Requirement's recent activity

  1. Comment on How the heck do you go about moving cross country? in ~life

    Requirement
    Link
    I might be a content expert on trans-American moves, given I've now moved 4 times in 6 years. Just brace for how truly expensive it will be. Double your budget, minimum. From the sounds of it you...

    I might be a content expert on trans-American moves, given I've now moved 4 times in 6 years.

    1. Just brace for how truly expensive it will be. Double your budget, minimum. From the sounds of it you are moving from a relatively low cost of living area to a higher cost of living area and, if you've never lived in one, you might be truly surprised all the ways that creeps up on you. On top of that you are going to want to go explore your new area (consciously or not) and that ends up costing a decent amount of money. I mean, if you're just going to stay inside, why bother moving, right? Oh, also so many things add up in a move: boxes, rolls of tape, rebuying all that stuff you sold because it didn't fit in your car, travel expenses just driving across the country... Moving is expensive.
    2. Virtual tours definitely exist in some capacities. Youtube walking tours of cities are a thing I guess and that can be helpful. I'd still suggest flying out to the area you think you want to live in (keeping in mind that you will also be on a vacation high while there) to maybe get a bit more boots on ground. Some real estate agents offer area tours - sometimes for money sometimes by leading them on - and can be helpful in finding a place to live
    3. Putting rent in escrow for a year will fly with very few landlords. A job with income is usually the stronger thing. As others have said, make sure the area you are moving to actually has jobs in your field and keep in mind industries can be very different in different localities. When I moved to Portland with decades of service industry experience, I figured it would be easy to slot in at a bar or restaurant but a few hundred applications later, I had a desk job. Life is weird.
    4. Check out some city subreddits (or ask here?) for places that you want to go. I wouldn't post anything because every subreddit is inundated with "Thinking of moving to XXX what do I need to know?" posts so there is generally a lot of information already available. Use those posts as jumping off points and do some google streetview investigation.
    5. Think about when you plan on actually moving because rentals are somewhat seasonal. It's not a terrible idea to keep track of what's on the market in cities you are looking at through zillow/redfin/apartments.com/whatever website. Maybe even reach out to some landlords for virtual tours, I've never had a problem with finding a landlord/property manager willing to do a Zoom tour, especially post-pandemic. If you get lucky you can find some great small-time landlords who can also serve as a wealth of community knowledge and help answer questions for you.

    I'm sure I have an encyclopedia's worth of information that I could pass on but this is kind of the first pass of things that came to mind. If you have more specific questions I would be happy to attempt an answer.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Wicked, Dune, It, and deceiving the audience about two-parters in ~movies

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    If I remember correctly, Dune may actually be the antithesis of this trend: explicitly released as Dune: Part One without a sequel being greenlit ahead of release. I recall discussions of...

    If I remember correctly, Dune may actually be the antithesis of this trend: explicitly released as Dune: Part One without a sequel being greenlit ahead of release. I recall discussions of Villenueve's "hubris" to release it this way and play chicken with the studios.

    4 votes

  3. Comment on How Bluesky, the rival of Elon Musk’s X, is seizing the moment in ~tech

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    While I think starter packs are a good idea in theory, the practical implementation of them seems pretty lacking. While I haven't really messed about with them too much, it has a feeling of a...

    While I think starter packs are a good idea in theory, the practical implementation of them seems pretty lacking. While I haven't really messed about with them too much, it has a feeling of a "popular kids list" but somehow, even more inscrutable than middleschool lunch table hierarchy. Who are these people? Who is the person making the specific list? Why are the lists titled in mostly unhelpful ways? Again, while they are good in theory, it feels like the mountain of knowledge needed to make sense of them is a real uphill battle. As I was looking at them the other day, I also noticed that they don't seem particularly used either, based on sorting by used. Also, I can't even find the list of starter packs right now. I logged into bluesky thinking that they'd be prominently displayed somewhere but the only starterpacks tab I can find is for lists that I have made (none). Perhaps they would be used more if it was possible for a regular ol' dummy like myself to find them.

    5 votes

  4. Comment on In praise of inconvenience: The hidden costs of a convenient world in ~life

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    In double irony, I find that there's now no solution to many of my shopping woes. I find that there is so much cheap garbage on Amazon it's pushing me towards trying to find local options....

    In double irony, I find that there's now no solution to many of my shopping woes. I find that there is so much cheap garbage on Amazon it's pushing me towards trying to find local options. However, Amazon gutted local stores a decade ago and now the options are pretty limited (unless I want healing crystals... there are three stores very close to me that seem to be doing just fine selling overpriced rocks) or I go to a local store to find the exact same alibaba garbage being sold for more expensive than available on Amazon because many of the quality brands have gone out of business or have had to kill their own quality to stay competitive. So now online sucks and in store sucks. I can't believe Bezos figured out how to enshitify my actual life.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on Why do you live? in ~humanities

    Requirement
    Link
    I live because I live, I will die when I die. Obviously the day to day isn't quite so stoic but overall, I am alive simply because I am alive. Why do I do anything else? Well, I have to fill the...

    I live because I live, I will die when I die. Obviously the day to day isn't quite so stoic but overall, I am alive simply because I am alive.
    Why do I do anything else? Well, I have to fill the time somehow. Might as well see what's out there, what I can do, who's doing things. There's certainly an amount of nihilism to my worldview but I find the discovery of personal meaning/worth/value without inherent meaning/worth/value to be freeing. In that mess, however, I do find a struggle to envision a "future" and find it hard to plan accordingly for anything further than a few weeks out.
    Sorry this isn't my most formatted post, kind of just doing a stream of consciousness response here.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Requirement
    Link
    I have been playing Proverbs for the past few days. It's a simple little puzzler game (basically minesweeper) but it is really scratching an itch I had for a kind of zen state easy puzzle. I've...

    I have been playing Proverbs for the past few days. It's a simple little puzzler game (basically minesweeper) but it is really scratching an itch I had for a kind of zen state easy puzzle.

    I've been skipping the New York Times puzzles over the last few days since the team has been on strike. I've replaced them with the Guild Puzzles and they're... fine. It's nice to have something to fulfill my morning routine but they are strictly speaking, not as great as the NYT versions.

    6 votes

  7. Comment on LGBTQ folks check-in thread - how're you all doing? in ~lgbt

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    Then they aren't good allies. Why do we keep giving the unwilling-to-be-engaged a free pass?

    Then they aren't good allies. Why do we keep giving the unwilling-to-be-engaged a free pass?

    14 votes

  8. Comment on US election results (other than presidential) thread in ~society

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    The race being called against Sherrod Brown was where I lost it last night. I can't believe t hat one of the most reliably blue districts has flipped and we have lost Brown's tenure and consistency.

    The race being called against Sherrod Brown was where I lost it last night. I can't believe t hat one of the most reliably blue districts has flipped and we have lost Brown's tenure and consistency.

    10 votes

  9. Comment on 2024 United States election megathread in ~society

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    I'm far down here but I almost made a comment further up the thread, took a second and reread the posts and realized you two were talking past each other and I was reading past both of you. But I...

    I'm far down here but I almost made a comment further up the thread, took a second and reread the posts and realized you two were talking past each other and I was reading past both of you. But I did want to put a post here and thank both you and @OBLIVIATOR for your perspectives and for the resolution in your last two comments, it makes Tildes - and hopefully, in some small way, the world outside Tildes - a little nicer place. It really seems like we might need a nicer place today.

    9 votes

  10. Comment on 2024 United States election megathread in ~society

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    I also think that it's a bit disingenuous to argue that the Dems have fallen into an identity politics trap (although, I can also make the argument that it was indeed a trap laid out for them)...

    I also think that it's a bit disingenuous to argue that the Dems have fallen into an identity politics trap (although, I can also make the argument that it was indeed a trap laid out for them) when Republicans talk incessantly about identity politics. The Dems have to respond at some point, and I'd argue they even waited too long to meaningfully come around on giving a shit (if the party even genuinely gives a shit.) I'm not sure if the game is rigged but, coming from a fairly emotional place at the moment, it certainly feels like it must be if Trump's actions didn't preclude him from being elected.

    6 votes

  11. Comment on Nutrient levels in retail grocery stores, or why you should be buying your groceries from Walmart in ~food

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    There's also a weird paradox happening where "Giant retailers have great produce" and "Don't buy Giant retailers produce" are kind of in the same sentence. I guess the carrots just turn into hot...

    There's also a weird paradox happening where "Giant retailers have great produce" and "Don't buy Giant retailers produce" are kind of in the same sentence. I guess the carrots just turn into hot garbage during the transfer to a farmer's market?

    There's certainly a financial argument to be made that the value proposition is likely lower on the resold "farmer's market" carrots but the argument is supposed to be about nutrition.

  12. Comment on US Election Distractions Thread in ~talk

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    I'll have to wait until I get home, but 12 Word Searches sounds right up my alley. Outer Wilds is my favorite game of all time and I'm constantly seeking out any feeling similar like the dirty...

    I'll have to wait until I get home, but 12 Word Searches sounds right up my alley. Outer Wilds is my favorite game of all time and I'm constantly seeking out any feeling similar like the dirty junkie I am. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

    3 votes

  13. Comment on US Election Distractions Thread in ~talk

  14. Comment on US Election Distractions Thread in ~talk

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    Purely speculating, but the masculine article could have been part of the reason it was dropped. "A lady's name with a masculine article?! What a dummy, the name is clearly Isabel, get that 'el'...

    Purely speculating, but the masculine article could have been part of the reason it was dropped. "A lady's name with a masculine article?! What a dummy, the name is clearly Isabel, get that 'el' nonsense out of here." (but you know, clearly said in Spanish)

    4 votes

  15. Comment on I am missing a neutral way to flag low-effort or potentially spammy posts in ~tildes

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    Oh, I don't think we are anywhere near that future! We'd need some seriously exponential growth for that to happen. But, as a part of the larger conversation in this thread, it does appear that we...

    Oh, I don't think we are anywhere near that future! We'd need some seriously exponential growth for that to happen. But, as a part of the larger conversation in this thread, it does appear that we are seeing more spam than we were a year ago, so there's also a chance that something could happen to the decent news posts we currently have. To awkwardly loop back to OP's premise, it might be nice to have a "spam?" label that just highlights the post for users who have the ability to change/delete things, even if we don't really see much in terms of spam.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on I am missing a neutral way to flag low-effort or potentially spammy posts in ~tildes

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    The conversations surrounding news articles are the reason I'm ok with news being posted here. Additionally, we're small enough here that we generally have only one thread about any given story,...

    The conversations surrounding news articles are the reason I'm ok with news being posted here. Additionally, we're small enough here that we generally have only one thread about any given story, instead of 30 across 15 communities, so I feel like I can actually engage with the story/comments/others. I can see a potential future where News on Tildes is in a similar place to Reddit, where I don't feel engaged and where I find it more of a distraction than a benefit, but I think we are a long way off from that point.

    14 votes

  17. Comment on Tildes Book Club - Alternatives to handle goal to read books representing diverse and disadvantaged perspectives in ~books

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    I too think this, in my opinion, might be the most equitable kind of solution. I love reading different perspectives and challenging myself to see different perspectives. I suspect Tildes trends...

    I too think this, in my opinion, might be the most equitable kind of solution. I love reading different perspectives and challenging myself to see different perspectives. I suspect Tildes trends white and male and I think to acknowledge that is to artificially raise up some titles over others. I think maintaining the current list and examining which "diverse perspective" were voted highly and vote on which/when to leaf them into the lineup is about as good a plan as I can think of.

    5 votes

  18. Comment on Tildes Book Club - Voting thread winter spring 2024-2025 in ~books

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    I, too, think it would be ok to skip December. Maybe December is a "free period" for all of us and we can have a "Year in Reading Review" kind of thread/conversation?

    I, too, think it would be ok to skip December. Maybe December is a "free period" for all of us and we can have a "Year in Reading Review" kind of thread/conversation?

    6 votes

  19. Comment on Tildes Book Club - Voting thread winter spring 2024-2025 in ~books

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    I would like to second thanking everyone and especially @boxer_dogs_dance for all the effort. There are so many good suggestions! Might as well just make the whole list my TBR list.

    I would like to second thanking everyone and especially @boxer_dogs_dance for all the effort. There are so many good suggestions! Might as well just make the whole list my TBR list.

    5 votes

  20. Comment on Tildes Book Club - Nominations thread in ~books

    Requirement
    Link Parent
    I'm into any of these three suggestions. I read Diaspora recently and think it has some good discussion potential. I love the 200ish pages of the first two as well. If I were to chose one of the...

    I'm into any of these three suggestions. I read Diaspora recently and think it has some good discussion potential. I love the 200ish pages of the first two as well. If I were to chose one of the three, I'd probably go Way Station for my vote, as I like exploring some of the older scifi.

    3 votes