Looks like leveling up in Skyrim

Ground News is far from perfect, but it’s the sweet spot for me. It shows you headlines of the same story as reported by different outlets and tells you where on the left-right spectrum the outlets sit. It also shows a spread of what percent of reports on the story are left, center, and right. My biggest issue with it is that it tends to label some centrist or unbiased outlets as left. CNN is more center-right now and AP is pretty much as unbiased as it gets, but they’re both labeled left.

There’s a paid tier that really narrows shit down, but I’m liking the free tier just fine. I feel informed but not inundated, aware but not overwhelmed. I launch the app usually 2-3 times per day and just spend maybe 2-3 minutes scrolling and reading each time. That’s plenty for me. I do miss the comments at r/politics sometimes because people would call out shitty sources or elaborate further or engage in meaningful discussion.

You’re completely correct, until enough of us buy other products to impact their bottom line. Scaled up production makes things cheaper per unit, but if demand drops out because we’re buying it less, then their cost per unit goes up. Then they raise prices to make up for it. Eventually alternatives become relatively competitive and then there’s a domino effect of more people jumping off of plastic. At least for some things. We will never get away from plastics entirely, but we’re way more wasteful than we need to be. There aren’t enough systemic incentives for companies to change their production, and there aren’t enough legislators willing to change that, but we can influence it a little bit by voting with our wallets. It’s very low impact, but talking about it in places like this can make the low impact a little bigger and lead to a bigger conversation about the global responsibility of industrialized nations to bear more of the burden because we can afford to. Idk I just don’t want to grow old and tell younger generations that we knew what we were doing was wrong and would hurt them but we just didn’t feel like doing anything about it.

Barely related, but a lot of people don’t know as much as they think they know about recycling. That symbol on the bottom of your plastic jugs, jars, etc that looks like the recycling symbol was the result of a campaign to intentionally mislead people into thinking that the containers are recyclable. Those symbols along with the number are identifiers for the types of plastic involved. Different recycling plants are equipped to process different materials, so I’m not saying that no plastic is recyclable, but you’re probably best off just assuming that your plant can’t handle your plastic. Why? Because if they can handle any plastic, it’s probably just one or two of them and you’d need to ask them to be sure, and you’d need to wash away all the food particles and remove labels and adhesive. I’ve heard that failing to do this can contaminate other material which renders that stuff unrecyclable as well, but I’m not sure that’s still true or ever was so don’t @ me on that point lol. I’m also not sure about sorting, but that could be necessary too. And after all that, it’s still very hard to recycle plastic, and you can probably only do it once or twice before it’s not usable anymore.

So what should we do with our plastic? Easy. Stop buying it. Okay, not so easy, but you can choose aluminum or glass containers instead wherever you have the choice. Any reduction is an improvement. Going a step further, see if you can’t reuse your plastic for something else before disposing. Once you’ve gotten a few uses out of it, then you can go through the process of recycling if it’s possible. I’m no genius for suggesting that, btw. That’s literally just what “reduce, reuse, recycle” is telling you to do. It’s in that order for a reason!

TED Talk complete. Hopefully most of you already knew this, but this was for the handful of people who didn’t know!

SpongeBob_Imagination.gif

Why do that when my bed is so much more comfortable?

I think I’d probably pack a bed, TV, microwave, and mini fridge into it and go travel and see a bunch of the world without worrying about lodging. I could also use it at work to eliminate my commute and save myself the high rent of living in Northern Virginia lol.

No receipt, but I have the pending Aldi and Giant charges on my bank app! I got my wife something for Valentine’s at Giant, but if you ignore that it’s a total of about $55 for the groceries like I said.

It doesn’t look like much, but this was probably like 20 pounds of groceries. This wasn’t a full week of groceries because I was using some stuff I already had on hand in addition to this, but that’s also why it’s so much cheaper than the price range I said is typical. Some of this was ingredients for oatmeal or overnight oats, but I already had a big thing of oats at home. Some of this was supplies for my lunches I pack but I must have had enough bread at the time for my sandwiches, etc. Whatever sweet potato black bean thing I was cooking used two cans of black beans, a whole 3 pound bag of sweet potatoes, and probably 4-5 tomatoes. Maybe we had rice with it which we would’ve had on hand like the oats? But remember it’s just feeding two people for us, so this easily makes us a few days worth of leftovers. OP said that they are only feeding themself, so shopping and cooking for two will be a closer approximation than your expectations while shopping and cooking for four.

I don’t usually take pictures of my receipts, so I unfortunately don’t have evidence of a typical weekly trip. It’s almost always more expensive than this because I usually wouldn’t choose a vegetarian option for a big batch to have lots of leftovers. For example, I am cooking a big batch of clam chowder right now, and because Aldi didn’t have chopped clams, I had to go to Giant for that, so getting stuff for lunches and breakfasts and clam chowder all cost about $55 this time. And I don’t expect to need to get groceries again until probably Friday or Saturday. 5 cans of clams aren’t cheap, but they go a long way when you’re stretching it with cream, carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes!

I don’t really target a specific calorie goal. We eat until we are no longer hungry. Rest assured, we aren’t starving lol. We just really like vegetables, and they’re relatively cheap compared to meat and processed stuff. I think it would be clearer if you saw the sizes of some of the things you see on the receipt. Like “sweet potatoes” doesn’t explain that it’s 3 pounds of starch yet it’s only $1.59 lol. “Vine tomatoes” for $2.89 was 4-5 medium size tomatoes. Idk why vine tomatoes are so cheap compared to tomatoes without the vine, but I’m not complaining. For comparison, if you shop at a typical store, you can get 6 pouches of gushers in a box for a similar price (usually more), and that’s less than 1/3 pound of food. Cooking really saves a shitload of money at the cost of some time, but you also choose leaner portion sizes because the sooner you finish that food, the sooner you have to cook something else.

I know kids make this way harder, but that’s not something OP has to worry about right now.

I was in an okay job and was looking for something better a few years back. I told nobody that I was looking. Having the resume I had was impressive enough to get an interview. The place was about 2-3 hours from home, so 4-6 hours round trip plus about 2 hours of interview, it was my whole day. And it paid off. I’m now making double what I had been making, and they got me relocation assistance which effectively paid for me to move, so I’m only about 15 minutes away now.

When you already have a job, you have the power to walk away from the table during the interviews and negotiations, so you have the power to fight for an actual improvement instead of just taking whatever you can get. When your resume has value, you start interviewing companies to see whether they’re worthy of having you, and that’s a really interesting shift in power dynamic that I wasn’t expecting.

There’s always a better job out there. It’s foolish to think that you somehow already found the best job possible. That having been said, I’m not fully understanding your desire to leave since it seems like just minor issues in an otherwise great place. It might help to just get fulfillment from hobbies in your free time and maybe share discussion of that hobby with your coworkers to show positivity and passion. They don’t have to be your friends, but they’ll probably get off your back when they hear that you’re an actual person and not a quiet labor robot. You shouldn’t have to appease them, but it’s a pretty simple adjustment to make yourself happier there.

My wife had a coworker who was an absolute downer with this kind of shit. She had a little bit of authority over him, so her solution was to make a deal with him that at the beginning of shift, he had 60 seconds to get all of his complaining out of the way, and then they both promised to not complain all shift. Everybody on site immediately noticed that it was now more pleasant to work with him lol.

Yes, but I buy bigger packs, so I don’t always need more. That’s why this receipt was so much lower than the $35-50 I was talking about. A big pack of chicken thighs from Aldi is under $10, usually $7ish. But based on that receipt, I was probably doing a sweet potato black bean something or other. Hearty, satisfying vegetarian meals can be as delicious as they are cheap.

I had taken a picture of two receipts to show that buying one bag of groceries from Giant costs as much as most of our week’s grocery run. I would typically buy a little more than this, and what I would buy in addition is the pricier things admittedly, but it’s usually $35-50 depending on what needs replenishing and what’s on sale.

It’s apparent to me now that you’re just looking to have an argument, so I’m going to disengage. They are explicitly reaching out because they themself believe that they are overspending on groceries, hence their post. Have a good day.

I understand that there are many variables that we’re not privy to, but that doesn’t change that fact that quick, cheap, simple, nutritious meals are possible, and OP has internet access to find all the info necessary to make it happen. I work 12 hour, highly active shifts, so I’m no stranger to being tired, but it’s pretty easy to throw a decent meal together in 15-20 minutes.

OP has said nothing about working long hours or being tired or anything like that. I’m not sure it’s wise to assume anything specific about details of their lifestyle too much. I know I was speculating with regards to spending, but they said that they don’t eat out much and they still spent a pretty absurd amount just to feed themself, so I gave the possible out of having a restrictive diet. Halal/kosher costs more, gluten-free costs more, most seafood is pricey if they’re pescatarian, etc. If that’s not a factor, then there’s zero legitimate reason to spend $200/week feeding one person aside from ignorance, so I was just trying to introduce them to some thrifty tips and basic shopping/cooking educational resources. An approachable favorite of mine is the Pro Home Cooks YouTube channel because he has some videos where he’s doing the prep and cooking in real time while talking to show how fast and easy it is, targeting 15 minute dinners for 2-4 people.

I’m not trying to be a dick so I’m sorry if I’ve come off that way. I’m sincerely sharing habits and strategies that I’ve found to be helpful. <3

You’re not wrong. But for context, my wife and I live in Ashburn, VA (NoVA is super expensive but not quite Manhattan or San Francisco expensive). A lot of it comes down to choices though. Of course eggs and bacon for breakfast are not gonna be in the budget I mentioned, but oatmeal with some frozen berries fits just fine. No you can’t get steak to fit in that budget all the time, but if you have a vegetarian meal every once in a while then you get some flexibility in your budget to allow steak sometimes because meat is way more expensive than a can of black beans.

I also make my lunches and pack them for when I’m at work, so that’s a lot of the food I eat and it’s way cheaper than it would be if I ordered something somewhere, and it doesn’t take much time to make a whole batch of sandwiches for the week. Idk I grew up poor, so these things are just in my nature, and now even though I don’t have to be so frugal I still choose to because it just doesn’t make sense not to.

I’m not sure about tracking your spending, but I can tell you that you’re grocery shopping is way too wasteful. That’s like $200/week on groceries for one person. Unless you have a very limited diet, you’re paying more than double what you should be at the grocery store. For context, when I get groceries for me and my wife, I rarely spend over $50. Get store brands, buy bigger sizes, and shop at cheaper stores like Aldi. Stop buying frozen and processed garbage; buy fresh meat and vegetables and cook big batches and have leftovers. This time of year is great for a big pot of soup/chili!

I think if I were interested in tracking spending like that, I might just build a simple spreadsheet with dates and costs, maybe add variables for the unusual things like stocking up to have guests to feed or whatever. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on that front. If you’re not experienced with cooking, there are some really good YouTube channels that can teach you some good, versatile recipes that are very budget-friendly.

Mostly video games, but some other stuff here and there. A long while ago, I worked my way up to become a chef until I had a boss who sucked to the point that I left the entire industry. After a couple of years, I came to enjoy cooking at home again, so that’s become a sort of functional hobby. I also used to be crazy about music, but I stopped having the time, energy, and access I used to so that really slipped away. But I just cleaned up my space and moved things around to make it easier for me to be motivated to pick up a guitar, so I’ll do that once I have more than 12 hours off work lol. My wife and I paint together once in a while too. Of course, also movies, TV, and YouTube videos, but I’m trying to reduce passive entertainment a bit. That stuff kinda just makes me existentially conscious of the fact that my time here is limited and I’m pissing it away on shit I’m not even really gonna remember in 24 hours. I’d rather create, even if it’s not something I’m interested in sharing.

I was gonna say “good” but settled on “decent”. He was certainly flawed like any of us, but he was a loving father and husband who was using his knowledge to teach the next generation. I think he was resentful of how his life panned out, and that’s why he so quickly decided to spend his remaining years proving that there was greatness within him to achieve something so much more, especially in spite of the whole Gray Matter thing.

I think it’s a show that (very much unlike Arrested Development) is worse when binged for the exact reason you stopped watching. It’s too much. You really need a week between episodes once you get that far in to give yourself time to process and chill.

Season 5 does not make it easier btw. If you go back and try again, go slowly.