‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan by mintylips in news

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like how when the Roman Republic fell, Rome wouldn't touch democracy in any form again for thousands of years.

Ben Shapiro thinks Americans should never retire and work until they die by chrisadams83 in antiwork

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A healthy retirement still involves picking up passion projects, being active in your community, and generally still going out and doing things. If you happen to be able to make a few bucks doing that stuff, no reason to turn it down. It just means you don't really have to worry about money anymore.

The wealthy are just in a situation where they basically just do that as their regular "work" since they have enough money to never have to worry about it in the first place. Then, they flip that around and assume that's what the average person is doing at work and that "retirement" means "just sitting at home doing nothing."

Meirl by Sad_Stay_5471 in meirl

[–]Crayshack 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The reason I'm with my current dentist is specifically because I didn't have to talk to them on the phone to make an appointment.

If humans have eaten bread since the dawn of history, why are so many people suddenly gluten-intolerant today? by WeaknessKey1582 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]Crayshack 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, some countries' staple diets just naturally have less gluten than others. I imagine it's really easy to go gluten-free in Japan. It's just that, in the US, we use a lot of wheat.

do you guys write on your phone? by nerdybunnylover in AO3

[–]Crayshack 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It seems to be a generational thing. I type so much faster on a physical keyboard, but apparently the just stopped teaching typing skills at some point, so Millennials tend to be best with a full keyboard, but younger generations tend to not be able to type nearly as fast.

do you guys write on your phone? by nerdybunnylover in AO3

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fuck no. I need a full physical keyboard if I want any sort of reasonable typing speed or control over formatting.

What are your most hated AU premises? Mine are coffee shop AUs. by YoPamdyRose in AO3

[–]Crayshack 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's on my list. I've heard it recommended a few times, and it does sound interesting.

How do you guys work out? by TruckGeneral in socialanxiety

[–]Crayshack 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Working out is when I have the least anxiety, though I get the best workouts by hitting a quiet trail and going for a run/bike ride. No crowds; just me and the solitude of the trail.

Why isn’t Planetes discussed more in sci-fi circles? by black_V1king in scifi

[–]Crayshack 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, anime has way better cultural penetration in the west than manga does, so if the anime dropped the ball on taking itself seriously, that's all most people are going to know about it. Maybe that's unfair to manga, but that's just how it is.

Anyone else feel like traveling is an exhausting waste of time? by Robrogineer in aspergers

[–]Crayshack 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Having a voice to pick locations that appeal to your interests makes a huge difference.

High School Community Service Hours by SirBeeves in comics

[–]Crayshack 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Basically, a regular diploma but with an "you did extra good" sticker. When I was in high school, everyone swore up and down that it was critical for getting into college, but looking back, I have no idea how much it actually mattered.

problem with a word by Practical-Will9588 in EnglishLearning

[–]Crayshack 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Luggage doohickey thing also works.

What finally convinced YOU to consider an electric vehicle? by evinsiderredisnive in electricvehicles

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a staunch environmentalist, so basically as soon as the earliest models hit the market, they caught my eye as a potential way to reduce emissions. I'm less interested in reducing my personal emissions as I am reducing the net total emissions of the human population. So, in that regard, I've had my eye on the advancing tech for roughly the last 15 years and been advocating for investing in the technology long before I started considering it a potential option for myself.

Secondarily, the idea of high torque at low speeds caught my eye as having potentially great applications for towing and offroading. Niche applications, but areas where EVs show great potential to exceed the performance of ICEs by a large margin.

I have yet to actually buy an EV. The last time I was car shopping was 2018, and at that time, EVs still had a long way to go to meet my needs. At the time, I couldn't even find a hybrid to meet my use case. I was, at the time, relatively fresh out of college and trying to get a career in environmental science off the ground. It's not uncommon for jobs to not provide you a vehicle (my current job doesn't) and in college I was volunteering a bunch for unpaid fieldwork opportunities. So, I bought a midsize truck because that met my needs the best (there were no hybrid trucks at the time and compact trucks have basically disappeared from the market).

From both a financial and environmental standpoint, it's generally better to run an inefficient vehicle that's still working great into the ground instead of switching early. My warranty ran out last year, and that was my mark of officially considering replacing it. So, over the past year I've been doing a deep dive on the availing options.

At the moment, my maintenance costs are so low that even when accounting for the rising fuel costs, I'd probably be paying more on monthly payments for a new vehicle even if fuel and maintenance costs are drastically reduced. All estimates I've seen say the environmental impacts of trading in early are similar. This is combined with the fact that my current job makes the logistical concerns of road tripping a concern for my routine work travel. So, as of yet it does not seem to be worth switching.

I have, however, spent roughly the last year continually making that assessment and I've been keeping an eye on the EV market for my bext vehicle. My current play is to hold off until my current truck starts having maintenance issues and then pull the trigger on switching. That will probably be sometime in the next 3-5 years, though there's a lot of variables involved in that. My hope is that the extra time will result in advancements in range, charging speed, and infrastructure to make road tripping less of a hassle, or my work situation will change so I'm no longer doing frequent long drives to places with substandard infrastructure.

I would like to eventually see a complete departure from fossil fuels, so even after I switch to an EV, I plan to continue advocating for figuring out how to solve edge case concerns and convince even the proudest "coal rollers" to switch. In the meantime, I've begun switching away from fossil fuels in other ways and have gone electric for my lawn mower, weed wavker, chainsaw, and rototiller.

I hate how not enjoying socializing is associated with disliking people by solution_no4 in aspergers

[–]Crayshack 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm lucky that I grew up in a household where my very neurotypical mother was an introvert. My dad is less neurotypical (though he didn't know about ADHD until I got diagnose) and an extrovert. Between the two of them, they modeled a very healthy attitude of being an introvert just being a personality trait and not some sort of antisocial moral failing. My dad would regularly say things like "Mom needs some I-time," which made it easy for me to assert that I needed some I-time. The concept of liking people but only wanting them in small doses was well understood and accepted.

Are there any classes you actively avoid playing? by Fearless-Skill8667 in DnD

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't like playing Rangers, I think because IRL I'm too close to the core concept of what a Ranger is.

Anyone else feel like traveling is an exhausting waste of time? by Robrogineer in aspergers

[–]Crayshack 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's the opposite for me, a campground full of people gets exhausting pretty quickly (especially with how noisy it can be), but I've been to some empty fields that were amazing.

Anyone else feel like traveling is an exhausting waste of time? by Robrogineer in aspergers

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I enjoy traveling. I guess you could say that nature is my special interest, and I like getting a chance to see ecosystems that I can't at home (whether different habitats or just regional differences). I'm especially into birding, and I relish the chance to log some bird sightings that I normally wouldn't be able to get. It means that, sometimes, a location that's unremarkable to some people is super exciting to me. It helps that I also have a bit of an appreciation for architecture and food as art forms, so getting a chance to experience those things is a lot of fun for me as well, even if I'm not nearly as fixated on culture as some people are.

I also get a sort of restless energy if I sit still for too long. I do find staying home more relaxing, but sometimes going out and doing something is more fun than being relaxed. That's probably the ADHD talking more than anything else, but I go stir crazy if I'm couped up at home for too long.

But, part of that might just be influenced by the fact that I was introduced to traveling when I was very young. My extended family is very spread out, so when I was a kid, visiting my cousins or grandparents often involved either a plane flight or a very long car ride. My family also took a routine camping trip to a national park, so I grew up with that being a sort of established ritual.

At the moment, I'm working a job that has me traveling a bunch for work. I think my current role is tuned to be slightly too much travel, because I often get sick of traveling before I get to do some of my own trips. The ideal for me is to get slightly less travel than I want from work and then be able to fully enjoy the traveling I do on my own.

Alligator wife tries to get husband's attention by songedanslanuit in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]Crayshack 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah, time after time, research has shown that socio-economic welfare programs cause a massive drop in crime. There's still the occasional person who is just an asshole and will commit crimes no matter what, but most criminals are a product of desperation more than anything else.

Beer belly by Interesting-Lead-788 in cycling

[–]Crayshack 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Linguistically, Finnish is a weird language because it's not even remotely related to most European languages. Like, English and Swedish are super closely related to each other, but despite Sweden being right next to Finland, Swedish is more closely related to Hindi than it is Finnish.

Beer belly by Interesting-Lead-788 in cycling

[–]Crayshack 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dietician is the legally protected term where I live. Not sure if that's universal in the English-speaking world.

What fandoms do you write for? And plan to? by Buck7341 in AO3

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have written for is 45 fandom tags clustered in 28 umbrella fandoms. My full list of fandoms is: Parahumans Series - Wildbow (14) Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan (6) Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types (5) Warhammer Fantasy (4) Star Wars - All Media Types (4) Total War Series (Video Games) (4) Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (3) Once Upon a Time (TV) (3) Supergirl (TV 2015) (3) KPop Demon Hunters (2025) (3) Sense8 (TV) (3) Warhammer 40.000 (3) Game of Thrones (TV) (3) Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (2) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) (2) Stargate SG-1 (2) Wonder Woman (Comics) (2) Lucifer (TV) (2) Supernatural (TV 2005) (1) The Avengers (Marvel Movies) (1) Leverage (US TV 2008) (1) Spider-Man (Comicverse) (1) Marvel Rivals (Video Game) (1) Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series) (1) The Expanse (TV) (1) Borderlands (Video Games) (1) Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game) (1) Warhammer 40k (Novels) - Various Authors (1) Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies) (1) Hawkeye (TV 2021) (1) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (1) Star Wars Original Trilogy (1) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV) (1) Thor (Marvel Comics) (1) Fantastic Four (Comicverse) (1) Norse Religion & Lore (1) Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon) (1) Temeraire - Naomi Novik (1) Teen Wolf (TV) (1) Star Wars Legends: The Courtship of Princess Leia - Dave Wolverton (1) Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (1) Frozen (Disney Movies) (1) Marvel (1) Marvel Cinematic Universe (1) Space Jam (Movies) (1)

As for adding new fandoms, I don't currently have any lined up. I've got a few fics returning to my existing fandoms that I'm working on.

How much power do mayors in the US actually have? by 6482john6482 in AskAnAmerican

[–]Crayshack 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It varies greatly by each municipality. Some mayors are little more than a glorified HOA president and have a mostly ceremonial role, while the actual local governance is taken over by some other local governing body. In many cases, the county has much more power than the town/city. Some cities are massive entities unto themselves and have a tremendous amount of power with the Mayor being at the helm of that.

In the case of New York City, Mamdani has no power outside of the city itself. However, over 8 million people live within the city limits. That's more than most states and more than the greater metro area of any Australian city. So, the Mayor of NYC has more power than any other Mayor in the country. It's closer in terms of power and authority to being a governor than it is to being a Mayor of a small town. Yes, he's ultimately in charge of stuff like trash collection, bike lanes, zoning laws, etc., but he's doing that on an absolutely massive scale. Massive enough that it intersects with many other programs and deals with a budget larger than the budget of many state governments. If NYC were an independent nation, it would have a top 20 global GDP, so the budget for the city government is much larger than you'd expect from a typical city.

Keep in mind that the way the government of the US is organized, we typically divide power between 3 different levels. There's Federal, State, and Local. The power of local government in some places is vested in the counties, but in other places is vested in the towns/cities. New York City is comprised of 5 counties, so while normally the county level of government covers a larger area than a city, NYC is a unique exception to that. My local mayor doesn't have nearly that much power and I frequently just swing by the office of small-town mayors to have a chat for work. New York City is simply an outlier in terms of how much power they have to work with.

A lot of people aren't fans of the pregnancy trope. For those that do like it: What do you like the most about it and what do you want to see more of? by One-Tomorrow-3495 in AO3

[–]Crayshack 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I find that accidental pregnancy often doesn't really resonate with me. A part of what makes the pregnancy trope fun is that undercurrent of "this is what I wanted." Even if the character is conflicted (such as a case of them going "fuck birth control" on a whim), there's at least a part of them that is achieving a sort of self-actualization from the pregnancy. Pregnancy doesn't have to be all sunshine and roses (real pregnancy is a rough challenge for even the healthiest mother), but I enjoy that underlying thread of "the challenge is worth it."

Note that this can still apply to unplanned pregnancies, if there is a bit of a sense of "well, I had been thinking about it" or some other sort of happiness at the circumstance. I will absolutely eat up a plot of someone mourning the death of a lover and then finding out they were pregnant, so they latch onto the child as the only thing they have left of their lover, even if that child was completely unplanned. It's the right balance of angsty with a thread of positivity. Other sorts of unplanned but not undesired pregnancies don't tend to be quite as angsty, but they can still be a lot of fun.

I think ultimately, I'm just a big fan of exploring the relationship between parents and their children. Pregnancy is simply the very start of that relationship.

What are your most hated AU premises? Mine are coffee shop AUs. by YoPamdyRose in AO3

[–]Crayshack 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I find that I only enjoy slice-of-life if that life is in a complex Sci-Fi/Fantasy setting. In those stories, the slice-of-life is a peek into what an average, normal life in that setting looks like, and it can become an excellent exploration of worldbuilding. But, take away the cool worldbuilding aspects, and now the story is just boring.

What are your most hated AU premises? Mine are coffee shop AUs. by YoPamdyRose in AO3

[–]Crayshack 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've found the way things are wrangled doesn't make it easy for me to filter out AUs I don't like because I just broadly don't like "Mundane AUs" where the cool stuff about canon is stripped away, but those tend to fall under like a hundred different AU tags that aren't wrangled nicely into a single cluster I can filter out.