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.

Bought a Eufy g30 robot vacuum because it advertised that it could climb over thresholds and it does! The accessories are cheap too, especially if you buy knockoffs. Bought it in 2021 and still going strong, no complaints after almost daily use in a home with a cat and a small child.

Ohhh hell yeah I would watch the heck out of a Murderbot TV series!

I have a “mom” sized pocketbook that I carry around and it always has the following:

• Band aids, nail clipper, and aquaphor tube
• Eye drops
• Wallet, phone, keys
• Masks
• Earbuds
• Hand sanitizer
• Sunglasses
• Small fidget toy
• Folding hairbrush
• Hair ties
• Small sunscreen stick, chapstick
• Pen
• Set of plastic cutlery
• Pill case with some commonly needed pills like Tylenol, Claritin, etc

If it’s sunny I’ll bring a sun umbrella and a hat, both of which can fit in the bag in a pinch. If it’s raining, just the umbrella. It’s not a perfect system but some things (especially the band aids and fidget) come in handy pretty often

When watching eagle nest cams, I’ve seen little birds and mammals hanging around eagle nests and scooping up scraps of leftover prey. I think in many cases a large raptor isn’t going to go chasing around a little birds when they’ve already caught something bigger and the little birds play clean up crew and take away scraps that would be too small for the larger birds. Not sure if that’s the case here but it’s a cool little cooperative situation to notice. You’ll also see little birds nesting under osprey nests, probably for the same reason.

They don’t. My local shop has a waiting room with coffee, sodas, Wi-Fi, and seating/desks. Plenty of people (myself included) bring their work with them to the shop while their car is fixed. Also I’ve definitely seen people driving around loaner vehicles from dealerships before which is kinda a solution?

But you’re right that it sucks that our society has designed places where it’s impossible to get around without a car. My car shop is a short bus ride from my house or a slightly longer walk. If I take my car to the dealership, which is farther away, home is a bike ride away or I can go to the shops nearby. I’d guess this is the case in most denser urban areas except maybe some US cities which are just terribly laid out.

Cargo e-bike. Errands are fun now and I get way more exercise. It’s hands-down my favorite way to get around town.

Basket of old t-shirts cut into washcloth sized squares. The used ones go in a basket beside the toilet to be washed with the rest of the laundry.

If we’re out of rags I just use TP. But you only need a few squares to dry off so it ends up using a lot less paper than if you didn’t use a bidet.

Audiobooks+ some other mindless activity shuts my brain off really well. Find a series you love that your library has and pick up a new sudoku or other puzzle app and go to town.

If you’re having trouble finding books I recommend a long sci fi or fantasy series. The Expanse is great, or Dune is also fantastically long. If fantasy is more your style maybe someone can recommend something but I know the wheel of time has a ton of books.

As for mindless things to do while you listen to audiobooks, either find a puzzle game or pick something up to do with your hands that requires few materials and is calming and productive. Here are a few that work for me:

Coloring (you can print out free coloring pages from the Internet like the ones here: https://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/adult-coloring-pages/)

Color by number

Crochet or knitting (lots of good online tutorials and making a scarf is a good first project)

Modeling clay (just reuse the same clay over and over again if you want to save money/supplies)

Yoga

Walking on a treadmill or riding an exercise bike

Weightlifting with free weights at home

Tai chi

Best of luck, I know this type of thing is tough. Try to stick to regular wake/sleep cycles as much as possible and get outside during the day if you can, it definitely helps. Sending hugs and hoping things get better soon.

Yeah… We’re talking about people who literally want us dead. And because it’s America, they likely own guns. Some of them are literal neo-Nazis or Christian fascists and might actually try to do you harm if you’re Jewish, Muslim, or gay. Making friends with them isn’t just painful and unpleasant, it’s dangerous.

Just to give you a sense of the type of things that you might have to sit through to be “friends” with these folks… My cousin had a kid in her Catholic school class write an essay comparing gayness to bestiality. Another cousin’s husband constantly misgendered my trans sibling on purpose. My parents’ neighbors hung a flag on their wall depicting a person pointing a gun at my parents’ house.

I’ll give you a pass since you’re from Europe and have no sense for the level of extremism embraced by our right wing political groups but trust me… If “just talk to your neighbors” worked we’d be doing it. As it is, your best bet is to avoid them knowing your politics and get out if you can.

Ataulfo mangoes. At least in the northeast US, they are reliably delicious and ripen on the counter.

Cortland apples

Yeah I feel you on that, the fieldwork stage of the job can get tiring really fast, especially with the more routine stuff like asbestos and LNAPL spills. Vapor intrusion work is less of a bear, we’re doing a lot of that lately and it’s nice because it’s indoors in the winter. I work in a larger company with a variety of projects so I’m not always doing the same thing and that definitely helps. In my current company people do tend to graduate out of the field positions fairly quickly (like 5 years) and move on to a desk job or at least a partial desk job but those first few years when you’re in the field a lot can be hard and maybe impossible if you have any dependents that keep you from traveling.

I think it depends on your field of engineering and how much you enjoy the work. I find environmental engineering to be satisfying and a very dependable/lucrative income compared to many other non-engineering fields I might have been interested in.

Add to that most other fields that pay similarly or higher (doctor, lawyer, etc) require more/costlier schooling and it’s a pretty sweet deal to be able to go into the job market with only a bachelor’s or masters and making a decent wage right off the bat.

Of course the same enshittification/race to the bottom for prices affects us too but I don’t know if there’s any career that escapes that entirely.

I would also think maybe certain engineering fields are more stable than others. Mine is particularly recession-proof since we’re driven by regulation (and bipartisan-supported regulation at that), not the economy. Massive layoffs are not that common in many of the other more “physical” engineering fields like structural, electrical, or mechanical either and even if you are laid off there is usually another company hiring. The skills are pretty portable as well so if you want to change careers you have a pretty good chance at being successful.

Is it a field of rainbows and butterflies? No, but it’s a hell of a lot better than plenty of other jobs out there and it pays the bills.

Environmental engineer. I clean up chemical messes like oil spills, and make sure that the resulting land is safe enough for people to live on it.

It’s fun and challenging, if somewhat depressing at times. Some things take a LONG time to clean up. On the plus side, I have great job security.

I find it almost impossible to pick a favorite poem of hers, but if I had to it’d probably be “Tutaj” (“Here” in English) by Wislawa Szymborska.

https://medium.com/illumination/here-671e29357dcc

“Starvation Camp Near Jaslo” and “Foraminifera” are two other favorites and Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak have done an amazing job at the translations.

I have a cheap smartwatch (amazfit bip) that tracks sleep and I have found it to be very accurate for me. I assume it tracks when I fall asleep based on heart rate and movement?

Anyways it plays nicely with my android phone and only cost about $50 and honestly I’m pretty happy with it! I was pretty skeptical at first but it’s really handy as a fitness tracker too and I feel like it encourages me to stand up and exercise more.

I also have a somewhat erratic sleep schedule and it’s nice to know when I’m starting to get into a sleep deficit and need to get caught up.

Did his share of the housework. My dad didn’t know how to cook well, but you bet your butt he did laundry, vacuumed, dusted, washed dishes, whatever was needed around the house he did it. And he did cook at least once a week, although it was always stuff like grilled cheese or pancakes.

Growing up in a household where both parents put in equal effort at home really set up the expectation for me that this is how relationships work.

My dad was also very loving and openly affectionate to us all. He would give us hugs, tell us he loved us and how proud of us he is, even to the point of tearing up sometimes. I love that about him and see it as an admirable quality in men.

Girls learn what to expect from men based on what they see their fathers do. Be kind, gentle, and respect your daughter and that’s the kind of men she’ll surround herself with.