Up until 9/11, for North America, maybe. After the collapse of the Soviet Union things felt pretty good. In my social circle there was a lot of optimism.

But we were on a neoliberal tear. A lot of the benefits we were enjoying (of globalization) are the cause of the spasm of conservatism we’re seeing today.

I’m fine paying what I pay, but I reserve the right to question the quality of services they pay for.

Dip the liquorice in raw mayo.

I use a stationary bike in front of a TV. My brain is off anyway, so I might as well put my body to work.

Another alternative is to find a sport that you enjoy, or a social group that makes the activity enjoyable.

I’m in the same boat - I don’t want to be in such close social proximity to Internet randos.

I suspect a big part is tax and investment law.

A bunch of poors (like me!) who band together won’t have much capital to buy inventory or equipment. I doubt banks and investors would lend to the bunch of poors, since they have a non-standard decision making structure.

That’s gonna make it hella hard to get started.

By Grabthar’s Hammer!

Zoinks!

I only get to GM for a couple of hours a week. I’d hate that to involve narrative grinding. Although it’d be fair for a character to do it during downtime.

That’s a great way to encourage players to try things, and move the game forward despite failure.

That’s a really nifty mechanic. I haven’t played CoC, but this seems like yet another reason to try it.

Yes! There wasn’t a lot of meat prepared in my house as I was growing up, so I didn’t get any experience with it. Having a meat thermometer means I don’t need to guess. It’s good.

I’ve started cooking meat a lil cooler than recommended, in theory that it’s more tender. With a meat thermometer I know it’s still good.

You’re right, but (I think) that’s a setting on the home instance for the community. Other instances can allow/show the downvotes, but the NSFW community will be blissfully unaware.

If it’s 15 minutes or more, I try to clean. Or I take a nap.

It depends on community. Some of the shitposting communities can be great (shout out to ncd).

But politics and current events can be a minefield if your views are outside of Lemmy’s tinsy tiny Overton window.

My theory is that we’re mostly here because we have very strong beliefs. We dropped out of Reddit because of their policies or we were banned. Or we’re open source people. We defend those beliefs vociferously. Long beyond what most other people would do.

Whatever. I still mostly enjoy it here. I hope you find a place here too.

Her: is that Harry Potter you’re reading?

She approached me on the bus when I was commuting. It was a couple of decades ago when HP was new and fun. She was fun too, but we only went on a couple of dates.

I’m not surprised at all. At the time, I was trying to be as social as possible. If she’d stomped on my toe and then asked me out, I’d probably have said yes.

I thought I was smart/knowledgeable until I started working with people who really are smart/knowledgeable.

I tried to keep up and be one of them, but I do better when I just try to follow along with them and consider alternatives and implications of what they propose.

I wouldn’t say I’m the token idiot, but I have perspectives they don’t, and those are useful. Then again, that’s exactly what the token idiot would say.

Speaking for myself, it’s more like “I know I can look intimidating, and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, have a nice day”. I know there’s nothing wrong with me, but other people have had bad experiences.

What was once nerd is nerd no longer, but as the wheel turns, what was nerd will be next once again.

We’re early adopters. By definition: we’re nerds.