Nemo

You're not exaggerating. It's time to move more of our socialization offline.

Not every day you see a conservative comment on lemmy. Thanks for repping.

There's no ideology described as being "pilled" that's anything but toxic.

Why would being spoiled rate highly? It's a bad thing.

I'd rate mine a 10 but because of independence. My parents gave me both the trust and the skills to do what I wanted to do. I biked all over town, didn't need to check in outside of mealtimes, read the whole library, went to museums and concerts and dances. I taught myself to type and then to program. It was fantastic.

I wasn't spoiled, though. We didn't have any spare money, so anything I wanted to do I had to pay for myself; I was babysitting and mowing lawns from a young age. I had my chores at home including taking care of my brothers. I had food, if not my favorites, and clothes, though mostly hand-me-downs from cousins. Any electronics in the house were shared, and either bought used or received as gifts from most distant relatives. But stuff isn't what makes childhood great: friends, freedom, and family are.

Walking around in the early evening and stopping wherever people are gathering.

I was just popping out for salad greens, and ran across a group of young people having a picnic on the sidewalk. They had way too much food and were offering to share it with everyone who passed by. I wasn't hungry but I sat down and joined the picnic anyway. Great people! I stayed for over half an hour and I'm so glad I did.

And this isn't a one-off. This is how I met my wife, too, sixteen years ago. You gotta be open to spontaneous experiences.

Chicago restaurant scene is obsessed with Nashville Hot Chicken right now and it's frankly embarrassing

no, my mother got remarried while I was out of the state

You're missing out, Cheese is a hoot on a good day.

It's mostly about the sound of your voice. My eldest got Vonnegut and Law & Order. So much of the latter that both before and after birth the "dun dun" sound from the show noticeably calmed her down.

We've talked about this, Cheese: You need to use the post body to add context when you ask questions like this.

Since most expenses are static but my income is variable, I have done the calculation for how much my expenses are per day and per week. Then I just make sure I'm making at least that much every workday / workweek. All the surplus gets split between discretionary spending, long-term plans (home improvement, family trips), and investments.

I've managed to make it even simpler by making the investments automatic and hands-off, so I can just figure those into the per-week number since they're also regular.

I think that people should be able to have guns to defend themselves. I also think that, in almost all circumstances, people should not use guns to defend themselves.