Weekly Observations: What signs of collapse do you see in your region? [in-depth] March 30
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Susanoos_Wife@reddit
Location: USA, Lower 48 States, East of the Mississippi River
As usual, here's a couple links of the (closest as possible) estimates about how many covid cases there are right now. As the government no longer tracks covid cases very well, data is spotty at best but I search for it anyways because I like to keep track of things.
https://www.pmc19.com/data/index.php
https://peoplescdc.org/wastewater-map/
https://data.wastewaterscan.org/
Though there's no shortage of horrible shit the pandemic has caused, perhaps the most frustrating is how caring about it at all is a guaranteed ticket to social isolation and ostracization, as we live in a society where trying to stay alive, safe, and healthy usually tends to be punished by the absolute worst people in the world. To that end, as a giant fuck you to all of those people, I make it a point to share information about covid for any new people who might stumble on one of these threads. Feel free to scroll on down a little further for other stuff, but this is just my general fuck you to every asshole who gives me shit about not wanting to get covid (and not wanting other people to get covid,) so here goes:
How covid spreads: https://publichealthactionnetwork.org/understanding-how-covid-19-spreads/
Why covid is still a serious threat: https://publichealthactionnetwork.org/why-we-should-still-care-about-covid-19-a-guide-to-individual-community-and-future-health/
What is long covid: https://whn.global/what-is-long-covid/
A fairly in-depth list of covid can do to the body (current as of February 2026): https://www.panaccindex.info/p/what-covid-19-does-to-the-body-10th
Some guidelines on how to track your symptoms if you have long covid: https://longcovidjustice.org/track-symptoms/
Some basic info about masks: https://patientknowhow.com/
A more in-depth explanation of how masks can help prevent the spread of covid and other airborne diseases: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00124-23?__cf_chl_tk=4Q_GMeDx5OJDqP_NGqKPwULPCzoxcmJFoMftlbhp1PA-1768352772-1.0.1.1-1KRaWO46pvXgznBD.dwu6.Mqq7O1UYAL7Vrc.T4iFFY
How covid can lead to heart problems in children: https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/covid-19-infection-poses-higher-longer-heart-risks-children-vaccination
And finally, a little something about how memes can teach you more than you might think: https://www.menshealth.com/health/a69109689/lion-meme-long-covid-game-of-thrones/
In other health related news, bird flu continues to kill a concerning amount of birds, although our government shows little to no interest in doing anything to stop it: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/avian-flu-strikes-9-more-indiana-poultry-facilities
Overall, life has been exhausting and difficult this year so far, and every time I manage to squeeze in a good day, it's usually followed by a string of awful ones. One step forward ten steps back is what life feels like a lot of the time. The news is jam packed with stories about the Iran war, oil prices, gas prices, celebrity drama, Trump saying useless stupid garbage, politicians getting tangled in a metaphorical web of the most moronic scandals you can imagine (and some that defy imagination,) and not so informative updates on the kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie's mother. Occasionally, there's a feel good story about a community raising money for someone going through medical treatment or dealing with extreme poverty, but most of those stories just make me question why life is so damn unaffordable for so many people to begin with.
The pothole situation on the roads in my area, which I've mentioned before, is absolutely fucking ridiculous. There's potholes, and then there's the shit going on in my city-there are literally entire parking lots where the whole damn pavement is fucked up and it feels like you're driving bumper cars just to get through the lot, and some roads barely have a stretch of even, flat pavement longer than the length of a school bus. I see road workers around fairly regularly, but somehow the roads never get fixed.
The weather is like a broken roller coaster, up, down, up, down, up, down, it just keeps bouncing around like a pinball inside a pinball machine at an arcade, and some days, you feel like you get to experience all four seasons in the same day, which is about as exciting and thrilling as swimming through molasses to find a single coin.
This might just be a matter of personal opinion, but I swear commercials get more and more annoying, though I've also noticed an increase in images and video clips in commercials that look like they were created using AI.
If there's a single meme out there that describes how I've been feeling lately, it's the "I'm tired, boss." meme. Nothing quite describes the heaviness of my emotional state right now as that, and though I realize making healthy connections with other people is probably a futile effort, I put myself out there as often as I have the physical energy to (which depends on how my body is treating me on any given day,) out of principle. No matter when or how I die, I want to die knowing that at least I tried my best to fix things and if I can die with that knowledge, then I'll at least have some sense of contentment, much as I angst about the fact that it's way too hard for me to do most of what I want to do and that life often kicks me in the ass every time I try to make efforts to reach out to other people and do things I enjoy doing.
Anyways, here's to another week (and another month), stay safe, stay healthy, and take care of yourself like you would take care of someone or something important to you. We all have to live with ourselves for our entire lives so we might as well be nice to ourselves. No matter how crazy things get (and things are crazier than the inside of the Dashcon ballpit right now,) taking care of yourself will help make it easier to work towards your goals, whatever those may be, and no matter what the future has in store for us, giving up and accepting defeat won't ever benefit anyone or anything.
MsCalendarsPlayaArt@reddit
Oooooohhhhh! This covid guide is fantastic! Do you want me to credit you if I share this elsewhere? Thank you for compiling this! And solidarity from another covid aware person dealing with the stigma of still giving a shit š«
Susanoos_Wife@reddit
Of course, feel free to share anything I post.
ideknem0ar@reddit
Thanks for continuing to mention it. It's much appreciated!!Ā
Susanoos_Wife@reddit
Someone's gotta do it so I figure it might as well be me.
lightweight12@reddit
Thanks again for the info and insight.
Susanoos_Wife@reddit
Thanks, it's partly my way of venting and partly my way of doing what I can to bring awareness to how serious covid is (especially the long term health problems it can cause, which are going to really fuck us up as a society if we don't get our shit together.)
nebulacoffeez@reddit
Thanks for posting this, it is seen & appreciated every time!
Susanoos_Wife@reddit
Thanks, it's not much in the grand scheme of things but if somehow any record of my existence survives after I die, I want the world to know that I refused to go gently into that good night (accepting covid picking off people one by one for the foreseeable future.)
96-62@reddit
Location: Yorkshire, UK
We've had a local bus company collapse recently - Yorkshire bus, run out of Wakefield, blaming increasing costs. That suddenly raised a thought in my head, is that a general issue with the upcoming energy crisis? Public transport is often privately run in the UK, do we have a threat of public transport provider bankruptcy hanging over the UK? (Or, of course, a threat of companies pleading poverty to pad their profit margins. Or a threat of companies pleading poverty correctly who aren't believed). Public transport moves a significant fraction of all UK daily journeys, and often journeys for which no cost effective alternative really exists.
boneyfingers@reddit
I worry about this a lot in Ecuador. Here it is not a question of the operators going out of business; they are too indispensable to the economy and social structure of the entire country. So governments concede things like subsidies and fare increases, to avoid a paralyzing national crisis. This is balanced against protests from the rural poor, and urban trade unions, who take to the streets when fares go up. We have had 3 general strikes in 7 years, and those popular expressions of discontent have historically been at least partly, if not entirely, provoked by the cost of transportation.
This is much more dangerous now than it has ever been. Our president has managed to substantially increase the capacity of the police and army to maintain domestic civil order. The stated reason has been to confront the drug cartels. But I am afraid that is not his true motive. He probably knows, as I do, that the only real threat to his power is the angry mob. My grim prediction is that the next strike (and one seems inevitable, maybe as soon as this May Day,) will be met with the newly fortified instruments of violence that have been built under the pretext of fighting drugs.
Physical_Ad5702@reddit
The President of Ecuador is a narco trafficker himself. His family was busted moving cocaine to Europe through their shipping business.
boneyfingers@reddit
I firmly believe he is the worst, most harmful and dangerous president we have had since 1988, but what you are saying is not a useful assertion. It is merely an often repeated claim with no basis in evidence, that depends on tenuous and flimsy speculation. It is so easy to dismiss that it only serves to distract from his true misdeeds, and harm the credibility of those who repeat it.
He is worse than a narco; he's the poster child of the generational oligarchy that is the true instrument of our misfortune (his family is one of the richest in Ecuador, from selling bananas, not drugs.) He has no respect for law except as it suits his own myopic interests (he violated the Mexican embassy for pure politics.) He sides with Trump in ways that violate our constitution (allowing US troops to conduct operations on our soil, even blowing up a dairy farm.) He blatantly disregards the popular vote when it suits his agenda (refusing to respect referenda on mining and oil.) There are plenty of real reasons to hate or fear him. It isn't necessary or helpful to assert invented ones.
Physical_Ad5702@reddit
https://youtube.com/shorts/OLZ4XxBOH4U?si=1XDLvEoWtecrFoLf
Multiple cocaine trafficking scandals involve Noboa-owned companies (e.g., Noboa Trading, Blasti S.A., Transmabo) and a family farm (San Luis), including shipments intercepted in Europe and 193 kg seized in 2025.
https://youtu.be/czwQw85SHlU?si=EER0S0uxMUN_1RxS
Iām not making it up or spreading rumors. Itās just the facts.
boneyfingers@reddit
Well, the first link doesn't withstand even the most basic scrutiny. Jailhouse snitches making unsubstantiated claims to undermine other jailhouse snitches, when both sides are obviously and irredeemably corrupt add nothing to this discussion. It is very possible, or even likely, that Naboa is complicit in drug crimes, even if he's insulated by many layers of middle agents within the hierarchy of his enterprise. But it is just as likely, and just as frequently alleged, that Correa is equally likely to be guilty. I believe Villavicencio, and his running mate, Andrea Gonzalez, were the most promising, honest, and hope-inspiring politicians we have had in 50 years. Both sides, each being roughly as corrupt as the other, wanted him killed.
The second link presents a solid case. It would not surprise me at all if it were someday shown to be true. But it is, for now, as I said, tenuous and flimsy. It fails to convince me on two grounds: it ignores the antecedent complicity of the Correa apparatchiks who all engaged in very similar crimes during his administration (indeed, the generals and police alleged to be working for Naboa are often the same ones who allegedly worked for Correa,) and it doesn't consider that every other exporter of every other product is likely just as bad (that is to say, a similar case could be built against every single company that exports from here.) I have my own theory, but it isn't sufficiently developed to withstand critical scrutiny.
So, yes. I would be very happy to see Naboa ruined, and thrown in prison. But also Correa. It is tragic that he has become the standard bearer of the left, here and abroad. He fooled me, too; I voted for him once, and for his constitution. But he is just as crooked and vile as any other.
My current worry, as expressed in the comment that began this discussion, is that Naboa will soon decide to deploy the instruments of state violence, that he has so vigorously enhanced, against the people. This is a clear and present danger. (Correa would certainly pose exactly the same threat, were he in power now. His illegal and violent actions against defenders of the environment attest to this.) I am afraid of this, and every prior government. And I am angry that such a false prophet as Correa saps the energy, and thus prevents the emergence, of a true, coherent Left.
25TiMp@reddit
What did the dairy farm do?
boneyfingers@reddit
It was mistaken for a drug lab, and attacked from the air. Here is an article in Spanish, that cites the NYT: https://www.primicias.ec/seguridad/bombardeo-ayuda-estados-unidos-granja-lago-agrio-campamento-criminal-118848/
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
That is grim.
Thx for the insight into how this is set up in your country.
I keep hoping to find a country that balances peoples needs better as an example to copy.
Awkward_Mastodon4332@reddit
It's school bus providers that are raising the alarm here in Ireland which would be chaos for rural areas. Most of the rest of the bus system is state-owned. With your example other companies can take up some of the slack, but how long before less profitable but essential (for the user) routes are curtailed or dropped entirely?
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
Whereas here in the US public transport has been down because the people that can afford an uber have been taking an uber.Ā
And now people are complaing there are no uber drivers available.Ā Well, yeah, the margins are dropping.
This is basic business 101.Ā If you need 20% margin to make it worth your while to stay in business and your maintenece costs are up 20% (oil, tires, tarriffs) that eats into your margin 5%.Ā And then gas prices go up and that eats into your margin and what was oncea 20% margin business is now an 5 or 8% margin business and there is NO way there are enough hours in the day to make that up on volume.Ā Ā (All numbers made up for thsi example)
But this applies to every business out there.Ā Businesses will close before they dig themselves too deep a hole this is, absolutely, WHY we need public services for things like transportation.Ā They are capital intensive and have shite margins.Ā But they help people get groceries, to he doctor, to work, to friends.Ā So they are an essential service.Ā The government has to keep them solvent.
Public goods exist for this reason and everyone who wants the private markets to provide are going to find out why certain goods and aervices just wont exist in short order.Ā Fafo
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
In the United States, we are FO.
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
Yup.Ā Gonna be a rough ride.
OatSoyLaMilk@reddit
Location: River Falls, WI
I've been trying to convince my coworkers to cash out their retirement portfolios, both because I think the market is going to tank and because I think it deserves to tank as that's something that might convince the oligarchs to give up on the War on Iran. I've recently seen signs that people are starting to take the idea seriously. They haven't told me they've done it, but I have gotten words of support. Helps that it's largely younger workers that expect to never be able to use their retirement in a meaningful way anyway.
rematar@reddit
I have been politely trying to explain to a few open-minded folks the precarious position the financial markets are in. They like to try to end the conversation with a simple one-liner to secure their faith in the system. I care about these people. I don't talk about it anymore.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
rematar: Are you saying that you are hinting they keep their funds in the financial markets? "Funds" being an operative term. I ask out of curiosity, not trolling you.
rematar@reddit
I think the money should be out of the markets. If the markets and fiat survive the crash, there will likely be buying opportunities after 2-3 years. The markets dropped 89% from 1929 to 1932. I believe 2008 should have been 1929.2, but it was delayed by printing money via quantitative easing.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Thank you. I thought that is what you were saying, but I wanted the clarification. I wish I had the cajones to take my retirement money OUT of the markets - IRA, deferred comp, one mutual fund - but I fear the tax consequences since I am not 59.5 yet.
rematar@reddit
I didn't cash them in. I moved my money from stocks to high interest savings. Then it's waiting to be reinvested.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Ignorant question: can you do that with a traditional IRA?
Lord_Vesuvius2020@reddit
You can easily change investments in an IRA. There are no tax consequences. Bank CDs are readily available for various durations. You can invest in stocks, options, every type of ETF. The only negative is that if you sell anything at a loss you canāt claim the loss as you can in a non-IRA account.
rematar@reddit
I'm in Canada, and it's easy to do.
It sounds like an option for IRA.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/retirement-assets-cash-saftey.asp
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Ah, that is a useful link - no sarcasm intended. Thank you again.
rematar@reddit
You're welcome. Hopefully, it's some form of goggles for the stewing shitstorm.
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
exactly.Ā Ā Or you could go our way and just not have money enough to invest.
And then it is all theory.
ForgottenRuins@reddit
The amount of times Iāve heard people say this since 2005ā¦. Donāt do it.
delusionalbillsfan@reddit
Yeah, horribly dangerous advice. They dont even need to cash out if they think the market goes down. Most 401ks will allow you to shift to more conservative funds, say a money market or something that tracks US government bonds rather than the US stock market.
Caahing out isnt something that can be easily undone and if you dont need the money for some sort of emergency it's almost never worth it.
rafa_styx@reddit
Location: Aveiro, Portugal
We had the first fire of the year on the 31st of March. Fires never ocurred so early in the year and the rate is also increasing, has the last time this are burnt was in September 2024. The soils are visible becoming bare. During this last fire, the main highway of the country had to be closed for several hours, has the fire was engulfing it. Funnily enough , just a month ago it had also been closed for several weeks when a part of it collapsed due to record rain and flooding.
rmannyconda78@reddit
Location: Marion, Indiana todayās photo (a nasty storm). It has been getting crazy, last week some supercell storms rolled through, dropping tornados, luckily it was out in the countryside and only EF0.
People are starting to get nutty again, looking at some of the recent arrest/criminal charges on Grant county busted Iāve seen domestic battery on a person less than 14 years old, neglect of a dependent, armed robbery, domestic battery, rape, and child molestation (which is extremely common here sadly). There was also a shooting, and they have not arrested the perp yet as he fled somewhere in the wild blue yonderā.
I saw a video of two teens in those shitty ass āE bikesā that look like dirt bikes harassing an old vet who hangs out at the park, like come on kids knock it the fuck off.
There was a large no kings protest in the area, I heavily photographed it, and shot a spool of 16mm film of it which I should see the footage here in about 4 weeks more or less, as itās on its way to the lab to be developed, fingers crossed it turns out. A moment that stood out to me was I met an old marine veteran among the crowd, who immediately recognized my 16mm camera (a Bell and Howell Filmo 70 series) as he was a combat cameraman (probably Vietnam) he was tickled to see one being used still let alone for photojournalism.
Gas is around $4 to the gallon, food prices are through the roof. To help with some of it Iām planting a large garden, and getting my canner out this summer. Iām also going to grow a tall patch consisting of 8 tobacco plants, and 8 Russian mammoth sunflowers. Am also growing beets, carrots, peppers, popcorn, beans, squash, melons, and various herbs. Iām definitely going to need all the garden I can get.
This is going to be a rough summer I have a feeling.
Time lapse Footage of that supercell in the picture https://youtu.be/VYdRXSwfYYw?si=fzq_o3pj4EKxOfjj
(Taken on mavic 3 classic, edited in Lightroom)
CannyGardener@reddit
I've been growing popcorn the last several years, but now that things are getting to where the rubber is meeting the road, I'm wondering if I can use popping corn as ground corn for things like corn mush, or if I should roll over to dent corn for that sort of thing. Have you ever tried grinding your popcorn?
rmannyconda78@reddit
Itās my first season growing it, I really want to get a flour mill so I can grind it, need to get some lime water so I can make masa for tortillas and tamales. Now chili peppers on the other hand I am quite skilled at growing.
CannyGardener@reddit
Me too!! Really just want a little old box grinder, Little House on the Prairie-style. Feels like it could come in handy. Can you use lye instead of lime water? I feel like lye is easier to make, rather than finding a source of powdered lime.
I would love any tips you have on Chilis!! I am popping seeds here tonight (can't plant in CO until Mother's Day). I have some that a friend gave me last year that she calls "fish" peppers, they are purple and sort of like a jalapeno, but I have quite a pile of seeds, just never very successful at growing peppers!! I grow a lot of pot, so I'm toying with just keeping them in a grow with those plants, and foregoing outdoors entirely with the peppers. Do you know, generally are peppers determinant or indeterminant?
rmannyconda78@reddit
I donāt know about lye, Iāll have to look that up. I grew up on little house on the Prairie, and my grandmother taught me to can and garden. Chili peppers are easy to grow, they love hot weather, the wet bulb temps that cause mass casualty incidents many varieties of chili peppers thrive in, especially anything Capsicum Chinese, which includes habaneros, ghost peppers, Carolina reapers, scotch bonnets, and 7 pot chilis. Other pepper varieties like C. frutescens and C. annuum do well too in some extreme heat, though the most heat tolerant has to be the first species mentioned. Most peppers can tolerate some dryness too, though you should water them. A cool fact about the first two species listed is that you can take them indoors during the winter, I kept a Carolina Reaper alive for 6 years that way.
Peppers are easy to raise, keep them watered, temps over 50 degrees, and keep them full sun and they thrive. Some plants can get up to 7ā tall in climates where they can grow year round. Peppers also can have big yields.
alloyed39@reddit
Peppers grow very well in Virginia. The plants put out well into the fall.
Open_Cold_8995@reddit
I have grown peppers - jalapenos and habaneros into mid-late november the last couple of years. In Nebraska! Thank you global warming!
rmannyconda78@reddit
One of my favorite crops too, and I love hot sauce
alloyed39@reddit
I love salsa, especially homemade. I've also been known to eat tomatoes like apples.
The takeaway here is that we grow a lot of tomatoes and peppers.
CannyGardener@reddit
Proudest moment ever, my son at 4 years old came in with a beefsteak tomato eating it like an apple. I asked what he had, "I found a tomato that is slurpy like a peach!"
rmannyconda78@reddit
I understand that, when it comes to tomatoās I like romas, cause I like making sauce and paste (thanks to being raised by a Italian grandmother)
CannyGardener@reddit
A 6 year old pepper plant?! That is crazy! The roots must have been freaking massive! Do they sort of hibernate in the winter, and die back, or do they just stay green and bushy all year? Do they produce in the winter?? I have not had a pepper get bigger than maybe a large glass; do I need to keep an eye on the fruits for blossom end rot, like tomatos?
Reading through your notes here, I think my problem has probably been my VPD. I live in a ridiculously dry area (this morning my hygrometer by the window said it was 6% RH), so it is really tricky to keep things as humid as needed; that really pushes this to be an indoor endeavor for me, I think. My grow rooms are very controlled, so it seems like those would keep the humidity where it needs to be. I got heat in spades, but I think the humidity is what is throwing a wrench in things!
rmannyconda78@reddit
I took it inside and kept it by the window, it kinda went semi dormant, now if I had a good grow light I probably couldāve gotten a good harvest from it year round. They are lower maintenance than tomatoes. Funny fact peppers, tomatoes, and tobacco are all in the nightshade family
CannyGardener@reddit
Hah you learn something new every day! Had no idea about the nightshades. OK I just booted up a new grow (I have a couple thousand watts running in the basement), I think I'm going to try and keep a pet pepper plant in the basement ;) God knows I put peppers in eeeeeeverything! If things get to looking weird I might have to drop you a DM, if that is all right? =)
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
Peppers like cool roots and hot branches.Ā Keep em mulched and watered and they will thrive.
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
crack the popcorn first in a mortar or a big bag and a hammer.Ā Then grind or you'll need new plates on your grinder by the time you get thru enough to make something with.
Use the lime.Ā It is safer and easier.Ā Commonly sold as pickle crisp in the canning sectionĀ
CannyGardener@reddit
I didn't realize that was what pickle crisp was! Only place i've bought lime was from Home Depot for projects outside, where I make lye from ash for soap myself, so that has sort of skewed my view of lime a bit. Good to know!!
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
I know, i am from the build lime type s world.Ā I felt like i had found a secret key when someone told me it was the same as pickle crisp.
CannyGardener@reddit
I always look at that stuff on the shelf when I'm stocking up on canning gear, but have just never thought to look into it. My pickles are always plenty crisp without! LOL Guess I need to start doing some more research!
AlwaysPissedOff59@reddit
To your point about nuttiness increasing... In a very sad case in my area, a mother was arrested for murdering her 14 year old daughter, whom she allegedly wanted to save from Elon Musk.
DisingenuousGuy@reddit
<Source> CW: Graphic details in article.
Should have gotten a publication ban on their name. Absolutely unhinged reaction.
rmannyconda78@reddit
My goodness, that aināt right
rmannyconda78@reddit
Itās sad part of me does not even question what people are willing to do at this point, itās more of a matter of ādo I even want to knowā what they are gonna do at this point.
RunYouFoulBeast@reddit
Storm on the lone flag.. Fitting.
rmannyconda78@reddit
Kinda is actually, I did not notice the flag in the picture despite it being right smack dab in the center
RunYouFoulBeast@reddit
But it's still a clean flying nice flag , let hope it endure the storm.
rmannyconda78@reddit
The drone did, mavic 3s are very wind resistant
rmannyconda78@reddit
A Cessna flying near a thunderstorm today 3/31/26. It looked he was hauling ass back to the airport, who can blame him. Would hate to be the pilot of that with the thunder storms in proximity.
rmannyconda78@reddit
A group of the protesters at the town square
rmannyconda78@reddit
A tornado that formed under the supercell, you may notice it in the time lapse, in the far right side of the footage only for a brief second
rmannyconda78@reddit
A masked protester with a sign that reads āwe the people are pissedā
Awkward_Mastodon4332@reddit
Wearing a plate carrier under the shirt?
rmannyconda78@reddit
Mabey he was, donāt know for sure.
emerioAarke@reddit
Location: Sweden
As in almost every another country we have been having expensive gas. Diesel is now about 24sek/liter (9,59/gallon) a month ago it was about 16sek/liter (6,39$/gallon). Still cheaper than four years ago though.
Besides the Epstein war it has been the warmest spring ever recorded in many places in Sweden. This time of year in northern half of Sweden it's should still be winter but it's not even any snow left and I even saw some wind flowers which usually comes end of April. If this warm weather continues I have to mow the lawn but is usually done in mid May.
bipolarearthovershot@reddit
Delete your lawn, grow a garden or food forestĀ
emerioAarke@reddit
I've started to let some of the garden just grow by itself but I hate ticks to much to wanna do that over the whole garden.
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
Can you keep chickens or ducks?Ā Ā They will keep ticks away.
emerioAarke@reddit
Actually I can. My parents have hundreds of chickens and a dozen of ducks. Thanks for the tip.
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
Whoot!Ā I love solutions to problems.Ā especially fun and entertaining ones like chickens or somesuch :)
CatchaRainbow@reddit
Weirdly this has cheered me up!
RunYouFoulBeast@reddit
I expect USA to win, very easy all key players of foreign team detain by ICE permanently!
Heck Donald might just be the player scoring every goal!
florite_king@reddit
Location: Deep South āTrumpvilleā
Gas is expensive, a new war has started, and friends and relatives are heading off to fight. The media keeps saying Trump supporters are giving up and leaving the ācultāābut thatās not what Iām seeing.
From my perspective, my friends, family, and coworkers who support Trump seem more committed than ever. I genuinely thought that by now more people would have stepped back and realized they might be getting misled.
Instead, every point I bring up is met with a rehearsed responseātalking points that feel fed to them by questionable media sources. They all say the same things, almost word for word, and it comes across as robotic. I rarely see independent or critical thinking in these conversations.
Honestly, itās unsettling. I didnāt realize how deep this kind of division and mindset could go. Living in America right now, it sometimes feels like the less you question things, the more comfortable you are.
If we canāt agree on facts, we canāt run a democracy. Itās collapsing
Edit can not spell
rmannyconda78@reddit
I was once one of them, they really do believe that stuff, combine with a lack of critical thought. They mindlessly put faith in a man they shouldnāt be. Critical thinking saved me, never again.
CatchaRainbow@reddit
Question everything. Return to your beliefs frequently and examine them critically. I have been caught out. I was flabbergasted when it all became clear.
Right-Cause9951@reddit
A man should only be lead by one thing in this life. Reason.
rmannyconda78@reddit
I agree with ya, but reason seems in short supply these days, like everything else. I say we fucked up good as a society
Direption@reddit
I'm in North Idaho and this has more or less been my experience. When you ever so slightly push back on the MAGA-media talking points it's usually met with a form of "well...because?" and a glazed over look as if they're trying to recall something but the something isn't there.
If I went back in time and showed this reality to my 25 year old self I would get laughed back into my time machine.
amityville@reddit
This timeline hella grim.
RunYouFoulBeast@reddit
Hope + Fear .. A toxic combination.
RunYouFoulBeast@reddit
In term of vector and orientation , these two usually don't align, it had to be place in an infinite timeline and stretch out to meet , with a small angle variations , that is slightly tilted.
Come to think it, only religion does that, the timeline under any other circumstances is finite, religion put it to infinite (well after death).. Which mean the sequence can only be broken either to do not fear death , or highlight that the vector alignment is not true.
Like this - apparently you can only go Valhalla heaven if you are Vikings.
JagBak73@reddit
Witnessing the same in Missouri. Trumpers' belief in dear leader hasnt really wavered. They've double-downed on their cultish devotion, zealotry, and pretzel logic required to justify the absolute madness and idiocy going on.
I try and give them wide berth nowadays. Can't stand listening to their horseshit anymore.
lavapig_love@reddit
Mahalo for your post. I'm in Nevada and I see some similar behavior. Keep trying, but also take care of and protect yourself too. We're glad to have you here.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Correct post. Thank you lavapig_love! I feel for florite_king. They are correct with this statement: "Living in America right now, it sometimes feels like the less you question things, the more comfortable you are."
collapse-ModTeam@reddit
Rule 14: AI-generated content may not be posted to /r/collapse. No self-posts, no comments, no links to articles or blogs or anything else generated by AI or AI influencers/personas. No AI-generated images or videos or other media. No "here's what AI told me about [subject]", "I asked [AI] about [subject]" or the like. This includes content substantively authored by AI.
DisingenuousGuy@reddit
Back during 2020, there was this meme about Head Empty that took off. Looks like so many of them really did swallow the meme!
Physical_Ad5702@reddit
MAGA is a cult
OuterLightness@reddit
Iāve noticed it correlates with religiosity and almost takes on a more faith-like frenzy the more intense it becomes.
CatchaRainbow@reddit
Location: South coast of the UK, The Purbecks.
Firstly. The price of fuel has slowed people down on the roads I've observed. Drivers are happy to sit in the slow lane to conserve fuel, including me.
Still no insects, although it is just starting to warm up, But there is none, nothing. I heard a person gasp when they saw a bumblebee and I remembered when you saw 10 a day. So very sad.
I think maybe we may have reached a turning point in our energy future. The Israel US Iran war and the future fuel shortages have guaranteed everyone increasing spending on renewables as there seems no other options. Except the US of course they have a long way to go.
Food prices are appalling here in the UK. I have given up shopping in Tesco's and am now a lidl Aldi shopper. Seems to be 2 thirds the price. Fuel, I drive a diesel and filled up at Ā£1.87 a litre or Ā£7.07 per US gallon or $9.33 US Gallon.
Physical_Ad5702@reddit
Location: USA, East
This country is going to implode soon. How much more can people take? Now with the illegal war in Iran going on for over a month, the global economy tanking, the Epstein Files are going to start getting a lot of attention again since TACO just fired Pam Bondi.Ā
This ānationā (settler colony) is a joke. I want out ASAP. I know the collapse will be global, but itād be nice to no longer be associated with whatever we are calling this place these days. It so fucking embarrassing and shameful.
fedfuzz1970@reddit
Just got word that Canada has reinstated its immigration law which allows descendants of Canadian born citizens to apply for citizenship. The law had been under challenge and recently decided in favor of restoration.
Plurm@reddit
That was my reasoning for leaving as well. Maybe we'll still get got but at least it wasn't in America.
Heeler2@reddit
Location: Midwest, USA
Last night, I somehow managed to watch all 20 minutes of the shitshow that was Trumpās speech about Iran. We still have no idea of what is actually going on there or the true ramifications for us in the US.
The damage that he is doing to our relationships with Europe and NATO is causing worldwide political and economic instability.
Please make it stop.
rmannyconda78@reddit
Iām to a point of ādo even want to knowā, Iām just waiting for something stupid to happen at this point, everything is pointing towards it.
JagBak73@reddit
He's constantly lying. About Iran seeking a ceasefire. About everything.
All signs are pointing to escalation and perhaps a draft being instituted. The asshole said this war would be over in a couple of weeks when it first started.
Kharg is going to be a mess. Our carriers are poised to get damaged thius out of commission for a long time. It doesn't look good
Distinguishedflyer@reddit
Narrator: It didn't stop.
Heeler2@reddit
I know. But a girl can dream.
GDay_Champion@reddit
888
Distinguishedflyer@reddit
click-monster@reddit
"We still have no idea of what is actually going on there" Right? Considering we live in an info-saturated doomscrolling hellhole now, with live drone feeds etc, besides what Trump says and a couple of predictions for when Hormuz oil/cargo deliveries run out, I've seen very little reliable information about anything happening there or here - almost as if there's a blackout to avoid panic.
pvdfan@reddit
Location: USA Midwest
This may seem minor compared to where the world is today, but the state of driving/commercial road transportation is deplorable. Aggression in drivers have gotten worse every year since COVID with defensive driving simply not existing. The skill gap between drivers is growing with the refusal to take away licenses from seniors who have no business on the road. It's almost to the point of parody as my local area has at least one driver weekly hitting the gas on accident and plowing into a building Aggression and lack of skill is leading to more instances on the interstate of a car doing 40 in front of a car doing 90.
Rest areas are closing at a rapid pace and the few that are open are over-ran with semis idling. Then again, quite a few states passed laws banning sleeping rest areas anyways and forcing people to spend $100 plus on a hotel just to prevent drowsy driving. Commercial trucking has seen a massive drop in skilled drivers due to low pay and it shows from the amount of cars I've seen forced off roads.
It just feels like people are in the smoke 'em if you got 'em phase of the USA and give zero fucks about anyone else.
JagBak73@reddit
Same here. Lack of signalling, dipshits merging onto the highway going 40 when traffic is going 70, psychos weaving in and out of cars going 90-100 with barely a car length in between, people running red lights well after they have changed or just blowing through stop signs, road rage or just angry looking people scowling or shouting, etc
I really hate driving nowadays.
rmannyconda78@reddit
Sounds like driving down 465 in central Indiana
_rihter@reddit
Location: Central-ish Europe (Pannonian Basin)
A decade ago, there was a lot more discussion on this sub about peak oil and resource depletion. In the meantime, those topics were mostly forgotten, but the issue never went away.
The reality of the post-peak oil era is slowly setting in across the continent. There are countries like Denmark and the Netherlands that have accepted that the era of unrenewable resource abundance is over and 'allowed' market forces to do the work, resulting in diesel prices climbing to USD 11.175 per US gallon, or USD 2.952 per liter. Other countries are still in denial and trying to keep prices from skyrocketing through administrative measures.
Polandās new maximum petrol station prices go into force
German petrol stations allowed just one price rise a day in bid to curb Iran war surge
The probability of the Gulf oil production returning to pre-war levels is decreasing each day as the US is failing to neutralize Iran's offensive capabilities and its ability to control the Strait of Hormuz. The rest of the world has yet to accept that the 'rogue state' is now deciding what can move through Hormuz. Until that happens, expect more price rises and shortages.
Brutal summer is arriving, and nobody is ready. No talks about siestas, reducing hours, or installing ACs in public buildings. Do your best not to be in the retirement home or hospital this summer. Or any summer from now on.
PorcelinaMagpie@reddit
Location: Indiana
Job market: What a shit show. I shared on here a month ago that I recently lost my last job as a corporate scapegoat. I was supposed to have three different interviews this week, but last Friday every recruiter from those companies called me and said the same thing: "We are cancelling this position due to economic uncertainty." I reached out to over a dozen colleagues in my field and they all received similar phone calls last week as well. So..I'm more than likely going to be a cart wrangler at a local big box store in my area until I find something in my field. I'm 38 and have a bachelor's degree and multiple professional marketing/tech certifications. I never in a million years thought I would be here at this moment in my life. But, I'll do what I need to do in order to stay afloat. At least I know I'm not the only one wading through this madness.
Economy: Gas is still hovering around $4/gallon in my area. Restaurants are still packed everyday. I'm telling everyone I know on a personal level to wake the hell up and get ready for what's on the horizon. On Saturday over ten different U-Haul trucks were loaded up and drove off in the middle of the night. People are skipping out on their leases like crazy because they can't keep up with everything. I have a feeling that this week will be the deciding factor in what direction we go as a country in regards to the current Iran situation.
My newest abstract painting:
Dagger Ice Skate Heels Click Fancy - 16x20 - acrylic on canvas
rmannyconda78@reddit
Whatās on that horizon aināt good, Iāve almost stopped trying to warn others save for inner circle. People just continue to get nastier and meaner. Speaking of packed restaurants Iāve been getting a alright amount of DoorDash orders too, thereās been times, even in a seedy backwater place like Grant county Iāve made $150 in a day, mainly on weekends. I wonder how in a fairly poor place like Marion, Indiana Iām seeing newer ram trucks, jeeps, dodge hellcats (I will admit I do love the sound of a supercharged 6.4 hemi v8 though), and large SUVs like Durangos/Escalades/explorers. Will admit would love to have an older gmt800 generation of Escalade or Yukon, but thatās a 20 year old truck you can get for a few grand, that is fairly dependable still, not a 50-100 grand vehicle, like how are people affording those, also you canāt hardly work on them. Also keep up the painting.
Fragrant_Tailor9609@reddit
You said the restaurants are packedā¦ maybe look for a bartending or waitressing gig to get by. Cart wrangling could suck in the summed. GL.
Job market seems very abysmal for all. AI is only helping a few ppl get rich and otherwise jobs are shrinking. Even big tech is firing workers to spend on AI. Economy could turn around some if oil retreats eventually.
MsCalendarsPlayaArt@reddit
Thank you for sharing your art with us!
Why do you think the restaurants are packed? That seems so counterintuitive to saving money given the state of things
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
One of the happiest people i ever met had his phd in something or other but worked as a janitor at the local high school.Ā Ā
I asked him why and he said his 6 books of poetry published.Ā He could think while he worked, play with words and had time enough for his family when he got home.Ā Ā
I know he lived poor.Ā Ā But i tell this to remind you to keep on the creating even if you take a shit job.Ā It will keep you human.Ā It it help you continue to be more than just that job.
Thanks for sharing your paintings!!
BananaBustelo-8224@reddit
New York, USA
Thereās a folk saying that once said, āMarch comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. The day I post this, we were woken up to somewhat heavy rain, thunder and some lightning. It wasnāt severe by any stretch of the imagination, but just enough to flip that proverb on its head.
But, hey, at least all the snow has melted. Right?
Thatās all Iāve got, apart from the usual suspects (and new ones).
sherpa17@reddit
Don't forget, "April is the cruelest month." So you have that to look forward to!
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
I had to Google the phrase to remember it was by T.S. Eliot, but I didn't forget the name of the poem.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
It's raining here in Orange county NY this morning, April 1 6:20AM. No more snow banks.
8brains@reddit
Shout out Orange County. I remember as a kid how much it would rain in the spring. Now i feel lucky if it rains all day a few times a year.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Waving back at you, now in the afternoon - 1:30PM. The rain has let up, but it is threatening to fall again.
The springs here have been wet. But the summers have been drier than when I first moved here in June 1998.
it-was-nobody@reddit
Location: Texas, USA
Iām typing this out at a grocery store in Houston, eating a croissant and drinking a coffee. It is one of the bougiest grocery stores in town, with products and foods from all over the world. As soon as you walk in, there is a coffee bar on your left, with smoothies, teas, and six different types of coffee you can pour for yourself, so you have just the right amount of milk and sugar. In front of you is their cooked food, rows and rows of good, healthy food that is made fresh every morning. Behind that is their salad station, where you can build your own salad; and behind that is their sandwich station, which has arguably the best sandwiches in town. The level of customization, the ability to come in here and order exactly what you want, how you want it, when you want it, is stunning ā and unsustainable.
This store reminds me why people are willing to pay morally dubious men ten thousand dollars to guide them over deserts and rivers just to get the opportunity to work here. Itās not just the grocery stores, of course, itās the level of freedom and the quality of life that far exceeds anything our ancestors could have imagined; itās the rule of law, stability, and security; itās the freedom and possibility and hope.
The society these illegal immigrants came for, that they risked their lives for, is a mirage; it is a trick of smoke and mirrors, built by relentless propaganda and highly paid political consultants. And just like these illegals, I believed that this was a land of opportunity. I bought the whole lie, hook, line, and sinker, and asked for second helping. I said that this was the land of the free and the home of the brave, and I said it with conviction. I realize now, and am ashamed by, my naivety.
Corruption conquers all. We like to think of ourselves as exceptional, and we are, but not in a good way. ALEC sits down with state legislators all over the country and literally writes legislation with corporations. Corporations and aristocrats litigate their way out of consequence and justice. Our President is a tyrant with no meaningful restraint, who has started an unwinnable, unjust, unnecessary war that has severely disrupted the extremely delicate, unfathomably colossal network of human civilization. A war that is about to escalate into a ground invasion, costing the lives of thousands, for no reason whatsoever, for the benefit of virtually nobody.
The stupidity of our elite is breathtaking (and I really hope it is stupidity and not malevolence). Not just DJT, but the economic and political predators that are willing to sell out the lives of millions so they can maintain their status in the social hierarchy. The Senators and Representatives who spend their careers as beggars in suits and ties. The CEOs who spend their days maximizing number of insurance claims they can deny, for the benefit of some abstract, ruthless entity: the shareholders. The VP who is about to decide to fire two dozen people, but who cannot troubleshoot why the audio on their Microsoft Teams isnāt working. All while the janitors, farmers, and teachers, the people who really keep society running, canāt keep their head above water.
Our suffering is profitable and we live in a society that maximizes profit. What is the inescapable conclusion that comes from combining those two observations?
I grew up in a world of abundance and freedom, and I will die in one of scarcity and oppression. The complex supply chains and logistical networks that underpin all this freedom and choice are becoming increasingly unstable, and there is no credible path to restabilizing them. We are, to put it politely, fucked. And so is this grocery store.
Flaccidchadd@reddit
96-62@reddit
I don't agree. I believe we are all, in a sense, in pursuit of rationality. We all need to find a way to feel that allows us to pursue a rationally defined best interest/self interest. People like their bosses because it helps them build a good relationship with them. People feel smarter than other people because it enables them to start thinking after the other person has spoken.
The emotion that is often neglected is malevolence, or sadism. People semi-unknowingly choose sadism because it seems most rational in a situation, and walk away feeling smart, clever and rational. With no idea what they've planted in themselves.
bbsven@reddit
Location: Upstate New York, US ( + Los Angeles, CA)
Apologies for wall of text. Been lurking here for years, finally at such a place of exhaustion and desperation with the state of life right now that I need to let the steam off somewhere not directed at my loved ones. Most people in my life seem to be taking the "I can't do anything about it so I won't talk or think about it" approach, which I really truly understand, but I just can't do it.
Everything sucks. I've been in therapy for years trying to learn how to focus on the positives; the good things I can put my energy into when everything else feels dark. But it's getting harder and harder. I'm in my mid-20s right now, and selfishly I just cannot get the thought out of my head that I am angry because this is not the world and life I was promised as a kid. When I was a kid, I truly believed in the goodness of humanity to help us get better and better as a society over my life; my schools had us in Ecology Club learning about how we were going to save nature and were on coarse to fix everything if we all just tried. Fundraising for UNICEF and a million other good causes to make a difference for a better future. The "vibe" so to speak overall was one of "HOPE", I saw it in on posters, on the news, in school, and I internalized it- things will get better if we all work together. Instead, it seems like all the adults around me bent over backwards to let the most evil people possible hijack every part of our lives and entirely gave up on the promise of hope or progress, and once I reached adulthood (first term of college was the start of the pandemic) it all fell apart and has been a non-stop cascade of bad since.
Now, I get to watch almost everyone in my life suffer and I feel like I can barely do a thing to help anyone; I can barely help myself. My peers are almost all dead broke unless they came from pre-existing wealth. They're giving up on having their own places to live, and moving back in with their parents and siblings to pool together the little they have, and it still isn't enough. We're all forgoing necessary medical checkups, dental work, losing access to therapy, having to make very little groceries and other essentials stretch very far. I'd say a good 75% of my peers have suffered from layoffs in the last year or two, and the job market is so fucked that most of them have been looking and applying for hundreds of jobs, for months and months, with no end in sight and the only option available being minimum wage (or less, if they're contractors) jobs. These are fully college educated people who did everything they were told to - do well in school, land internships, go to a good college - and have nothing to show for it except a mountain of inescapable debt with no job options to escape. Everyone is beating themselves up, blaming themselves for it, and the collective depression and exhaustion is just suffocating.
I don't know what to do about or for my own parents. My father is a lifelong educator- truly an incredible teacher who has put every last bit of his heart and soul into caring for children, their families, and giving to the community for no other reason than the love he feels for the people around him. It's certainly never paid well, and the world has given almost nothing back to him for it. Schools and their shitty administrations (it's always corrupt admin, while the underpaid overworked teachers keep everything together) + deeply underwhelming governmental funding for education give him and his coworkers nothing to work with. They pay him almost nothing, and then he's expected to reach into those almost empty pockets to personally fund his classroom to give his students a good education because the school doesn't provide anything. And then on top of that, he's not just a teacher anymore: poor funding and programs means he needs to step up to also be a counselor/therapist for increasingly struggling students; increasing violence with no action in America means he needs to be a security guard ready to lay down his life in situations like an active shooter, and needs trainings for those scenarios; no funding for a full-time nurse means he needs to be stocked and trained to be a nurse himself; I could go on about the million jobs now expected in one dirt cheap salary, but I have to wonder how anyone expects teachers to even fully teach anymore with how spread thin they are. And that's not to mention how a large portion of the country has decided education is evil and woke, so have fun dealing with those parents on top of an already unforgiving job.
So how does the world thank my father for giving his body and soul for the good of future generations? Well, he recently got laid off after a decade at his last school because of education funding cuts- his school got rid of basically the entire Arts department to cope and he's a music teacher. They gave him a dying 2 inch succulent as goodbye and here we are. He's been searching for any work he can for months and months now, but there is just nothing available to him that pays more than minimum wage. His health has taken a downturn, no doubt due in part to the stress, and he's driving around the city 4-6 hours minimum a day to teach lessons, do random gigs, anything he can find to scrape together money, because my mother is unable to work with chronical illness. She is an incredibly smart engineer who has been working her ass off for longer than I've been alive, and recently the company she's been at for decades laid off her entire department to replace with AI. This becomes a problem because she is deeply, deeply ill and increasingly losing mobility/functions, and her previous job had luckily recognized her incredible talents (can do the work of many people that would take them weeks by herself in just a few days) and had an understanding that she could take off multiple days a week as she needed. There is no feasible way she can get any job now with the state of her health, so everything is on my father. His health is getting worse too but he has to keep it together for her; the clock is ticking down, they're on the verge of losing their home, no work is popping up for either of them, and they can't even afford the necessary medications and treatments for either of them anymore. I'm so scared of losing my parents, and I'm so angry at the world for any of this happening. They should be preparing for retirement after a lifetime of giving everything to the people around them, not rationing my mom's pills.
So my friends are fucked, and my family is fucked. What about me? Well, I stupidly went into tech (game development) when that seemed like a good idea pre-pandemic, and the entire industry has now been in a seemingly free-fall state since I reached the end of college. I went to one of the top schools in the world for what I do, taught by some of the most respected veterans in the industry and surrounded by some of the most insane talent you can imagine in the field. A few years after graduation, almost no one has a stable job or any work, doing short, underpaid contracts and gigs where they can find them. Layoffs and closures for almost every company, project cancellations everywhere you look, and I have personally sent in HUNDREDS of applications in the last few years with no luck in finding stability. Instead, my first job we all got laid off a year ago after the CEO took his own life when faced with the state of the industry and economy, and the company crumbled. Since then the only thing I've been able to find is shakey work at a start-up that pays us all next to nothing while announcing millions raised in investments- some of my co-workers are making less than minimum wage. The joys of contract labor.
So, faced with almost no income, periods of unemployment, dwindling options, and rising cost of living in my previous city (Los Angeles), I packed up everything not that long ago and moved to a much lower cost of living city in Upstate New York near extended family. It is the only way I've been able to weather this and keep a roof over my head for me and my two cats. Money still isn't great, and I have none leftover to help the many people suffering in my life, and I feel useless. No way to pay off my college debts, no way to save, no way to ever own a home or enjoy any of the things I was promised growing up in the so called "American Dream." I'll keep scraping by on the little money I make, endlessly applying for jobs further and further from my education or dreams, feeling guilty for leaving my parents in LA and not being able to help them (they unfortunately won't sell their house, it was their dream and my mom's health is so poor she probably couldn't survive a move, but I just couldn't afford living in that city anymore). Feeling guilty I can't help any of my friends going through their own hardships. Missing them all beyond words and feeling alone in a new city because it was my only option. Watching the world around me destroyed for the benefit of very few people while they convince us all to tear each other apart, start pointless wars, and deplete the last of our resources. I'm sticking around for the people I care about, I know they'll need me, but good god the rest of it is just starting to feel stupid and pointless. Is this just the rest of my life until I die? How do we even begin to fix any of this?
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
I hate to write this, I detest even suggesting it, but depending on where you are in"Upstate" have you thought about working as a Corrections Officer for the NYS DOCCS. I worked as a C.O. for 22 years. I could give you a litney of why you should NOT work for them and the huge rant of what happened to me and why NYSCOPBA, the union, Wonky co-workers and supervisors.
The department is hiring now. Medical benefits. Overtime. Deferred compensation and a pension.
I too was a college graduate and am sympathetic to what you wrote. Problem was I was working crappy office jobs which is why I signed up for the NYS DOCCS exam. The job paid well. I was able to purchase a house, raise our son, pay the stupid taxes on said house, and am now collecting a partial pension. My deferred compensation is doing well (ha ha sort of).
As I wrote in my first paragraph, it sux, but at the same time, it's a job that pays.
RunYouFoulBeast@reddit
The only comfort i can say is i read the whole paragraph and acknowledge it.
There are no fixing, system choose what it became, but participants can choose, exit the box and grinder look out/walk out the glass box the system trying to encapsulate you in it.
System is a mirage , those bounds and requirement that's on you , can only be unselected by yourself.
As in game, the designer can place all specs, quest , rules.. but what happen when the player choose not to play. Now not the shut down button , just play a different game.
By the way , those new western game all are mostly unplayable they are either flooded with give me all your money request, or it;s boring , i tend to enjoy old single player game or lately beyond all reason, hence indie on Valve Steam can be quite nice option but you had to have a unique idea , hence walk out the grinder to get a new perspective would help also. Cheers
Away_Beyond_2979@reddit
Someone once told me, you can't change the world, but you can change someone's life, or even someone's day. That's the best I can hope for, and thats what I try to do.Ā
I work in health care so I focus most of my energy on helping people in need, time with my family, in nature, snd creating things, reading books, gardening. All the rest tends to recede into the background once you let go of your expectations.Ā
calico134@reddit
Good post, this is the kind of stuff I come to this weekly thread for. I wish I had something helpful to add. I'm from a different part of America (midwest). Most everyone I know is slowly drowning, financially and mentally. Even if it's unspoken.
Worst part is those who are in their "just world" middle class propaganda bubbles act like we're subhuman for struggling. Meanwhile, everyone keeps working longer and longer hours at their shitty jobs that expects maximum effort forever, or they're chronically underemployed because the job market is fucked. I'm not an angry person, but the anger I feel is deep and almost frightening.
EastTyne1191@reddit
First, let me say that everything you're feeling is valid. This world is descending into madness daily, and it feels enormous. People keep telling me the world has always been this way in some form or another but it feels different this time. Too many systems caught in the chaos, causing the failure of societal infrastructure we always thought would be there.
Second, I share your disenchantment with humanity. I'm 40 and have to say, I also had an optimistic outlook that everyone out here was trying their best on the day to day. I absolutely loathe this administration for the feelings of hatred I have for them. I'm a forgiving person, but the level of suffering these people have caused is deplorable.
Third, and most difficult, is that you cannot fix the broken system by yourself. I'm sorry about your parents, friends, and family. This reality is buckling and it's hard to believe things will get better. I have faith they will get better, though. My advice to you is to find some way to find community where you live. Get to know your neighbors, maybe see if there's a community garden near you that you can join. Find ways to help the people around you, even if it's in small ways. Studies show that these steps can increase overall well-being, with the added benefit of improving your life and the lives of those around you. I hope your parents are able to find work or are able to leverage the equity in their home to improve their financial situation. Times like this I feel like a commune is the answer, but really I think that Is just feel better knowing all the people I care about are nearby so I can help them.
Learning new skills can be helpful, and may help you feel more prepared for whatever future we have in store. The library is a fantastic resource for books, and some also have free seeds you can use to plant a garden.
Right-Cause9951@reddit
If you see this message me back. I can't offer you the world but I can at least offer you some ideas and perhaps perspective.
DeepHerting@reddit
Location: Illinois, USA, the buckle of the Corn Belt
Three stories that you may consider in relation to each other:
-The drought has been alleviated slightly in Illinois and several communities have lifted their water emergency declarations, but remains present in most of the central part of the state and severe in some regions.
-The governor is promoting a bill to grow more ādomesticā produce to sell within the state (as opposed to industrial corn and soy), saying we canāt rely on other areas. But the proposed funding is very low.
GridDown55@reddit
Oh. That is very smart and forward thinking to grow your own food. I'm like.... Kinda surprised? But great.
Portalrules123@reddit
Location: New Brunswick, Canada, Earth
The jet stream seems to be still behaving weirdly, getting kind of stuck between Canada and the USA so the latter continues to get abnormally warm temperatures while we up north get normal or even below average temperatures for the next week in the forecast. Donāt get me wrong, Iād rather have these temperatures than the insane heat the Midwest USA is seeing. However, going from abnormally warm weather a week or so ago to below zero highs now and potential snow and freezing rain in the coming days canāt be good for the wildfire, especially birds that started migrating back here early.
Went to our local zoo (Magnetic Hill Zoo) for the first time in a few years for their winter opening and saw a very interesting presentation about the zooās caribou. The collapse related part is how the keepers talked about the massive collapse in populations of caribou up North and how many species that once had herds in the hundreds of thousands are now threatened due to climate change, deforestation, and hunting. I already knew some of that info of course but it was a sobering reminder of how badly we are messing up our countryās Arctic for the native species. On the bright side, we got to hold actual caribou antlers that the zooās caribou had shed recently so that was pretty cool.
A government minister in the neighbouring province of Prince Edward Island was basically caught taking an indirect $100,000 bribe from a developer in order to bypass wetland protections. He was removed from cabinet and suspended from caucus pending an investigation. Good to see some consequences for once, but it makes you imagine just how many similar quid pro quos go unchecked in both the Maritimes and around the world.
Both housing and healthcare continue to fall behind the rates of population growth we are seeing. While not as big an issue here as in say Ontario, itās definitely still a problem. To name some examples: most school psychologist positions in our provinceās school districts remain unfilled, forcing parents to either pay up for expensive private care or wait years. The Fredericton hospital has been stuffing inpatients into a hospital ambulance bay that was not designed for that purpose due to massive overcrowding, and it remains to be seen when theyāll be able to stop using it. Rents continue to rise well above sustainable rates considering the low wages we have here in the Maritimes, especially in cities like Halifax which are ridiculously expensive to live in now. And of course massive amounts of people across NB and Canada donāt even have a family doctor, often forcing them to go to the ER for routine things and thus clogging up the system. And now with fuel prices and inflation rising the expense crisis will only accelerate.
Donāt get me wrong, Iād still rather have our system than the Americansā one but itās certainly not what it used to be.
Anyways, thatās enough from me for this week. Good to see everyone elseās posts as well as per usual. Letās see if the ground invasion of Iran starts before or after next weekās threadā¦.
rematar@reddit
The weather in the prairies is unseasonable as well. My concern is the potential near future effects on flowering plants that are wild or farmed if we get some strange cold cycle or damage to garden plants beyond historical frost dates.
AlwaysPissedOff59@reddit
Location: Great Lakes State, US
Weather whiplash continues as noted by other commenters. Last week I wrote that the spring bulbs were about 2 weeks earlier than last year and perennials were about on schedule. Well, I was wrong. I usually take a photo of the "first flower", so I checked some photos from last year and 2024 and found that perennials are 10-12 days ahead of last year, which was at least one week ahead of 2022. I have a magnolia that has "broken" buds (preparing to bloom); magnolias bloom in the first week or two of May here. If the temps get much below freezing those flowers will definitely freeze. C'est la vie in the modern world.
We had a turnout of 125 for the No Kings rally in our small city, but that's less than 3% of the adult population in our majority-blue city, so Yay! for the march but Boo for the turnout. This isn't much of a surprise for me as our city is midway between two much larger cities where employment is still a thing; the largest employer in one city is a global company that's still hiring. I think that the fact that a lot of people aren't as desperate here as in other areas explains the lack of interest in No Kings. we had two counter-protester during our march; one tried to "roll coal" at us and hilariously failed miserably while the other just honked their car horn while speeding past us with a Trump flag.
Everyone seems to be sleepwalking through the BAU we're encouraged to follow. The illegal war isn't even discussed anywhere, and climate change is ignored.
KingofGrapes7@reddit
Location: MassachusettsĀ
Based purely on my route to work and not representing the rest of the state or New England, gas is still averaging $3.50Ā to $3.70. The highest I've seen is $3.99 at Mobil. Those vampires are just twitching to be the first to break into $4.00 and take advantage of anyone who doesn't know about cheaper options or isnt paying attention to gas in general.
The PS5 got a price INCREASE announced last week for all versions. That means the PS5 will be about $150 more than when it launched 6 years ago (my bones cracked typing that) and the PS5 Pro will probably be over $1000 once taxes are included. The PS6 is absolutely fucked as far as affordability goes. PC gaming is no longer viable as RAM alone has tripled or quadrupled in price. I consider this collapse relevant as not only do people use games to relax are about to be priced out of a hobby, but consoles are tech and anything that uses the same components are following or about to follow. I myself have been on a bit of a retro/emulation craze with that modded GBA I keep mentioning and a SNES I found at a yard sale awhile ago. I seem to be buying alot of stuff I can play for much less on newer machines but cant seem to stop. Not sure if this an urge for simplicity or trying to buy back my childhood. Too busy dying in Fire Emblem to think about it.
More Iran flip flopping. Trump had no idea what he was doing and now has even less because no one is giving in to him. I doubt Europe is going to stay out of it forever but I share their morbid satisfaction watching him squirm for the moment. I completely believe Trump is willing to put boots on the ground to feel like a tough war president but despite Fox's loud claims otherwise the public doesnt seem sold on this war and Republicans seem nervous about letting it drag closer to midterms. I have no idea what will happen next.
JagBak73@reddit
I just bought a Bluetooth controller for my fire stick and am going to install Retroarch on it. There's lots of interesting hacked ROMs to try out. New levels and graphics.
Also, I still game on my 2017 built pc. I really am not interested in paying $70-80 for buggy, half-assed designed AAA games so I just get highly reviewed games from 5-10 years ago that I haven't played before. Win win.