I live in Los Angeles and just happen to have a grocery store within easy walking distance. Like 0.5 km. But I don’t, because the old nice little convenience store got turned into stupid Whole Foods. Or Mold Foods, as we started calling it after trying some of their groceries. Now I drive a mile to where I can get fresher produce and dairy, and paper towels that don’t disintegrate with the first touch of liquid. Or we get our groceries delivered.

Well, Huntsville Alabama has Space Camp and has been integral to US space exploration. Or so I’ve heard, haven’t been there myself.

Honestly, as someone who’s spent a lot of time in emergency departments, it depends a lot on the hospital and the time of day. Sometimes they’re packed and sometimes they’re almost empty. (At those times it’s very important not to invite disaster by mentioning how quiet it is.) Having an Urgent Care in the same place for Triage to divert people into helps a lot as well.

Play a compilation of song covers at exactly 135 BPM so I can do my treadmill without losing my center or my step.

Work the laundry machines, and set a separate timer because the app notifications are unreliable.

Text to check that my kids are alive and assure them that I and their dad are also not dead today.

Order grocery delivery.

Listen to birds and learn their names (Merlin)

Be part of the earthquake alert system (MyShake)

Wordle/ Quordle/ Waffle

Yes. If I have to wait in the ER, I try to think of it as a sign that I’m going to be okay.

Extremely fast service, or people suddenly starting to be really really nice to you, means something very bad is going on.

But since money interferes with logic in so many ways it seemed necessary to mention it.

That part is normal in US emergency rooms as well.

I own and live in a condo, and sometimes call it an apartment., because condo sounds bougie to me. Especially because I happen to know the building was built as apartments and converted later. Lots of people rent condos as well, so they have a landlord, the owner of the unit. Anyway, you can usually say apartment to give the idea it’s a multifamily dwelling.

I like the point about climate change, if you could trick the genie into agreeing that once you set up your new home you get to stay there. Then pick a spot on the cusp of frigidity. So it will gradually get into the double digits at least.

But they privatized the loot

Oui, d’accord, butalthough he’s not officially a Musketeer until he’s proved himself with gallantry, daring, and disregard for the evil Richelieu and his minions.

You mean Lost Boys vampire gang leader David?

I feel like that title calls for a joke but I’m too tired

I like buying local California olive oils, then I know it’s real.

You’ll still probably get better flavors when things are in season locally. Also, you’ll need to check, but often the frozen version of produce is cheaper when the fresh version is in season, and frozen is easy to stock up on.

Sell it and set the money aside for the next thing that needs replacement/repair. A '69, eh? Nice.

Burnt to a crisp, and spicy

As an old woman myself, I’m sorry to you and your little cat too. Sounds like you got stuck with crappy old losers. I hope you meet other old people who treat you nicer.

I am angry a lot, but it’s because as a kid I thought the world was getting better, more tolerant and caring etc. and instead it keeps getting worse, more fascistic and hateful and filthy and destroyed. Every time we take a step forward we get smacked down backwards about six. It’s exhausting. But we do still have to keep trying to take those positive steps every day.

I’ve never had a geese-observation opportunity but now I know they eat grass and the bugs in it, so thanks!

In California we’re all mailed paper ballots, which we can return by mail (no stamp needed) or designated ballot box, or in person at a polling place up to closing time on Voting Day. My ballot (in a westside Los Angeles district) had 37 items, (on about 7 pages iirc) some of which were yes/no on propositions, others of which had a choice between 2 to 15 candidates for various offices. From school board to US President. It was very clear, just needed a black pen to fill the circles, and I could have gotten it in a dozen different languages. It’s also accessible for my quadriplegic husband, who can’t get to a polling place. But it took time and thought. It wasn’t like the pictures I’ve seen of French ballots which were just a single name on a sheet of paper, take the one from the stack of your choice, I guess? So counting them takes more time. Plus counting ballots that were mailed and postmarked by the deadline, those are allowed 2 weeks to arrive.

*(A couple of edits to clarify details)