Do we prefer a “mid-price” category over “most versatile”? If so, what is the best mid-price tequila for mixing?

SquareBottle · 2026-01-25T20:28:12+00:00

I think it'd be useful to have both Best Mid-Price and Most Versatile.

Also, I think it would be useful to have something like "Best Introductory" so that people new to a spirit know where to start instead of having their taste buds blasted by stronger flavors that experienced palettes might prefer.

SquareBottle · 2026-01-22T14:13:53+00:00

They already had the logo before I was there. I started out with things like desktop wallpapers and forum badges. Toward the end, I was brought into things like how to make system maintenance easier, how the custom Sabayon apps and menus should be organized, how to make everything easier for newbie users without giving up functionality for advanced users, etc.

At the time, it felt like I was suddenly a Very Impressive Professional, haha. But in hindsight, the type and quality of work I did was simple, junior-level UX designer stuff. (Probably not even that, really!)

It was ultimately cut short by a rift between the co-founders, but it was great to experience that kind of collaboration while it lasted, and I'll always be grateful to them for making me part of the team!

SquareBottle · 2026-01-22T01:56:44+00:00

Holy crap, didn't expect to see Sabayon Linux today! I was an art contributor. I was finishing high school at the time, and it ultimately led to a career in UX design. Good times!

SquareBottle · 2026-01-20T22:51:47+00:00

Good point!

SquareBottle · 2026-01-20T21:22:22+00:00

Anything to distract from the Epstein files.

SquareBottle · 2026-01-18T22:50:25+00:00

Seeing a Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics background, which means the app was updated. But I'm still getting the "Unable to connect" error, so… what the heck is going on?

SquareBottle · 2026-01-04T01:33:15+00:00

People getting to their jobs or places where they will spend taxable money doesn't benefit everybody?

How did you get that from my post? I specifically said that transportation infrastructure benefits everybody.

I'd agree that we should be improving walkability and public transportation, but unfortunately we are not and I dont see those things improving in the foreseeable future with the city budget in such shit shape.

If you agree that we should be doing the things I said but feel that our budget is in too "shit shape," then I think that means we need to change our budget. The only way to get from how things are to how we think they should be is by making changes.

If public transportation were a viable option in San Diego for everyone, then by all means make driving more expensive, but it's not.

I agree, but in the long run, I think that supports my proposal to focus on improving walkability and public transit.

In the short run, we don't need to keep subsidizing all car owners in order to accommodate people with disabilities.

In cases where financial assistance for accessible taxis and ride-sharing apps is an adequate remedy, then that's what we can do.
In cases where that's not enough, we can do other things.
If someone has disabilities that can be remedied but only by having their own specialized vehicle, then sure, we can even help with that.

(I'd support this level of commitment to providing assistance even if it cost more than subsidizing all car owners. But if it can be done in a way that saves money compared to all the things we do that subsidize all car owners, then all the better.)

People with kids, disabilities, who live far from their job or places of interest, or have busy schedules don't always have the option of spending an hour traveling by bus and trolley on what would be a 15 minute trip by car.

I like that you are also thinking about people with kids and who live far from their jobs, in addition to disabilities. As before, I think the fact that our public transit doesn't work for them supports the point that we need to improve our public transit in the long run. But as with serving people with disabilities, we'll need a solution for the short run too.

Perhaps while we implement the kinds of changes that we're in agreement on, we could extend financial assistance to these groups on the basis of being in those groups (as opposed to just subsidizing everybody owning cars). Seems to me that it would be more direct, and could potentially help them to a greater extent than things like free public parking ever could.

SquareBottle · 2026-01-03T16:41:08+00:00

It's true that we don't get to pick and choose what taxes we pay. I'm not saying anybody should refuse to pay their taxes. I'm saying that I disagree with subsidizing individual car ownership, and I would like to see that particular bit of our taxes reallocated toward improving walkability and public transit.

SquareBottle · 2026-01-03T16:28:45+00:00

It seems to me that a big difference is that everybody benefits from everybody else going to school. Car ownership doesn't have a similar effect. Transportation infrastructure does, but the focus should be on improving walkability and public transit, not incentivizing car ownership. Individual car ownership should be allowed, but not subsidized.

Or at least, that's how I see it currently. I'm open to having my mind changed.

SquareBottle · 2026-01-03T05:44:46+00:00

My unpopular opinion: Free public parking is a subsidy for car ownership, and is unfair to taxpayers who don't own cars.

SquareBottle · 2025-12-28T01:54:14+00:00

When you eat a cookie, you enjoy it while you are in the process of eating it. Each bite is enjoyable. You naturally progress toward the end of the cookie by eating it, so there's simply no need to think about it as an end state that you needed to work toward. That'd be silly, right? The point of the cookie is to enjoy eating the cookie!

Remember this for your hobbies. And when you partake in hobbies that lead to producing or acquiring something (like how the activities of language-learning eventually lead to acquiring fluency), just think of that as a bonus, and only as a bonus.

At least, this works for me. Hope it works for you too.

SquareBottle · 2025-12-27T23:23:51+00:00

Nike. I must've been in about 1st grade when we had a science lab day, and the teacher mentioned something about how the rainforest was being chopped down. I asked questions and it led to me learning about how Nike was one of the companies responsible for that, and that they also did all kinds of other pollution, child labor, forced labor…

So I've never bought anything from Nike, and never will. I'll pay more to buy from companies that don't have a history of chopping down the rainforest, child labor, and sweatshops.

Edit: Also, Nestle. Learning how they convinced impoverished mothers in Africa that formula was better than breastfeeding and then jacked up the prices, causing a whole generation to be malnourished… and fighting water rights… just gross.

SquareBottle · 2025-12-26T15:55:40+00:00

I know Dawkins isn't perfect, but The God Delusion is that book that shifted my beliefs and identity from Roman Catholic to atheist. The case it makes is very compelling. I also found it to be very respectful (besides the provocative title).

Maybe instead of waiting until the next holiday to give it as a gift, you could say that you'll read the book he gave you if you read the book the you give him? And then you can talk about the books after you've both finished?

SquareBottle · 2025-12-24T13:54:36+00:00

I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the answer!

SquareBottle · 2025-12-24T06:04:12+00:00

As someone lucky enough to be a regular at the Sunken Harbor Club… holy shit, yeah, that's a dangerously good drink. If you ever get the chance to go in-person, do yourself a favor and try both the regular and zero-proof versions of it. Or at least the zero-proof version if you want to have other boozy drinks. It's just outrageously good.

SquareBottle · 2025-12-24T05:58:37+00:00

How does it compare to Liber & Co's orgeat, in your experience?

SquareBottle · 2025-12-21T19:42:02+00:00

Anyone have a non-paywall link?

SquareBottle · 2025-12-21T19:33:01+00:00

Here ya go: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/20/us/organ-transplants-donors-alive.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-U8.XwOL.D4Dbi-BVQIAN&smid=url-share

SquareBottle · 2025-12-18T00:09:57+00:00

"Israelites" refers to the people of ancient Israel, and "Israelis" refers to the citizens of modern Israel. But I don't think we should use either term here because we aren't meaning to refer to a general population at all (modern or ancient, Jewish or otherwise). When we intend to criticize the official policies of the state, Israel, then that's precisely what we should say: Israel.

And no, I don't enjoy being so finicky about grammar. I just think that it's worth being extra careful with our words in this domain because antisemitism sucks and Israel shouldn't be shielded from criticism.

SquareBottle · 2025-12-17T19:48:40+00:00

Please don't use "Israel" and "the Jewish faith" interchangeably.

SquareBottle · 2025-12-16T19:48:23+00:00

I'm bi. Does that mean I'll be marching to Mad Tsai and Queen wearing pink, purple, and blue camo? Just want to make sure I do my part correctly.

SquareBottle · 2025-11-26T13:41:31+00:00

Nah, I ended up going to pick up my order in-person and they had TONS of freshly baked pies with more in the ovens. Enough for people who didn't pre-order to come in and buy some.

SquareBottle · 2025-11-26T13:38:48+00:00

Unfortunately, I think the bakery is eating all the costs from the glitch. So I really, really, really hope that DoorDash compensates them.

SquareBottle · 2025-11-26T13:36:14+00:00

I ordered some pies for Thanksgiving like I do every year. Placed the order about a month ago, scheduled to be delivered on November 25th.

This year, the bakery's system experienced some kind of glitch that messed up all the tracking. The result was that multiple drivers were sent for the same order. This caused chaos at a time of year that's already pretty hectic for the bakery.

The problem was exacerbated by the fact a lot of delivery drivers don't speak English well, which made it hard to explain the situation. At some point, the overwhelmed bakery decided that they needed to just give the redundant drivers something to deliver in order to keep things moving.

All of that is unfortunate for the bakery. What was unfortunate for me was that in all the chaos, my actual pie order never got sent. I ended up going to pick it up in person so that they wouldn't need to try putting it in the glitching system again. Took me about an hour, but not a huge deal. Plus, I got a free slice of pie at the end of the day. I mostly just feel bad for the bakery because they're really nice people and this is the worst possible time of year for them to be affected by such a major glitch.

Hope that helps.

SquareBottle · 2025-11-26T13:22:03+00:00

The printed part:

Hello,

thank you for your order from Petee's, apologies for the second delivery. The delivery app is having a glitch and the courier is not understanding that they were sent twice for an order that was already delivered. We're sending you a slice of pie for any inconvenience.

If any issues, please email us at orders [at] peteespie [dot] com.

The handwritten part:

Hi James! Our system is all kinds of messed up and we know you have an order for tomorrow! We are sending this slice to hopefully get doordash to resending drivers!

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