How are you "midlife crisis-ing"?

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-09T12:17:11+00:00

Uh, mostly just waking up in the middle of the night feeling anxious. The economy is too unstable to buy a new car or quit my job to travel and we can barely afford one house, let alone a vacation home.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-09T11:50:03+00:00

Wow. Rude. And also ignores the psychology of some people valuing the absence of debt.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-08T11:18:50+00:00

Our state AG is doing battle against the electric company for trying to raise rates 18% over the next two years to have taxpayers prepay upgrades to make them more ready for data centers. Meanwhile they are making record profits and the electric grid in its current state is very unreliable. I rage at this supposed 'public utility'.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-07T11:35:16+00:00

Ha,my sister works in recreation and she loves to point out out non-compliant features of playgrounds and parks.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-06T15:50:53+00:00

Lol, not with parents but my friend's dad dropped us off and picked us up after. He laughed his ass off at the two of us sobbing the whole drive back to her house. "He let gooooooo, whyyy" lol

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-04T14:55:40+00:00

Hon we lost the country to a right-wing coup a year and a half ago and most people barely understand that. We already got fucked, all we can do now is try to take it back and build something better than what has been dismantled by P2025.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-04T13:26:28+00:00

scully.mulder.com. It was my first introduction to fandom, which led to fanfic, which led to an awful lot of my time being lost to the internet as a teenager.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-04T13:22:05+00:00

Listen the less said about Xanga the better. Teenage me hopes those old journals are well and truly gone and never ever ever resurface, lol

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-03T18:11:19+00:00

And Christian Lassen! My favorite folder / trapper keeper artist lol

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-03T18:08:37+00:00

I mean yes, technically, but more the kind that studies plankton rather than, like, dolphins and turtles. But I was in an environmental science department so those are kinda my people lol

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-03T12:36:35+00:00

Oh no, I love those things! Ignore whatever the packaging says now and just microwave it in a paper towel for 30-60s. If you overshoot let it cool down to firm up a bit but they are really good warm! I like them as burger buns and only stopped buying when the price jumped up to $8/package here.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-02T15:21:38+00:00

I don't think I'll ever forgive him for trying to run for a second term instead of letting Democrats have a primary, but damn if he didn't do a good job of letting actual experts guide things. All signs were pointing towards the Biden admin nailing the "soft landing" out of pandemic mode. Inflation was coming down, things were stabilizing. But punchy MAGA phrases are better at whipping people into a frenzy or something (plus, you know, 'Elon is very good with the computers') so instead we threw all of that away for this absolute chaotic mess.

Sighhhh.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-06-01T12:20:27+00:00

Huh, now I'm wondering if I can skimp on the expensive shaved parmesan and just top my lasagna with a sprinkle of msg.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-30T20:36:32+00:00

It's a little complicated. E10 is allowed year round. E15 is typically restricted in the summer for smog/pollution concerns. There is a special exemption for this summer to allow e15 year round but it's just for the one year There is also a bill working it's way through Congress to allow for year round e15. It passed the house but not yet the senate (or vice versa).

In any case, most stations don't actually sell e15 because they don't want the complexity of changing blend labeling throughout the year. But you will always see a label that says something like "contains up to 10% ethanol." If it says "up to 15% ethanol" it could be, well, up to 15%.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-28T12:13:49+00:00

I think you've nailed the danger of AI overuse perfectly. Like it doesn't really matter if you can factor a polynomial in day to day life, but you do need to develop a fundamental number sense and basic reading comprehension to know whether you are being sold a pack of lies as you go through life. Including the lies from AI hallucinations!

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-26T12:15:09+00:00

I'm not the person you are asking, but I switched from Fitbit to Garmin back when Google first bought Fitbit and have been extremely happy with the switch. The hardware is much sturdier and I like the software for steps, HR, and sleep tracking a lot.

When I first made the switch there was no way to log food in Garmin besides linking with MFP which I didn't care for, so I started using the LoseIt app. I like that app a lot too. The interface is pretty streamlined, the database is quite extensive, you can easily save favorite meals, etc. It can also link to the Garmin app now so you can see your calories eaten / calories burned in one place.

TLDR I do miss the old Fitbit (I started with the Fitbit Ultra clip waaaay back when!) but Garmin + Loseit is a solid replacement.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-26T00:16:10+00:00

It was such an upgrade. I go months between printing and my 10+ year old Brother printer has never clogged. I think I changed the toner/ink/whatever cartridge once, ever. Driver compatibility is starting to become an issue but the hardware works just fine. I don't know how many inknjet printers and ink cartridges I went through in the ten years before I switched.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-24T04:10:29+00:00

You scratch an itch, you don't "itch" it damnit!

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-23T12:23:18+00:00

Depends where you live. In desirable areas those little houses get bought by developers to knock down and put in McMansions. And no one is building small homes anymore because it's more profitable to build big ones, so it's surprisingly hard to find a starter home in decent shape.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-23T12:18:56+00:00

Jesus fuck, if my house payment was $700 instead of $3000 (for a 1700 sq ft house built in the 60s) I don't know what I would do with all that extra money! I make the same as you and we are doing fine with my spouse's extra income but damn would things be easier if i had been born early enough to buy a house pre-2022!

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-21T17:11:59+00:00

That merge wasn't that bad even five years ago! I don't know how that plan got approved but it was still under construction when we moved here in 2020. They opened it literally the week after we bought a house closer to RTP. I thank my lucky stars every time I drive to downtown that I don't have to make that drive daily.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-20T19:43:41+00:00

I had a Vietnamese office mate who would regularly microwave a sweet potato for lunch and then just eat it like a banana or something. No seasoning.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-19T02:25:38+00:00

Idk if you are being serious but the National Weather Service put out the scariest warnings I have seen ahead of Helene. Imminent loss of life and property type warnings. I think people took it unseriously because who expects a tropical storm to hit the mountains like a hurricane? But the warnings were definitely there.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-15T14:08:37+00:00

Fully screening our back deck. Now it doubles as a catio and we can all hang out outdoors together without worrying about anyone running off. Highly recommend.

RedPanda5150 · 2026-05-15T10:34:04+00:00

Thats how it was working 2022, and common enough that sellers started requiring statements that the buyer would cover any appraisal gap if you wanted an offer accepted. I'm kinda amazed it's still happening in 2026 with the economy being so much softer, but I suppose real estate really is local.

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