable. And then there's the fact that wearing an N95 protects other people and not just the wearer...

 
 

There appears to be no straightforward way to permanently stop Windows 11 Home from rebooting on its own after installing updates. I looked for workarounds but so far I have only found a script that has to run on a schedule to block the reboot by changing "working hours". (Link.)

Is that really the best that is possible?

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