smeg

To harass them through every checkpoint for the rest of their life. Terrorism by law is the new norm.

Dutch cops out a lot on adapting punny names. Part of it is that the puns don’t work, but part of it is that the Dutch are very literal with naming things.

The Count on Sesame Street? Graaf Tel. Count (title) Count (action).

This will be the corporate response.

“Only poors use transit, anyway! In fact, ban pedestrians because they might confuse our delivery robot! Sidewalks should be renamed Delivery Bot Lanes.”

https://cooljugator.com/ - website that helps with looking up word conjugation. Great for language learning, since a translation is sort of cheating and can lead you astray on meaning

https://www.timeanddate.com/ - super handy site for finding meeting times between time zones, looking up international calendars for holiday, etc

NO PEOPLE. ONLY CARS.

Rush. I had heard the occasional song, but it never really stuck.

Then a few years ago, I listened to a full album. Then another. Now I’m a huge Rush fan (and my spouse is sooo tired of hearing them).

I got tickets to see them play next year.

• Gmail, GCal, Google Photos, and GDrive

It’s the network effect. I need an integrated solution that replaces all of these functions that I can use, my more tech-casual spouse can use, and that my frustration-intolerant preteen child can use. Also, we use Family Link for youth device management since we use Android devices. No alternative exists that does all of these things, and I refuse to spend my precious free time providing constant tech support.

• Kagi Search - owner seems like typical asshole techbro
• I pay using Google Wallet and debit card everywhere

We’ve generally avoided a TV in the bedroom. When we were given a second hand TV from a family member that was better than our living room TV, we mounted the old TV in our bedroom. We used it maybe 10 times over 2-3 years.

Now we live elsewhere and only have 1 TV in the living room again.

The bedroom needs to be a low tech place, for optimal rest.

I worked with a guy who had an arranged marriage. His parents decided it was time for him to get married. He lived in the Philippines near his parents. They had a friend who had an eligible and similarly positioned daughter living in the US. They got married and he moved to the US. 20 years later, they have 2 kids and seem happy.

I eat vegan now (at least at home) and low fat. It made my cholesterol go from borderline hypertension to 100% optimal/healthy.

I run a couple times per week. 5K in <30min in a city. Not record breaking, but pretty okay for a non-athlete approaching 40. I also cycle everywhere, walk everywhere, no car, so carry my groceries home.

Sleep is hit and miss, most nights 8 hours, weekends up to 10 hours.

The biggest harm society does is trying to categorize people’s sexuality in firm boundaries. Sexuality is more complex than the boxes we want to draw.

Your husband is a person you have a meaningful human relationship with. It’s not sensual, probably not romantic. He’s probably akin to your best friend. He also provides mechanical actions for you with his biological dildo, which hits the right spot. But it’s not a real, sensual, rich sexual experience, it’s mechanical. He’s being a supportive life partner, but not a lover.

Your identity as a lesbian is valid. Some nit-picker might say you’re a fem-leaning bisexual, but that ignores the social context. It sounds like an arranged marriage in a culture where lesbians are not welcome or accepted, where you weren’t ever exposed to that possibility. You’ve made the best option for yourself that keeps your life socially acceptable, safe, and comfortable, and you’re really lucky to have someone supportive of who you are.

I call all of it Brainrot

A year ago, I was cycling in the US. I had to ride on the sidewalk or insane bike lanes in the middle of traffic. Cars were merging through the bike lane, doors were everywhere, it was really bad. And the city claimed how “bike friendly” it is because it had 1 multi-use paved trail that ran the length of the city. I would never have let my kid bike to school alone - we biked with him because of the roadways that had to be crossed.

Now I live in the Netherlands. Today, I cycled to ewaste recycling, the supermarket, and to my kid’s drum lesson. I was on bike-safe neighborhood streets, long and plentiful separated bike lanes, and one street with a painted bike lane / share road. I’m complaining about that last street with the city because it didn’t feel safe to cross and there are some blind curves.

The worst street style here is the absolute best street I ever used when living in the US.

My kid bikes to school every day by himself. He bikes or walks to the supermarket when he wants to get snacks (or groceries if I offer him a tip), or to the park. None of that would have ever been possible in 99% of the US.

The US ruined its liveability for the sole benefit of auto companies. It’s really sad and pathetic.

Investment opportunities will be limited for the same reason. And most US financial institutions will either close or severely limit your account if they get the hint that you don’t live in the US.

Dutch tv seems very focused on drug shows, crime shows, etc.

Most people prefer what they’re already familiar with, especially when they’ve never experienced anything different.

Not much of a revelation.

I made the move to the Netherlands with my family last year. Definitely worth it.

We downsized from a 1400 sq ft house to a 75 m² apartment. We’ve made it work and we’re pretty happy about it, with some caveats about what we want our next place to have.

Getting a visa will be your hardest problem. Countries don’t just let people in for funsies, you have to have a visa path.

Nothing of value was lost.

• enable developer options
• confirm that you are not tricked
• restart phone and re-authenticate
• wait one day
• confirm with biometrics that you know what you are doing
• decide if you only want unrestricted installs for 1 week or forever
• confirm that you accept the risks
• enjoy the few apps that still have developers motivated to develop for a user-base willing to put up with this

• enable developer options
• confirm that you are not tricked
• restart phone and re-authenticate
• wait one day
• confirm with biometrics that you know what you are doing
• decide if you only want unrestricted installs for 1 week or forever
• confirm that you accept the risks
• enjoy the few apps that still have developers motivated to develop for a user-base willing to put up with this