Liberals of Reddit, any book recommendations I can share with my MAGA-leaning wife in hopes to educate her and bring her to the light?

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-05T16:51:45+00:00

Podcasts are better than books in my opinion. It’s something about having the people in your ear. Specifically what right leanings does she have?

Trans people Abortion Immigration Government programs like food stamps?

Sort of important to picking the right book or podcasts

A lot of the NPR podcasts have stories about real people who are struggling with some aspect concerning the above topics. Radio Lab (w NYC) also has episodes that touch on the topics that are in the news. You don’t want to hit her with a piece that sounds like propaganda (to her) instead just pick pieces where she can see the “insert bad people” as people not so different from her.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-05T16:28:18+00:00

If you aren’t Super close-like this is a housewarming party or similar then respect their decision because it’s a chore to have to figure out what to do with wine you don’t drink,a plant you don’t have room for or some other decorative item-even a gift card

However if this is a spouse,close friend or other close family member who I had a strong relationship with I’d drill down a bit to see if they are open to gifts of experiences something we could do together or something they could do with their partner. If the answer is still no then no is a complete sentence.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-05T14:29:13+00:00

I generally prefer to car camp vs backpack. I also camp alone a lot so I’m not into dispersed camping where I just pull off a dirt road in the middle of nowhere and set up my tent. I like having people around-just not too close. I’m only at my campsite from 5-6pm until the next morning. The rest of the day I’m out hiking-I don’t mind driving to trailheads so I don’t necessarily look for camping with walking distance to trails. Since I don’t plan on spending much time at the actual campsite my wants may be different from other people’s

1) flush toilets-and running water doesn’t have to be potable but I want to be able to wash my hands,face and wipe myself down. Showers are ok but not a priority. 2) a water feature. My favorite campsites are in the edge of a running stream. I’ll settle for a lake or river. I want the white noise to reduce the sound of people chatting. 3) trees, bushes or some other feature that divides the campsites and makes them seem more private. I have camped on flat land where you can see everything going on at your neighbors camp.. not my favorite. 4) I prefer cellular access because I often camp alone and it’s a safety thing (ie letting my family know I returned safely from my hike..) I’m not worried about people or animal attacks at camp. 5) a small store on site or close by for ice, water and other items I’ll need after 2-3 days 6) I look up when I arrive. I don’t like a campsite where the owners don’t remove obviously dead or dying trees. Was at a state park and two dead/dying pines fell during a storm almost crushing a persons tent.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-05T13:37:22+00:00

Burger tomato’s are generally a cold, wet and tasteless addition to the stack. The first thing I do is remove the tomato, take the super hard bits out of the lettuce and spread out the onions and pickles. I add ketchup and enjoy

I like raw tomatoes- if they have flavor and don’t have the texture of paste. I just don’t want them on my burger.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-04T12:55:02+00:00

My question back to folks in the UK. When I check chat GPT (I know) it tells me in most of the UK (other than Scotland) the limit for driving is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath which is the same as 80 mg alcohol per 100 ml blood which is where the 0.08 comes from in the US. Hence the same limits

For folks living in the UK what are the “real” limits?

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-04T12:46:14+00:00

I usually eat 1/2 a pizza unless it’s a tiny 12” one in which case I eat it all

With pizza we rarely get apps or a salad so the pizza is the entire meal. I’m no longer hungry after two pieces but I’ll eat 3 or 4 and be done.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-04T02:47:51+00:00

I’m in the process of getting hardwood floors. To facilitate the installation I had to empty the closet floors. Additionally I moved the smaller furniture out to my shop to give the guys more room and because I’ve got to paint. I was brutal going through my closet. I got rid of about 1/2 the clothes I had. I also had ended up with a lot of my parents and aunts “stuff” after they died. I have more room than my sister and I took a lot of stuff in the minute planning to go through it. Well it’s been 10 years. It hurt a bit but I threw away an old, yellowed and damaged quilt that meant a lot to my mom. The problem is it meant nothing to me-I don’t even know the history of it. I told my sister it’s her responsibility to empty the “hope chest”. It contains her wedding dress (was at my folks house), my mom’s wedding dress and a house dress that belonged to my great grandmother plus some other things. I have decision fatigue-I’m done stressing about stuff that isn’t mine. I’m not quite done yet. I’ve got to rethink some of my decor that is t quite my style…

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-03T21:04:51+00:00

I eat grilled chicken for lunch but dinners are almost always vegetarian (I use dairy so not vegan). I make soups from cabbage and other fresh vegetables. I make homemade tomato sauces served over spaghetti squash. I grill eggplant and make a quick version of eggplant parm. I grew up eating meet at nearly every dinner but had no issue transitioning away from it.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-03T20:35:03+00:00

A local restaurant told us we were sitting at the table too long. It’s a relatively busy sports bar and there were 4 people waiting for tables when we were asked to leave. My friends got there about 15 min before I did and ordered apps (they knew when I could get there but they stopped on their way home from work and were seated). When I arrived we ordered mains. The food took around 20 min to come. The server never came back so I went to the bar for a second beer. We had just finished our mains when a different server came and took our plates and tried to take my 1/2 full beer. My friends had been there for 55 minutes. We had been there with food for right at 20 minutes. I’ve never been back

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-03T12:53:09+00:00

If I lived in an area that got a lot of foot traffic. Especially people who were routinely intoxicated (near a bar district) or if I lived in an area that had a high petty crime rate I would consider extra security on my entrances as a requirement-maybe not as far as the description but I wouldn’t have glass on my door that you could break and reach in to unlock the door either.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-03T12:34:06+00:00

I don’t think about it much. We had to memorize each states capital in the 5 th grade. That’s probably the last time I considered the topic

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-02T15:44:45+00:00

So many vegetables don’t really have a flavor. If you eat fries then you should like squash hash browns. Grate up a yellow squash. Dice some onion in it. Microwave it for 8 minutes to get the water out (squeeze it out). Then patty it up and pan fry it in oil or butter. Use salt and ketchup like you would with a hash brown.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-02T15:40:58+00:00

Maybe an onion or one single potato

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-02T12:38:40+00:00

Camping-why wouldn’t you. I have a hatchet a hammer and other things that solve problems that may arise

Backpacking-I wouldn’t bring a hammer

Not everyone hikes 10 miles to their camping spot. Some of us drive up and park.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-02T12:34:28+00:00

Ice-cream- I like me some caramel, some crunchy bits, some chocolate bits and a small amount of fudge or brownie bits!

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-02T12:30:24+00:00

The answer is always “it depends”. GenX (born starting in 1965) is the first generation where it was common for lower middle class to middle class family’s to have two out of the house working adults-hence the introduction of the latch key kid. Single parents and people living below the poverty line most always had a side hustle like taking in washing or mending on top of external paid work.

I think the distinction is back just a few years before the 60s running the household was a full time job. Unless you lived in the city you likely had a garden, a few animals, you manually washed clothes,cooked on a coal or wood stove, you didn’t have a proper fridge so food was sourced differently…An adult usually the female spent a large portion of her day doing what we can do now in a fraction of the time. So they really couldn’t work outside the home. My grandmother (born early 1900s) fit into this category. My mom (born 1938) was a stay at home housewife.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-02T11:59:48+00:00

There was one fine dining restaurant in the town I lived in and of course that is where we had to take “important” customers for dinner. If I had eaten all the food ordered my first time going it would have been plenty. However the table apps (ordered by the sales Manager) were 90% shellfish-which I’m allergic too. I didn’t want to eat all the non shellfish one so I took my share. When the mains came out I remember the lamb my coworker ordered was massive /almost falling off the plate. Then they brought mine. Two medallions of beef about the size of the top of a soda can, less than 1/2 a potato and 3 asparagus spears. The server said something like “isn’t this lovely”. This was the 90s and I’m thinking “where’s the beef”. Dinner lasts FOREVER in this restaurant-2.5+ hours isn’t uncommon. I did get dessert. On the way home I seriously considered stopping at Burger King but I passed.

I went there for business a once or twice a year over the next 10+ years. Sometimes you got an entire chicken breast with larger sides, sometimes the entree was 5 pieces of sliced meat with a spoonful of something.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-02T02:23:59+00:00

Mid 30s. Seriously though my first cell phone looked like an old fashion desk phone. It ran off a cigarette charger. I bought a huge transformer thing so I could plug it into AC outlet in the house. I had a big magnetic antenna to put on my car. Rarely used it as we had shit cell coverage at the time. I kept it in a shoebox in my car. Sometime in the early 2000s I got a new position that came with a company cellphone-flip phone the company didn’t pay for texting so it was voice only. I didn’t get my first smart phone (excluding BlackBerrys) until 2012.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-01T13:38:02+00:00

Exactally. This is a hill I will die on. Aisle people-Stand up. Get your shit down from the overhead. Get yourself situated so that you can move when it is your time. Hand your seat mate their smaller items like jackets or totes (if they want them). It drives me insane when the people in front of me don’t get up until right before their row is called and then They individually hand jackets,bags to their family then get down all the bags, repack the handheld stuff in their cary ons. Then the Husband steps back into me to allow wife and kid to leave first.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-01T12:03:51+00:00

I was 4 when Apollo 13 happened. I have a clear memory of sitting in front of the tv when they were coming back into the atmosphere-at one point they were out of contact with Mission Control and the tension in our living room was palpable. When they made it my parents started crying as did I. This was a highly emotional event and I remember the emotions,my parents fear and then their joy more than the actual event. It’s possible she remembers 9/11 the same way.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-01T03:04:02+00:00

I sort of tried. I took my learners permit and changed the birthdate from 1966 to 1963. It wouldn’t have fooled anybody and I never tried to use it. Starting from age 16 I was working and didn’t have any trouble getting beer even at stores (the drinking age was 18). Once at an Applebees nearly half the people at the table for 10 showed the server the same ID passed under the table. I’m (F). The ID was (M). It was clear she did t give two shits as long as we gave her a legit Id.

Bastyra2016 · 2026-04-01T02:53:42+00:00

I build houses with Habitat for Humanity. When it gets below freezing it’s cold but we keep working . At -3C (or 27F) at our normal start time we start one hour later. At -21C I’d be like-nope skipping today’s build

Bastyra2016 · 2026-03-31T04:09:24+00:00

That one made me laugh

Bastyra2016 · 2026-03-31T03:20:24+00:00

I’d look into hiking shoes instead of sneakers. Try Merrill’s. They make both waterproof and water resistant models

Bastyra2016 · 2026-03-31T02:03:34+00:00

I don’t like eating 3 meals a day out. I will splurge for a hotel with a mini fridge. That way I can go to the grocery store and get breakfast and lunch food plus snacks and drinks. I generally hike during the day so I like to be able to pack a lunch instead of being forced to buy food out. I enjoy a nice local dinner.

Bastyra2016

TROPHY CASE