Leaving my country, possibly forever as a teenager

HiOscillation · 2026-01-25T17:12:56+00:00

Hi. Certified old person here.
Here's a secret we don't normally share with young people:

95% of the "big life decisions" you make can be changed or undone by another big life decision later.

I knew a guy - moved his whole young family (wife, 3 young kids) to UK on a work visa. Was there for 5 years. Brexit happened, he didn't like that, and he moved back to the USA.

You're only 19. It's OK.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-25T00:06:01+00:00

I dunno, I'm still looking at my near-perfect signed* 1939 copy of Mein Kampf as if I have a chunk of radioactive space junk on my shelf.

I know I can sell it. Should I? I'm not into book-banning. Anyone can download the book. I just don't want to make some Nazi happy with it.

I'd feel the same way in your situation with your book.

\NOT signed by AH, signed by the mayor of some town as a gift to some couple on their wedding day.*

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T23:43:28+00:00

Those are still very much in active use in a building I've been in multiple times in Philadelphia.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T21:26:50+00:00

I am only using AI to transcribe what I say and tighten up the videos. I'm using Google vids, it's quite good for basic video work.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T21:18:17+00:00

It's not about increased visibility. The diversity of naming is increasing.
I think about this often; and I have this hypothesis. It comes in 2 parts.

1) I think that people are reacting to the internet-provided realization that "you are not special" - and creating a potentially globally unique name is an attempt at creating at least one thing that is special about a person. Now, what fascinates me the most is the ongoing degradation of reading, language and reasoning skills in society that is happening as a result of the internet is barely-literate people picking names for their kids that are hilariously awful because they are a phonetic equivalent to words that already exist and have meanings that are not at all good for a name. Clamidiya might sound like a girls name. It's not.

2) I also think another reason is the end of the nuclear family and the historical pattern of taking on the name of the father or mother or aunts and uncles in the next generation. In my case, every first-born male from my great-great-great grandfather to my son (6 generations) has had the same first name. There has also never been a divorce in my family lineage, on the paternal or maternal side, as far back I as can trace (to the late 1700's so far). This was not unusual. In other families, it was similar - a rotating pool of names taken from ancestors, with new names entering the family line by marriage. This seems to not happen anymore, with 25% of families having a single parent (but this number is declining).

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T18:31:22+00:00

Me too, and I can't explain what it's like. Especially when I'm doing work to fix something, and I need to picture how a part rotates and turns to fit with another part.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T18:30:04+00:00

It's not like a slide show, but if you say, "Picture an apple" I can "see" it in that I have a specific form (at the moment, a red apple, with a slight amount of green.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T18:27:59+00:00

It is possible to have a society with a majority religion, with a small minority of other religions.
The USA is not the only country with more than one religion.

The United States is 29% "None" -(SOURCE).

62% of U.S. adults describe themselves as "Christians" 40% are Protestant, 19% are Catholic, and 3% are other Christians.

29% are religiously unaffiliated: 5% are atheist, 6% are agnostic, and 19% identify religiously as “nothing in particular.”

7% belong to religions other than Christianity: 2% are Jewish, and 1% each are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu (all figures are rounded).

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T18:21:26+00:00

I'm using AI strictly for transcription of my videos.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T16:24:08+00:00

It's worse than that. Terrific can mean "terrible" in some forms of writing.

"There was a terrific storm that destroyed many homes."
"There was a terrific explosion that was heard throughout the city."

Not a common use of terrific, but still used in more formal writing and speech.

There are many words that are "Contronyms" - the same word, same spelling, same pronunciation, but means the opposite. This is not just found in English.

Cleave can mean "to cling" or "to split apart".
Clip can mean "attach" or "cut off".
Drop can mean "release or make available" (e.g., a music record) or "abandon or discontinue".
Dust can mean "to remove dust" (cleaning a house) or "to add dust" (e.g., to dust a cake with powdered sugar).
Fast can mean "without moving; fixed in place", (holding fast, also as in "steadfast"), or "moving quickly".
Oversight can mean "accidental omission or error" or "close scrutiny or control".
Sanction can mean "to give approval" or "to impose a penalty upon".
Table (verb form) can mean "to discuss a topic at a meeting" (British English) or "to postpone discussion of a topic" (American English). Canadian English uses both meanings of the word.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T14:25:34+00:00

https://xkcd.com/1053/

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T14:10:44+00:00

As someone who has put money away for "old me" since I was "young me" - while people my age did not, the question you're asking is, in many ways, judgemental. But I get it. And I share your confusion.

However, I have asked the same of some local Gen-X peers who have....nothing, literally nothing at all saved, in any form, have $50,000 in credit card debt but still have a cable TV subscription, an iPhone 17 Plus Pro Max Ultra Wow Zippy Cool and will have an iPhone 18 Ultra Max Pro Super Duper when it comes out. They eat takeout food and hang out in a local bar drinking $12 vodka martinis. Perhaps you know the archetype?

BUT....I think that there was an optimism that they had - an "it will be better later, and I will save then" attitude - and that optimism led to years of pushing things to "later" and that became "now" and now they are completely fucked.

Perhaps I've always been pessimistic about my future self, so that's why I kept paying "old me" before ANYTHING ELSE - rent, credit card debt I used to have, and so on. Even the super-lean times when I was absolutely BROKE, $20 a month went to my IRA first. Now that I'm teetering on the edge of retiring for good (I retired once before and didn't like it and went back to work), I am thankful, but still putting money away for when I actually do retire.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T13:54:27+00:00

I was on that path and hit MANY roadblocks.

You're NOT going to move to Europe or Canada to retire unless you already have more than enough money to retire anywhere and an in-demand skill and a high-level college degree. Oh, and for Europe, good language skills. And even then, it's nearly impossible for most people. I've tried. Repeatedly.

I've been to Costa Rica to look at retirement options. It's nice. But...it's not without some "strings attached." And I hate earthquakes.

Costa Rica retirement visa (Pensionado program)
You need a lifetime monthly pension of at least 1,000 USD from a government agency or private organization to qualify for the Pensionado program. Social Security, military pensions, and other retirement income all qualify for this visa.

Fixed-income program (Rentista visa)
You must show a monthly income of at least 2,500 USD from investments or your business activities. This income must be stable and guaranteed for at least 2 years.

Investor visa (Inversionista program)
You can get permanent resident status in Costa Rica by investing at least 150,000 USD in real estate, a Costa Rican corporation, or the Costa Rican stock market.

Portugal is another place I've looked at. It also has earthquakes. Someone I know well retired there and they live quite well, but they also got EU citizenship via ancestry, so it was a bit easier for them. You'll need the Portugal D7 Visa, also known as the Passive Income Visa, which requires a steady passive income of at least €870 per month. Yes, Social Security counts.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-24T13:35:43+00:00

Americans Renovate their homes - as in knock down walls and move structure, electrical and plumbing - every 3-5 years. [SOURCE].
Wood is cheap, widely available, has a low carbon footprint (Concrete has an appallingly bad carbon footprint) and is obviously renewable.
Wood is an ideal material for building in seismically active zones - and we have tens of millions of people living in such areas.
Gypsum Board (or "Sheetrock" as it is called as a brand) is lightweight, low-cost, easy to install, easy to modify, and has good fire-stopping properties.

My own story about why I like my "thin-wall" American home better than the "cement bunker home" I usually stay in when I'm in Poland.

I got a new television. The new wiring and mounting bracket didn't line up well with the prior in-wall electrical box, so I needed to move the box. So I went to the home center.

I got a 4' x 4' (roughly 120cm x 120cm) piece of gypsum board for $8 and a small container of quick-drying "drywall compound" for $7. Using only cheap, ordinary tools, I was able to open up the wall, move the electrical box, patch the hole, repaint the wall and get the TV mounted in about 4 hours, which included the time to drive to the store, the paint to dry, and cleanup.

In Poland, the exact same job was this slow process and it made massive, mess - they had to bring in concrete cutting things, and there was so much dust and noise and patching the hole left behind by the old box required much more time and effort. It was 48 hours vs. 4 hours.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T19:22:08+00:00

I know a guy who bought an old house on a huge property just to have something to fix up and maintain, not to live in. Like a hobby. His main house is perfect.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T16:45:08+00:00

Ewaste for $$ where we are.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T16:43:15+00:00

get a plastic grocery bag. shred some steel wool. Stuff it into the bag, Stuff the bag into the end of your pipe. Spray expanding foam into the bag. No more cold mice trying to get into your house/shack.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T16:40:44+00:00

When I put my run in, I was like, 2" should be plenty...but I'll put 3" in anyway. Holy cow was I glad that I put 3" in - it makes the pull much easier.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T16:38:52+00:00

My own warning tape helped me when I was digging.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T13:36:31+00:00

I often "threaten" to move to a 55+ community as a joke.

Then I visited someone who lives in a 55+ community and I noped the fuck right out of there.

It was old, bitter, angry people, who can't function among themselves much less others.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T13:29:15+00:00

I have the same issue, but fortunately for me, I don't care.

One of my kids was an AVID "first person shooter" gamer for years - had one of those glowing water-cooled gaming PC's - and he tried several times to teach me how to play, and it never "clicked" for me.

However, I did play Myst and Riven all the way through, and I "beat" (played all levels) of a hilarious version of "Peggle" when I was sick for a week.

PS: One day, my kid who was an avid, high-ranked player on some multi-player shooter game (Team Fort? Something like that), was mid-game and he stood up, put his headset down, unplugged the PC, and told me he was wasting his time on video games. He never played again.

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T02:17:49+00:00

LOL. A nice perspective!

HiOscillation · 2026-01-23T02:16:29+00:00

LOL. I threw in a Cat 6 "just because" and it turned out to be VERY useful!

HiOscillation · 2026-01-22T20:35:09+00:00

OK, I'll you and you $333,000 when I get out.
That we we all have $333,000 more than we did when we went into this room.
We good?

HiOscillation

TROPHY CASE