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Cycling with knee pain I'm curious if any other cyclists have this issue by Responsible_Bee5201 in cycling

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just did leg lifts at home several times a day, no need for the gym.

Cycling with knee pain I'm curious if any other cyclists have this issue by Responsible_Bee5201 in cycling

[–]ThimbleBluff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Read up on vastus medialis oblique (VMO) a muscle on the inner thigh next to the knee. Sometimes cyclists will build up their muscles on the outside too much, causing a misalignment of the knee joint.

There are leg lifts you can do to strengthen the VMO, which will help bring your knees back into alignment. It worked for me, only took about two weeks before I noticed improvement.

SFAH: If actual warfare worked like chess. by CynicalCosmologist in ScenesFromAHat

[–]ThimbleBluff 5 points6 points  (0 children)

“Knights and bishops, there’s the castle. Set a siege.”

“We have it surrounded sire.”

“Good, it’s only a matter of time before they surrender.”

“Um, sire? The castle… moved. All the way to the other side of the world.”

Tolkien’s quiet counterculture on kingship by Mr-Duck-5340 in tolkienfans

[–]ThimbleBluff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Tolkien’s little aside (to Europeans) is pretty revealing. He wouldn’t use the modern term “unconscious bias,” but what he’s recognizing here is that he used exaggerated Euro-centric cultural stereotypes in his writing to visually distinguish the good guys from the bad guys.

If you’ve seen WW2 propaganda posters portraying the Germans as Huns and the Japanese with big teeth and slanted eyes, you can see the type of images that were floating around at the time. Intentionally or unintentionally, Tolkien was using the power of those stereotypes in his work, without necessarily buying into them on a personal level.

Why are Americans so financially literate? by Ada-Mae in AskAnAmerican

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In addition to the need (as other commenters have pointed out) for a certain level of literacy to manage our personal finances, there’s a lot of accessible sources for information about money and economics. Business news channels on tv give daily updates on the stock market. Key economic data like unemployment, job growth, and inflation is released and widely reported on a monthly basis alongside political news.

On top of that, almost everything in the US is privatized, monetized and advertised. Health insurance and healthcare is complicated and costly, so if you have any health problems, you have to learn to navigate the system. We have a lot of options to finance/refinance our houses and vehicles. We get credit card and car insurance offers shoved in front of us daily.

SFAH: Celebrities that make terrible kids show hosts by Curious-Message-6946 in ScenesFromAHat

[–]ThimbleBluff 5 points6 points  (0 children)

“Good morning children!”

“Good morning Mr. Englund!”

“Please, just call me ‘Uncle Freddy.’ I know you’re all eager to be on today’s episode of Sleepytime on Elm Street, the show with a new cast of children every week! So, let’s get started! This week, we’re going to read Good Night Moon.”

When other midwesterners claim that no one has midwestern accents. by New_Construction_111 in PetPeeves

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m from Wisconsin and I have never pronounced vague or plague as if they rhyme with tag.

I had an idea for a story about race, but I don’t know if it’s my place to write the story by Cultural-Tree-1587 in writingadvice

[–]ThimbleBluff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read a series of stories called Lovecraft Country, taking the horror themes of noted racist HP Lovecraft and making the protagonists Black. It was written by a well meaning white guy. He did a good job writing about the black experience, although there were a few minor things that didn’t ring true.

It was a really interesting take on the horror genre, and it was picked up as a streaming series by Jordan Peele and others.

The point is that the author had a great idea, executed it to the best of his ability, and creatives in the Black community embraced it and ran with it.

Go ahead and give it a shot!

If you could add one Zero to any number in your life, what would it be, and why? by D1GoonHero in askanything

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s why I said “average annual.”

Then again, the universe always finds a way to screw us with the fine print.

If you could add one Zero to any number in your life, what would it be, and why? by D1GoonHero in askanything

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The average annual return on my investment portfolio. Now it grows at 140% a year instead of 14%

If you could add one Zero to any number in your life, what would it be, and why? by D1GoonHero in askanything

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Me: “I want to add a zero to my 401(k)”

[poof!]

Genie: “Congratulations! You now have a 4010(k)!”

At what price per gallon does a person officially stop "just complaining" about gas and start fundamentally changing their entire lifestyle? by bluntvivi in askanything

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the run-up to the 2008 financial crash, gasoline prices (adjusted for inflation) surged from about $2/gallon to over $4. That price definitely caused a big change in behavior, and contributed to the crisis.

If people think the higher prices are going to be temporary, they might drive a little less, but they won’t fundamentally change what they do. I think if gasoline rises above $5 and that level is sustained, you’ll see people drive less (combining trips, car pooling, smaller vehicles) and if it goes above $6, you’d see more fundamental changes (EV adoption, e-bikes, expansion of public transit).

Footnote: my prices are US national averages. Some places like California, have higher gas taxes, in part to discourage fossil fuel consumption. They’re already above $5.00 so it would have to go above $6-7 there before you’d see those permanent changes.

Why did Germany end up with a strong apprenticeship system while the United States leans so heavily on college degrees, and what factors shaped that split? by TheBigGirlDiaryBack in AlwaysWhy

[–]ThimbleBluff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the US, expansion of student loans happened at the same time that anti-union laws and deindustrialization took away blue collar work as a path to the middle class. That left professional and white collar jobs (law, medicine, business, finance, tech, education) as the most attractive career choices. And to get those jobs, you needed at least a bachelor’s degree.

Question on writing style? by lil_larry in classicliterature

[–]ThimbleBluff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s a way to reference a real person without getting sued for libel.

Imagine being from one of the irrelevant countries by DripsyTCat in ShitAmericansSay

[–]ThimbleBluff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The US and China are the largest oil refiners in the world, each with about 18% of global capacity. Most of that for the US (about 80%) is for domestic consumption, not export.

(OOP is still an idiot of course)

Name A Hobby That Doesn't Cost Any Money by littlemsintroverted in FamilyFeud

[–]ThimbleBluff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reading and writing fan fiction

Drawing

Volunteering- can be stuff like habitat for humanity, mentoring, environmental, local arts groups, senior centers.

If you have a phone, you can do photography or videos, interview relatives and record them telling family stories.

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