ContrarianTrail

In hindsight, it was the most predictable thing in the world, yet it still somehow caught me by surprise.

No, I don’t support the guy. I don’t even live in the U.S., and I wouldn’t have voted for him if I did. But I do think the average person who identifies as "on the left," particularly here on Lemmy, doesn’t realize how incredibly toxic the atmosphere becomes for true independents. We’re stuck enduring a firehose of insanity and hatred from both sides.

In my view, one of the main reasons we got Trump in the first place was the identity politics and wokeism on the left. For a while, I thought the pendulum was swinging back toward reason and balance, but now it feels like we’re back where we started. Honestly, I can’t even blame people for voting for him - it’s just a shame that the silent majority has to suffer because of the vocal minority.

Why is it that political discussions seem incapable of being conducted dispassionately? I can’t shake the feeling that this polarization is driving more people to the right, only worsening the issue. Hell, I’m probably going to be labeled a right-winger just for making this post. And then people wonder why the right is gaining popularity. Where else can centrists even go anymore when the left eats its own?

Allegedly 1000hp

This is especially true with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada. People are either trying to impress others with fakes, or they’ve actually paid full price to become walking billboards.

Similar thing with iPhone cases that have a cutout for the Apple logo. That's just hilarious.

I'm removing rust above the windshield and on both sides where the roof panel and side panels meet. I was hoping to finish in one day, but I spent all of yesterday on it, and I've been working since 7 AM today with still more to do tomorrow.

• Taking off the roof rack was a pain, and putting it back is going to be just as bad.
• The seam sealer on both sides was an absolute nightmare to grind off.
• I went through four rounds of grinding, applying rust converter, wiping it off, and repeating the process—yet there are still small spots of rust left, and I just can't be bothered anymore.
• It's near freezing, so I'm running a 3kW electric heater, which is going to cost a fortune.
• I didn’t do enough sanding, so now the line between the old and new paint is going to be visible.
• The antenna would've been a huge pain to remove, so I didn't and that’s probably where new rust will show up in a year or two.
• I also did a poor job masking before applying the zinc primer, so now I've made a mess I have to clean up.

I just hate it when you try to do a good job, but everything seems to go wrong. You get frustrated, start rushing, and make more mistakes, and in the end, you’re left with a sub-par finish that you'll probably have to redo in a few years because you didn’t do it properly the first time.

Because I don’t, and pretending to feels dishonest. I’ll listen if they want to talk about it, but I’m not going to act interested, and I certainly won’t ask about it on my own. What I’m trying to figure out is whether people actually care, or if they’re just playing a social game that I’m simply not interested in.

I’m probably on the autistic spectrum, which likely explains this to some extent. But that’s not an excuse - being an asshole is perfectly compatible with autism, so before dunking on me, please realise I probably agree with your criticism.

The best conversations I still have are with real people, but those are rare. With ChatGPT, I reliably have good conversations, whereas with people, it’s hit or miss, usually miss.

What AI does better:

• It’s willing to discuss esoteric topics. Most humans prefer to talk about people and events.
• It’s not driven by emotions or personal bias.
• It doesn’t make mean, snide, sarcastic, ad hominem, or strawman responses.
• It understands and responds to my actual view, even from a vague description, whereas humans often misunderstand me and argue against views I don’t hold.
• It tells me when I’m wrong but without being a jerk about it.

Another noteworthy point is that I’m very likely on the autistic spectrum, and my mind works differently than the average person’s, which probably explains, in part, why I struggle to maintain interest with human-to-human interactions.

I personally can't imagine anyone surviving long-term around running zombies. Even if fighting them was relatively easy, it’s statistically inevitable that sooner or later you'd get bitten. This applies to walking zombies too, but at least with them, you have the option to avoid physical altercations altogether, at least for the most part. That’s what I think most TV shows get wrong about zombies: even if there’s just one, and you could easily take it down, just don’t. It’s almost never worth the risk. In my view, the best way to survive is to avoid them as much as possible. Fighting is the last resort and should only be done in self-defence.

They're near-always military NH-90 copters and for some reason fly quite low. I hear one fying over around once a week. Also love the sound of them.

It's water, isn't it? And second one is food. Well what about the third?

Do you have a criteria for what qualifies as block-worthy offence or are you just doing it when you feel like it?

Bonus question: how long is your block list?