People don’t like to admit that we are ants. We are valuable and important. Each one of us is unique and deserves a full, good, life. But we are also ants. We are susceptible to group think, mob behavior, and we tend to follow the scent trail most of the time. It’s not a bad thing. It’s tied to our evolutionary desire to be a part of a community; to fit in and blend in.

But it also means individuals are likely to do what keeps them alive. We are likely all bad in some way or another.

But as long as you aren’t, actively, willfully, or gleefully harming people, you’re probably ok.

Well I’m guessing they actually did testing on local AI using a 4GB and 8GB RAM laptop and realized it would be an awful user experience. It’s just too slow.

I wish they rolled it in as an option though.

Why didn’t you like Hashicorps Vault? I want to know for my own edification.

Laughter helps a lot. But if I’m consuming a ton of media, it’s sometimes better to just take a break and drink water while doing nothing else. I also have mantras about life like: “if I have my family, I’m ok”, “home can be anywhere”, “nothing in life is more important that food, shelter, water”, etc. Sometimes I worry about bills, future costs, etc. But worrying doesn’t always make it easier. A little bit of worry keeps me from ignoring finances all together. But too much worry isn’t helping. If you can free yourself from worrying about money, you’d be surprised how much weight gets lifted. I’m privileged because I have family and friends that I love. If I ever hit hard times, I know I have a home with them. Reminding myself of that keeps me from staying up all night with worry.

Lay it on me

Obviously don’t pet service dogs. Just to be clear. This photo was intentionally photoshopped to make it appear as though the airport was saying “Travel Advisory: when traveling don’t pet dogs”. As in, when in the UK never touch a dog. I thought it was funny/cutesy. I didn’t intend on sparking a big debate about the ethics of petting dogs or the rules about service dogs.

Don’t touch service dogs.

Pet dogs if you know them or are introduced to them.

Basic dog rules people. Teach your children

I just picture you floating in an endless void 100 billion years after entropy has moved every single subatomic particle away from each other. Somehow you have been sustained. The last sophisticated entity in the universe. Your billions of years of loneliness have already driven you to the point of insanity, enlightenment, insanity again, and finally a state of which no one could imagine. Because you don’t consume food or water, you’re in a perpetual state of hunger and thirst. You don’t feel harmed, but you do feel peckish all the time. You could do with a draught. Your wish didn’t allow for pain “thank God”, you think.

I was talking about meat replacements but I put tofu in that category as well because I don’t have a lot of experience with tofu outside of “we have this instead of meat”.

Vegan food is cheaper in America, for sure. Beans, veg (some) and rice are cheap. However fruit is expensive.

But the alternatives to meat are not cheap: tofu is like $5/lb compared to chicken which can be as low as $2.99/lb. Steak is expensive in America, but it can be close to the cost of tofu. It’s definitely cheaper than the steak-alternatives like beyond meat.

While you might find meat replacements to be unnecessary, most Americans (myself included) struggle. 90% of the meals I used to eat were some variation of: protein (meat/chicken/fish), plus a veggie, plus a carb (rice/bread). That was the basic dinner. It has a nice ratio of protein to carb. It was tasty (to me at least) and the cost wasn’t too bad.

I’m guessing I’m not alone, culturally. It’s not like you can fry up two slabs of tofu and just call it a day. Tofu is just different. It doesn’t cook the same and it doesn’t taste the same. I cook tofu at least once a week, but I treat it very differently.

It’s just not easy for Americans to justify going vegan. It’s culturally very different and - if you want to stay within the culture - it’s expensive.

But that’s why I always advocate for meat reduction, not replacement. Eat more vegetables. Try other dinners. Etc. But most Americans are remiss to be told what to do.

There in lies the rub, though. Most vegans are vegan for a moral reason that they believe applies to you:

• Animals deserve life / don’t deserve livestock conditions
• “Growing” meat is speeding up global warming compared to growing crop

There are more fringe reasons for veganism such as: diet, health, etc. But those aren’t relevant to the point I’m making.

“Live and let live” doesn’t apply to situations where we’re talking about global warming or the abuse of animals. Most vegans are trying to educate others and - yeah - they probably vote for things that would result in more expensive meat or less meat being available in your local markets. I believe most vegans are hoping their efforts will slow global warming and provide better living conditions for livestock.

I’m not trying to sit on a moral podium here and judge. I eat meat too. I’m not vegan. Though I’ve tried to reduce how much meat I eat in yet another small, feckless, civilian effort to slow global warming. All I’m saying is: I sympathize with people who want to improve the world and I understand why they spend time and effort talking about being vegan.

But meat in america is cheaper than the vegan stuff and definitely tastier. So it’s hard for us to meaningfully change.

What about ketosis? Are ketones a legit way to remove fat?

We’ll never know.

Anything “salad” where the salad includes tuna, mayo, or egg. I can’t handle it. I don’t know why. Egg salad. Tuna salad. 🤢

I like salad. I like eggs. I like tuna somewhat. I like mayo somewhat. But any of those weird combinations make me sick.

Blue - Eiffel 65. I was ~6 when I discovered it. My poor mother had to listen to that on repeat. I ended up growing up with severe depression. I guess I really am blue.

Tell me where is Gandalf for I much desire to speak with him.

That’s a very good thing you did.

deleted by creator

Yeah my plan (dream) has always been like this:

• Use the internet while I have it (assuming people just all disappear suddenly) to download survival guides, solar panel repair/installation PDFs, maps, etc. Anything I can think of, I’ll download
• Gas only lasts so long. I can use chemicals that extend it, but it’s definitely limited. I’d start with a gas powered truck and eventually move into electric vehicles. Batteries aren’t forever either… But I’d try.
• I’d move to a warm, temperate climate
• I’d find a building that claims it is powered by solar panels most of the year. I’d use that as my home
• I’d immediately begin trying to farm. I have a black thumb so this would take me some years to get done correctly. But I’d hopefully have some potatoes and grain growing by the end of a year
• In the meantime, I might find things to occupy my time such as: finding videogames to play, raising chickens, fishing, collecting guns/ammo, collecting books to preserve, storing solar panels, backup equipment, etc.

My end goal would be to survive as long as I’m happy. I’m pretty introverted so that would last a while. I’d use animals to keep me company. I believe nature would take us over pretty quickly. It would be hard to maintain the house, solar, etc. forever. But if I could, I would.

My wife and I already do a lot of foraging in our area and we have several guides for edible food. We also do some canning and prepping for disasters.

I don’t think a disaster would be a picnic. People are the problem. But if they disappeared suddenly, I think it would be pretty livable.