After thinking about this a bit and reading through this thread, I realized I might have a problem about always wanting spare things. I have more than one of a lot of things - lip balm, battery banks, phone & watch charging docks, dogs, headphones and earbuds (even two of the same kind), computers, pillows (I have spares of my main and body pillows), and the list goes on. I apparently need to re-evaluate my habits.
Everywhere I sit for long periods I have a lip balm. I hate feeling like my lips are dry, makes me nutty
I have a few different wireless earbuds for different uses and devices, and like 5 sets of headphones because they all have different sounds/uses as well. I definitely understand this ridiculous!
A hobby is just something someone does in their free time for pleasure, so yeah, watching TV would certainly qualify. I suppose masturbating could too but I would argue that falls closer to a physiological desire rather than a hobby. Hobbies can be just about anything - bird watching, walking, caring for a pet, reading, playing sudoku, etc. Playing video games has been shown to be good for mental acuity and hand eye coordination, so I would argue it’s even good for you! Hobbies don’t need to be an investment of time at all, they just need to bring you pleasure. We as humans need relaxation and decompression time, and that’s exactly what a hobby is. Sure some hobbies produce things or results of some kind, but they don’t have to.
I really don’t understand the hate for the magic mouse cursor lol. I freakin love it!
It may depend on the LG TV or maybe it’s a setting. I just bought a new one and have a Google streamer on it and use it’s remote to turn on the streamer, soundbar and TV with a single button. I never see the LG UI itself unless I need to change a setting, and I’ve disabled it’s wifi entirely. I don’t get any kind of popups from the TV, it just works cleanly with the streamer.
That’s not really true. B&H sells digital signage displays to consumers and you can buy some of them from Amazon and Best buy as well
A 32" TV is not what most people are looking for. In fact I don’t know anyone with a main TV that small these days. The problem is that 40"+ dumb TVs are hard to find. I’m not saying they don’t exist, but very few manufacturers are making them, and the few that are have garbage screens in them.
Unfortunately it’s getting hard to find dumb TVs. The only real options are pro-AV or digital signage displays but even a lot of those are now moving to being smart. Our 15 year old bedroom TV finally died last month and we ended up having to replace it, and we ultimately went with an LG. I’ve disabled it’s wifi though. It’s a frustrating situation. I wish one of the manufacturers with good displays would just offer a dumb line of TVs. I imagine they would still have a market even if they were higher cost to make up for the lack of ad revenue, but maybe I’m underestimating that revenue. Either way, avoiding smart TVs is getting extremely difficult these days.
My major hobby is like this mostly. Backpacking. Upfront cost for gear, but once you have it the only real recurring cost is food and gas to get to a spot. Sure sometimes you have to replace gear, but if you take care of it you can go for years with no gear costs except maybe shoes.
And the award for most depressing comment of the day goes to Jhex. Ugh. I hate how accurate that statement is.
Just tossing this out here as a PSA, dogs can still get kennel cough even after being vaccinated. It’s like the flu vaccine in humans - sometimes the strain that goes around isn’t the one vaccinated for. I had two dogs end up with it and both were fully current on all vaccines. They got it from daycare where an outbreak occurred and our older dog brought it home to the puppy. All dogs there are required to show proof of current vaccines to go so it was just an unfortunate year for the vaccine. Fortunately my dogs got over it with meds and rest for a couple of weeks. Sorry about your sisters dog, that’s heartbreaking.
I spent two years in college studying the history of the Middle East and specifically the conflict between Israel and Palestine. I have never been on TikTok. Then where the fuck did my pro-Palestine views come from? I know the history very well and Israel has been unreasonable assholes from the beginning. Yes, Hamas and Palestine need to stop leading with violence, but when you’re fighting for your country’s literal existence it’s a bit of a moral grey area. The whole situation is a shit show and it infuriates me that Israel has so much support from the US. Without the 800lb gorilla backing them I feel like they’d have been forced to negotiate a reasonable solution long ago. Instead, here we are with a wildly disproportionate response that is 2 years long and the US has effectively cheered them on.
Hilary and her entire generation of politicians can get fucked.
Lifelong Kansan and same. No idea wtf a Frito chili pie is but nobody I know eats it and you’d probably be scorned for bringing it instead of Apple or Pumpkin.
Supervolcano is also an option!
None of my schools had phones in the classrooms. We had intercom systems that the teacher could use. A speaker on the wall with a button to press to call the front office and another to press when speaking. The only phones I knew of were in the front office and in the teachers lounges.
Exactly this. Public transport in KC is effectively non-existent unless you live in the middle of downtown KCMO.
Also as far as Amtrak goes, my biggest annoyance is that I can’t travel with my dog via train. In Europe many train systems allow dogs with varying regulations and costs, and sometimes you have to buy your large dog a seat which I think is fair. Amtrak in the US doesn’t allow large dogs at all. Now with no domestic airline flying large dogs either (they stopped that during Covid and never brought it back), my only option to travel with my dog is driving. I would happily buy him his own seat on a plane or train, and he’s a certified good boy (CGC and SPOT-ON certificates) so he knows how to behave in public, but nope, not an option.
For me, not having a car will never be an option as long as I live in the US, not because I couldn’t manage to get around without one, but because I like taking my dog on adventures and what little public transportation we have in the US is not dog friendly at all.
Yep. I’m the (apparently minority) weirdo that LOVES the rainbow vomit lights. I have lights everywhere on my computer and desk and it brings me so much joy. It just feels happy to me to have the bright rainbow colors slowly shifting. I find it delightful and will pay extra to ensure devices are not only rainbow capable, but are the right type of rainbow (slow shifting) that I love. My side of our gaming office drives my husband nuts. I regret nothing!
One of my best friends in the world bounces his leg often. He’s a bigger guy and it can definitely get annoying. I try to just let it go unless we’re sitting at a table and he’s shaking it too, then I will gently reach over and touch his knee to let him know. He immediately apologizes and stops, and I feel bad for having to say something, but I draw the line at shaking the table lol. If he’s sitting across the room from me he can bounce to his heart’s content.
I think the assumption that you will be alone if you don’t have kids is completely false. I have a very cohesive friend group composed of both people with and without kids, and the youngest person in the group is 30 - most of us are in our 40s with a few early 50s. We just make a point of spending time together and fostering these friendships. We have various annual gatherings throughout the year hosted by different people and we get together at least once a week in person and hang out, play games, chat and laugh and just have fun. We like to say that our group is the family we chose.
Friendships don’t just magically exist - you have to be an active participant and it takes real effort, but that’s any relationship. Sometimes you have to go do things with/for friends even if you don’t want to. If you want lasting meaningful friendships, you have to put in the effort.