whyrat

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. -Mark Twain

Every Republican presidential term in my lifetime has had a recession start. None of the Democratic ones have...

Regan; one started each term. First Bush had one in his term. Clinton had none in his 2 terms. Second Bush had a HUGE one each time (dot com and great recession). Obama had none in his 2 terms. trump had one in his first term (triggered by covid & shutdowns; which his (in)actions intensified...). Biden didn't have one (but; just barely... and only by the official definition [NBER]; he did have two negative real GDP quarters, so one could argue this point). Now we're starting trump's second term, so we'll see (it's pretty clear we'll have a recession within 2 years).

This isn't really debatable unless you ignore the evidence. Stock market and real GDP growth are overall way higher under Democrat presidents. One link for reference (but many more are available): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11127-021-00912-y

I've been to protests; and I've volunteered for political campaigns. The second actually flipped a (US House) seat from red to blue (obviously the work of many people; I'm not thinking I was the deciding factor but it was a close election). The first left me with a pink hat and no noticeable change in how elected leaders acted.

I need to be convinced the protest will achieve measurable changes; otherwise I'll spend my time looking for the upcoming elections where there are close enough margins to feel my actions make a difference.

Nice!

The party who's caused a recession every presidential term they've held power in my lifetime... Might cause a recession this time too!?!?

Try to kick the football again Charlie Brown 🤷‍♂️

It is designed to be a desirable smell (or actually flavored in some cases). Since it's highly addictive the people selling it know they just you to try it and they'll probably have a long-term customer.

Yes, if this is an issue you have: you should start taking steps to address it!

There are a number of online services to get you started, or see a therapist for personalized help from a professional. Mental health issues are real, but can be addressed with the right treatments. They won't likely go away on their own, you'll need to find the right strategies that work for you and then put in the effort & time to address it.

I've been looking into this (along with some other options like tankless) since my water heater is the next major appliances due for replacement.

Depending on the efficiency of your HVAC and water heater; it might still be cheaper to heat twice (water heater makes water hot & inside air cold; then HVAC makes inside air hot & outside cold). If your efficiency at the HVAC stage is more than double (most modern heat pumps give 3x to 4x efficiency; that's both in the water heater and HVAC). It gets a bit complicated; but the short answer is when it's efficient enough the switch between modes for the hot water heater might not be necessary.

Longer answer; is you need to know the difference in performance of the water heater. Ex. your heating costs go from $10/mo with heat pump to $20/mo with electric element (obviously if gas is the alternate heat source that adds another conversion...). If the marginal increase in HVAC cost is less than that $10/mo difference, there's no need to switch the hot water heater between modes!

Undecided (you tube channel) has a few videos covering the basics that are worth a watch if you're starting to look into the topic, but since you've already been doing research, maybe it's all material you know? Quick link: https://www.instagram.com/undecidedmf/p/C4IrcBOsT_p/

Edit adding a better link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abGiNL9IT54&vl=en

Yes, it's for a water heater being inside with sufficient ventilation. If your water heater is currently in a garage or separate area the benefits change.

I'm in Texas, and over 90% of the houses I've seen have the water heater in a closet somewhere inside. Some older builds have it in an attached garage. But if that is the case, there's a good reason to move it when you next replace it, as the garage gets much colder in the winter, costing more to heat the water!

Given he put tariffs in place his prior term, good chance he actually does it again.

Things that can be done via executive order are highly likely ... Because one of his staff will draft it and he'll sign based on what they tell him it's about.

Some lackey: "this is that tariff thing".

Actual EO: contains whatever

Lathe of Heaven and Left Hand of Darkness I read before. I highly recommend both.

I'm also planning on re-starting the Wizard of Earthsea books, which (given the amount of time I have to read) will take me 2-3 months to get through all of them (6?).

Picked up some books by Ursula K LeGuin. I read parts of the Earthsea series a long time ago, picking up some of her other stuff because it all gets high praise.