Everyone should learn new things as often as they can. Pick up a new hobby or skill, become very proficient at it, incorporate it into your life, repeat. This active mental engagement is the best way to prevent dementia and keep your mind sharp.
This active mental engagement is the best way to prevent dementia and keep your mind sharp.
It’s also… you know… fun
Relevant to many of us on here, this approach also lets you lean in to your ADHD powers to better your life instead of resisting them and stressing out.
My midlife crisis is degoogling, switching to Linux, eating less meat, reducing the footprint I leave on this world, spending more time with my wife and daughter, treating my recently diagnosed ADHD and not giving as many fucks regarding work. Oh, and I took up archery. Pretty ok I guess. I’m 42.
This sounds less like a crisis and more like ‘getting your shit together’.
You’re setting things up to enjoy life more. All power to you!
You’re poor.
90s mountain bikes make great gravel bikes and you can usually get one for dirt cheap. Hell find a steel frame road bike and put some grippy tires on it.
30 something, regular MTB, Areopress. I’m on the right trajectory.
Me who just went to see a friend this morning on my fixie “Neat… I totally fit the stereotype!”
Is a gravel bike something specific or just like, a regular bike?
It’s something in between a road bike and a mountain bike.
Okay yeah, so exactly what it sounds like. Wasn’t sure if it was a brand maybe or something.
Used to call those “touring bikes”, no?
No, we used to call them Cyclocross.
Do you mean the ol’ dandy horse?
no gravel bike at 40? A deeply disturbed individual
I might take up the tumbak.
I can’t find a single job to save my life because all the job postings are saturated, what’s wrong with me?
Nothing is wrong with you, the job market is a hellscape. It’s a job posting written by AI being applied to by AI. Most entry level jobs get thousands of applications when a few years ago it was only a few dozen. You literally can’t compete in that. My suggestion is network. Goto job faires and meet people who are looking for or match people to jobs.
The only thing wrong, judging by that statement, is the hellscape you (and I) live in.
Hmm I’ve been a coffee geek and bicycle nerd (hobby mechanic) since my teenage years, and ran a half-marathon in my mid 20ies … guess I’ve been 40 for a long time now …
I think the person who drew this comic was born into the wrong generation. (They’re a boomer at heart.)
If it was boomer coded, he’d have mentioned model trains
Nah, the interests are boomer, just different hobbies.
Dude seems like he could use a hobby
Also bialetti coffee makers are really simple little cook top devices that give you some amazing espresso for the change you’ve got in your couch. Fantastic little appliance.
And this is how you get Tang ping movements.
Yeah, what’s with the espresso machine trend? Seems like it’s the topic of conversation nowadays. As a non-coffee-drinker I feel like a weirdo.
No idea… I bought a coffee machine right as the pandemic started, as it forced me to work from home. It’s nothing trendy but damn being able to pour 1 bag of coffee beans in, press the button and move on is so damn convenient and (I hope) quite more ecological than those damn pods.
Yeah I think growing a crop halfway around the world isn’t terribly “ecological” to begin with, the pods are the least of the worries.
Sadly the two aren’t exclusive, pods come in addition to the coffee beans. I’m not a lifecycle or logistic experts but my intuition is that the smaller and most durable the package, the harder it is to both produce and recycle.
To clarify, I’m not saying importing anything from around the World is fine, only that if you do so (as I do) better not to do so in the most bulk way possible.
If you do have a link that shows that either/or show
- pods or bulk it’s comparatively irrelevant compared to the energy to treat and ship then anyway,
- coffee pods are actually better than grains then please do share.
I’d be shocked but maybe there is some supply chain or scale piece I didn’t take into account.
The pods are recycled. If you toss everything else into your recycling bin and have faith in that, you should have the same faith for the pods, they’re aluminum.
First search, first link, “In the US, only about 2% of aluminum capsules are actually recycled, meaning most end up in landfills.” https://bruvi.com/blogs/articles/mythbusters-the-truth-about-recyclable-pods so I wouldn’t exactly say it works. They are theoretically recyclable, YES, but are they recycled? According to that link no. In fact a lot, the largest marketshare, of pods are NOT aluminum, they are plastic, and this https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/coffee-pods-and-capsules-market say that 5% are actually recycled.
Also, I don’t know if you’ve been to an office but my experience with such machines have been terrible, namely the machine itself breaks (OK, not ideal but maintenance should fix it) but more importantly very often the pods do NOT get put in the right bins.
So it’s a huge difference between recyclability, or the potential of being recycled, and ACTUALLY being recycled. I’m not necessary blaming the industry there, maybe not even the people who do genuinely put it in the right garbage bin, I’m only highlighting that from the numbers I’ve found, it’s not happening.
Anyway, even if those links were a lie or incorrect and even if my own experience was more than anecdotal, namely an outlier (I’ve been to few offices but still, maybe not random, just unlucky) then the basic reasoning is still pretty obvious :
- recycling pods take more resources, energy, water, labor, etc; AND producing them AND shipping them than
- … not having pods, just the grains straight in the machine.
Again if you take 1kg of grain and you fold it in the trash vs side by side you take 1kg equivalent of pods the volume is striking.
Still, as I mentioned earlier, maybe I don’t get whole picture so if you have an actual study I’d like to learn. While searching I did read the argument that pods do extract more coffee per volume of coffee so that was interesting, but it’s only a part of the equation, hence why LCAs (life cycle assessment, with actual recycling data, not recyclability) are so important, not our own individual perspectives.
Yes and that’s true for all recycling. In Montreal the pods are put in special green bags and then put in recycling so my consuming of a crop from the other side of the world is greenwashed and therefore OK.
So I can observe the mental gymnastics to justify consuming a product from the other side of the world is quite entertaining. “But Keurig is plastic!”
So as you do, first search, first link
https://www.carbonclick.com/news-views/the-environmental-impact-of-coffee-growing-and-transportation
OK I don’t think we are having a conversation so ending this now, take care.
I liked lattes so I bought a Nespresso, I’d never been into coffee or caffeinated beverages period. I used it religiously for 6 months, got tired of paying for pods, started refilling my pods, then got tired of that. Now it sits on my counter and I bought a couple packs of Starbucks branded pods from Walmart that are strictly for company.
I am deliberately not buying anything Nestlé, so nespresso is a no-go for me.
I also like lattes so I have a soluble 400g tin from the local supermarket (Carmel latte something, something, super sweet). If visitors want a normal coffee I have a few single serve packets from hotels and such, or they bring their own.
40s here. I only drink pour-over and French press (I make it myself at home). No triathalons, but I did about 40 minutes of Dance Dance Revolution today. No gravel bike either, but I have a BoS Blitz airbike and bought some adjustable kettlebells this year. And my Steam library and book collection are growing in size.
Eh, close enough.
I have come to believe that any coffee machine for the home is not worth it. Pour overs at home, machinated coffee belongs in the cafés
I had a cheap espresso machine for a few years and it was fun for a while and then it just became a pain to clean it regularly and even to do the whole process. Pour over or even fancy instant coffee is my go to for home these days
DDR! My wife and I used to be pro and are looking at getting a home setup. What do you use?
Currently just using a cheap Ostent soft mat with some silicone grip pads on the bottom. It’s not perfect, but works well enough for my exercise and I can do up to 8+ difficulty songs (honestly can’t handle most 8 currently anyway). It’s convenient to be able to fold the mat up to put away when not in use.
Years back I hard-modded a similar mat, stapling and taping it down to a sheet of 1/4” plyboard and that was fantastic.
If you’re looking for hard pads today, check out L-Tek, they’re about the only one still in business making them.
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Edit - oh, I forgot to mention software. There’s two good options today, Project Outfox (available on Steam) and ITGMania. Both are forks of Stepmania 5.1. Song packs are available online, including both new user stuff and DDR original. I use ITGMania with Project XX Starlight theme for DDR and get most of my songs from https://zenius-i-vanisher.com/v5.2/simfiles.php?category=simfiles
