What small questions do you have that aren’t worth a full topic on their own?

What kind of water pressure are we talking about here? If it’s a full-on blast then I’d definitely want one to shoot plain old purified water. Super practical, clean up anything you need to clean up without having to look for a hose or bucket or faucet or whatever. Unlimited supply whenever you get thirsty. Never need to carry around a cup or water bottle. Tons of uses.

If it’s a small trickle then maybe something like horseshoe crab blood. Would make fortune and probably save a lot of horseshoe crabs by driving down prices.

Coffee and hot sauce, the essences of life. And now I have to pick the one hot sauce... Sriracha? Melinda's XXXXtra Reserve?

I feel like something fun and something practical would be the best combination. Heavy water would be interesting, because it is drinkable but also expensive enough to sell to chemists. Any sort of variant with something expensive dissolved in water would work though.
First expensive thing that came to mind was gasoline, but that feels super dangerous.
Liquid nitrogen would be cool as long as your fingers stay intact.
I think I'd go with liquid Nitrogen and heavy water for the useful + fun combo

Risky move, both highly combustible, but I would choose gasoline and 1970s MacCallans Whisky 30+ yo.

Black tea (hot) and Pei Pa Koa throat syrup. So convenient for karaoke.

NTO and MMH. I dislike conversation ;)

IDK dude. I recently watched Cronenberg's The Fly with Jeff Goldblum. He shoots something from his fingers in a scene. It's pretty gross. I don't believe I want that ability. Also, I can't eat eggs anymore. Don't ask why, but it may take a few years.

Thanks, The Fly!

What a brilliant film that I will never watch again!

Now if you're talking about something like a pipe that is attached to my fingers with no Cronenberg shit? Cold drinkable water and cold carbonated drinkable water. I can't think of anything more useful than water.

Hotdogs?! But the question says TWO liquids. Bad Genie hat on, one finger shoots hot, and the other shoots dogs. Heat is just waves of particles and waves are sorta fluid right? And uh, Shiba Inu are kinda like cats and we know cats are liquid. There we go.

I know you said magic, so I'm going to say my left finger gun shoots some kind of magic liquid that passively absorbs enough CO/CO from the air to make diamond films/crystals just sitting here overnight. Maybe it can also have some magical properties where if you add some common rocks to the liquid, it'll turn into super clean jet fuel or something.

And then let's say ultra clean regular old H2O. I was considering maybe human milk for impoverished babies while putting formulas companies out of business. But I just solved climate change, so maybe yeah water's nice.

Lego art! It’s a great way to justify having more Lego sets about 😁

They actually make for quite practical art in my opinion. Many sets can be rebuilt into another photo if you get bored of your current one. They are waterproof and very easy to clean. Being waterproof may not seem like a big deal, but if you have a picture in a bathroom it’s pretty useful.

We do simple art and family photos. We make a lot of the stuff we have. Like I had an old door from a barn and my wife painted the outline of some mountains on it. Most of the stuff we have is based on how little we have to spend but also make it look nice ish.

No one thing, but to put things into general categories:

• Original art from local artists if we can afford it, prints if we cannot.
• Pet portraiture; we have original paintings of all of our pets done by a friend of my wife.
• General nerdery; my wife has, Kirby, "spoop", and witch-y stuff in her office, I have Star Trek and BattleTech in mine.
• Sentimental value; I have the hand drawn blueprints of a workshop my, now passed, father-in-law drew and had built as well as a hand drawn (not by my father-in-law) portrait of my wife's butt.
• Thrift-y finds; just general art or other odd pieces that we have found at garage sales, thrift and antique stores, etc. most of it is on our "vintage" wall of just old art along those lines, some is in other spots like a woman's self portrait of just her eyes that I have on the back of the bathroom door so when you close it she's staring at you.
• Family photos.

I hang my paintings on the walls, and I also have a funny looking painting that we found in a flea market in the hallway.

I like to buy prints from the artist galleries at conventions (the anime/comic/fantasy kind, not the work kind), then I frame them and hang them on the wall.

The first and only piece of art I hung on my wall was a giant printout of r/place 2022.

The only purely decorative items I own are two small Hatsune Miku statuettes I won out of claw machines.

Band posters, random vintage magazines (with some specific TIME editions - moon landing special is my favorite), and one print of "The Timeless Art of Seduction".

Crossstich stuff (fiance does that), the occasional game or comic inspired artwork, and then as others have said lego's/mecha stuff.

I like maps and high information density posters. I have a rather large poster of the Mandelbrot set. Also a 2 inch deep laser cut wooden topographical map of the Grand Canyon. There are also a few painted pieces from friends and family. I just acquired a 3 foot wide oil painting from my uncle that I’ve been eyeing for the better part of a decade.

My rental apartment is beige everything (bleh), so I lean heavily into colorful art and furniture to liven it up. It's an eclectic mix but I think it all vibes nicely. My mom gave me a few RC Gorman prints she cherished but couldn't keep when she moved. Other pieces are a mix my art and art my friends made, including a fun painting one of them altered to include Godzilla. I also have a few things from artists on Etsy and a couple of boho-ish prints I picked up at Society6. I'm a big fan of fiber art/wall hangings and I have a small piece from FLBERHOME over my computer area. If I had more room I'd definitely have more because I love the extra texture they bring.

I don't have much decoration at the moment, but i do have couple art prints, mostly nature / landscape themes. I particularly like group of 7 style, so find myself gravitating toward similar styles of painting.

On one wall I have posters - both generic and meaningful ones, and I also have framed movie tickets from ones that were important to me/cinema experiences to remember. I also have a framed menu from a restaurant. On another wall I have a dozen or so of my embroideries, plus polaroids from a recent holiday.

Other decorating: some pride flags in a windowsill, wood carvings that my deceased grandfather made, lamps that are a little out of the ordinary (hoping to get string lights up soon), a make-up area, and on my desk I have a jewelry display box and some plushies. Don't know if shelves count, but those have books and movies mostly, and also a vase or two with leftover yarn cuttings and dried roses stuck into it

Absolutely nothing. Not that I don't want any, it's just that I have no idea how to decorate my home and make it look good. On top of that, my level of art appreciation is pretty low so I less someone decorates for me, I won't spend the money on art.

Paintings, sketches, drawings, etc. from street artists and local galleries picked up while on vacation. More often than not, the frame we put it in is more expensive than the art. One of my favorites is a watercolor painting of Brugges we picked up from someone just painting on the street while touring the city for €15.

For my house:

• 3 gaming posters, 2 from conventions and 1 from a cute plush shop in Seattle.
• 3 paintings, 1 from a friend of ours, 1 from my grandma, 1 from my in laws friend
• 3 pet art, 2 we commissioned from a friend to get her through some tough times, 1 is from my husband's cousin she made at 6 when my husband childhood cat passed away.
• 2 maps I gotten from old maps room they were clearing out from my colleges to make way for a new lab space.
• 4 posters from concerts.
• 2 posters were bought from museums.
• 1 acid art from a vintage thrift store.

This collection is built up for about 12 years ish between my husband and I. Its organically grown based on our situation at the time. Only a few are impulse buy, but only hard rule is no mass produced art from like ikea or target.

Edit: The list is incomplete, I'm probably missing more.

I'd like to hang up paintings of colorful fantasy landscapes and space scenes and such to counteract the "flipper gray" aesthetic that my house came with and even have a number of pieces bookmarked, but have yet to commit to it.

Cold? Absolutely. You can always add more layers of clothing and have more hot drinks. I grew up in a place with four distinct seasons and miss that aspect dearly. Each season brings its own pastimes, clothing options, plant and wildlife activity, interesting unique weather, and general vibe. Plus the changing seasons help mark the passage of time. I’m living somewhere now that is generally the same hot and humid and sunny all year round, with some variation in rain, and I’m definitely not a fan.

Dark? No strong preference, especially now that I’m no longer a kid trying to play outside as long as possible, heh. Never got the SAD as far as I can tell.

I don't wish for very cold temperatures, 10C would be the lowest for me. But I do love the night and staying up till morning is all I want. It goes by so quickly compared to daytime. When I was young I spent weeks barely seeing daylight and it was glorious. That's one of the reasons why I miss the pandemic so much. I lived near the ocean and had long walks with my dog between 1am and 4am. It was so lonely and eerie. Wonderful. I watched the violent ocean. That was one of the happiest times of my life.

I miss being alone in the night not just for hours, but multiple days in a row.

If a vampire tried to turn me, I wouldn't run.

Speaking as someone who moved back from the subtropics to a place noted for long, dark winters, it's not that I love cold and lack of light. As /u/DrStone said, there's a rhythm and nuance to having four seasons, each with its own delights. Right now, the autumn foliage colors are starting to show and it's glorious.

There's also a culture (e.g. the Danish hygge) which comes with places that get a predictable period of winter. Everyone uses that time to slow down, take care of each other, work on personal things, read and study, cook delicious fattening meals, celebrate with family and community... We huddle together with the light we make. I found South Florida to be a hectic place where most of the people I knew were on the hypomanic edge of breakdown, which I attribute to never having a season for rest, companionship, and reflection.

I do get SAD something fierce - exercise, LED lamps, Vitamin D, and SSRIs are good enough fixes.

I like being inside. I paid a lot for my house and making it the way I like. But when I look outside and it's sunny and warm, I feel like I'm missing something; like I should be out there doing something, even though I don't want to be.

In the winter I really enjoy my space. I love standing in the warm house looking out at the dark cold sky and feeling safe.

Absolutely more comfortable with cold and dark, with the (rather spoiled) proviso that I have the ability to be dry and warm at will. Here's my breakdown:

• 25° C and up: rapidly approaching unbearable
• 2 to 25° C: Perfection
• -2 to +2° C: Kinda miserable tbh, nothing will really freeze or thaw properly
• -10 to -2°C: Perfection
• Colder: not as comfortable to be outside now that I've lost all my cold tolerance, boo

The sunny days when the sun sets at 1530 or so and the temperature peaks at -5 are some of the best days ever imo.

I've got a tendency towards SAD, but I also live in a country that doesn't have widespread air conditioning, so I vastly prefer fall to both summer and winter. I practically fell on my knees and thanked a variety of deities when we went from summer 35 degree days (95 Fahrenheit) to comfortable 20 degree (68 Fahrenheit) fall weather. I like the summer sunset/sunrise times, but I like not being miserably hot more.

I don't like it. My SAD can be quite bad some years, I've found that having multivitamin tablets helps a bit.

Gotta keep the brain chemicals flowing and vitamin D goes down the drain in without sun.

I am not a fan of sweating or feeling overheated. I much prefer being cold, to an extent. If it's so cold that you're below freezing, you typically need to cover your face and I don't like that. Otherwise I'd rather it be cold and wear more clothes than too hot and can't take more off.

I started raving in high school, so the dark is often a place of happiness for me. Music, lights, etc. all make it better, but frankly I don't have strong feelings about either light or dark, they are just states. Sunshine often means the need for sunscreen, though, and I'm not a huge fan of needing to apply/reapply that constantly.

I like the cold if I have something warm. Blanket, sleeping bag, partner, fire, etc. I generally run hot so any temps above... Mid 70s and I'm usually sweaty and even in -10°F weather I'm usually wearing a lightweight inner layer at most.

The dark? I love the dark. Stillness, quiet, concealment. Even in the height of summer I still enjoy slipping around my house when it's dark. When my eyes have fully adjusted to moonlight and I can see, maybe not perfect, but almost like a clear day. Animals become more active in the relative security.

That said, a hot night when you're out late is also amazing or a mid day hammock in the shade or the brief shelter of a tree when it's 100°F+ outside and the sun stings to be in - all of these are great.

To echo /u/patience_limited, when it's cold I help my neighbors shovel their driveways. I've stopped with my emergency shovel and helped push people out of snow banks. Friends bring their truck to drag you out of a ditch. Seeing people help each other by default, because it's cold and dangerous by default, is a wonderful thing. Plus, sun is down early which means I can stoke up a fire before six and be sipping a hot tea and no one expects me to go out to whatever place because it's winter, it's cold and everyone headed home - unlike when it's 95°F outside and for some reason everyone thinks it's sane to go to some place at 8pm just because the sun is still up.

And, for completenesses sake, I grew up and the sun was down by 4pm in the winter. Up before sun up, home after sun down. Gotta learn to love them both because I'd still need to shovel the drive and such.

I do. I feel like you can always put in more layers if you're too cold but you can only take off so many layers if you're too hot.

I live in southern Ontario so I would say the climate is perfect for my preferences. I enjoy the summer, but definitely prefer fall and winter. I run hot, so I'm just a lot more comfortable these times of year.

As for the dark, I'm a night owl, so definitely enjoy night time. I would say I probably have no strong feelings either way so the shorter days don't really impact me.

I grew up in north Florida and even those mild winters are more cold than I can be comfortable in, at least while outdoors. (Indoors is fine, but I have too many memories of shivering while waiting at bus stops.) I've lived in more northern parts of the country and experienced true cold, and snow, and cold + snow + steep hills (a combination that definitely left an impression on me) and personally I would be happy never to be cold again. I'll go as far as occasionally wanting to be chilly in order to take pleasure in hot drinks and soups, the scent of autumn, and cozy/cute light outerwear. (Snow can be nice, but it's not worth the temperature, the difficulty walking and driving, and how quickly it turns to brown slush or packed ice and then stays that way forever.) When I later lived in south Florida I thought the climate was perfect -- there you get about two weeks of hoodie weather a year.

I have in the past seen some people try to argue that, objectively, cold is better because you can layer up. (Not in this thread, to be clear. I see people expressing a preference that way but no one saying that it's objectively better.) My memories from more northern states of staying huddled in a centrally heated building while wearing extra layers plead otherwise. No matter what, I could never reach a state of comfortable equilibrium. I could always feel the cold seeping in around the edges. Perhaps I was just always living in poorly insulated houses or apartment buildings, but it was definitely a pattern across multiple domiciles. So it's not a topic one can be objective about, but that's perfectly all right; we should celebrate our different preferences rather than trying to convert others to our frame of mind.

Caveat: naturally, I would not be able to survive in a hot climate nearly as well without air conditioning. If suddenly all a/c were taken off the table, I'd be rethinking just what my ideal climate was, and would have to make compromises elsewhere. As it is, though, I have no complaints about central a/c the way I do about central heating; it does its job and it does it completely. And it means I, now back in north Florida, can live through the summers and enjoy winters with sunshine and liveable temperatures and being surrounded by greenery (a necessary balm for my soul, I've found). I have some complaints about how piercing the sun can get in the winter, but nothing's ever perfect and it's worth it.

I absolutely love the cold and dark. Heat makes me feel gross and muggy and bleh.

When it's cold you can get all bundled up in sweaters or blankets and get so warm and cozy. You can always add another layer of it gets colder. When it's hot you just sit there sweating with a fan blowing at you, irritating your eyes, and you cant do anything but wait it out.

Sunlight hurts my eyes, I hate being in the sun if I can at all help it. Cloudy overcast is my favorite type of weather. I just feel so much happier and energized when it's cloudy. When there's sun I feel tired and depressed and annoyed.

The only time sunlight is nice for me is when it's really cold out and the sun is warm, which goes back to the warm and cozy feeling which is the best feeling to me.

I'm absolutely a night owl. I can't stand mornings, and if I didn't have to get up for work I would much rather stay up til 2am or 4am and get up at 10 or noon like I used to do back in college.

So yes we actually exist and aren't just being extra

I like variation. In the summer, I wish for colder weather. In the winter, I wish for sunshine.

When I lived in the bay, I genuinely got sick of the sun. It was literally the same sunny ass day every day. Felt like I was in a simulation.

Yes, I use blackout curtains on all my windows and over-air condition my apartment in the summer, keep the heat pretty low and occasionally open the windows to let extra cold air in in the winter

I actually only experience SAD June/July-September, because it's too hot and bright to go outside, and even opening the curtains is usually too much. I hate sweating, and the only time sun-on-skin feels nice is when I'm bone-cold and want to feel like a lizard lol. Plus, I like the feel of the layers and weight (and look) of winter clothing much better.

As a brobdingnagian and photosensitive Canadian lad, I enjoy winter quite a bit. I wear sunglasses pretty constantly when I am outside during the day (winter or summer) because otherwise the light gives me a headache. I am always hot in the summer, and even though I recently had a shower, I'm usually looking for the next shower so I can be less sweaty. In the winter, I do not overheat much at all. Also, I love winter sports, most notably the ones related to skating. I also love not having to mow the frigging lawn, which is my least favourite of the household tasks. Strangely, I don't mind snowblowing my driveway... probably because I rarely overheat when snowblowing.

The place where I live has a unique charm when it's cloudy and dark (fortunately, this can happen at any time of the year). Sunny makes me happy, and I definitely don't want it to be cloudy for too many months in a row, but the opposite is also true.

You know what always* makes me happy though? Wind. I know. I'm a weirdo.

* Except when it blows things down, such as my internet fiber.

Yes. I have lived most of my life in the desert and near-desert climates, and I have hated heat for years and years as a result. The sun was always too bright to deal with and could easily burn. I've had a crazy amount of sunburn in my lifetime and it's a miracle that I don't have skin cancer. At least not yet. I've basically been sweating continuously for most of my life.

That being said, Over the past two years I've lost about 1/3rd of my bodyweight and my ability to deal with heat has improved drammatically. I spent most of this summer without air conditioning, the exception being a major heatwave that brought the average temperature up by about 20 degrees (fahrenheit). My body has much better adapted to the higher temperatures, and I have found myself being annoyed at businesses that keep their AC set to the low 70s which ruins my acclimation to the heat, which has at time actually felt good. I'm looking forward to enjoying the outdoors more this year, hopefully.

I don't know that I prefer the cold and dark of winter, but I do like how it's a sort of "hibernation" period — a bit of a reprieve from the preceding busy summer months that gives a chance to slow down and decompress. During those months I might not be as productive, but I usually sleep better and am able to get myself in better sorts mentally, despite sunshine becoming a scarcity.

Chilled out summers where I have both time and daylight to do my thing are my favorite but those are difficult to reliably produce unless one has enough money that they don't have to care about anything.

Blue, I find it calming. I think over half my wardrobe is blue and am still frustrated that black on black is acceptable fashion, but blue on blue is weird. Green used to be my favorite color (I loved the army surplus store as a kid) but adopted blue some time in highschool.

#FF69FF. It's magenta, it's a pretty violently offensive magenta in the right use, and magenta is extra-spectral, which is cool.

This hex code is also extremely easy to remember, which is nice.

Green, but specifically dark green like the various shades of British Racing Green or Land Rover Deep Bronze Green.

Red, though I have no reason. I was once asked as one of those corporate ice-breaker games to share two things that are my favourite colour. Most of the rest of the group picked things like football teams, flowers, nice things in nature. I ended up going with "fire and blood." At the end of the game, the guy running it told us that the two words we used were representative of our personalities. I got more than a few uneasy looks when he said that!

Equally yellow, magenta & cyan, because they're very representative of the times we are living in.

Gamboge. It's a cheery orange like marigold but you get to explain it every time someone asks.

Teal! I didn't think I had a favorite color until I noticed teal a few years ago.

It's very calming and just makes me happy to look at. The car in the movie Green Book might have been the starting point of my love for teal. Awesome movie, BTW.

What about you? What's your favorite color?

Pastel pink. It's so calming to look at

It was green through most of my childhood, but I eventually settled on orange. I love how it looks, and it being an uncommon favorite has a few small perks: my color choices in multiplayer video games tend to stand out a bit more, and if I'm playing a board game with orange pieces, I almost always get them.

Purple. I don't actually have a favorite color, never had. But as a child I was so sick of having to fill in these get-to-know-eachother books/questionnaires/... where they would ask for a favorite color, that I just picked one at random.

I've stood by it ever since, and I don't have any feelings towards it.

I'm such a big fan of #69F0AE - a nice seafoam green never hurt anyone and it's just very calming to me.

Unfortunately it doesn't really compliment any other colors unless I want to go straight pastels :(

Depends on when you ask, but probably orange. It’s fun, lively, and cheery without being too bright or overwhelming and it reminds me of the awesome class of tasty fruits that are citruses. It’s also a bit difficult to use well in design which means it doesn’t get as overused as say blue does.

I pretty much never deliberately carried coins back when I lived in the US. I barely carried bills. If I had coins, it was because on some rare occasion when I paid in cash I got change back in coins. Even back then, more than 5 years ago, it was pretty trivial to go cashless in the Midwestern cities I lived in.

I carry coins now, but there are 1 and 2 euro coins that are worth a lot more than any coins in the US, and Germany has a lot more places that only take cash compared to the US (and it was much worse pre-Covid). Even still, I basically just dump everything less than a 1 euro coin into a piggy bank for a future windfall.

Coins are one of the things I hate the most about the US. They are so low value they are effectively useless. It’s been ages since I used a coin operated laundry machine but the last time I did it cost something like $2 to use the washer and the dryer cost even more; even though it’s been nearly a decade since I last used them so stockpiled so many of them that I literally still have all of those quarters because they are so fricking useless!

The thing that bothers me is less that coins are useless and more that this is the easiest thing to agree to fix and yet congress refuses to act and change it. I actually like the idea of coins; they make sense to use practically but when the value is so low they are a literal strain on the economy since the metals that make them up are more valuable than the face value.

Coins are the main reason why I don’t like to transact in cash.

I don’t think people in the US carry coins. Or at least, I don’t and don’t know anyone that does.

I like throwing them in fountains

Per https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/24/perspectives/keeping-coins-shortage/index.html, the U.S. is cash-centric. "[An FDIC] recent survey showed more than one in four households (26.9%) are either unbanked or underbanked."

I still do a few cash transactions because my cash muscle memory is more robust than my credit/debit/apple-pay muscle memory and it's just "easier". I only carry the coins if I know I'm going to do multiple cash transactions at a multi vendored event, like art or state fairs. This used to include sports events, but they all (the pros anyway, haven't been to a high school game in decades) take plastic now. Starting out with a set amount of cash helps with budgeting the day. Or even the week for incidentals. My credit union has a free coin machine for members (when it works :/) so I'm not super motivated to re-train myself.

We've got 0.25 soda cans from a vending machine at work. So mostly that.

Our first child scammed us by being super easy and nice.

We haven’t had our second yet, but we decided to get another:

It’s hard, for sure, but I’m also of the opinion that people make it sound harder than it is. I was really afraid before we got our daughter, but it has been a breeze after, especially compared to many other big life decisions (getting a house, get a new job etc.).

I think having a child falls very naturally to most people. Having sleepless nights do not, of course, but most people can manage. And some children are much more easy in the first few years than others, it really depends on many factors, some of which we are simply not in control of.

I do think most new parents discover a whole new way of appreciating the little things, and accepting others. This has shifted my perspective on parenthood a lot.

For me its quite simple. Basically, you have another, different, very close, family person that you love. Count of people in your family increases, and thats pretty cool. Heh.

Have a 1-year-old. Super mentally, physically, and financially draining. But am actively trying for another.

She’s my favorite thing in the world and the thought of possibly having two of my favorite things in the world brings me immense joy.

My oldest younger sister was born 18 months after me, and according to my parents she wasn't an accident, so I can only assume I was a fucking stellar baby.

Because both my wife and I have super tight bonds with our siblings, and we wanted that for our child. Seeing our kids give each other a hug and kiss goodnight at bedtime is just the best. They have their disagreements, but it's obvious they really love and care for the other.

We learned a lot the first time around that made the second child easier too. Not easy, but easier. Our first child was also a great sleeper from the start, so we weren't suffering from sleepless nights like a lot of parents.

As much as anything else: For the benefit of Kid #1. We love him so much. We thought it better for him to grow up with someone (both for fun reasons and to avoid “only child syndrome”). Also (hopefully), to give him family after we are gone. Kid #2 has been pretty great too.

Cat with a hat, more so if he's aware of it and changes it regularly.

If I have a hat on the floor a cat is already sitting on it. If I have a cat with a hat on, he's gonna murder me. So the former.

I’m not sure I can’t fully trust a cat with a hat on. I read those books. I know what happens

I hope that for most people here, whether someone seems like an illegal immigrant or not isn't a factor in whether they'd help him and merely an explanation for why calling the cops would be a bad idea in this circumstance.

I don't know shit about fixing cars, but it seems like buying him the equipment he'd need is a relatively small thing that could have a big positive impact on this guy, so assuming the next town over isn't crazy far away, I'd probably at least buy him the thing. Not doing so is presumably just leaving it up to whoever stops next and hoping they're not a huge racist or something.

If I didn't urgently need to be anywhere I'd probably chuck his spare in the car, drive to the nearby town, and reinflate it with the servo air pump before taking it back. This has multiple benefits:

• Saves on spending anything more than the fuel/time
• You don't have to try and find a pump to buy at night in a possibly unfamiliar town
• The tyre will be inflated to a proper pressure. You can't trust someone without tools or a spare to do this right, particularly since the first tyre probably blew that badly due to them driving with it flat.
• If it turns out to be some pelican filming a prank video or a weird scam involving multiple people buying him pumps then either they get nothing but some free air or you get a free wheel if he's disappeared on your return.

Sorry, question, you need an air pump for a spare tire? I don't have an air pump.

Regardless, I am not helpful with changing a tire (perhaps as evidenced above? But I've never seen one used.) and I'm not likely to have stopped in the first place because I would not make the situation better or less dangerous. The man's citizenship, licensure etc doesn't really matter, the fact that he's a man probably does in my comfort level of pulling over, but again, I'm probably not stopping unless someone is in explicit distress.

Given the hypothetical though it'd depend on my financial ability at that time, and what time constraints I'm under on the road. If I could afford it in time and money, sure. But me alone, at night, on the side of a dark freezing road is not a space I would realistically have ended up in unless my own car broke down. I'd give him a blanket from my car though I guess.

This is an oddly specific scenario.

You also notice, curiously, that while you’ve only been out here for a few minutes and are already shivering and shaking, this man says he has been standing here for almost an hour and is perfectly steady.

No one is going to mention that we're clearly in the opening scene of a B-Horror movie?

I could call him (and potentially pay for) a tow to the nearest tire garage.

If that is still too much interaction with "the Man" for his comfort, I would go to the next town if I had time.

If I didn't have time, I might give him my spare tire (wheel and all) if it would fit. Even if it's the wrong size, it would get him where he needed to go.

Side note: IRL I do carry an air pump. It's this one, and it works great. Gotten me and others like our hypothetical OP out of many a jam. Highly recommended car accessory.

I'd get the air pump or tell him to grab the spare and jump in. I've had so many amazing people help me during difficult stuck moments in my life. I banged up my knee on a multi-day bike trip in the middle of nowhere on the tip of Vancouver Island and an old couple kindly offered to drive me, my partner, and our 2 kitted out bike 2 HOURS back our car. Another time an older man helped us reset the fuel pump on my partners car while we were stranded out on the coast. There have been so many example of people going way out of their way to help so I try to do the same thing.

There was a guy that was caught in the wildfire smoke in Oregon that he had happened upon while walking the PCT so we drove him 80 miles south to clear air. The 2 very naive girls in the middle of nowhere Canada, that ran out of gas who ended up waving us down twice and we eventually drove to a gas station, bought them a can, filled it up, and showed them how to use it. Or the family in a very remote part of Washington state without connectivity that broke down who we ferried into town over 3 trips so the kids could hang out at the grocery store while the dad worked with the mechanic to get the car into town.

Beyond that, my dad is an illegal immigrant. I don't think that makes it sketchy. And the other parts are all of the bullshit that comes with being illegal. I'm not going to penalize someone for our system being an absolute monster to work with, even for those who are legal residents or citizens.

Edit: Also, this ties in perfectly to "Today you, tomorrow me"

Offer him one number I’d call for him and relay any message, or let him yell through speakerphone. If he doesn’t want to or doesn’t know anyone, offer to call the local police, if he doesn’t want that either, is what it is, drive off and forget about it.

I’d give him a lift.

Customs fees for expensive items from outside the EEA can be pretty bad, and there tend to be a lot of cheap flights within Europe these days, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is indeed cheaper, depending on your specific location. There's also the potential that your customer is either using this as an excuse to have a little UK vacation or was planning to be in the UK anyway and just figured they'd pick them up while there.

I would think it would be due to not wanting them to be stolen or lost. Some friends of ours sent us some irl Bitcoins (so a coin with the logo on it) as a sort of joke, and they got stolen. As in, we got an envelope with two holes in it where the coins used to be. We just laughed it of imagining someone looking up:"how to redeem Bitcoins" and realising they're basically worthless.

Anyway, if I were recieving wedding rins, I wouldn't want to run the risk.

Norwegian customs are pretty strict, especially since they're not part of the EU.
And it's dirt cheap to fly to London from the Scandinavian countries. Here in Denmark, a train ticket from one part of the country to Copenhagen (one-way ticket) is more expensive than a return ticket from my local airport to London (Stansted).

Any US-based health insurance will almost definitely not cover you internationally, especially if you're pretending to live in the US to get it. Even if they did, I think misrepresenting this might not be legal.

Uhh, usually health insurance is significantly cheaper if you don't live in the US. Like 1000 USD/month vs 35 USD/month cheaper.

If it's really what you're going for you need to look into states that have easy residency requirements, and low requirements for length of time spent in the state per year. Florida and one of the Dakotas used to be where people pulled it off. Google "sailing expat us residency" and you should get some hits.

I'm not sure if it's possible, or if this is helpful, but often you can get travel insurance to cover you while you're abroad and it is usually much cheaper than traditional insurance. Otherwise, I'd just use a parent's address if you can.

Both power and trash are basically monopolies where I live. Technically there isn't a monopoly on internet, but the offerings are not exactly equivalent; I could get either cable internet, DSL, or cellular. Or I guess satellite internet if I wanted the worst of all worlds. In spite of decades of advertisements for fiber internet, nobody offers it where I live.

What are the situations like for other utilities such as public roads, water, sewer and postal? Also auto insurance? My location is rural Nova Scotia - perhaps it's different in the city.

I am of the opinion that collective bargaining works better than deregulated "open" market, where I neither have the capital nor time to truly have any bargaining power as one mere individual. Eg, by the time my water turns brown, I don't have the luxury to call up 50 companies to provide quotes. Crown corp all the way would be my preference: they have a mandate to do right by the citizens, they're supposed to be not profitable while not deep in the reds, and when they work they have so much clout they can get excellent rates for citizens.

I wish we had Sask Tel for mobile and internet. Everywhere outside of the crown corp paradise of Saskatchewan, it's a oligopoly of same prices across Rogers Bell Telus.

I'm unhappy with my auto insurance "free market" and wish I had crown ICBC again.

It's a crying shame about power here since the conservatives sold our profitable power utilities. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to have to open market my water, sewer and garbage -- these seem like minimum standards for modern civilization. BCHydro seems like they waste a lot of money, but I still liked not having to shop around every year.

We also have large garbage day, which sort of turns into large garbage week since pick up is slow. It's twice a year. I can't imagine why one needs large garbage pick up more frequently than twice a year esp if drop off is free? The community is so small pick up days are Tues-Thurs, meaning they are never affected by long weekends. Previously in Ontario if your day is on Monday or Friday it sort of sucks. We also put all our garbage in clear bags only - black ones are denied pick up with a "nice note" for first infraction. Ditto clear bags which visibly contain papers or plastics, as they go in their own blue bags. Folks are expected to compost in their own yards because it's rural. Previously in an Ontario suburb it's veg compost only, no shells bones grease. It felt gross to put them in landfill garbage. Previous-previously in a BC suburb they have hot compost which accepts everything organic. I hope that becomes standard forever everywhere.

Water and sewer I've always had municipal. Wells and septic exist here but I have no experience with them other than using them to filter out houses we would consider buying.

Roads are split between municipal and provincial responsibility. No real complaints there and wouldn't want privatization involved.

Postal is crown and the same one across the whole country, plus additional parcel options like ups FedEx Purolator etc. it's nice to have a cheap baseline option and public postal should never be threatened with being unfunded.

Sonoma county, although I think this is roughly the same for most of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Water is handled by the municipality. It’s fully a government entity, so no stock market shenanigans.

Garbage is handled by Recology, which is a private company contracted by the government for an exclusive contract. There are some allowances for large items, although no specific days. You pay Recology directly for trash/recycling/compost.

Power is through the infamous PG&E. There are some allowances for an open market, but there aren’t really any alternatives. For example, you can opt for “Sonoma Clean Power” which changes where your power “comes from” (electricity doesn’t really work that way, but 🤷‍♀️). PG&E already has a decent mix of clean sources, so it’s pretty much just higher rates to remove the 1-2% non renewable sources. You still pay PG&E directly even if you opt for an alternative. PG&E also handles natural gas.

Internet is weird. Your options are Fiber in select areas through Sonic, Cable through Comcast, or adsl through AT&T. The fiber buildout is not very widespread. Also the adsl speeds are abysmal, especially upload. So if you want internet that is at all reliable or fast, it’s functionally a Comcast monopoly. Oh and sonic will sell you AT&T’s adsl if they don’t have fiber in your area. It’s more expensive than AT&T directly.

Country-wide:

Power: One public interest company for HV/long distance, one for consumer infrastructure and public lighting (used to be a state monopoly), and a deregulated open market for the commercials that deal with consumer contracts but honestly they all kind of suck.

Water: There is usually one supplier per municipality. There is one half-Japanese-owned conglomerate that has the supply contracts for many cities. They're bad at maintenance. Regardless, the water is always good.

Waste: Funded through add-ons in water bills. If you don't have sewer access you get a couple free septic tank cleanings I think. Garbage is collected regularly from dumpsters everywhere. You can carry things there whenever. The following types of recycling collection are available almost everywhere: Dry paper and cardboard, glass, and packages (metal and plastic, aka the bad stuff). Batteries and oil collections are also available in some places. Electronics can be sent for recycling through electronics retailers. Collection must be scheduled in advance for bulky trash. Hazardous garbage is difficult to dispose of safely.

Data: Bald-faced multi-company cartel with a high degree of collusion. Absolutely no one believes they are seriously competing. Service is decent in fiber areas (which they all provide), worse in rural DSL areas. High speeds but no innovation for a very long time. Ridiculously, nearly unusably low traffic caps for mobile data.

Roads: Always someone else's responsability and can take a long time to be repaired, unless it's smack in the middle of busy season for wherever the road is, in which case traffic will be cut for about three times as long as needed and cops will set up some speed traps around the location. Generally have good roads throughout the country though.

Post: Was privatized years ago. Absolute garbage. Never privatize your postal services.

That is heavily type dependent. What are we talking cantaloup, water melon, spanish melon?

King Arthur is a great resource for this: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking

I've lived between 8,000 and 10,200 since 2011. I just add 15 degrees to whatever the instructions say and kind of watch it. Some things like baking fish and meat seem like they need to be way WAY hotter and still take longer than whatever instructions online say. Like I bake salmon at 450. Other stuff like packaged frozen stuff from the grocery store I just add 15 degrees and a minute or two to whatever it says on the back of the package.

I don't really bake cookies and cakes and stuff.

vinegar works on some number of jelly fish varieties (soak for a few minutes)

hot water (as hot as you can tolerate without burning yourself) will also help break down the toxins - most venoms and toxins break down with heat as many proteins denature at around 106ºF

If it's really bad go to a doctor

Best advice I've seen from legitimate websites not having dealt with it on my own is to double-check with tweezers and remove any lingering tentacles and to do a rinse with vinegar to deactivate the chemical reaction.

But it might be worth giving a doctor a phone call...

Or do you just.. Not?

Wash the nosepiece about once every 6 months or so, or it gets really gross

Otherwise, I mostly don't. Sometimes it'll be hard to see and then you'll want to wipe the lenses off or ideally wash them; you'll get less and less sensitive to this over time. If you wash them, use COLD water and a CLOTH to dry them, do NOT use hot water and do NOT NOT NOT use paper, the lens can get scratched.

Special glasses wipes also work, I buy them from lenscrafters and they expire before I get through the box.

Also, bring a hard plastic glasses case with you on airplanes so you can take them off and not worry about squashing them.

Get a microfiber cloth and some lens cleaner. Or you can use warm soapy water for the lenses. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much, modern lens coatings are quite strong, and glasses are a tool in the end; no point suffering through cloudy lenses just because you don't have a microfiber. T-shirts will work fine in a pinch.

You can get a glasses screw kit to tighten the screws. Alternatively, most optometrists will tune your glasses for free if you bring them in.