I am using RSS for keeping up on news and I defintely prefer it. The main thing I am missing is game notifications. Even if it could email me or show up in my calendar

I think it depends on your preference. I worked out at the gym for many years before covid and after the pandemic I built a home gym with a power rack, barbell, adjustable dumbells, and cable machine. Biggest advantage of this is not having to share a rack with anyone. It was sometimes annoying to have to wait for equipment.

What I’ll say is that I really appreciated starting at the gym as I got to have access to every machine and workout equipment. This let me build a workout plan over years and get a good idea of what sort of equipment I would need to stay active. I also found it helpful to see what other people were doing at the gym. Some people clearly have no idea what they are doing, but seeing what other experienced people at the gym were doing gave me some great ideas of what to incorporate into my workouts.

I also did have a personal trainer for 6 months and I highly recommend this, especially when you are new to working out. The biggest value is from having someone experienced give you tips and tricks on how to improve your form and workout safely. Especially as you get stronger and lift heavier weights. It’s easy to lift something slightly wrong and really hurt yourself.

Overall, I always enjoyed my time at the gym and it gave me the knowledge to built a great home gym.

I loved my Google Home when I got it in 2017, but when I got into home automation, I realized it is dumb to have to tell a device to do things. Motion sensors basically replace the main thing Google Home does and a Bluetooth speaker is cheap to buy.

I never trusted that they weren’t listening to me all the time with the speakers and I never looked back after I donated them away.

Lol, no. I don’t drink at all anymore considering how bad it is for your health, but having a drink before returning to work seems like an insanely bad idea.

Always a bad idea. Breakups happen for a reason and it’s always best to move on than hang on to a broken relationship.

Just checked my emails and both were pwned. Bummer

Agreed. I would add that when they noticed that GTA online got stale, they would add a dlc or some new vehicles and weapons. Some updates were good, but I bowed out the year they introduced the casino and the MX mrk 2. The mrk 2 was game breaking and so over powered that they had to nerf it later. The casino felt like they had stooped to the parts of society they had always made fun of. Its sad to think that the amazing single player studio has become just a cash in now.

I also hate that they have a terrible launcher that they make you use for all of their games.

Reminds me of GTA online

Oh no, we’ll have to use something other than terrible, AI ridden MS office? How terrible

Still useful if you utilize calibre

My kindle has been on airplane mode for years and I read new books all the time with it, but hey, whatever works for you

This is why you never connect your kindle to the internet. Calibre forever

I feel bad for the kids put through this hell

Too late Microsoft, I just moved to Linux this week and im not looking back

They make thick pads for gyms that are designed for exercises where your knee is on the ground. I used them for a while

Honestly I would take the little banner if it meant there was not comerical breaks. The fact that they do this on top of all the ads they also play at breaks is so over the top. I have been getting into European football and I find it so refreshing that they play 45 mins half straight through. It’s way faster games and there is not the disruption of comericals. In those games they have the banner, but I don’t mind it as much

7 Digital is a great site to buy music files legally. I use that mainly. Personally I would not buy 500 songs at once, but basically I buy my favs and slowly add songs I really like over time. Innertune is great in the meantime to listen to what you want to without paying a subscription

Now this is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much!

When I was a kid I remember my grandparents would just put $50-$100 in a card and call it a day. I loved the gift of just money because the possibilities of what I could buy myself were endless. It made more sense for my grandparents too as they had no idea what kids my age wanted anyway and I would’ve likely been disappointed if they tried to buy me what they thought I wanted.

For whatever reason now though, it’s seen as lazy or uncaring if you just gift money. I would argue that this is some bs corporations have created to get us to feel obligated to buy an actual item. In my mind though, money is the best gift.

On a related note, my parents bought us a $100 giftcard one year and when we went to us it we discovered that there was a slip of paper covering the barcode. That slip of paper had a photocopy of another barcode on it, so when my parents put money on the card, it actually went on a different card. Pretty common scam we found out. When we called the stores help line, they said they could not help us. So yeah fuck giftcards. The companies themselves won’t even take steps to ensure they are secure. As long as they still got their money, they don’t care if scammers got to use the giftcard instead.

I try to just do stuff I enjoy. I’m a football guy so Sunday is a great day for me this time of year. If I’m not doing that though, I’m spending time with my wife and daughter or tinkering with things that interest me like emulation.

Overall I make it my day and try not to worry about what is happening tomorrow. I will say the thing that really puts it into perspective for me is that I left a job earlier in the year that was unhealthy. I was working overnights and weekends. Sometimes I was only home 8 hours before I had to go back. I decided it was controlling too much of my life and I moved back to a regular Mon-Fri job. I’m so happy to have a regular schedule again and weekends to myself. I do my best to appreciate the time I have now.