Lorindól

This, definitely.

We got to live our teens and twenties without smartphones and social media - and it was so awesome.

You did something incredibly embarassing last weekend when you were drunk? No need to worry about photos or videos online and nobody would remember or care a few weeks later.

You date someone a few times and things don’t match up? You move on, no need to worry about them stalking or badmouthing you online.

The world seemed to be on a course for the better and the dumbass populist movements were marginal in most countries. Future looked bright and it was easy to be carefree. We got to enjoy our youths.

There were no short or vertical videos. You had to read vast majority of the information available, which made you actually process the info. And someone had put in the effort to write the stuff coherently, because no-one would read the kind of crap that video bloggers are spewing out of their mouths.

By the time we started working, the economic situation was mostly stable and getting a loan for a house or an apartment was pretty much guaranteed.

And so much more. I count myself extremely lucky to have been born in the late 70’s.

I had the same exact approach back in the late 90’s. My friends had several band projects and when they were mixing their demos, I insisted that if the mixes sound good in a standard car stereo, they’ll sound good anywhere.

Leaf blowers in small yards are pointless, agreed. I would never use one in the suburbs.

But I do own one and I use it at my family’s farm, for one day every autumn. It would take 3-4 days just to rake the leaves, with the blower I can easily create large piles here and there. Then I gather all the piles and take them to my leaf compost heap.

Before the blower this used to take a full week. Now I can clear all the lawns in just two days.

My older daughter looked exactly the like her mother at the same age when she was 3-6 years old. When I compare their childhood photos it would be hard to tell which is which, if not for the hideous fashion of the 80’s being a a clear tell for mother.

After the age of 7 my daughter quickly grew into her own look, but when she makes certain faces the resemblance is still striking.

This is the true question. Also, do we still love lamp?

No magic tricks or diet fads.

Eat less, move more.

Eat more vegetables and salad, cut down bread and meat.

Stop drinking sodas and juices with extra sugar in them and learn to quench your thirst with water.

Limit eating candy or cookies to one day per a week, if you can’t let them go entirely.

This. Learn basic economics at a young age and compound interest shall serve you well.

I strongly dislike rap in general, but this horror was something that was probably home made by the kid himself or his friends. All I remember about the “lyrics” was that they involved some kind of rape fantasy.

That was the breaking point for me.

I live in Finland. We do not clap.

Everyone on the bus remained silent, just you are expected to be while in public spaces. This is our way.

It’s easier to do when you’re a tall man and happen to look like a bike ganger ;)

A few years ago I regularly took the same morning bus to work. There was this maybe 16-17 year old kid who sat on the back and would listen obnoxious rap at full volume on his phone, while hogging the whole seat row with his stuff.

I had my headphones on but the hideous rap blared so loud I couldn’t hear anything else. In my country we rarely interfere with other people’s business, everyone was just sitting tight looking pissed off.

After few minutes I stood up, walked to the kid and told him to either turn that shit off, use headphones like everyone else or I’d throw his phone out at the next stop. He looked at me for a moment completely dumbfounded but turned the noise off and left the bus at the next stop.

He never took the same bus again.

Could you elaborate on this line of thought?

I cannot tell if you are suggesting a professional standing army or something else entirely.

performing labour or 6 months of jail does sound completely unforced

Forced labour is very different to military training, IMO. Your choices and freedom are restricted - that cannot be denied - but your days are filled with different training excersizes, not labour as I understand it. And I’ve had my fair share of that too, but by my own choice.

i said nothing about whether i see my own country as worth serving, but your pity is appreciated

True. Your earlier statement was ambiguous concerning this. This is why I started the sentence with “if”.

and youll continue to have the option to do so regardless of whether your government continues to threaten its citizens into doing so

Also true. But if I had to defend my country, the most effective way to do it would be as a part of a trained and coordinated effort, not as some loner seeking a Hollywood - style “heroic sacrifice”.

I do not see compulsory military service as forced labour, not by a long shot.

In my country when a man turns 18, he has to choose either military service (6 months for rank and file, 9 months for specialists or 12 months for specialist drivers and NCO and officer trainees) or civil service (13 months). Third and very seldomly used option is “total denial”, which means you get to spend 6 months in an open jail.

I very reluctantly chose military service, hoping to get the shortest 6 month option. I ended up serving 12 months in the reserve officer training program, so I do have some experience on the matter.

The population of my country is so small that an army based on professional or voluntary troops is not a possibility. Conscription is the only viable choice.

The service was rarely fun, but it was very effective and extremely valuable. The personal growth I experienced during that year was immeasurable and one year of my life is a very small price to pay to this country that my grandparents’ generation paid a very heavy toll to protect. A country that offers equal rights, universal healthcare and free education for all citizens, amongst many other tax-paid services.

If you do not see your own country worth serving, I feel sad for you. I would gladly give my life to protect mine.

I live in the Nordics and my house is prrimarily heated by a geothermal heat pump. The temperature here has been between -20C and -30C for the last week, the pump can easily keep the room temperatures at +19C until the outside temperatures drop under -25C, after that the electric resistor kicks in to provide assistance.

The secondary heat source is the giant baking oven, which i heat every other day if gets this cold. The fully heated oven alone raises the room temperatures by 5-6C, which helps a lot to take the load of the heating pump and keeps the electric bill smaller.

I have been planning to install air/air-water heat pumps to both floors, they would be a good backup during these cold spells and would also provide cooling during the summer. And if I install a smart control system, I can have the air units do extra heating/cooling automatically when the electricity is cheap.

I just haven’t had the time to do the research where it would be best to install them and the prices rose steeply after Russia attacked Ukraine. So I’ll wait for a while before I’ll get those.

It’s getting harder every year.

I remember well the constant fear of nuclear war in the 1980’s.

I remember the wonder we felt when the Berlin Wall fell and Soviet Union collapsed. A hope of a tomorrow free of fear.

I remember the dreadful recession of the early 1990’s and the steep economical rise that followed it.

I remember the amazing advancements in technology and the standard of living in the late 1990’s. And at the same time, it felt like the world was coming to it’s senses.

I was 21 in the year 2000. The world was full of promise, technological advancements were just pouring in, old mortal enemies were finding common ground and it seemed that we were slowly heading towards a Star Trek - like post scarcity utopia.

This age of hope eneded by the finance crisis of 2007-2008. Russia tried the waters with the war in Georgia. The general atmosphere of the world turned towards gloom again. And the downward spiral just seems to keeps going and going…

Yet I continue the work I started when I chose teaching as my profession in those golden years of hope. The kids are very different today, any class from 20 years ago would be a piece of cake compared with the problems they have now. But if a change for the better is to come, it will come from the kids. My generation is hopelessly lost in consumer greed and watching mindless “reality” shows that they somehow feel more important than real life.

I alone cannot be the change we need, but I CAN educate a few hundred kids and with good luck, maybe a dozen or few of them will have a some effect for a better future.

I have a a working box camera from 1930’s. Or it would work, if I could still find film for it at a semi-decent price.

My Sansui 1000X - receiver amp is in daily use and was made in 1971, it’s in near mint condition in every way. I did a complete internal cleanup and replaced a few electrolytic capasitors just to be sure to avoid any problems in the future. I believe the unit may well outlive me. I love the silverface-teak cabinet aesthetics. It’s paired with a Lenco - L75 turntable from the early 70’s and AR-7x speakers from the same decade, together they sound pretty much perfect to my ears.

And I also have my great-aunt’s windable table clock. It’s ~100-120 years old, but still works if only I remembered to wind it every other day.

Yes, cruiseboats in the Finland-Sweden route might be considered. But it’s still far from Vegas.

Your description fits my brother perfectly.

He has very little curiosity, hasn’t read more than 3 books in his entire life, strongly dislikes all forms of art (except shitty movies and TV-shows), isn’t capable of analytical or critical thinking and hasn’t got a clue how the political system works.

He apes the attitudes of his spouse and friends, so much that I’m not sure he even has any opinions of his own.

Yet this doesn’t bother him at all. He’s very happy being oblivious and he makes more than twice as much money per month than I do with my master’s degree. He is very good at what he does and I’m happy for him.

It would still be nice to be able to have a real conversation with him, instead of just stating the factual matters or laughing at some dumb jokes. If we both didn’t share such a strong resemblance of our dad I’d assume that my mom had an affair, beyond our appearance we have almost nothing else in common.

The obsession with social media is fucked up, in my opinion. All the AV- and IT-gear in my school were my responsibility for almost 20 years, I got nothing but praise from everyone. Keeping everything running smoothly was easy and I enjoyed it.

Then one day our principal added “social media presence” to the list of my duties. I asked what that meant. “Well, posting weekly on Instagram and Facebook so that the community can see what good work we do here!”

I resigned from the AV- and IT-duties at that moment. I have zero interest in touching those platforms and I consider posting pictures of students or their work online as a very bad idea.

The principal was visibly shocked by my reaction but could not deny the resignation of my duties, since everyone else had gotten to change their duty roles yearly. Now I take care of the woodshop class and materials, which is nice.

Two younger teachers took shared charge of the IT-duties. They have no idea how to handle any problems, nothing works anymore and people are pissed off, but now we have pictures on the Internet.