Jackie's Fridge

I use a Kaweco Sport as my daily driver.

Bonus: Nobody ever “borrows” it at work because it confuses and terrifies them.

I’d love to say I solved that for myself by not having kids, but I just found other sources of stress.

Seriously. USA is like the generic video game starter character before anyone’s had a chance to customise it and level up. At all. And I say that as someone who lives here.

She vaguely thinks there may be something out there but it has zero bearing on her life. I think that makes her functionally an agnostic atheist.

Another vote for the T480. I have a T480s running Mint and it’s been lovely. No driver issues and for office/light media creation/consumption it seems to work without a hitch.

A Mary Sue can fail, but those failures don’t usually have a massive impact and are easily reversed without the feeling that the MS had to struggle to earn the reversal.

The more flaws a character has, the more they have to work to balance them out. Readers are more likely on the side of a character that has to work and make sacrifices to make it through the difficulties the plot throws at them.

Random Example: Diana Rowland’s “My Life as a White Trash Zombie”. Protagonist Angel has a criminal record, drug addiction, abusive home life, and generally makes very bad decisions. Because of her life course, she has very few resources (she can’t go to the cops, nobody she knows has money or connections, etc) but she can think quickly and has a sort of desperate resourcefulness. Because everything is working against her, she has to fight for any positive forward movement, and one misstep can be a serious threat - and those happen frequently, undoing any success and forcing her to burn her resources to try a new path. IIRC in one of the books the B-story is her trying just to earn her GED as the main plot around her is utter pandemonium. Just that struggle to graduate high school is a herculean task given the deck stacked against her. Readers aren’t thinking “how will she win”, they’re thinking “well what’s going to go wrong this time?”

TL;DR: If every time your protagonist has a setback the readers shout “can’t she ever catch a break?” instead of “ah she’ll just breeze through this” you should be doing okay.

It’s a short series (six episodes so far) but with two more in production: The Devil’s Hour.

Go in blind, don’t spoil it for yourself.

If you like a series that gives you all the clues but none of them fall together until the last episode, this one is dark, brain-bendy supernatural mystery with an excellent cast.

Listening to other people, especially to women, is a skill. Don’t spend silent time in a conversation waiting for your chance to speak or be smart or witty, stay quiet and really process what you’re hearing. Imagine yourself in their situation. Accept that what they say is exactly how they feel.

The less time you spend talking, the more your conversational partner will tell you, and the more you will start to understand them, their lives, their goals, and their anxieties.

Knowing and understanding other peoples’ experiences will help you not only make better decisions in your own life, but understand why other people act and think the way they do. You’ll be less likely to snap-judge or make assumptions about others. And knowing more about your loved ones, co-workers, and neighbours will allow you to help them effectively if they need it.

And travel abroad as much as possible - listen to people from other countries and cultures. The human experience is wildly varied and endlessly fascinating.

If you like twitchy reflex killers, two oldies-but-goodies from Terry Cavanaugh: Super Hexagon and VVVVVV.

Fun chiptune soundtracks, minimal graphics, and so much “I died already? Okay just ONE MORE try and then I really need to get some work done. ARGH - okay maybe ONE MORE try…” And when you finally succeed the dopamine is second to none.

The Room series are great games.

The Moondrops are solid, and considering the price, they’re excellent. Not flat sounding by any means (they’re what Kids These Days call ‘fun’) but good quality and cheap enough that if they break I won’t feel bad.

The new Mini firmware sounds pretty solid. If you like the LSDJ style of tracking give the M8 a try. The next wave of Model 2s should start shipping toward the end of the month, so you might start seeing Model 1s for better prices on the local used market. Barring that, you could try M8 Headless for the price of a Teensy 4.1 board. That was how I started!

Appreciate the inclusive first sentence! My keyring has keys, a Leatherman Squirt, flat-folding nail trimmer, AAA Maglite, and a leather invincible star charm from Mario. I also keep with me a bandanna (with a glasses cloth folded inside), a leather wallet similar to this design, and a Leatherman Juice Pro.

Phone is a beat up Note 8.

In my bag I tend to have a little sewing kit in a mint tin, small bandages, Ibuprofen, tin of petroleum jelly (way better than Chapstick) and a Dirtywave M8 hardware tracker for when I’m bored.

Of course in the M8’s dedicated case there is an OM System LM-P5 field recorder, aux cable, USB-C cable, Moondrop Chu2 IEMs, various headphone adapters, a microSD card reader & adapters, and a TRS midi A-to-B adapter. And the M8 itself.

It’s like a nesting doll of comfort devices. I won’t survive the apocalypse but I’ll be able to distract myself while mutants eat my flesh.

You’re right, of course. Patent illustrations traditionally show the item only from behind.

Honestly something I got for my partner - a silicone microwave popcorn bowl kinda like this one. I stumbled across it at Goodwill, still brand new.

It’s a medium sized, black silicone bowl with a vented cover - fill a recessed space in the bottom with normal popcorn and microwave for a few minutes.

No extra packaging, no grease, easy cleanup, and you can use cheap (or super nice) popcorn as you like. And it collapses down for storage.

Loose jasmine tea in a tea ball, boil water on the stove in a kettle, pour over the tea & steep 3 minutes (more than that and it goes bitter). Remove tea ball, add a small spash of milk & enjoy.

My mum uses tea bags and adds the milk right over the bag as it steeps. For some reason that enrages me, so I turn away when she’s up to that nonsense.

Is this your card?

Galaxy brain dada jokes here

Culver’s is pretty solid.

Local/regional chains seem to stay more reasonable, but honestly, local restaurants in my area are almost cheaper than fast food. A typical combo meal seems to run around $10-15, and you can find lunch specials and weekly specials for $8-12.

The food is way better as well.

I could go to Arby’s for a combo (roast beef sandwich, soda, and fries) and spend around $14. Or I can go to the sushi place half a mile away and pay $11 for their made-to-order bento box: teriyaki salmon filet, small salad, 3 gyoza, 4-piece Cali roll, and tasty rice. I haven’t been to Arby’s in years.

The issue is: why are restaurants not paying their staff “proper” wages? Why are they the outlier, subsidised by customers?

If I eat at a restaurant, I already know I need to tip to make up the embarrassing gap between what the restaurant pays them and what a proper wage would be. Just raise your stupid prices to account for that and let me not do math after I eat.

But no, the Great Unwashed love a good illusion, so posting the actual price of a meal will drive them away. Adult society is full of toddlers.