The MSFN café - A Penny for Your Thoughts

[Tripredacus]

On 4/2/2022 at 4:08 PM, xpw10 said:

re petrol price increase: I have a solution, walk.  I've just sold my car and invested in a good rucksack and a pair of good walking shoes.  I have found a scenic route to the supermarket.  A long walk but it's very enjoyable listening to music.  A best decision ever.  Now I don't have to worry about petrol or car maintenance either. Highly recommended.

Just for fun I decided to calculate how long my commute would be if I walked instead of drove 12 miles. It would take 4 hours to walk that, but I suspect it could be shorter. And that's one way, so an 8 hour commute of just walking. Not really so much of an easy solution in my case.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Love the way you think!

And while I am a "conservationist" (I don't "hug trees" but I have a strong dislike towards "wasteful" habits that most folks don't even see as "habits"), I have a different take.

I only live 0.7 miles from work.  No traffic lights between me and the office, just one 4-way stop sign.  One tank of gas in my SUV will get me a MINIMUM of one month, I have been known to stretch ONE tank of gas out for THREE MONTHS.

I rollerblade to work, I ride bike to work, but seldom do I "walk" to work.

My first year at this job, I peddled bike basically 80% of the time or so.  If it wasn't raining, I peddled the bike to and from work.

It ended up COSTING me in the long run.

The tires on the SUV "dry-rotted", small cracks where it looked like the treads were going to fly off.  I was informed it was BECAUSE the truck didn't get driven but once a week or so!

The battery needed replaced because it could not start the vehicle in the colder winter.  I was informed it was BECAUSE the truck didn't get driven but once a week or so!

So in my case, it is far FAR better cost-wise to DRIVE TO WORK but I live so close that I get a MINIMUM of ONE MONTH on ONE tank of gas.

[xpw10]

To Tripredacus: I wrongly presumed every town had at least one supermarket, so I didn't expect anyone would need to walk four hours to get food.  It takes me less than two hours for the entire grocery trip.  It takes me 50mins to go to the town centre.  Basically, it gets easier (I started last October, the rain and the snow were no problems with the right clothing).  I love it!  Walking (while listening to your favourite music) is very therapeutic !  My next test is the summer: will the frozen food survive the trips ?

To NotHereToPlayGames: Walking is better (not just because I don't know how to ride a bike), no maintenance and it's safer.  As for flat battery, I used to have that problem too UNTIL I got a gadget from Ebay just a USB recharger (size of a laptop SATA drive) with croc clips to jump start.  I thought it was too good to be true, but it was that easy to use.  I'm rubbish with DIY etc, if I could do it anyone can.  It was a best investment ever! 

To UCyborg: I know what you meant.  However, I just felt so sad to see so much destruction that could have been avoided.  The other leaders could have helped by reasonable mediation instead of taunting and provoking day in day out (what do they expect with more provocation, ammunition and sanctioning?)  Now the innocent people have to bear the consequences, as if we had not enough problems with the pandemic of madness already.  I don't know how politicians could possibly claim ownership of other countries.  Patriotism is a man made concept like religion, we are the same species sharing the same planet.  It's so foolish to self-destruct.  The World could have been a lovely place.  Now we can't even appreciate one and other in peace.

PS Apart from the no hairdryer, no heating and walk whenever possible, there must be plenty other ideas people can share?  Yesterday I discovered another one: soak the dried pasta in a pan of cold water until soft, it takes less time to cook.  Give it a try.

[UCyborg]

5 hours ago, Tripredacus said:

And that's one way, so an 8 hour commute of just walking.

Mine would be over 11 hours. You must have used a different calculator since your 12 miles get almost 5 hours with this one.

We really could work less...

58 minutes ago, xpw10 said:

To UCyborg: I know what you meant.  However, I just felt so sad to see so much destruction that could have been avoided.  The other leaders could have helped by reasonable mediation instead of taunting and provoking day in day out (what do they expect with more provocation, ammunition and sanctioning?)  Now the innocent people have to bear the consequences, as if we had not enough problems with the pandemic of madness already.  I don't know how politicians could possibly claim ownership of other countries.  Patriotism is a man made concept like religion, we are the same species sharing the same planet.  It's so foolish to self-destruct.  The World could have been a lovely place.  Now we can't even appreciate one and other in peace.

I wish things were better, it's like decentness is just statistical anomaly.

Some people are saying they can't believe this is happening in 2022. I've had at the back of my mind for a long time that something big and awful like that would happen eventually, though I didn't expect it to occur in this decade.

If nothing else, at least we can try to be a better person individually.

[Tripredacus]

I just used Google Maps on Directions mode and changed it from driving to walking.

I live close to a supermarket and I used to live close to work. But my company got purchased a long time ago and the office moved farther away. I could walk to the old building in 45 minutes each way if I wanted to.

[xpw10]

On 4/5/2022 at 3:03 PM, Tripredacus said:

I just used Google Maps on Directions mode and changed it from driving to walking.

I live close to a supermarket and I used to live close to work. But my company got purchased a long time ago and the office moved farther away. I could walk to the old building in 45 minutes each way if I wanted to.

Yes 45 minutes is definitely a nice distance to walk to work.  I used to work in London and was so fed up with the tube strikes.  I decided to walk to work and it was great.  Walking is so enjoyable.  I now go grocery walk in auto pilot mode (the music helps), I seem to arrive in no time.  The return trip is more effort carrying the back pack.  Still, not too bad.  It's an excuse to exercise too.  Highly recommended.  The real test is in the summer.

Edited April 7, 2022 by xpw10
I stand corrected. Today, the almighty wind nearly blew me away !

[xpw10]

On 11/29/2021 at 1:21 PM, Mr.Scienceman2000 said:

I wont bother looking for another one again. All I had were first interesting then found out more or they did not like way I was. Time for you to start living again and give time for yourself and hobbies. I have started think they are not worth my time and should not waste my life them.

I noticed your notifications since had mentions like crazy and was thinking why but this explains a lot.

 

 

I'm probably a little late to discover this forum.  I find some of the messages on this board very interesting.  You all sound like really nice people.  I have read your reply to Dixel's message (in reply to XPerceniol's) and couldn't help wondering if this sadness is some kind of gender miscommunication.  I actually have heard my female friends made the same complaint about men.  How ironic, never thought that men feel that way too.  Recently I have discovered a highly intelligent philosopher called Charlie Munger.  He has so much life wisdom to share with younger people.  One advice he gives is to "lower your expectation in order to be happy" as the first rule to happiness.  Maybe we all expect too much in that department?  I wished I had known about his existence long ago.  I'm still learning.  If interested, you can search for him on Youtube.

[Tripredacus]

If you expect nothing, you can't be disappointed.

[UCyborg]

5 hours ago, Tripredacus said:

If you expect nothing, you can't be disappointed.

Just how I go about life in general.

What little social life I had died shortly after getting employed. I expect nothing...but a lot of emails and phone calls.

How do people end up together anyway? It doesn't make sense to me. My parents don't belong together...at all...yet here I am. Gee, thanks mom and dad for bringing me into this mess.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

“My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus."  ~ Stephen Hawking

[xpw10]

I think "having low expectation" in a relationship does stand a better chance for success.  Albert Einstein allegedly said, “Women marry men hoping they will change, and men marry women hoping they will not. So each is inevitably disappointed.”  

Having said that, I'm not sure it's a good strategy in other areas of life.  Without hopes and dreams, life would be too bland.

Perhaps reframing the outcome would be a better approach.  Being happy is just a state of mind, having a good imagination is the key.

[XPerceniol]

On 4/14/2022 at 2:54 PM, xpw10 said:

Having said that, I'm not sure it's a good strategy in other areas of life.  Without hopes and dreams, life would be too bland.

Perhaps reframing the outcome would be a better approach.  Being happy is just a state of mind, having a good imagination is the key.

yeah ... the happiness trap comes to mind. Balance is the key

[XPerceniol]

On 4/8/2022 at 2:33 PM, UCyborg said:

Just how I go about life in general.

What little social life I had died shortly after getting employed. I expect nothing...but a lot of emails and phone calls.

How do people end up together anyway? It doesn't make sense to me. My parents don't belong together...at all...yet here I am. Gee, thanks mom and dad for bringing me into this mess.

Yeah, IMO - being social is overrated, better to find a way to enjoy our own company because in the end the only one you can (truly) count on is yourslef.  

[XPerceniol]

On 4/9/2022 at 9:22 AM, NotHereToPlayGames said:

“My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus."  ~ Stephen Hawking

Life has taught me to set 'the bar' lower. 

Sorry I've been MIA lately, been rough I guess, I don't know. Hope everyone is doing better than I am. 

[UCyborg]

On 4/19/2022 at 8:43 PM, XPerceniol said:

Yeah, IMO - being social is overrated, better to find a way to enjoy our own company because in the end the only one you can (truly) count on is yourslef.

It's an extroverted world out there. Or so it seems.

More often than ever, I keep hearing how socializing is important health-wise, especially for older people.