Please share the podcast name! That sounds like something I’d enjoy.

Network Effect by Martha Wells, read by Kevin R Free.

It’s a great book, and the reading/delivery is really entertaining. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of science fiction!

Short answer: racism. Long answer, racism and colonialism.

Yes, it’s definitely a problem. Folks are working on it. Lots of great new authors out there to read if you look hard enough. Ask your local librarian or bookseller for a hand finding stuff, they are great at this sort of thing. When I was looking for stuff for my kid a local bookstore turned me on to Rick Riordan Presents. The author of the Percy Jackson series made a publishing imprint that solely focuses on underrepresented mythologies and so far everything I’ve read from it has been great.

If you want something a bit more adult, Nnedi Okorafor has some really fantastic adult and YA novels that are based around Nigerian mythologies.

There’s lots more out there, this is just what’s at the top of my brain. I’ll try to edit if I remember any other authors or series. I’ve been on more of a sci-fi kick lately so that’s what’s in my brain right now (ps go read Murderbot Diaries if you haven’t already).

Awww I’m sorry it sucks to be prepared and get no one. We’re in a big trick or treating neighborhood but on a side street and last year we only got like 5 visitors. This year we just took candy over to our neighbor on the more popular street and didn’t hand any out at our house. One street over from our house and the entire sidewalk and street was mobbed with under-10’s. I think it’s highly neighborhood- and street-dependent.

Ask your neighbors where the good trick or treating spot is. It may be far away from you and people are just driving there instead of sticking around the neighborhood. Or it’s possible if you’re in a less walkable area that people might do more “trunk or treat” instead where they coordinate and go to a parking lot to do trick or treating.

Yeah. 😢 If anyone feels like donating, here are a few orgs that could use the cash:

South Toe VFD: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-south-toe-fire-depts-hurricane-efforts

Mountain Community Health Partnership: https://www.mchp.care/

Yancey County Helene recovery venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/YanceyCountyGovt-HeleneRelief?catchAll=u&catchAll=YanceyCountyGovt-HeleneRelief

Western North Carolina 😭

Hoping to get back there soon and bring my tourism $$ with me when they are ready. The mountains are my happy place and make me feel like a kid again.

Also, bike riding (when I’m not in a conflict with cars) is giving me a lot of joy. Especially when there are other bikers about.

Kids love this shit as long as you keep it at the ELI5 level and stop when they are done and lose interest. My kid will throw around words like “microorganism” and “bioaccumulation” because I actually explain biology concepts when he asks. The other day he had a question about atmospheric composition and he was absorbed for about 5-10 minutes, complete with looking at molecular diagrams, and then he was done and went off to make his Lego people fight each other with flamethrowers.

If you have knowledge, share it with kids and let them see you enjoying science. They absorb more than you might think.

Yeah. ADHD mom here. Had a good cry tonight about my kid and all his challenges.

I try to keep on the happy face when he’s around but parenting a kid with severe ADHD is really hard sometimes.

Yep I get mad about this as well. Esp since my title isn’t Mrs. it’s Dr.

We always joke they should have addressed it Dr and Mr [my first name last name] but of course the real answer is they should just call people by their actual names and titles and not guess.

Lolol what kind of fantasy world do you live in? Salaried worker here and although my job isn’t 9-5 strictly if I don’t work at least 40 hours a week my pay will be docked. So I get to choose between 8-5 or 9-6 or I can work while I eat and get that cushy 9-5 life. Or if I miss work I can make up those hours by working at night. It’s a real luxury to be able to do that compared to shift work, but the hours are still being counted.

Also stop being so entitled. Most of your life necessities come from industries (groceries, power plants, gas stations, hospitals, etc) where people work on a timecard/shift basis so don’t you come out here and pretend timecard or shift work isn’t a “real” profession.

Yeah this is what happens with our kid (who, admittedly, has ADHD so maybe he’s a bit unusual). The first day or week after a cool experience he’s pretty meh about it and won’t volunteer much in the way of thoughts or feelings and then suddenly he’ll realize it was real again and all of a sudden he won’t shut up about how cool it was! Then eventually he settles down into a steady pattern of “hey remember when we did X thing wasn’t that so cool we should do it again” which is my favorite phase because that’s how I know what he really likes that stuck with him. : )

This 100%. We and many of our peers with a kid are one and done in the current system. But if we could afford college educations for multiple kids, get adequate parental leave, access to early childcare that doesn’t cost an entire paycheck? That would change the decision quite a bit.

But also I’m happy to have fewer kids and let more immigrant and/or refugee families with young kids move here too. Solves the labor shortage and provides a much needed influx of fresh ideas and culture, not to mention getting some folks out of dangerous situations. Somehow all of the people who want to “save the children” are extremely silent on that front when it’s children moving to another country for a better life.

“Michelle Bond and her co-conspirator romantic partner attempted to fund her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives by illegally using hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate coffers, among other sources, and then lying to Congress and others to cover it all up,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

The pair met in June 2021, according to prosecutors, and they have a young child together."

Holy fuck that child is going to have a fucked up childhood. I am so sorry, kid.

Kind of like the other poster, I can figure out how most simple mechanical things work by looking at them and can usually cobble together a solution to mechanical problems out of random stuff from the hardware store. I’m also really good at fixing simple mechanical and electrical things like bicycles, flashlights, hair dryers, fans, office chairs, etc. I’m also quite handy with a sewing machine and can fix most clothes.

More complicated things like appliances, software, etc I can’t do as quickly or easily but I’m still pretty good at hacking together solutions with the help of YouTube and online forums.

Has probably saved me thousands of dollars over my lifetime in keeping things running and not having to buy replacements, but also I lose a lot of time and space to all my “I can fix this” projects.

You had me there at the first half, not gonna lie. 🤣

We have a Lectric XP 3.0 that is just… Okay. The features are great, especially the large cargo space, the fact that it folds so you can store it in a small shed, and the odometer/display is good. As far as actual bicycle build quality it’s not the best, it’s pretty rattly and we’ve only had it a year but it’s already developed an annoying brake alignment issue that I’ll need to find time to fix soon. That said, you can’t beat the price (<$1,000 if you get it on sale, and they have pretty much constant sales) and it does have the ability to carry a passenger.

I’d say the Lectric is a good bike to get if you are comfortable making your own bike repairs and want something cheap. We got the cargo package and the comfort seat free with our Lectric and we use them both and like them. It’s a good little bike and it gets the job done, even if it’s not super refined.

For our main cargo bike we have a Flyer folding cargo that’s fantastic except that the paint chips easily. But other than that one issue I’m 100% sold on this bike. It folds, it tows, it carries either a kid or a large amount of cargo, and the battery range is really good for the price. The battery assist is really peppy, which I love, and it’s got a thumb throttle rather than a twist throttle which I personally think works better on an ebike where you’re also keeping your hand on the hand brakes all the time and don’t want to take your hand off to grab a twist throttle. It has a lot of other “extra” type features that are nice like a brake light, beefy kickstand, a carry handle on the battery, and a chain guard. Overall the design of the Flyer bike is really nice and it’s solidly built. No rattling or brake alignment issues like the Lectric.

Ebikes, especially e cargo bikes, are the absolute bomb.

I can carry my 6 year old on the back while towing 60 lbs of groceries in a trailer and keep a steady 15mph even on hills without breaking a sweat. For my family, e cargo bikes are what will finally make the dream of car replacement a reality.

These other weird scooters seem cool too, maybe if you don’t have kids and don’t often carry cargo then something more sleek and portable is better.

Oh, they totally do. That’s why I’d suggest not punching a Nazi in front of the cops, even if they 100% deserved it. The cops will arrest you much quicker than they will a fascist even if you do the same exact thing.

And also definitely YMMV on whether this works at all, I’m in Massachusetts where the cops have to at least pretend they’re doing their jobs so they will typically detain Nazis if they take an actual swing at someone. Other states this might not work at all.

Nazis get worse if you don’t actively oppose them. That can look like punching them, but it can also look like actively ostracizing them by taking away their jobs, denying them participation in community events, or just straight up shaming them in public.

Pacifism only works if the other side isn’t willing to kill you. These jackasses fantasize about genociding people as a hobby, so if you think pacifism is going to work for you then go right ahead but I’ll be over here working on my defensive skills.

In many situations nazi-punching is not your best tactical decision, especially in the presence of cops. Using your words to hurt the poor Nazi snowflakes feelings works just as well and has the added benefit of potentially provoking them into getting themselves arrested if there are cops watching.

Yep other EVs have this as well. The Hyundai IONIQ has great front sightlines for an SUV IIRC.

Still a car, but I admit EVs are much less hateable in a city for multiple reasons. No stinky tailpipe, no roaring engine noise, and generally better sightlines and safety features.

I think my ideal city would be mostly bikes and ebikes, with those vehicles that can’t be replaced by bikes being EVs.