I commute on electric bike, literally work at a participation endurance sport company and have only gotten gentle teasing, no hate from the hardcore bikers. I tell them I literally hate riding a bike and that this one cost less than their racing bike, and I am comfortable on it, so use it for grocery shopping and stuff like that.

There is not enough infrastructure for bikes. I am careful and polite, if I have to take the sidewalk I get off and walk around pedestrians, walk it across intersections. If I’m in the road I wait for a big break in traffic or periodically get off the road so cars can pass (there is no bike lane going to work). I see bikers weaving through traffic and understand the frustration drivers have. And have had cars make illegal left turns almost into me and understand bikers being frustrated too.

It is newer, with a terrifying metal dough hook that looks like a sadist’s implement and a 1/2 speed setting. I do sourdough not dry yeast breads, and usually let it run on the slow speed for a couple minutes, rest, then on 2 for about 5 minutes or so, longer if all whole grain. (Then dump into a bowl, rest, stretch, evaluate if it needs another round or two of stretch and rest before bulk rise.) What I like is that or doesn’t struggle at all with that mass of dough. I have run it for over 10 minutes making brioche (it takes time to incorporate the butter) and it stays cool and comfortable.

I couldn’t stand the bread machine, it was like Schrodinger’s box. Put in measured ingredients. Will it be a brick? Will it be a bread? No idea until you open it.

I have to see the dough, feel the dough, be able to adjust the timing, give it an extra stretch if needed or an extra hour rest or go faster if it’s ready ahead of schedule.

With bread machine, 35% success, ugly bread

Hands and a bowl, and a pan? 95% success (never gets to 100%) and gorgeous bread.

Literal Gadget, the big KitchenAid mixer. I got one that can handle my 2 kilo of sourdough dough, it’s glorious.

MVP? The iron skillets, hands down. If I had to build a kitchen out of fewer than 10 items the medium and oldest one would be first on that list.

Go for it then! I was just thinking smoking pot wasn’t going to help you with nutrition. But you are right, it would have fats and protein in the seeds. Or could provide income.

Beans & rice would be my choice, and grow some greens (not marijuana. Collard greens, mustard greens, kale greens). If you can afford some onions, garlic, canned or fresh tomatoes, and spices, you are going to do fine. Cilantro grows in the winter here, basil in the summer.

Because flavor is important to me. If it was just for a week, I can do water and a bottle of electrolytes for like $5 total, not eat at all, but if it’s an ongoing situation I would need to enjoy the food at least enough to eat it.

With enough of a runway, buy one potato (if you are in the cold) or sweet potato (if you are in the heat) and plant it, those are not difficult to grow, don’t need fertilizer or anything. I do the Stokes Purple ones down here.

So yeah, I would buy beans and rice (and oil or nuts of some sort, can’t get around that, body needs fats). and try to grow some veggies to make it complete, if going for the lowest cost most healthy diet.

I don’t use a proofing oven, or rely on consistent temperature, even now but it does mean I’m sitting here at midnight baking the rye so it can cool overnight because it wasn’t ready to bake earlier so yeah even here in the subtropics I notice the difference in the winter, bread is slower to rise.

I had friends who moved to the bush and built a clay oven and they said all they could successfully bake was popovers because the oven started hot then cooled off, there was no way to keep it constant.

This reminded me of:

In a modern oven, sure. I make great bread from flour, water, salt. But without the ovens I understand? Without the fine ground flour? I dunno.

I am very good with hair braiding so could probably get work in a rich lady’s house I guess. Good with numbers (I work as an accountant) but the past seems so relentlessly sexist not going to try.

ETA: having considered this, maybe the number and letter literacy literacy would be useful in the same position, (though obviously my reading would be limited with the earlier language, I’m sure that would not draw any attention) I think I’d still angle for work as a lady’s lady.

Where I live - wages have always been shitty but it was a low cost of living city (we literally had the lowest grocery prices in the nation and housing market was “depressed”. You could and can always get a job of some sort here, and because costs were low a roommate or two got you through with money to go to shows on the weekend or have a car. And a cat!

Housing and food now are average for the nation but wages are still lower here than average.

My NET pay after taxes and benefits and 401k is not twice the average rent for a one bedroom apartment here now. And you used to be able to rent houses so cheap, there were slumlords and people who owned a couple of houses and rented one out. No more. A house costs more than my whole monthly net to rent, before electricity or water, just the rent.

We bought a house for 5x what my old shithole of a house did cost (and there are none of those left, they get flipped or torn down for luxury housing) and even that amount would be cheap for it now, and we love it, but yeah we struggle with the cost to pay for it and maintain it. That’s a choice, yes, and we know it, but in a very limited set of choices.

All that is being built is high end expensive housing but there are not many people here earning enough for that.

Well. I made 35k in 1996 so apparently my salary has kept up with inflation, maybe? Google says that is like 75k today. 106.4% increase.

Together we do hit that 6 figures but

Housing cost increased by 500%

Grocery cost increased here by 500%

Electric bills by 300%

Those are the essentials, right? Other things, clothing and gas, didn’t go up as much but I drive less and (except for menopause, damn you) stay pretty much the same size and bought some items that last well, so it’s more discretionary.

I figure I’d have to be making closer to 200k to be making my 1996 salary with regard to essentials. Maybe more. I’m certainly NOT making that.

Pay off debt, no question.

Yeah I had one beard. One hair only, like an eyelash it was, not like my head hair. Seems to have finally given up though.

I was a barber and yes, if your hair is long, you can trim it without training, as long as it’s not very straight it doesn’t matter if it’s precise. Short hair and straight hair are less forgiving.

Basically you just want to make sure the two sides left and right are the same length and there are no “points” - no sharp length changes.

I’d just look for videos with people who have hair similar to yours, showing how they cut their own hair. You can do it!

Tylenol has never worked for physical pain in my experience, but can’t say I ever tried it for emotional pain. Glad to hear it does something.

It’s a worldwide site with a sort of small user base, anything is possible but it seems a long shot compared to going outside or talking to your friends, networking, dating sites, pretty much anything local seems a better chance.

Be very confused.

I was not close with my mom, I was close with my dad but he died when I was 16. My relationship with her was ok when I was grown, she liked my kids and was a pretty good grandma for someone busy with a job. But we were not close.

My kids talk to me more as high schoolers and young adults, they ask for advice, discuss things, we are a lot closer, though the ones who moved away don’t call much (like I texted one of them to ask if I’d pissed her off, it was so long, but she is just too much like me and so neither of us called, lol) but - the kids are all close with each other and I think that matters more in the long run.

Ooh a debutante. Does he get a fancy dress and a coming out party? How exactly do you get jumped into that club?