WC 1M Post Challenge - You Ready?!

[N_LaRUE]

I've seen some videos. They were packed with words like micro, nano, quantum, bunch of biology terms. All in all, many non related or still not proved things.

Oh, and 5G. They're going to fry us with the micro waves. Yet, their leader advises UV treatment.

What kills me with the 5G thing is that it's actually safer than 4G.

That's the problem when people don't understand radiation waves.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I'm sure you can dissregard a big chunk of lies and false informations outhere by turning on your brain for a few seconds.

For some, turning it on means letting go of personal comforts.

I don't see people as stup*d. Just purposely or accidentally ignorant.

Lots just don't have time or care about thinking differently because they have been conditioned not to.

That's why things like Faux News is so successful in certain parts of the country. Why conspiracy theories are rampant and why basic science education in the general public is so low.

Scientific and rational thinking means being uncomfortable because you typically come away with answers that don't fit your world view.

Lots of people don't like that feeling.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I've decided to reduce my snacking and sweets intake. I never have been a heavy sweets person, but for a while I added a scoop of ice cream after dinner daily.

I'm taking a break from it and the cravings have been crazy. It's a month in and will take a while longer to break. Have to be careful as diabetes mellitus is a hereditary condition on my mother's side of the family. Now what I'll start doing is using less sugar in my coffee. Will likely take a coffee break for the next few days.

Way back in 2093 I quit drinking 2-3 cans of coke daily. After years of doing it. To avoid getting the headaches I allowed myself one small chocolate bar a day. I also started exercising daily. Lost weight of course. I wasn't drinking coffee yet.

Chocolate has caffeine which is why I did that. I still suffered a touch but it wasn't hellish.

These days I have coffee. I only have one teaspoon of sugar in it. Same with black tea. I also use oat milk. Tea has caffeine as well.

I typically have one to two coffees a day. At work it's espresso. At home it's a latte/cappuccino.

Going cold turkey on caffeine isn't easy and depending on how much you have you could feel ill for days.

Sugar can be similar.

Slow reduction is better overall.

Have you thought about agave or other sweeteners? Not the questionable ones.

I'm a bit of a purest with coffee. I don't like flavour additives so I have a hard time with anything other than sugar.

And yeah, cutting down the sweets is something I need to consider as well.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Way back in 2093 I quit drinking 2-3 cans of coke daily. After years of doing it. To avoid getting the headaches I allowed myself one small chocolate bar a day. I also started exercising daily. Lost weight of course. I wasn't drinking coffee yet.

Chocolate has caffeine which is why I did that. I still suffered a touch but it wasn't hellish.

These days I have coffee. I only have one teaspoon of sugar in it. Same with black tea. I also use oat milk. Tea has caffeine as well.

I typically have one to two coffees a day. At work it's espresso. At home it's a latte/cappuccino.

Going cold turkey on caffeine isn't easy and depending on how much you have you could feel ill for days.

Sugar can be similar.

Slow reduction is better overall.

Have you thought about agave or other sweeteners? Not the questionable ones.

I'm a bit of a purest with coffee. I don't like flavour additives so I have a hard time with anything other than sugar.

And yeah, cutting down the sweets is something I need to consider as well.

I purchased agave yesterday. Should have gotten the regular not the light one. I use the pea milk so that helps make the coffee more palatable. I don't drink regular cow's milk - as I ain't a calf.

I plan starting this week to cut down on the cups of coffee. I usually don't drink it pre COVID-19, except for on weekends - I use a large cup. Now that I'm working from home, I started drinking that size daily. That's not good for me. This week I plan to just keep it to three cups a week for now.

I'm not a coffee snob. I just make what's hand. The GF was gifted a Keurig (I got mixed feelings about these machines, honestly) a few years ago, so that's what I used. Haven't gotten into coffee to brew my own. I will be biased and state my favorite coffee so far is Blue Mountain.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

So I took the plunge and added the Wall Street Journal to my subscribed list. I have always wanted to do this, but they are expensive as all hell. They still are, but the current deal for this next 12 months is tolerable. This is gonna get expensive really quickly as the Daily News offer I was on just expired. I'm only doing three: Wall Street Journal, New York Times and New York Daily News. I plan to keep them for as long as I can afford it.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

So I've used Amazon for eons. Even tried selling on their a few times. And honestly, the more I use it, the less of a fan I've become over the years.

I think that given all the stuff I know and read about them, I try to limit using their services. Now, I do have a 1st Gen Echo that was gifted to me by the gf's mother. I went a long time from using it and now I use it regularly - usually for podcasts for news an sports. Alexa still feels clunky as all hell. I do buy stuff on Amazon, but often prefer to use free shipping as nothing I buy is worth some of the horror stories I've heard about the pickers.

I was like many people who shop at whole paycheck concerned about Amazon's purchase that quality would be an issue. It is, as they're cutting out some of the products I buy for the sake of reducing redundancy. I like (some of) whole paycheck's 365 brand - personally I wished they just went full organic and drop the conventional stuff but they won't.

To me Amazon is just the typical overreaching conglomerate - very shareholder pleasing, profit driven.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

To the lurkers, let me state this clearly. I'm not against business. I'm not against big business either. There's a reason why we still have conglomerates: industry of scale.

What I'm against is the culture that has been ingrained in the capitalistic way of thinking whereby it is necessary to exploit people at every turn. The parts where people are commodities in the same way products are. How disposable it makes most people, trapping them in some of the most unenviable financial situations. I don't have to be happy at work to be productive. I do want to feel like my contribution is worthwhile and what I bring to the table is worth more than what tasks I'm being paid to complete.

Big business, especially conglomerates only answer to their shareholders. The shareholders only care about the bottom line. There are plenty of examples of companies fostering positive missions (not the token charitable donation just to make the company look good). They also foster positive work spaces and employees are more vested and productive.

"Take only what you need" is what I believe. Some might say "I need to have it all" - but that comes at the expense of the planet and the next person you're competing with that has the same mindset.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I purchased agave yesterday. Should have gotten the regular not the light one. I use the pea milk so that helps make the coffee more.

I plan starting this week to cut down on the cups of coffee. I usually don't drink it pre COVID-19, except for on weekends - I use a large cup. Now that I'm working from home, I started drinking that size daily. That's not good for me. This week I plan to just keep it to three cups a week for now.

I'm not a coffee snob. I just make what's hand. The GF was gifted a Keurig (I got mixed feelings about these machines, honestly) a few years ago, so that's what I used. Haven't gotten into coffee to brew my own. I will be biased and state my favorite coffee so far is Blue Mountain.

This is my cup of coffee. As you can see, not the smallest thing. When I run the Keurig, I put it on the largest setting. I'm aware that to concentrate the coffee flavors for the strongest brew, a smaller cup with the smaller settings is best.

Not a coffee snob. So this is how I roll currently. It's a picture of the first cup with agave I made today. Put just enough agave in their to cut the bitterness, which still wasn't a whole lot. I can do this.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

So I took the plunge and added the Wall Street Journal to my subscribed list. I have always wanted to do this, but they are expensive as all hell. They still are, but the current deal for this next 12 months is tolerable. This is gonna get expensive really quickly as the Daily News offer I was on just expired. I'm only doing three: Wall Street Journal, New York Times and New York Daily News. I plan to keep them for as long as I can afford it.

Why these places? Well, outside of their excellent sports and entertainment industry sections, I always though the NY Post was junk for news. Then they did this:

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_167841

And I cut them loose. Permanently.

I like my US information with a good mix of trusted liberal and conservative sites to get the full picture. Which is why I picked up both the NY Times (more liberal leaning) and the WSJ (more conservative leaning). NY Daily News tries to thread the needle to be in the middle but they lean more liberal, while the NY Post is more conservative of the two larger local papers (not counting the Times).

Now, I ain't giving either a pass. Read an NYT article today about the disparities of access that the title was 100% click bait. It was a great write up about the issues of one of the SUNY hospital sites. What got my goat was they referenced one of the private hospitals in the title and only gave the reason for that reference in a one sentence where they linked to a post on the hospital's website about how they tried to secure N95 masks. I get they were highlighting the disparities in lack of resource access, but if you're going to do that - add a bit more sauce/details to really hammer home the point. It was a spotlight piece with that clickbait slant I didn't think was necessary.

Even then, one must appreciate the context in which journalism now lives. I support these websites now because I know that they're putting in the work to deliver the best content they can. And with an administration that has set the precedent of over the news when they don't like critical stories, it makes it harder to get access to good information if the press remains under siege and under resourced. Someone has to call out the .

 

[MSFTisMIA]

https://youtu.be/W3KmFqyrmTE

So I put this link on top first here because I like how critical Flossy is about the SE2. I think his criticisms are quite valid. It IS a "cheap iPhone". Make no bones about it. It isn't for folks who can afford, or are willing to finance the higher end models just because. It is a very specifically targeted offering, which the carriers can drop the hammer on to move units aggressively.

One thing I can say for me as an enthusiast - I don't finance my stuff. The last time I financed a phone, HTC was the Android Market leader, Oneplus was a concept idea, and you could still easily get a Blackberry and a Windows phone. There are a TON of people I see walking around with high end Apple devices who pay for their stuff outright - and even more who finance their gear.

So if you're willing to pay to play, that's fine. I don't praise the SE2 blindly because it's the new Pixel 3A response, I respect it because it is a solidly packaged piece of hardware sold to hook people into getting abroad the Apple ecosystem.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I see Google is working mad hard in pushing out sales on the Pixel 4 line, like they did last year with the 3 line. I agree 100% with the move to the upper mid range chip, but the concern I have is that pricing won't likely drop AS much as people are hoping since the high end market is gone north of a $1000.

$800 for a phone with a mid range chip is still a hard swallow in my book. Qualcomm really has people over a barrel with these early 5G chips. Sigh.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

A rainy day after a sunny day where everyone and their mother was out on escape yesterday afternoon. COVID-19 has really been wrecking social interaction so some of us go nuts when the good weather comes out.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Really looking forward to switching over to the V50. Just have to wait another week until the accessories arrive. I'll certainly miss the smaller size of the V35 for sure. I wish that the G8 had the run time I wanted, or else I'd have grabbed that instead.

 

[libra89]

https://youtu.be/W3KmFqyrmTE

So I put this link on top first here because I like how critical Flossy is about the SE2. I think his criticisms are quite valid. It IS a "cheap iPhone". Make no bones about it. It isn't for folks who can afford, or are willing to finance the higher end models just because. It is a very specifically targeted offering, which the carriers can drop the hammer on to move units aggressively.

One thing I can say for me as an enthusiast - I don't finance my stuff. The last time I financed a phone, HTC was the Android Market leader, Oneplus was a concept idea, and you could still easily get a Blackberry and a Windows phone. There are a TON of people I see walking around with high end Apple devices who pay for their stuff outright - and even more who finance their gear.

So if you're willing to pay to play, that's fine. I don't praise the SE2 blindly because it's the new Pixel 3A response, I respect it because it is a solidly packaged piece of hardware sold to hook people into getting abroad the Apple ecosystem.

I saw his video recommended to me and I'll check it out when I can.

I agree about buying it outright. My friend who upgraded from the 2016 SE to the regular 11 last fall chose to do the same. She saved so that she could and she's glad that she did that.

 

[N_LaRUE]

So I made focaccia today.

Some tips.

Don't use bread flour. Use all purpose or plain or T55 if in France. (Not sure who else uses this system)

The mixture should be wet. Similar to a cake batter but still with gluten.

Can easily use a mixer with dough hooks.

Turned out pretty good. Crunchy on top and fluffy inside.

 

[fatclue_98]

https://youtu.be/W3KmFqyrmTE

So I put this link on top first here because I like how critical Flossy is about the SE2. I think his criticisms are quite valid. It IS a "cheap iPhone". Make no bones about it. It isn't for folks who can afford, or are willing to finance the higher end models just because. It is a very specifically targeted offering, which the carriers can drop the hammer on to move units aggressively.

One thing I can say for me as an enthusiast - I don't finance my stuff. The last time I financed a phone, HTC was the Android Market leader, Oneplus was a concept idea, and you could still easily get a Blackberry and a Windows phone. There are a TON of people I see walking around with high end Apple devices who pay for their stuff outright - and even more who finance their gear.

So if you're willing to pay to play, that's fine. I don't praise the SE2 blindly because it's the new Pixel 3A response, I respect it because it is a solidly packaged piece of hardware sold to hook people into getting abroad the Apple ecosystem.

Financing is a tricky proposition because you could end up paying for something that you grow to detest. I’m an outright buyer myself whether it’s a carrier-branded item or not, I don’t care for mismatched radios. I can’t wrap my head around the SE 2020 just yet, it doesn’t offer a significant upgrade over an 8 that you can pick up for $200 (or less if you don’t mind buying used).

Right now I’m on the hunt for either a KeyOne 4/64 or a proper Key2. The LE gives up too much in my book and are priced well above original MSRP. Battery life is paramount and I miss a pkb.

 

[libra89]

I don't know why no one told me anything (I guess because most of y'all don't do Apple products or if you do, you don't buy from Apple directly) but Apple is allowing people to return their products purchased online within 14 days of the store's reopening. (The only exclusion is for trade-in devices.) Well, I have an additional thing to think about.

This worked out for the best. I don't really have as much time to be chasing to how I'll print a label. I am weeks away from finishing my degree and I have final assignments that I'm working on that are due soon. I also have a final exam but I'll be studying and preparing for that next week (as in the first full week of May) when I'm able to.

I might have purchased this SE too early, as I should have waited but it doesn't matter now anyway.

I'll feel the degree thing more when these final assignments are submitted.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

This worked out for the best. I don't really have as much time to be chasing to how I'll print a label. I am weeks away from finishing my degree and I have final assignments that I'm working on that are due soon. I also have a final exam but I'll be studying and preparing for that next week (as in the first full week of May) when I'm able to.

I might have purchased this SE too early, as I should have waited but it doesn't matter now anyway.

I'll feel the degree thing more when these final assignments are submitted.

You'll be just fine. I predict a massage exhale when the final assignments are in, and cheers when the grades come back.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Financing is a tricky proposition because you could end up paying for something that you grow to detest. I’m an outright buyer myself whether it’s a carrier-branded item or not, I don’t care for mismatched radios. I can’t wrap my head around the SE 2020 just yet, it doesn’t offer a significant upgrade over an 8 that you can pick up for $200 (or less if you don’t mind buying used).

Right now I’m on the hunt for either a KeyOne 4/64 or a proper Key2. The LE gives up too much in my book and are priced well above original MSRP. Battery life is paramount and I miss a pkb.

Saw a few Key2's recently on Swappa north of $450. Thought I saw something for $350 that made me pause. Those things are like Sony's - hard to find. Good luck on your search.

The one advantage the SE2 has over the iPhone 8 - longer support. I was looking at used 8's and decided to pass to wait for this one. I agree it is recycled. Still, I'm interested for my purposes - I wouldn't get an 8 to do that.

 

[libra89]

You'll be just fine. I predict a massage exhale when the final assignments are in, and cheers when the grades come back.

Thank you. I'll be looking forward to it.