RBWells

Yeah it's funny I have no problem ordering coffee half sweetened, but it feels like insulting the bartender to ask for an adjustment like that.

Yahoo for my spam, the commercial emails. It makes me feel a million years old, but I don't feel like changing them.

I agree with this. We have rented houses when we didn't want to buy a house. Even though technically we probably could have bought one, it's a pain in the ass to purchase and expensive to maintain and even now I'm not quite convinced it's worth it. Housing is important but not everyone wants to be a property owner.

It's more like the whole system is fucked, housing is too expensive and part of that is because of rental profit but it's not the whole problem. We paid less per year to rent than we do to own, for similar properties. Even though the landlords made money.

First:

No, you don't need a purpose, and your lifestyle sounds ok, if you were enjoying it (I think plenty of people would) but a couple of things stick out to me. One, you are avoiding romantic attachment - if any women are attracted to you, you are not unattractive or too awkward or whatever - you are really not attracted to any women who find you attractive? Or your brain rejects them because you subconsciously think you cannot possibly be attractive so there has to be something wrong with them?

Two, you do honestly sound depressed. It doesn't have to mean so catatonic you can't make it to work, it can mean going through the motions of life without feeling anything.

Things I didn't choose or earn? Taller than the average woman in my country. Both parents were smart as hell, university professors. Dad who thought women had every right and ability to do any job they wanted, we weren't raised differently based on sex.

This is what I'd want to do (the bar not the commune) if I won the lottery.

So yes I agree with the top post here, it's lack of access to capital that limits this. Farm cooperatives happen because people own farms. It's very difficult to grow these from the bottom. You would have to buy your share, with money or work.

We need more co-op businesses and also more entrepreneurship from the bottom and small business grants can help with that. You can't only yank wealth from the top, they got it from us, we can make more and keep it in our communities.

Oh, the tearjerkers:

Emmylou Harris - Boulder to Birmingham and Red Dirt Girl

Lucinda Williams - Sweet Old World

So good, so sad, so cathartic.

Elbow, Fontaines DC, Idles, feeling UKish lately I guess.

We had the pleasure of seeing Charley Crockett live this summer and WOW he is such a great performer. My kids love the Man from Waco song. I love his mix of country and soul so much.

All insurance. I have paid enough to homeowners to buy another house, with no claims. Health insurance we've had maybe 5 years where we got out more than we paid in, maybe. Could certainly have bought a dozen cars with what I've paid car insurance, net of what they have paid to or for me.

All these you can only win by losing but all are worse for being for-profit rather than just risk pooling.

Health insurance I explain to people as: we are paying in taxes for the most expensive groups (old, poor, sick) plus paying for the work insurance premiums, plus paying most of the cost of seeing a doctor for anything except the annual wellness visit. It would be cheaper to cover everyone with the national plan. But everything we pay, is paying someone else's salary, right? All those people want it to stay like this.

Sometimes yes, if I can't help it.

And sorry you are having the flu, that is dreadful, but enjoy the delirium.

Slightly off topic but there was an escaped monkey around and people would never report it until they were sure it was gone, they didn't want it caught.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/10/25/163620501/floridas-mystery-monkey-captured-after-three-years-on-the-lam