Yeah, it’s easy to forget because of the power the parties have now but legally speaking, we elect a person not a party. They’re free to vote how the like.
Here in MN, Jesse Ventura was elected as a Reform party member and within a year had split with that party and officially became a member of the Independence party.
If we’re talking about things I use regularly, probably my desktop computer. I bought it at an auction. This was in '04 and have been upgrading it one piece at a time ever since. I’m currently gathering parts for another “gut it and start over” level rebuild and I think the only original parts at this point are the case and the floppy drive.
If it’s just things I own and don’t use, I do technically own a '76 Chevy pickup that is almost infinitely repairable but that hasn’t had an engine since the early 2000s
I have a round griddle that was warped enough it was almost un-usable on my glass top stove. Here’s what I did.
Using a ruler and an angle grinder, I knocked down the high spots. When I put it on the stove again it was significantly better but still a bit wobbly so I took a cheap 2-sided sharpening stone and continued taking it down with that. It took a few hours to get as flat as I wanted but, I felt like it was worth it.
I believe the Pac Man cartridge for my NES is probably the oldest video game I still pick up regularly.
OMG! So many things. I’d probably spend months looking through the stats of my life alone. But first, dinosaurs! What did they actually look like? How did they act? What actually killed them?
This is kind of what I’m thinking. Our history only goes back a couple hundred years as opposed to a couple millennia of recorded history for many European countries. We have fewer historical periods to obsess over so, more of us end up on the same topic.
Porn.
Like any type of media, you win by getting porn on your side. Bring the NSFW content creators over and everyone else will follow.
I used to work on the road and I’m no stranger to 8-16 hour drives so here are a couple suggestions.
Get some sort of long playing media. Have you checked if you can play files through the USB? Some cars of that era would play MP3s off of a USB drive. If your phone won’t play through the Bluetooth, does it have a CD player? 8 hours is about the length of a lot of audiobooks, you could get a hard copy of one of those or even just music CDs. Either way, it’s nice to have a backup to the FM radio for that long of a drive in case you end up on a stretch where there aren’t any good stations.
Speaking of backups, this is going to out me as an old dude but, I’d suggest a paper map of the area you’ll be traveling. You’re liable to hit some dead zones on that long of a drive and you mentioned some worry about keeping your phone charged. If you can get a paper map and highlight the route you want to take, you’ll have a good fall back. Bonus points if you get a copy of the same map to someone that you can call for help. When I was in college my dad and I had copies of the same Atlas (thanks for the free maps State Farm) and I would often call him for advice if I hit serious construction on a long drive.
Try to stay aware of your general alertness. If you’re feeling sluggish, don’t hesitate to stop at the next gas station or rest stop and get a coffee or pop or something. Personally, I’d steer clear of energy drinks because the crash when they wear off sucks if you’re driving. Even just getting out of the car and walking around often helped me. Alternatively, if it’s late and you’re really dragging, stopping at a rest stop for a quick power nap is not the worst idea. It sure beats waking up in the ditch (been there, would not recommend). If you have some music that really pumps you up, have a copy of that with you too. I used to carry a CD with the metal mix that we used to play to get pumped up before football games in highschool.
I’m not sure how many people still know this but most major highways have small green signs with numbers on them along the side of the road. These are mile markers. The exit numbers generally cover from the nearest mile marker. I mention this because they’re worth keeping an eye on. If you’re traveling by map, it’s a good way to gauge the distance to an exit you’re looking for and more importantly, if you need to call for help, knowing the road and mile marker will get help to you faster.
Seconding this. I’m a native of the upper Midwest so I’m a big fan of the seasonal emergency kits. I would add sunscreen or a long sleeved shirt to the list though. Can’t count the number of times I’ve been on a long drive that happened to keep the sun in the driver’s side for several hours and ended up with a pretty bad sunburn on my left arm.
Oh, I have. More than once. The service at his house sucks so I don’t even have to fess up to it if I don’t want to, just seems like another dropped call.
Several years ago, I was in a waiting room while my father had heart surgery. Two things I remember were that for some reason they had us in an area that was primarily the waiting room for pediatric surgery and, a woman with one of the other families in the same lobby was getting a call every 5 minutes. I remember these things because the woman’s ringtone was “If I die young” by The Band Perry. Every 5 fucking minutes, this woman’s phone started screaming “If I die young, bury me in…” This was enough to make me want to fly off the handle waiting on my 60 year old father’s surgery. I can’t imagine if I’d been with a family who was waiting to hear about a child. To this day I can’t hear that song while seeing red for a minute.
OMG my dad does this while I’m on the phone with him. If I had a dollar for every time I had to tell him to turn off the video on his phone so I could hear him…
Depends on why you’re going TBH. If you just want to learn things before you die, it’s literally never too late.
If you’re looking for a purely financial payout though, there is a lot of math and it’s going to be hyper specific to your situation. First, you need to consider the total cost of going back. Not just books and tuition but lost income if you’re not working full time as you go to school. If you’re still working during school, don’t forget to factor in the free time that you’re burning and added costs (both social and financial ) to being busy all of the time. Want to fix your car yourself and save a few bucks, hope it can wait until spring break.
Next, you have to compare that to the amount of money you personally would likely make above your current trajectory. Don’t forget to factor in your chances of actually getting that job in your field. I have a friend with an English degree who sells insurance for a company that would absolutely have hired them with an associates or maybe even just a HS diploma. A co-worker of mine has a bachelor’s and makes the exact money as I do with my associates.
I don’t mean to sound down on college. My wife is a college professor and I honestly believe that for most people, a four year degree is a huge benefit in their career and personal life. Personally, I think the fact that we’ve turned the college experience into purely financial decision for most of the coming generations is a scathing indictment of our society. That being said, there are a lot of cases where it doesn’t pay off financially.