I would recommend against expecting to change the world. This isn’t because you can’t or shouldn’t try to. You should definitely try anyway. But very few people individually end up changing the world in a significant way. Progress is built on the backs of countless people each pushing a little to together push a lot.

Aim to find one specific area that you can become very skilled in and use that to improve things in a small way. If you’re lucky, you might end up having a big impact, but you’ll hopefully feel less depressed if you don’t.

For now, focus on trying out as much of the world as you are able. Learn to be present and appreciate what you can do now. I spent a lot of my youth so obsessed with the future that I missed out on a lot of experiences. Things suck; however, there’s a lot of cool stuff out there anyway.

I’m in the same boat. Their only competition where I am is DSL, other than 5G/satellite.

Your first sentence hit the nail on the head. Most Americans travel nearly exclusively in their car. Why would they get out of their car to use a vending machine when McDonald’s has a drive-thru? Or if they are willing to get out, why wouldn’t they just pick up fresher food from a restaurant? Moreover, mobile ordering has solved the issue of having to talk to people.

The US does have some vending machines like this, but pretty much exclusively in areas with very high foot traffic, like airports, train stations in major cities, etc.

I’ll allow it, but yellow is better for Spanish.

Science is blue. Math is red.

St. Matthew Island with polar bears instead of reindeer.

It was pretty useful as a kid for feeding my Gameboy and Game Gear with batteries I rescued from the junk drawers of friends and family. If they were low, I knew I had to save more often to avoid losing progress if they went dead while I was playing.

A true classic!

I always heard this joke with Baptists instead.

Maybe if you have a super low cap, high fees, and they automatically close your position at a pretty conservative point. But that’d hardly be worth any broker’s time with that risk/reward, unless they are hosing the borrower with insane fees. Though if that’s the case, putting up collateral would be cheaper (even if you have to borrow it from somewhere).

You definitely do need money. No broker is going to let you short without collateral, and you’re going to be paying interest for the duration of your short position beside any fees/commission.

Yeah, the stainless steel ones are great if you have a dishwasher. I can understand if people don’t want the upkeep of replacing filters and that black ring thing around the pump, though. And honestly the pump itself needs to be replaced every 1.5-2 years even if you clean it well.

If you are a homeowner, property transaction records are public information in the US. Plenty of data brokers collate from the numerous city/county databases for those who only know your name.

I could never earn enough CT money to actually get anything good, so I’m sympathetic to the feelings of the artist in this story.

The guy who did my driving test (US) generally did not tell me which way to turn at interactions or Ts and would get angry if I hadn’t guessed correctly. Apparently, it was very obvious to him where I should be going, and he shouldn’t have had to tell me.

At the time, my area held the test in the city with the worst designed roads. Experienced drivers (such as me today) can easily take wrong turns there. It’s like each stretch of road between intersections was independently designed by different people who never communicated.

To be fair, four of the five boroughs have greater populations than multiple states (Staten Island being the exception). I don’t think any other city in the US has comparable subdivisions.

It’s also hard to overstate the historical and cultural significance of NYC in the US. And this is coming from a New Englander who is obliged to say, “New York sucks.”

If they put the same love into this one as Tsushima, I will be very happy.

What a neat read! Thank you for sharing.

I have been in two car collisions in my life (neither my fault), and this was the cause of one of them. Person was in the left lane with their left indicator on, was at a complete stop with wheels pointing left waiting for cars to pass (I assumed), then turned right into me as soon as I was on their right.

Fortunately, they admitted it to the police and insurance. It was kind of a blessing in disguise as it technically totalled my old clunker, even though it was just cosmetic body damage. But, the insurance adjuster asked if I wanted to keep the car or not, and I said yes. So he put the damages at $50 less than whatever the % was that would require me to give the insurance company my car for the payout. I didn’t need to repair it, and that money helped as a broke college student.

I’ve seen the urn characterized both as rare/expensive and not uncommon/inexpensive. It seems to change depending on the point different articles are trying to make. Perhaps it’s relative.