Vanth

I go through phases of collecting/trialing hobbies as a hobby. I develop a list of things I’m interested in, what about them is drawing my interest, how much it would cost to jump into entry-level projects, and a target I want to hit to understand if it’s a hobby I want to keep one not. Also how I’ll learn.

So for me that looks something like:

1. leatherworking, I really want a customized notebook holder that fits exactly what I’m looking for. That’s $20 in basic tools, $50 in leather including enough for simpler projects as I develop skills. Target is to try something simple, like a baggage tag or simple bifold wallet to see if I like it before spending more time and money on it. Plenty of YouTube videos available, local Tandy store has classes, my sister also knows the basics.

2. digitizing the parents’ photo negatives. I want a brain dead project to do while watching movies during cold winter evenings when I’m not going outside. Cost is negligible, I have the stuff I need. Time needed to develop a good workflow and file naming and tagging system. Maybe some YouTube videos if needed, brother is a photographer and willing to consult on workflow. Longer term: buy external hard drives and gift to siblings or talk to brother about his Immich server. Branch off into new project to self-host Immich myself?

I have six more items on the “do I want to turn these into hobbies” list. It’s a hobby in itself to learn about and plan potential hobbies.

Anecdotally, I have a sizeable group of colleagues who cruise together. They’re old Gen Z thru to young Gen X. Some are partnered up, some bring partners from outside work. They call them “family trips”. Lots of queer couples, but not all. The queer inclusivity seems like a big element drawing then in.

I am baffled by it. I get how awesome it is to build a chosen family, but not why they’d find their people and then decide a cruise is where they want to spend time together. I don’t even try to decline politely anymore, I just straight up tell them a cruise is everything I don’t want to spend my precious vacation time on.

Money. If I can’t use it directly, it still frees me up from labor to use my time as I see fit.

More by extension. My dad was a huge Joe Paterno / Penn State football fan. He thought very highly of Paterno as a coach, and leader. I was baffled when it broke just how much he had ignored. Just so cowardly and evil, allowing that man to rape and abuse so many kids so his football team wouldn’t look bad in a headline or two.

Yeah, mostly K-12 STEM stuff. The girl scout council in my area knows me through various volunteering events and call me up a few times a year to help with something. Also a middle school that I helped develop a “music in science” couple day-long summer camp curriculum. I have a decent sized set of work colleagues I’ll draft for help too.

I don’t think I have the skills for door knocking or asking people to sign petitions. Or the right perspective. Like, I’d sign a petition to defund ICE right now, but fuck anyone I would have to argue with to get them to sign it. And I don’t like either major party here (US) so not even for the bad-but-not-tyrannical one would I do work phones or doors for.

I stretched the truth a bit to ensure I wouldn’t be listed as a “critical to be onsite” employee. My sports-induced asthma that I manage just fine was enough for me to check “respiratory illnesses”. So I worked from home and avoided the shit tasks that landed on all the people who wanted to go onsite. They did get prioritized for vaccines months before I got mine, so some pros for them as least. Barely any of the work actually required we be physically present though, it was a pile of crap.

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Yeah, this is a super common theme from queer people in small rural and/or religious communities. Online may be the only interaction they have for information and support.

This is one of those starter date vetting things, like whether your date treats restaurant and bar staff well, and tips (when culturally appropriate).

Is it illegal to not stack your cart neatly? No. Do I want to date someone who puts minimal effort in and pushes simple tasks they deem beneath them onto low-wage workers? Also no.

My condolences. Where is this “competition breeds excellence” outcome that capitalism promised me?

Within the past year I shopped around for a new home internet provider. The legacy companies encouraged if not required talking to a human being to find out anything about service availability and rates and then be subject to a hard sales pitch. Appointment availability for the install was 2+ weeks out. The new fiber companies had all the info I could want clearly online, appointments available within 2 days, with minimal fuss. The legacy company humans were also often incorrect about their own product, potentially lying to make a sale.

If they act like a company from the 90s, they aren’t going to capture customers who came into adulthood after that.

That’s not even touching on the speeds they offer are slower than their competitors for a steeper price.

I like your answer.

I was thinking of some of my favorite movies. Some I like that subvert their genre’s tropes. Others I like are examples of excelling at the genre; being the ideal of that genre. And even “bad” can be good if it’s interesting in its badness. I think of Nicolas Cage movies, his “nouveau shamanic” acting style is over the top and ridiculous at times but his movies still entertain and call for discussion.

When my brother’s brother-in-law passed, he gave all that to my brother. Both on the high end of tech/self-hosting capabilities. I’ve come to the conclusion much of it wasn’t worth it.

I’ll be focusing on ensuring access to financial accounts is passed on cleanly. And I’m working on digitizing all remaining physical photo negatives, then planning how to share all digitally with family while still alive. Since I don’t expect any to be interested in maintaining a server after I’m gone, I’m thinking I’ll keep it simple and just give everyone an external hard drive with all the photos. It’s up to them to do what they want with the drive. A copy to each sibling is increases odds it’s survives for a generation.

I’ll make project notes and plans available to anyone interested, but no hard feelings if no one is interested. And my music and movies can disappear for all I care. My tastes are pretty mainstream so I’m not thinking about archival value.

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My home state had a permit for that too, certain vehicles I could drive on certain roads under restrictive speed limits. So I could, like, drive a tractor or farm truck with the right license plates down county roads to another field.

That was separate from a school permit. The nearest school bus stop to me was miles away and didn’t go directly to my school so I would have spent 3+ hours per school day on multiple buses if I hadn’t been able to drive myself in. Not to mention sports on weekends and other stuff where the normal school day bus wasn’t running. My permit restricted the hours I could drive, it had to be to or from school or jobs, and I couldn’t give anyone rides other than siblings. I think I wasn’t supposed to drive on the interstate too.

Personally, at 26 I wouldn’t tell my parents about reversible drugs I’m trying out under doctor supervision to help with mental issues. But at 26 I also wasn’t rushing into chemical therapies against the advice of my psychiatrist. So maybe you need your parents or other trusted person to be a sounding board while you make a decision.

And seems like the same with any large medical decisions, it may be worth getting a second opinion from another doctor.

13, special license in some US states for kids who live out in the middle of nowhere so they can get to school.

Learned from parents, grandparents, siblings, being around trucks and tractors and motorcycles since I was a toddler. I knew how to drive long before I got a license.

LLMs and other AI tools are just that, tools. They can be used ethically or unethically. Use the opportunity to learn about them so you can use them judiciously in your career and effectively argue against their use when the situation calls for it.

No, sadly “tank” is the action applied to "industry.

I watched the industry […] tank.