MahnaMahna

I had an extremely drama free pregnancy and I'm still healing 6 weeks later. The hemorrhoids in particular fucking suck because it's painful for hours afterwards every time I poop, even with taking stool softener. I have an extremely generous maternity leave policy and I work a desk job so I'm able to take plenty of time to fully recover. I can't even imagine how a warehouse or retail worker is able to manage, and their leave policy probably isn't nearly as generous either.

Ugh, I feel you on the work thing. We use the Microsoft suite and although technically there are online versions of the software, it's fucking terrible compared to the desktop version, especially Teams (and sometimes I just flat out can't get Teams to work in the browser since it doesn't play nice with Firefox). And no, I can't just use Libre Office because it will fuck up any previous formatting of word docs, or in the case of Excel there will be functions that aren't supported.

I've just accepted that I need to be my own IT support for anything Linux in most day to day applications. Calling or emailing customer service inevitably gets me the answer that Linux is not supported.

Oh of course, Linux is my everyday machine (I have 2 separate hard drives in my tower). I just haven't taken the time to figure out Steam yet, and there are some pieces of work software that either work like shit on Linux or aren't available at all (yes, I know Wine is a thing but it's not perfect)

Release of Windows 12, possibly backtracks Windows 11 decision of requiring TPM.

I hope so, I built my own PC less than 4 years ago and it can't run windows 11. I don't care that much at the moment because I'm not a fan of some of the UI choices (and I only use Windows for gaming anyways) but once support is dropped for Windows 10 I'll need options.

It's not "ruined" but my 3 week old daughter has been particularly cranky today, she refuses to go to sleep despite multiple feeding sessions, diaper changes, and attempts at burping. I'm already tired because I took most of last night's shifts, so I'm glad we're not leaving the house. It's a bit of a bummer because I usually love everything about Christmas (the music, the lights, the food, the presents) and we are pretty much missing all of that this year. I can't wait to make up for it in future years though!

I think the first half of book 4 dipped a bit in quality due to some weaker characters, but the bonkers second half more than made up for it (and the TV version improved on that particular book, IMO).

The show ends on book 6, which means you miss out on pretty much the entire third act of the series. I'd say it's worth finishing just to get some closure on some of the unresolved loose ends.

To play the devil's advocate... Water shouldn't be free, because that's how it gets taken for granted. While I absolutely agree that there is a human right to water, it's a shared resource that is becoming increasingly unpredictable due to weather and water quality. I live in a state that was hit hard by drought multiple times over the past decade and we're always reactionary in addressing the problem at the time, rather than trying to establish efficient water use in the long term.

Water rate structures are an important tool for ensuring that people use water efficiently. Things are slowly changing for the better in terms of infrastructure, but not fast enough to match existing issues. So the demand side needs to be addressed as well as the supply side. Having a rate structure that gets increasingly expensive on a per unit basis for wasteful households is the gold standard (although of course it's difficult to implement without enough data, which is why creating a robust rate structure is a balancing act that can take a few years of study).

(Of course there are other elephants in the room, like the inherent racism in the water rights system and the fact that agriculture uses way too much of it...)

The show stops at book 6, so there's a whole chunk you never got to see! (Plus some changes in characters/plot that were necessary to streamline the show) I liked both for different reasons, but there are certain characters that definitely got an upgrade in the show because the casting was so goddamn amazing (Ashford's role was expanded because .. David Straithern)

Another couple series came to mind as well: The Codex Alera and Cinder Spires series, both by Jim Butcher. Cinder Spires is ongoing, the 2nd book just came out.

Fair warning, Rothfuss hasn't touched the Kingkiller Chronicles in a long time and there's no indication if he will ever finish it. (My husband delights in taunting his mom by sending her articles about whatever project Rothfuss is currently working on that's not the Kingkiller Chronicles)

You have a very similar taste in literature to me so I'd like to offer for your consideration:

• The Expanse series by S.A. Corey (the show adaptation is also excellent)

• Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (first in a series but that's the only one I've read so far)

Another possible explanation I heard involved the tech sector, which made massive profits at the beginning of COVID and then took a dive afterwards when people started venturing out of the house and using their services less. It's not the only factor in the revenue loss, of course, but I bet it was a not-insignificant chunk of change.

When we moved into this house, the prior owners had a hookup to AT&T that was max 50 mbps for $50/month. We kept getting told that At&T fiber was coming "soon" to the area, but the truth is that we live in a neighborhood with a lot of old people who don't need/know about fiber and there was no incentive for them to bring it to our street (the biggest kick in the balls was that it was available a couple blocks away). So we got a Comcast hookup that has served us well for a couple of years, for $75 a month (my only gripe of course being that we never got the speed we paid for). Well, they just upped the price by $5 a month and fiber has finally arrived in the form of Fidium, so we're saying good riddance to Comcast as well.

This is probably the first time ever that I've had more than 1 viable option available to me, and the competition is probably why Comcast was cheaper for us than for my parents living in a Comcast only area. We have no brand loyalty, we'll switch service the minute we get a better deal. But these companies are able to maintain their shitty practices because most people don't have options.

Automakers also just aren't making enough small EVs, and we can't afford/don't want a bigger one. We want a small, efficient about-town car that we can use for doing groceries and going downtown. We both work mostly from home, and the only reason we were even considering another car is because we have a kid on the way and might sometimes need 2 cars to split between errands and kid duties. We'll just stick to our current, fully paid off car for now and wait either until the prices for new cars drop or the battery technology improves so I feel better about buying a used EV.