donuts

joined 2 years ago
[–] donuts@kbin.social 8 points 2 years ago

I think you're being needlessly judgy, ebikes are great and it's never been about whether you "need" one or not.

They're faster than regular bikes, allowing you to cover a larger distance in the same amount of time, especially if you're fit. They're very fun to ride in general, and they can take some of the misery out of climbing hills or otherwise challenging/tedious parts of your commute. Cargo ebikes can carry a decent amount of stuff and even one or two small passengers in some cases, and in other cases they can replace your need for a car (like quickly getting to a store for something small). And they give you the ability to balance exercise vs convenience as the situation or your personalty demands (you get to decide how much work your body does and how much the motor does).

Finally, ebikes open the door for people to get into using active transportation instead of cars for people who normally wouldn't want to, whether they need help because of fitness, want help because of living in a hilly environment, or because they just want to get from point A to B in a reasonable amount of time. Riding my ebike in an urban environment, I find that I can actually get around just as fast as in a car, if not faster due to traffic.

Because I'm not super fit and live in a very unforgiving and hilly American neighborhood (where I also have to ride on curvy roads where people drive too damn fast) I would have never ever considered getting a regular bike. I'm now riding a bike somewhat regularly, getting a bit of exercise (or not, depending on the circumstances), and having a great time riding on roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, through parks (at a reasonable speed for pedestrians), etc.

Yes, they're more expensive than a regular bike.
Yes, they're heavier than a regular bike.
Yes, having to worry about battery charge is inconvenient.
Yes, it can be dangerous to ride any bike at >20mph.

But as the old saying goes "don't knock it until you try it". Even if you think you're a cycling purist, I recommend at least giving ebikes a try before judging others for using them. I think if you did you'd find that ebikes are an ally of and complement to normal bikes, and just like an electric guitar amplifies your strings, ebikes are amplifying your legs and not rendering them obsolete.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

There's an official EU article here that states that "staff has the right to at least 4 weeks of paid holidays per year" in all 27 member countries. Are you not from one of those countries or are you being messed around by your employer?

Either way, when you compare it to America where people get a measly 11 days paid time off average, there is a hell of a lot to say about the European way of life.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 18 points 2 years ago (7 children)

So you can go somewhere that isn't hot and shitty or so you don't have to work while it's hot and shitty (air conditioning is still very rare in Europe).

[–] donuts@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

Damn. End of an era... Wa-hoo!

[–] donuts@kbin.social 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Trump voters have friends who aren't also Trump voters?

[–] donuts@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Smoking weed or consuming cannabinoids and binge drinking are two completely different categories.

Alcohol is more unhealthy and potentially connected to social issues right from the drop, and regular binge drinking implies alcoholism as opposed to someone who might be consuming cannabis moderately.

In the end, taking cannabis and/or alcohol in moderation is perfectly ok for adults and shouldn't be something that we consider taboo.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 38 points 2 years ago

I recommend just blocking the entirely of Xwitter. Your life will be better off.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 34 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The US healthcare system is actually even worse than people think. Employers use it to hold power over us all, and even if you have insurance the prices of everything are extremely inflated (my dad went in for back surgery and the total was $47k usd, but get this, one of the items was a single bag of saline solution----$270!), and many people including myself can't afford health insurance at all so I'm 1 accident or illness away from total financial ruin.

I genuinely love America and the place where I live. There is a lot to like and there are many places where life is much harder, but the US health system is one of those things that is embarrassingly bad and honestly just scary.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

Unfortunately there are a lot of people here (and all over the world) who grind their asses off through multiple jobs while sacrificing their entire life, and still don't earn enough to lead a decent life or own anything.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Despite how people act, we are fundamentally flawed and generally imperfect.

Whether we're talking about daily life or global industry, mistakes are often made, plans go awry, and processes are almost never perfectly efficient or optimized. Even the most highly engineered, well oiled machine has inefficiencies.

Businesses are just the same and they actually waste a fuck ton of money every day, but all of that (plus a healthy profit margin) is ultimately factored in to the prices that we pay for goods and services. In other words, many people have bullshit jobs that don't actually improve services optimization or production, and that wasted effort is actually paid for by all of us, the consumers.

On top of that there's another variant of bullshit job that's actually useful to the economy or society in some way, but might be inherently unfulfilling or unsatisfying on a personal human level. (For example, something like corporate data entry jobs come to mind. Potentially useful to someone, and better than being homeless, but maybe not a very meaningful way to live in the long term.)

[–] donuts@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

You sound burned out and/or depressed. Are you doing the things you really want to do? Or are you just progressing down a track for the wrong reasons?

Video games and guitar don't give inherent meaning to life, but they are good examples of things that people do because they want to. Of course work is work for a reason, but It's important to think about whether you have genuine passion for your current path.

[–] donuts@kbin.social 10 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Uh... fighting over water... on an... island...?

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