It was fun having to go to work yesterday morning. Nothing was cleared up, no way for cars to get to my house so I had to make a trek by foot. This morning was worse because some of the snow had melted during the day yesterday and it refroze. Everything is slippery now.
One thing outside observers need to know is how incompetent the municipality services are. They knew in advance that this storm was coming. There were warnings all week. It came a day late here so they had extra time. The municipality website showed no information, just some cultural events and an article from two days ago that "the municipality is ready for the winter". At this point we have a saying for poor organisation during winter time when everyone knows it's coming in advance:
Dabbled into gardening (my partner did most of the work sadly but I'm more interested now than I was before!).
Got into birdwatching so I started exploring nature with a much more different perspective.
Set up a bird feeding station that got really popular among the birds AND the neighbours.
Learned how to crochet.
A combination of the aforementioned things somehow taught me how to manage my depression and anxiety better. I'm in a much better spot now than when I was mostly playing video games.
Death metal. Death metal while birding (or more like processing footage). Death metal while cross stitching. Death metal while crocheting. It's a weird outlet that I mostly keep to myself.
I use streaming services these days but my next phone will definitely still have a 3.5mm. I'm not an audiophile but my 10€ Phillips wired earbuds audio quality would be matched by bluetooths at 5-10x of their pricetag. The wireless buds I have are only 4 imes as expensive as the wired and audio quality is worse, they often lose signal and they tend to fall out of my ear regardless of which rubber plug I use.
Vegan for 7 months now. Not planning on ever going back. My staple breakfast is hummus toast or overnight oats with whatever fruit I get plus peanut butter and banana or carob molasses for sweetness.
Often we cook different curries at home. Oven baked vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, potatoes (sweet or otherwise) with spices also work really well. I don't make it that often but misir wat (Ethiopian lentil stew) is out of this world, you can easily make it vegan. Legume stews are on the menu at all times, and soy sauce peanut butter pasta is a guilty pleasure.
What if I sell my milk to a body builder just so I have a little pocket money?
As long as you're doing it of your own free will without taking it away from your child, yes, probably. There is consent involved.
But if your breast milk gets mixed into a batch that was produced from selected specimens who produce extraordinarily high volume of milk, impregnated with their babies taken away, tied to machines and milked in filthy conditions, kept alive by being fed antibiotics every day.... Yeah you get me.
My personal belief system is that no animal, regardless of how simple of a nervous system it possesses, deserves exploitation and suffering. It's not so much about the animal's feelings, which definitely also plays a role when we talk about the more "sentient" beings, but the effect that has on the rock we live on.
Keeping animals in captivity because "it's cool" or for public amusement is not something I agree with. Keeping them in a sanctuary is one thing, capturing them from the wild, breeding them, and displaying them in enclosures far smaller than their natural territory is another thing. Animal breeding for profit is also something I have a problem with. Keeping them in cages is not ok. You do not have a reason to keep a living being enclosed because "it's cool". Invasive animal species often came to be because the said species are "cool", not to mention the way they got into the breeding system in the first place.
The problem with consuming less sentient animals isn't about the kill count or the pain they suffer. It's about the way they're "harvested" and the effects on the environment. A much larger portion of our agricultural output goes for the tier 2 animals than for feeding humans. (using your tier system for simplicity, I don't want to lump animals into tiers myself). The emissions coming out of these animals amounts to at least 25% of our greenhouse gas output.
Farming insects is part of the above problem. You use more plant food for less calories. It's much more efficient than beef, yes, but correct me if I'm wrong, I might be talking out of my ass here, escaped population can wreak absolute havoc on the local ecosystems.
And for clams and mussels, they might only be able to react to stimuli but trawling for them is an absurdly destructive practice that also needs to stop.
Oh wow that's a lot of useful info. Thanks so much! The cherries we grew this year were actually from a granny farmer from the farmer's market. Her veggies are always the tastiest there and she seems to know her stuff, bless her. Thanks a lot for the link! 🍅
Since I see a lot about second generation peppers not being as good as first, does that go for tomatoes too? There are those really tasty grocery store cherry tomatoes that come in different varieties in one box. They cost like 4x the others but I get them when they're discounted before they throw them away. Can I save the seeds and grow them in my containers?
We grew some cherries in containers this year before they got invaded by stinkbugs. But those that survived were the tastiest tomatoes I've had in my life.
It's already easy to get to Austria from there. Border control is minimal and only on the non-schengen borders. We have a free movement of people so most of our Roma people migrate freely since 2007 by just showing their ID. That would make it ever so easier for those who work abroad to send money home (a large percentage).
This is pure right wing populism on Austria's part.
Discworld is my go-to these days. Goes well with cross stitching
In contrast I would never want to listen to a Terry Pratchett book while doing something else
Ah well. Sarah J. Maas was also a fun experience. It's so bad it's good. I went with A court of thorns and roses but I hear her other series follow a similar vein. It's hard to miss the important details. Look for the Graphic Audio releases.
First of all, ask your vet!!! I'm not a vet, just a random person on the internet.
Not sure what type of insulin you're using but most pens used in humance medicine are 3ml (100IU/ml, there are exceptions of course). That might be a better option. In fact our vet patients use your regular humane Lantus, Tresiba and Insulatard.
I would side on the cautious side of things and not give my cat expired insulin. I know some people do it and they're just fine but I wouldn't risk it.
A cashier because people throw money at me all day. Also a scientist because science is cool. Now I spent 5+ years studying my favourite sciences only to realise the job I've been studying for is a cashier... Yeah I should probably go for a PhD
Thanks, it was meant to be a birthday present for my partner and I did it in secret. Really fun project!