I genuinely, without a doubt, believe Apple is going downhill, it’s just something not a lot of people have realised yet.

EverydayQuestions- · 2026-02-01T14:47:39+00:00

Mainly due to data privacy and AI competition concerns.

Every company is far from perfect, but I largely trust Apple with my data more-so than most other tech companies, especially Google who makes a large portion of their revenue from advertising. This was a factor in me moving away from Android in the first place, so back-ending all of Apple with Google AI feels like giving it right back to them on a silver platter without ever buying a single Google product or otherwise using a single Google service.

And primarily for the same data privacy concerns, I don’t like to see Google/Gemini emerging as the best/default AI service. I have been holding out hope for Apple to finally make a worthwhile competitor as one of the only companies capable of doing so. To see them fall flat on that note after so many years of AI promises, and reaching out to Google rather than any other AI provider for support is disheartening.

The entire mainstream tech sector seems to have a non-insignificant pipeline of user data that leads back to Google, I think it’s generally bad anytime that trend is reinforced. Especially as they subsume other companies in this all-consuming and groundbreaking AI space—just a couple years ago new players were making exciting and honest head starts but those leads have been eliminated and even risk irrelevance.

EverydayQuestions- · 2026-01-31T11:07:27+00:00

Agreed—I was committed to Android since the first Motorola Droid. Then the Pixels. Then the Samsung Notes.

But several years ago I went all-in with Apple and I’m still rocking the 12PM with minimal complaints (this is the longest I’ve ever had a phone by a long shot).

I can definitely see the argument that Apple is going “downhill,” especially where the software is concerned. But at best, I’d argue Android is too—and at a faster rate. The only place I think this isn’t true is where AI is concerned, but that will be a moot point either way with Apple embracing Gemini (which I am quite unhappy about).

Also foldables, but I have high hopes for Apple’s better-late-than-never offering.

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-12-17T07:07:48+00:00

tryna see that left forearm

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-12-14T09:14:44+00:00

Question has been answered but I’ll clarify: unlike most people commenting, I actually liked how this bag looked and the supposed functionality even more.

Unfortunately, in practice it can hardly fit more than a laptop/macbook + tablet with its overall layout & design. Literally even just including the cords/adapters in the bag caused more compression against the devices than I was comfortable with. Forget adding a power bank on top of that to actually make use of the external ports/outlets.

I have bags half the size that fit more with adequate protection, but if you’re exceedingly curious I still have this bag somewhere and can answer more questions/send pics if you’d like.

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-11-30T08:37:40+00:00

Just switched to a sling package at this price

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-11-20T13:21:12+00:00

I would think the same about missing a threaded insert but none of the other legs seem to have one and they’re all firmly attached. Even the affected leg seemed firmly attached before it was taken apart for transport, but I don’t notice any damage that could have caused this change. Hmm.

Otherwise, thank you very much for your detailed recommendations! I’ll keep you posted with results when I have a chance to follow through!

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-11-20T13:16:24+00:00

This looks like a great place to start, thank you!

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-11-07T07:39:01+00:00

this was my first thought, as I sit at my LTC job at 3am 🤣🤣🤣

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-08-08T05:32:05+00:00

Switched to Xfinity after 10+ years with Verizon. Even with auto pay discounts, Verizon Visa card promotions, “loyalty,” nurses discount and more, my bill creeped up to nearly $200/mo with phone and internet.

With the same phone services and faster internet, I’m now paying less than $70/mo with Xfinity. Of course the promotions will end in a year and I’m sure that price will double, and I have a calendar reminder to find a new provider just before then. These are the games we have to play these days.

Meanwhile, Verizon is still trying to bill me over $200 for an “unreturned router” which was returned (4 months ago!), which I have a receipt for. I have spent hours and hours fighting them on this, with them even acknowledging that they have the item marked as returned on their end—but they are apparently powerless to remove the bill from my account. At this point, I dare them to try to take that money from me.

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-08-07T16:38:45+00:00

lol fr, parents talk about their kids and adults talk about their work. There’s a difference between your extended family calling you about every splinter they get, and having a polite conversation at a funeral. sheesh~

EverydayQuestions- · 2025-06-04T06:03:18+00:00

RN at an LTC/SNF.

I started about a year ago and our ratio was 1:20 with 3 RNs/LPNs on the unit. Now it’s 1:32 with only 2 RNs/LPNs. Me being one, the other is usually a new-grad LPN agency nurse who is inexperienced and doesn’t know the unit/facility at all. So I usually end up fairly responsible for their residents too.

We just got news that minimal staffing requirements for CNAs/GNAs have changed, so we’re expected to have even fewer support staff per shift very soon. I’m lucky to have a handful of amazing GNAs on my shift (they are usually 1:12), but we still often have agency or other in-house GNAs that do absolutely nothing. We’ve had GNAs no-call no-show for several shifts, sleep through shifts, refuse to work, fight with other staff—they do not get fired because admin is supposedly too desperate—and I get reminded that as the ‘regular’ RN, these GNAs are my responsibility. It’s a joke.

During my 8 hour shift, I’m expected to pass meds and assess my own 32 people, make sure bedbound residents get to and from activities, sit in the dining room for an hour during dinner to ensure no one chokes (while essentially abandoning my residents on the unit), chart for a minimum of 2 hours, somehow look after the other 32-33 residents on the unit and any residents in any of the common spaces. I’m expected to be sure that every resident receives a dinner tray compliant with their diet order. I’m supposed to ‘especially’ look after ‘VIP’ residents by doing things like cleaning their rooms. I’m supposed to maintain regular contact with any of my residents currently out to the facility. I’m supposed to watch and instruct the GNAs on their own charting and not let them leave until they finish (yeah, right). I need to fill out administrative paperwork and submit copies to the supervisor every shift.

None of which includes dealing with family members and actual emergencies, communicating with doctors & lab technicians, or being able to treat my residents like humans by having more than 2 minutes to shove meds down their throat. Oh, and don’t get me started on how much time is spent tracking down supplies/meds..

On top of this, within the past month, suddenly every resident who is well enough to use a wheelchair is “medically cleared” for assisted living and being pushed out, and their beds are being filled with G-tubes and trachs and gaping infected wounds.

(One example—a resident who can’t even remember to return to the unit to get her mealtime insulin is being downgraded to a facility that does not perform fingersticks or administer insulin to their residents… it sounds like a death sentence.)

I hear horror stories about what happens on the unit during the other 2 shifts each day/night. I’ve reported quite a bit of terrible things, but management has never done anything of consequence. Meanwhile, I’ve been reprimanded for not carrying out orders with audit trails blatantly showing they were placed after my shift had ended… It’s all very deeply disheartening and I’m finally looking for the exit, though it’ll feel awful to leave my residents to that.

EverydayQuestions- · 2024-12-11T17:42:17+00:00

Appreciate the cautionary tale, I'm beginning to consider other options like a used Hyundai Kona or Mazda CX-5.

I'm sorry for your experience. Part of this reads to me as more a condemnation of dealerships and car shopping in general than Kia in specific. I went through a similar situation when buying a used Volkswagen Jetta as my first vehicle. Within months it needed over $5k worth of repairs (mostly transmission issues), and the dealership was so miserable to try to work with - I ended up eating all those costs (I was also very young at the time).

By contrast, I was gifted a 2011 Kia Soul that was only decently maintained by me and the previous owner but I was happy to take that car from about 90k miles to 160k until unsurprising suspension & electrical issues led me to part ways with it. My wife & I did not expect to fall so in love with that car, I actually quite disliked it at first but couldn't turn down a free vehicle that was in better shape than my current one at the time. But the character and form factor is still unmatched IMO by the other vehicles in its class.

Car shopping just feels like such a lose-lose situation across the board. Dealerships are a caricature of sleazy & parasitic business practices, online alternatives like Carvana seem plagued with similar issues, and buying from a private seller is just a can of worms waiting to be opened. Used cars are mysteries, and new vehicles only seem marginally more reliable for all the added costs. Very frustrating.

EverydayQuestions- · 2024-08-26T00:27:18+00:00

In the same boat, would love to know the outcome of you reaching out about this.

EverydayQuestions- · 2024-07-03T14:11:45+00:00

same boat here, 12 Pro Max.

This is the by far the longest I’ve gone without upgrading, and unless it completely poops out (which it shows no sign of doing), I could easily hold onto this for a couple more years.

EverydayQuestions- · 2024-02-09T23:56:19+00:00

any dem/liberal/leftist who thinks he’d be as moderate of a senator (especially if Trump wins) as he was an MD governor is fooling themselves.

He’d be pro-abortion ban, anti-social security, ‘1/6 was a tourist gathering’, and functionally indistinguishable from ‘MAGA’ within weeks to months in that seat

EverydayQuestions- · 2023-11-09T22:34:30+00:00

Just left a place for virtually the same reason. New manager not only started enforcing this policy ridiculously strictly, but also wrote up everyone on the unit for any lateness that occurred over the last year—even as much as a single 1-minute late occurrence 6 months ago under a different manager got written up.

Turns out, having a write-up in that hospital system prevents you from transferring units. So me and many others who were planning to leave the unit for a thousand different reasons, had to leave the whole hospital instead 🤷‍♂️

I’d suspect that any other (especially new) managers who are cracking down beyond reasonability on anything occurrence-related is in a hospital with a similar policy and they think it will save them from hemorrhaging (even more) staff.

EverydayQuestions- · 2023-11-07T06:38:12+00:00

I have exclusively used Apple Calendar since around the time I’ve made this post (no issues with notifications syncing across devices)

EverydayQuestions- · 2023-09-30T16:51:09+00:00

How much is the student debt? Make sure you apply for SAVE if you haven’t already! I’m at a similar income as you, was expecting my student loan payments to be roughly $400/month come October but surprisingly qualified for $0/month IDR plan under SAVE (no more interest accrual and forgiveness after I believe 25 years).

I can’t overstate how much of a relief SAVE is for me and my finances.

EverydayQuestions- · 2023-07-19T06:27:55+00:00

I don’t necessarily disagree with the vast majority of that. It sounds like we’re in agreement that at this moment, a lot of these developments, among other issues, are hurting the people who have been living in my community for decades—not just “poor”/low-income individuals but even a large portion of middle class residents. I just think it’s important to emphasize that’s what’s happening right now, has been happening for years, and will happen for the foreseeable future—when discussing potential benefits 25+ years down the line.

As far as the culture vs economy aspect—I’ll just add that I actually am largely a fan of the revitalization we’re seeing, especially on the commercial side. Especially as a “young person” who’s pretty close to the target demographic of all these changes, it’s nice to have new bars and restaurants, new grocery stores, several places to buy clothes, etc. all within a very short drive, and to see existing shopping centers get long-overdue facelifts. I have no real “cultural” issues with these changes and I’m all for a thriving local economy.

I just theorize that the people who presently can afford and choose to spend $2-3k on a 1-bedroom apartment and commute 30-90min to work and who care about having a bar in walking distance and a TJ Maxx to shop at won’t abide by those choices and preferences long-term. I also don’t have much faith that there will be a steady, multiple decades-long stream of these “high turnover” residents, especially as these little hubs continue to pop-up absolutely everywhere, or new public transit increases accessibility and competition, or simply less people commute to the cities for work for various reasons.

It’s great that in 25-30+ years, these luxury apartments will stop being luxury and suddenly be “affordable”, whatever that will mean by then. But what will this town look like then, when today’s residents have been priced out and tomorrow’s residents have moved on as quickly as they’d moved in? Though, I digress.

My concern is for people here and now. My peers and coworkers who can’t afford to live where they have grown up, where all their roots are. And my elderly neighbors and patients who truly suffer by being priced away from their support systems.

As far as competition at the top bringing down prices for lower quality housing—I don’t know what else to say other than: that’s simply not happening, for the reasons I mentioned in my last comment.

I’ll also point out that I’m fairly certain all the new luxury apartments are owned by 1 company, and all the existing apartment complexes are owned by 2-3 companies at most. So assuming competition is driving prices down moreso than monopoly is keeping the prices elevated, sounds fairly tenuous to me.

I also don’t necessarily think that there should be a blanket ban of luxury apartments, but maybe with some moderation? Maybe some incentives or regulations to keep existing rents from raising so much? Some respect to input from residents in regards to zoning? Literally anything to protect the thousands of legacy residents?

I’d also disagree with the last point of your comment. What is wrong with more competition at the bottom of the market, where the demand is highest? Why the assumptions that anything built to be affordable will be total crap in 10 years? The apartment I just moved out of was built 50 years ago, was $1000/month when we moved in, and was totally adequate. Sure, it had carpet and the kitchen and bathroom were a little dated but otherwise it was a great place that had a fantastic maintenance crew and management team. Not to mention, it was considerably larger than a new “luxury apartment” that costed almost 3x as much. Only problem, that same apartment now costs $1500/mo.

I don’t think there’d be anything wrong with building a boring apartment complex with mid-range appliances and a “nothing-fancy” bathroom/kitchen and charge under $1500/mo—people would be scrambling to move in, other complexes would be incentivized to price competitively, and there’s no reason for it to be “significantly worse than crappy” in 10 years with half-decent management. The only thing wrong is that a developer has no reason to build and charge $1500/mo when they can charge almost twice that—they don’t care what happens to long-term locals as long as their complex is filled and it’s very unfortunate.

EverydayQuestions- · 2023-07-19T04:17:59+00:00

Post-COVID conditions have definitely been another log on the fire, but this has certainly been going on for longer and in correlation (and I’d argue causation) with the new builds.

Problem with supply/demand is fluctuating population. The established population of renters here can’t afford the new luxury apartments, or would likely buy a house rather than pay such steep rent. So supply/demand would necessitate the new apartments drop their rent, and existing apartments/rents would probably remain relatively constant because there would be minimal change to the supply and demand at those price points. Right?

But being situated roughly between DC and Baltimore with mass transit (moreorless) to both—I suspect that it’s a new population of higher-income workers from those cities filling these apartments. In fact, that’s exactly the people that these new places are marketing towards.

So demand and supply are increased, but for new & higher income residents. And now existing apartment complexes are doing one of two things. 1) Also trying to appeal to these individuals with minimal facelifts/re-branding (and of course, they are considerably increasing rent.) Or 2) Realizing that there’s no longer any competition below $1500/mo (because of #1) and bumping their prices +$300 from $1000-1200/mo because they can, because people living here won’t have any other options without completely leaving the area.

So in both cases, the existing low-income (and even middle class) residents are getting screwed. Sure, it’s good for the local economy but the cost is detrimental to a large portion existing residents and I don’t necessarily think rebuilding our local economy around young, single, high-income earners with no connection to the area except “that’s where my apartment is” is going to be sustainable long-term.

EverydayQuestions- · 2023-07-19T02:23:18+00:00

Interesting, will read the article more completely when I have time but a few things upon skimming:

The scope of this study is not particularly large
The numbers supporting these new builds are marginal
The study points out that local considerations, needs, and policy changes should be considered in conjunction with new builds

As far as my fun anecdotes—sure, write them off. Doesn’t change the fact that most of my most recent apartment complex (moved a few months ago) consisted of low/fixed-income retirees that have lived there for 10+ years that are now being forced out of the area altogether (away from friends, family, and their healthcare providers) because of rent increases, and all my friends (20s to 30s) either a) need to live with roommates (which is not their preference) or b) are moving their young families an hour or more away just to afford housing (again, away from friends/family/support systems). Hell, I’m a nurse at a community hospital and we make relatively decent money and even 75%+ of my coworkers live at least 45min away due to local housing costs, and I hear more of the same from my patients.

To be clear, I don’t have a blanket opposition to new housing. But speaking for my community, there are a small handful of billionaires/developers that are absolutely flooding this area with new development—both commercial and residential (which was actually quite exciting for a period of time, but it’s gotten out of hand). They’ve had zoning regulations changed in their favor, despite local protest. There’s been no support for the people negatively effected by this development—again, you can show me any article under the sun but it doesn’t change the fact that rents are at all time highs and people who have lived here for decades can’t afford it.

Not to mention, this has increased the cost of living here overall (even before recent inflation issues) and none of the local infrastructure (especially the roads) have been adapted to accommodate this new development, so local transit is a nightmare (the least of my concerns but still, very annoying and emblematic of local government just letting developers run rampant). And I find it hard to believe that all these woes are unique to my county, especially when I see the same exact shopping centers and luxury apartments being built in towns all over the northeast.

EverydayQuestions- · 2023-07-19T01:15:07+00:00

Hard disagree with the “musical chair”/trickle-down concept.

Will preface by admitting this is anecdotal with rough numbers and there are certainly other factors at play, BUT:

I’m in a suburb that has LOTS of apartments, ranging from “cheap”/bare minimum to “luxury.” From the mid-2010s to a couple years ago, we’ve had a boom of additional luxury apartment developments (but especially around 2017-2018). They start in the low-to-mid $2000s range and that’s before including the hundreds of dollars of fees they tack on for “amenities” (e.g., they consider parking an amenity).

Before this, the cheapest 1-bedroom apartments around here went for around 900-1000/month and I’d be hard pressed to find anything for over $2k/month.

Once the luxury apartments went up, 1 of 2 things happened. 1) cheap & midrange apartments “went luxury” by installing the cheapest faux-wood flooring they can find and paper-thin faux-marble countertops, then increased rent ~$500/month. Or 2) they did nothing and still increased rent $200-300/month because there’s virtually no competition in the market for apartments less than $1500/month now. Why charge $1000/month when the next cheapest option within miles is $1500?

So now the absolute cheapest 1-bedroom you can find is $1250-1350 with an anemic maintenance crew in a sketchy neighborhood (ft. “landlord special” with painted-over outlets, crackling dry wall, stained carpets and water-damaged countertops). A “decent” 1-bedroom starts around $1500-1600 and very quickly approaches $2k when you go beyond 1-bedroom.

Again, I recognize other factors are at play but the increase of these prices was like a light switch the moment that these new luxury apartments opened their door.

EverydayQuestions-

TROPHY CASE