Curious_Canid

This is why we haven’t actually had an apocalypse.

TWSBI is the best I’ve found at making fountain pens that completely seal when capped, although Kaweco is also quite good for that. I currently EDC a TWSBI Mini Vac, where the caps seals and the ink chamber can be separately sealed closed. After more than six months in my pocket it has yet to lead.

TWSBI also has some amazing technology for refilling the pen. If you use their special ink bottles, you can refill them without coming anywhere near the ink. You can also buy a “snorkel” that screws onto most of their models that does something similar with a regular ink bottle. (Note that the Eco, is one of their few models that does not support any of the fancy refilling options.)

That is a nicely thought-out EDC. A lot of it would be useful day-to-day, but it also covers several emergency situations.

Great suggestion! Volunteer opportunities are always available with all kinds of organizations. You get the satisfaction of helping people (or animals, or the environment) and you get to know interesting people in the process.

I am also a software developer. The interview process in our industry has become increasingly offensive over the last 30 years. That started out with high-prestige companies who provided exceptional pay and benefits. Some people were willing to put up with that, so they mostly got away with it. Now most companies assume they have all the power and can demand whatever they want from applicants.

Refusing to participate is perfectly legitimate. It may keep you from finding a job, at least in this industry, but that may be better than giving up your self-respect for basic survival. And there are still decent software companies to work for, although they are hard to find. Changing careers is also a viable option.

Our overall economy is so broken in favor of the super rich and their corporations that individuals really do have very little power. Organized actions, of various types, give us some counter-leverage. Collective bargaining, strikes, and political efforts to push for better regulations all have the potential to improve things, at least in the middle- to long-term.

We all need to keep the big picture in mind while we do what we need to get by individually.

This isn’t going to change the world, but it is a clever idea.

Mine was made by Peakmesh too. They seem to have gotten everything right.

Kudos for contributing to the public good!

I bought this Solar Radio Node, ready made, on Etsy. Not the cheapest solution, but it was still pretty reasonable and it works beautifully. It has now been running out in the weather (in Wisconsin) for more than six months without any downtime and with absolutely no maintenance. Rain, snow, and 40 mph winds have not bothered it any.

You can still connect to a repeater from your phone via Bluetooth. It is possible to designate something as an “Infrastructure Node”, which most keeps people from sending direct messages to it. If you do not designate it that way, which really doesn’t have a downside, you will be able to use it as a regular node, in addition to having it act as a general-purpose repeater.

This is genius! Deeply disturbed genius, but still genius.

I have always expressed my emotions, to some extent, but I think I’ve gotten more comfortable with it as I’ve gotten older. It goes along with a general trend of worrying less about being disapproved of by others. I take negative feedback seriously, but I feel that negative judgments say more about the people making them than they do about me.

There have already been cases where ICE has disregarded Passports. They really don’t care what if you’re a citizen, so they don’t really care if you have proof of citizenship.

I someone brought that cat inside as soon as that picture was taken. It deserves a fireplace and a comfy blanket.

It can completely ruin my mood. External noise doesn’t both me too much, if it doesn’t include actual words. Anything with words disrupts my concentration badly. It keeps me from reading. It even makes it hard for me to follow a train of thought. It feels almost like a physical assault, to me.

I’m amazed that there aren’t frequent murders over this.

Dogs’ intelligence, and perceived intelligence, vary a great deal among individuals. In general, dogs are a lot smarter than we usually give them credit for. I’m sure that all of my dogs have understood the basics of how an elevator works. I’ve also had three who could probably have repaired an elevator and one who could have invented them.

I don’t see a photo and I am curious about the recipe.

I still use a mixture of both. I am not actually opposed to proprietary software, as long as it comes from small, employee-owned companies. Whatever the business model, people deserve to be paid for their effort if they are delivering something useful. I also donate to FOSS projects that I use.

I have been steadily moving away from corporate software for several years. There are still a few specialty apps I need, but I have very little of it left.

There are multiple reasons for being vegan. Animal cruelty is an important one, but there are also significant medical benefits associated with eliminating animal proteins. Milk, butter, and cheese are still based on animal proteins. Look up “Whole Food Plant Based” if you’re curious.

I’ve been trying to eat vegan for several years now, after being mostly vegetarian for decades. Cheese is the one thing I just haven’t been able to give up entirely. It’s my single favorite food and the substitutes so far all fall under “better than nothing”.

Mine likes similar positions, but he usually has all four legs braced against the wall. It looks like he’s standing sideways.

That’s a very nice build.

Thank you!

Actually, I liked the idea so much that I designed a general-purpose bracket that would let me put almost any handgun up there.

Oh, and I also added a bracket so I could mount the Nerf “Machete”. It wasn’t useful, but it did make the thing look even sillier.