Remember, no Russian

Yes, check out swoveralls

Yes I am registered, because I ride motorcycles and I won’t need my organs if I’m dead.

I think it’ll be okay come night time.

Right there with you. I had like 25 hours in the game and realized I just spent most of that time save scumming a single battle over and over. I tried another 15 hours and it felt like that’s all I was doing. I felt I was under leveled, I rerolled a new character on the easiest difficulty but was still finding myself doing the same shit and battles weren’t getting easier.

I’m sure there’s a great game there, but I don’t have the time for it.

I bought a waterproofed iPod shuffle and water ear buds off eBay that works really great! Ear buds might get uncomfortable after an hour session, but it sounds better than the bone conducting stuff out there. There are other bud options that came with it that I should try out to see if they’re any more comfortable.

Ducati being bought by Audi. Maintenance intervals got better, instead of doing valve adjustments every 7500 miles. It did make the brand move away from dry clutch to a wet clutch, losing some of their iconic sounds (“I dunno man, should the engine sound like that when idling? Sounds like two metal wrenches hitting each other.”)

Photography.

I started to really get into it back in 2015 with a Sony A6000 and a kit lens. Then you buy more, higher quality lenses. Then you buy better camera bodies with full frame sensor, then lenses that are full frame compatible. Then the various odds and end accessories. Then trips around the world to take pictures of things.

I have taken a break from photography recently, on account that having a kid doesn’t allow me a lot of opportunity to edit my photos anymore. They say the best camera you have is the one that is on you. That has proven to be true while I try to be as present as possible around my daughter. I can quickly take out my phone, capture the moment and it will take care of most of the post processing edits that I can share with family later.

I bought a new PC in 2021 (because building was hard due to supply shortages) and it came with GamePass Ultimate. When I combined my existing Xbox Gold subscription, it gave me something like 1.5 years worth of GamePass Ultimate, which was really great! Once that subscription expired, I had saved up for a year worth of another subscription up front, but noticed they only offered month-to-month at that point. I realized I wasn’t playing GamePass games enough to warrant the subscription (might have been different if I could install on my Steam Deck, not through a Windows install or streaming).

Once that GamePass subscription came up, and then Netflix started cracking down on password sharing that I was sharing with my sister in the next city over, it made me question a lot of recurring subscription. For streaming TV shows/movies, I think going forward we’ll have one service subscribed to but bouncing around to catch up on shows that my wife and I may want to watch. For GamePass, I’ll probably resubscribe once Starfield comes out.

Kidney stones for me too! Mine are calcium oxalate based, so I take a supplement of magnesium citrate to help me break them down, but also drinking more water regularly. I should also lay off the salt, but that’s a hard one because it’s everywhere.

Sorry, didn’t realize you were referring to promos that Spotify runs for their content. Yeah I guess they don’t have a way to turn that off, but it’s a simple button to get past.

Also, fast forwarding really is not a big deal. While I’m out walking my dog and kiddo I just tap my ear buds twice and it fast forwards 15 seconds past the baked in ads in the podcast.

If the ads are baked in, just hit the 15s jump button a couple of times until you get back into the podcast. The ones I listen to usually play music during the ads, so when I hear the music is over I know I’m back in the podcast.

I need to change my sports up periodically but yes I do enjoy working out in the moment. It gives me a lot of time to myself to think through things going on in my life. Last year I was mainly cycling, this year I’ve been swimming on a Masters team, competing in Nationals and exploring open water swim competitions. I get really cranky when I don’t have a physical activity to keep me preoccupied. I’m very aware of my body image so it helps to ensure I’m feeling good about myself. That and I get to eat all the unhealthy things with less consequences of gaining the weight (although salt is a weakness for me and my blood pressure).

I have cut off Reddit since June 12th. It’s been a nice detox. While not everything is here it’s okay with me. I have a 1 year old to chase around that’s been primarily keeping my attention anyways.

The WGA started their strike at the beginning of May. SAG entered negotiations at the beginning of June but have authorized a vote to strike should negotiations not go their way. We’ll find out at the end of the month if SAG decides to strike.

No end in sight and SAG might be up next at the end of the month. They’re in negotiations right now.