I have another vote for loops, I now have the loop switch which I really like.

I am originally from the US but moved to AU and am now a citizen. I got lucky and got out just before Trump’s first presidency.

Life here is good. Like, better than most Americans can really understand. Healthcare is free, education is good and includes topics like critical thinking and understanding how to spot “fake news”.

There is only a small aisle of frozen food in the grocery store, not nearly as much pre-packaged food. There are affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, and outside most grocery stores is an independent baker, butcher, fishmonger, and fruit and veg stand.

Minimum wage is $24.10 an hour, and you cannot be fired for no reason if you are a full time employee.

If you compare things (and adjust for AUD to USD) like rent, gas, milk, bread, eggs… Things cost about the same here as in the US.

We pay around the same amount in taxes, and get so much more.

Things aren’t completely rosy, distressingly, Australia seems to want to emulate the US in certain ways which worries me.

There is also currently a bit of an economic downturn and while it’s nothing like what I left behind, it does mean things cost more and luxuries have to be budgeted for.

I think anyone who isn’t a dick would be welcome here. There are racist cunts here like everywhere, but generally Aussies are the kindest and most welcoming people.

Yup. I hope they make it through this.

I agree, losing it would feel like losing the library of Alexandria. We do need more doing this!

Beautifully written.

Signed, another 40 year old millennial.

I have nerve pain and understand the feeling of the meds not taking the pain away, and the knowledge that there is a trade off with taking them. I have refused to up my dose, but try literally everything else.

Unfortunately I am allergic to codiene and natural opoids, and so tramadol is my long term pain management medication.

I also take broad spectrum cbd oil and flower, triple strength fish oil for inflammation, magnesium, etc. I have also been using lignocaine patches over the nerve roots after reading a study that showed promising results, and despite it not making any sense to me that they should work topically, it does seem to help.

Besides medications and supplements, I use a TENS unit, IR heating pad, ice packs, massage gun, and positioning to reduce pain on bad days.

I have tried every locally available treatment, experimental medication, therapy, consulted with pain doctors and surgeons. Unfortunately nothing has helped so far.

On good days, I can spend 4 - 5 hours up at most, and will pay for it the next day. Most of my time is spent in a zero gravity bed.

I don’t like taking the pain meds, but acknowledge that taking them means I can do more. Push further. It’s not a tradeoff I like either, so most of the time I don’t.

Me too! My husband teases me about it. I take it and get sleepy. Zzzz

Well, I think the self driving taxis across the us apparently need human interaction every 6 minutes on average… So are they self driving? I don’t know.

We can’t use our phones and drive, but someone can have a screen and drive 6 cars at the same time…

My favourite article of clothing is my pink cape by Review Australia. Since buying it we moved to the tropics so I never get to wear it, but I love it so much.

There’s just something about it.

Wow, I left the US ten years ago, I had no idea it had got this bad. You need a VPN to browse porn? :(

Imgur mostly, since reddit died.

Yes, I definitely do. I use it to open start menu and search, as well as using quite a few commands, run, snipping tool, moving and resizing windows, etc.

When win10 is no longer supported we will be making the leap to linux, and I really hope I can get much of this functionality there.

Yup. When we went to buy a TV I knew this was happening because the smart TVs with wifi and extra hardware and software were cheaper than the dumb TVs. Nothing is free, I knew they had to be doing this shit.

Odd, I don’t recall private lobbies being a thing, and a quick google shows lots of people asking for them and a few “workarounds”. Perhaps they are a recent addition or a console thing?

I bought Red Dead Redemption for myself and three friends, super excited about the game, the lore. I had never spent that much money on a game.

We all played through the single player tutorial, and finally into the open world. We meet up and begin exploring and trying to complete quests when suddenly one of us just … drops dead.

Then another is hit by a meteor and caught on fire?

I am thrown up into the sky.

An alien ship?! Appears and messes with us for a while. I try begging in pub chat for the hacker to please leave us so we can play, which seems to goad them further. This continued for an hour.

A quick look around the internet told us that this was par for the course for RDR and GTA and Rockstar couldn’t/wouldn’t do anything about it.

We ended up refunding all the games through steam. Sad times.

Whoah, thanks for that. I rarely use fb and while I knew that they collected and connected information anywhere they could, but I had only ever seen the main fb settings and turned those off as much as possible.

This is wild.

Sad

I missed the discussion on voting the other day it seems, but for what it’s worth, I like the voting system. In real life discussions happen in open air, and don’t hang there in posterity for people to stumble upon after. When we come to a consensus in conversation it is then left at that and we move on.

When online, these discussions stay as they are, and I think voting gives a way of people to come to a consensus, to leave a mark upon the conversation such that the people who come behind understand how everyone felt about it.

This is helpful I think, because it does not hide the down votes on nasty comments or ideas that hurt others.

One of the most interesting and horrible things about the internet is that every village has a “crazy Bob” but because they were the minority the good of the people outnumbered their outlandish or hateful ideas.

Now they can and do find each other online, forming a vocal and damaging minority. Without the majority able to show their dislike, human nature means more will fall in line with them and their ideals.

I think so, yes. At least from a taste and texture standpoint, it is waaaay better. Psyllium husk (Metamucil) changes the texture of drinks and foods, causing them to congeal into a viscous gel.

Benefiber does not change the texture of the food or drink and is odourless and tasteless.

I will note however, after a quick google just now, that Metamucil was shown in a study to lower cholestrol while Benefiber did not.

For me though, it’s all about what changes I can make and stick to, and something that changes texture is very hard for me to get down.

Same! First cup of coffee every day is the powder cup, goes in with the splenda. :)