While I’m certain he would deserve the pain and suffering of a slow death while his coverage denied any life saving treatment… I’m honestly not sad that it was quick.

Quick or slow, it’s one less profiteering glutton in the world, and I can’t be mad about that.

I live in Niagara and I’ll be the first to say that vqa wines are not all that.

But I’d rather get a vqa, or other Canadian wine, over supporting the USA and their tariffs.

They’re certainly not bad, but they’re also not “all that” either. I’ll happily keep buying Canadian. I’ll probably keep that up after the tariffs because I like supporting our economy, instead of sending all my dollars over to the USA for the same thing we can make here.

Canada. It’s generally easy and free (no direct cost to me). I try to avoid having to go to my doctor whenever possible and I live with a nurse (and my doc knows that). Usually when I send him a message, either by email or by calling, he’ll have a follow up question or two (sometimes none) then decide a course of action and move right to implementation. Sometimes that’s sending a script to my local pharmacy, sometimes that’s a referral to a specialist. Who knows? I haven’t seen the guy in years. But if he made the request for me to go in, I would without hesitation.

I know my experience isn’t the same as others, since my doctor and my spouse have actually worked together; but still. It’s all free and there’s usually minimal waiting.

The only significant delays I’ve heard of in Canadian healthcare relate to major procedures when the issue is non-critical. Like getting an MRI as a precaution, to make sure things aren’t messed up or something (IDK what MRIs are used to diagnose, I am not a doctor).

Everything is triaged, so if you’re not actively dying from a thing, and you need a big piece of equipment to scan you to figure something out, you’re going to be waiting a while.

All good points, and I especially agree about the cable seeking part (working in IT we refer to it as a fiber seeking backhoe, but the same principle applies).

As for a grid connection, I’m not sure 200kW is strictly required for just a backhoe, but if we’re taking the example to a practical place of EVs running the show rather than diesel, all of the construction equipment charging at once is probably going to need 200kW combined to charge, if not more; so the point stands IMO.

Just as a mental exercise, thinking about the backhoe specifically, getting it connected to a grid, IMO, would basically require that a temporary structure be erected over where it will be operating to provide a line to the unit from above, since it may need to turn any/all direction(s). Which assumes that it’s working in a location where there is free space over the work area, and any time the unit is moved the grid attachment scaffolding would need to go with it.

I imagine the power line would run up one of the legs of the scaffold, to a mid point, then there would be a tensioner on an “extension cable” (of sorts), to the backhoe to avoid any slack that could be caught up in the normal operation of the vehicle.

Needless to say, this is a lot more work and bluntly, wildly impractical for construction use.

I’m just saying it could work, but there’s no way in hell any construction company is jumping through the hoops to make it work, even if a backhoe company built one, which they won’t because it’s wildly impractical and nobody would ever buy one.

Thinking economically about it, there’s probably 10,000 cars being driven for every construction vehicle in use, so it’s not exactly a large target to focus on. IMO, one of the bigger areas where we should be trying to save emissions is in marine travel. Specifically large cargo ships. With commerce being as international as it is, and only increasing in demand, those ships are running almost 24/7, usually on diesel or another fossil fuel.

Solving that problem would probably have a much larger impact than trying to get construction crews off of using diesel in their equipment.

Just a thought.

I’ve been there, done that. Welcome to the club my friend.

The only reason I got through my last layoff without stooping into a deep depression is that I’ve done this dance so many fucking times that I’m tired of it all.

Luckily I had a new job about a month later, which I 100% acknowledge is luck.

I still miss my previous job, it was much better than the one I have now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not angry at being employed, I’m just sad that I didn’t get to remain employed with the last workplace.

I get it, 100%. Nothing you said is really all that abnormal. You clearly liked the job, and there’s no good way to express that loss. It’s just something you have to go through all the stages of. Eventually the whole ordeal will seem further and further away and you’ll settle into a routine and get your life back to where it should be. You lost something and it’s okay to be sad about that.

What isn’t good is if you start getting any worse than where you are at now. If you start sliding deeper into it, or you feel like you’re drowning, please seek help. The people who care about you don’t want to lose you.

My advice for the future is: never invest more than you’re willing to lose, whether you’re taking about money or emotional investment, the reality is that you can lose it all in a snap. Make sure you know what you’re risking and ensure you can sacrifice what you’ve invested if there’s a sudden change from management. Take care of yourself first, then worry about everything else.

You see, that’s a can. That can can’t be mistaken for anything other than what it is, a can.

Unlike a can of coca cola, which could be “soda”, or “pop”, or “coke”, or any number of other things.

Op is dumb.

Not instantly though. They did the work, they just did it as fast as they possibly could.

Sounds like tictacs and Gatorade.

Ghoul is the correct term.

I agree. And for those that need a vehicle because they live in the middle of fucking nowhere, EVs are a good middle ground.

I get why construction teams don’t use them, since one bad charging connection overnight can bring the entire project to a grinding halt for the next day. Meanwhile if Joe forgot to gas up the backhoe before leaving last night it’s only a minor delay while someone goes to do Joe’s job.

For anyone and everyone else, EVs are generally viable and in many cases, a much better choice than the alternatives.

For anyone in a city, the fact that you feel you need a car, is the problem.

With clothing specifically, it generally has a purpose. Socks can make you more comfortable, warm up your feet, pull sweat away from your skin and generally reduce odors… Not all of those in all cases, mind you, but depending on the circumstances and the type of sock, any/all of these could be the case.

Undergarments in general have similar stories.

All undergarments also play a role in keeping your over garments cleaner. Changing out your underpants and throwing on yesterday’s jeans can get you through a day with nearly no compromises… Depending on how dirty your jeans get on an average day.

Over clothes protect you from getting dirty to a limited extent, they’ll block/absorb spills that reduces the amount you have to wash/bathe/shower… It’s easier to just throw on a new shirt than get into the shower and clean yourself up. Same with pants and other over garments.

Outerwear usually provides a protective element, eg jackets can help prevent things like thorns from scratching you, or keep you warm in cold weather, or dry in wet weather…

Clothes, to me, are a useful thing to be wearing, each piece serving it’s own small function, all of it coming together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

There’s plenty of social constructs, this is true, but clothing definitely has a practical purpose, along with so many other things.

Your grandma knowing is an outcome. After a long campaign of amplification, that outcome is entirely possible.

I’m just saying… You’re shitting on the post for not being amplifying enough to inform your grandma; which is a ridiculous expectation to have.

Amplification is still amplification. Whether it lives up to your impossible standards or not.

Many of the German Nazi’s in WW2 believed in what they were doing. Not all of them since there was a nontrivial number that were conscripted, and would have rather not participated in the Nazi thing, but still, it went the other way too.

I just wanted her sidekick… As a young boy that seemed to be more my speed.

Xena was a bit much for me when I was watching Xena on TV… At like… 5? 10? IDK. What year is it?

I’m over here waiting to see whether the apocalypse is more Matrix, Terminator, or idiocracy. I’m leaning idiocracy, but I’m not giving up on the others.

Tell me this: if you were watching a movie and men in black masks were taking people off the street and sending them off, never to be seen again, and those same men were separating children from parents forcibly and locking them all in cages/compounds for months on end…

Would those people in this hypothetical movie, strike you as “good” guys, or “bad” guys?

Because that’s what’s happening, in real life, in the USA, right now.

Cue the “are we the baddies?” meme.

I’ve gotten into the habit of eating lunch while I’m working specifically so I can take a short mid day nap during my scheduled “lunch” at work.

Working from home has some nice perks.

That’s a controversial take.

As far as I’m concerned, TST is only a “religion” on the books as a basic requirement for them to insert themselves into all of the places that religion, specifically Christianity, is inserted into by government, so they can demonstrate the hypocrisy of the “leadership” that was elected.

Also, having a belief that there isn’t anything in the great beyond, is still a belief. You can have a belief without denying reality/Science. None of these things are mutually exclusive. I’m saddened that you don’t seem to believe that.

At the end of the day, I see anyone identifying as a satanist under TST to be doing advocacy work on behalf of nonbelievers, since most governments would rather deny all religious symbols/rituals/information from government than allow “Satanists” a platform. Their actions unilaterally has eliminated, mitigated, or otherwise diminished the involvement of any one particular sky daddy from government. It’s a worthwhile thing to be done.

You’re entitled to an opinion, even if everyone else disagrees, so think whatever you want. I don’t agree that you can’t be agnostic/atheist and be a part of a “religion”. You absolutely can.

Even the lack of a belief is, in and of itself, a belief.

As I get older, the value of nap time has increased.

When I was a child I was very anti-nap. In my youth I was very indifferent to napping. In my mid-adult years, napping is more important than most things.

I like the cut of your jib.