Another recommendation for Linux Mint here. Just live boot off a USB drive and try it out. Maybe dual boot for a while if you’re unsure about just getting rid of windows cold turkey.

I use it daily on my work machine (2 year old Dell laptop) and it feels pretty flawless and polished. Even for basic desktop stuff I like it better than windows, but then all the techy Linux shit it’s still there if you care to use it. I use this “user friendly” distro to stare at plain text in monospaced fonts all day, usually between source code files and command-line stuff.

A default install of Linux Mint Cinnamon has a classic windows layout of a taskbar and start button.

But things like searching and updates actually work smoothly and quickly.

Definitely. And even doing the maintenance chores for pond upkeep is a meditative exercise most of the time. Things like cleaning filters. Obviously feeding the fish is an everyday positive. I keep the food container under my big chair out there.

I’m also in a similar situation where I have been in the same place for a long time, and I expect it to stay that way. It’s ideally located and we’ve made it our nice place to be, pond included.

This is an excellent one, and one that works great for my level of neuroflavor too.

In my case, in have a big sturdy chair in my back yard next to a pond I built. Having external stimuli to focus on really helps calm the mind and be aware in the moment.

That seems like it would only be a concern for people that need the new thing all the time, which is an expansive proposition when it comes to cars.

As long as the batteries and drivetrain hold up, the people looking to spend 10-20k on their commuter rather than 40-70k will accept things that are out of date.

Your comment reminded me about how I keep wondering if I should bite the bullet and throw away all the plastic cups, plates, bowls, and utensils in the house. Spend a little money on more metal and ceramic stuff, and potentially benefit my family’s health long term. Maybe.

Unfortunately many of us have been taught that being a good person and a good citizen equals being productive and accumulating resources. Things that are quantifiable and external to the actual person and their relationships.

Being productive and accumulating some resources can be good activities to spend time on, but they are practical necessities and not defining characteristics of existence.

An interesting data point in this discussion is to look at the list of countries in order of population density and see just how far down the list the US is.

We have a lot of people, some big cities, some major institutions, and a huge economy, but we also have a LOT of space.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density

The kind they have (sulcata or African spurred tortoise) is 3rd largest behind Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises, but they are common and cheap in comparison to those.

We have a sulcata too, only about 4 years old but of course growing pretty quickly.

If I could go back to tell 10 year old me that future me would have a tortoise waiting at the back door to go out like one of the dogs, it would have blown my mind. I’ve always loved turtles. Even the ninja kind.

Layers of protection. It’s worth it when we’re talking about life and death safety.

I’m not sure if I saw it in the same place, but I saw the same recommendation long ago and have stuck with it ever since.

I don’t rely on it for changing lanes though. It absolutely helps situational awareness, but I always turn and look.

it shocked me that anyone could value personal wealth over coexisting

Laughs in freedom units

As an American, this line short circuited my brain:

Police there still carry guns on the regular

I live in a quiet but growing suburban town that’s closer to rural areas than the nearest city. When I walk my kid to elementary school (how European of us, lol) the police officer working as a crossing guard for the kids still has their gun, taser, bulletproof vest, and all their other gear on.

And it’s not a school-specific thing. You just never see cops without their weapons here. Armed and armored is just part of the uniform, essentially.

Yeah I agree with that. Relying on individual compassion to fix real estate probably makes even less sense than relying on churches and charity to fix poverty and hunger.

I’m still in favor of making things better in one’s little corner of the world, because even just looking at it selfishly it tends to make your life and your mental health better too.

The finance people (and sadly, many many others) think making the number bigger is a more important and worthwhile goal than making your corner of the world a better place. So good on you for being a compassionate human!

I think “quiet quitting” is just the white collar equivalent to the more blue collar “nobody wants to work anymore!”

I typically stay at work until 5pm because I make no effort to come in early and I take long lunch breaks.

This place is an absolute ghost town by 5, and it makes me happy to see that. It seems people mostly have their heads on straight here.

It’s gotta be the latter. Then have a PSA campaign explaining that it stands for something-something-Nation.

The Oregon Trail.