saloe

Not the 3rd or 4th time you were a prisoner, but the 2nd.

PHP really is such a forgiving language and easy to understand and get in to. My favorite part is that every time I have a seemingly very niche and specific use-case, there is a function that just does that thing perfectly and is already included in the base library.

You said it and I'll reaffirm: the documentation and online library of SO questions/answers is absolutely priceless. Most of the older versions are still compatible with the latest version, so upgrading is simple and usually just means there are more features you can use now.

I tried it but wound up feeling the same way I do about the many nazi shows they used to play on History channel. I understand we should be wary of the villains of our past, but devoting hours of time laughing and talking about them seems disingenuous to the many many others who suffered from their actions.

Of all the things that could be said about 2020, Biden coming into an unusually good situation is the most disingenuous, even if you are just talking about the economy.

Trump and Republicans blew an insane amount of money and had nothing to show for it among the general population, covid-19 was handled incredibly bad by Trump leading up to that point, and the lame duck president of the United States had just attempted a coup to stay in power.

Framing this time as anything but unprecedented and tumultuousis does not do it justice.

And that would be great, but Americans don't have even a remotely close concept of how this works. You may as well be speaking a foreign language to them because our reality is so incredibly far away from this alternative way of living.

I probably should have put /s or something but it isn't necessarily sarcasm. While my above comment isn't my take, it is the mindset of most folks in the US (can't speak for Canada). It isn't like they are inconvenienced by driving cars, they think it is great. The downsides of car culture have been slowly eroding all of us from the inside like a parasite we don't know we have. Trying to convince this very realistic F150 owner that they don't need a car, and that there could theoretically exist a world in which they can walk and shop smaller and deal with the weather like the rest of the world is not going to be an easy task because it is a universe away from their current reality, worldview and identity.

My intention isn't to be all "doomer" about this, I really do hope we fix things here. But hard work isn't going to be enough and I guess that is where I'm going with this. To fix America's landscape/infrastructure we need radical revolution levels of change and there are several, imo, higher priority things to do before we even get to those items. I don't blame folks for just up and leaving if they have the means. I plan to and my life and my family's life will be better for it. Universal healthcare, free/affordable tuition, walkable living spaces that feel like home, schools that don't have to do active shooter drills, safety for LGBTQIA+ people, reasonable laws and fewer fascist neighbors: all of these things exist already in places around the world. NJB moved because he could and is shitting on the US because frankly it deserves it and maybe the shock treatment will wake up a few minds to their reality. Is he an asshole? Maybe, but he isn't wrong.

That's the issue though: it isn't that way and in order to convince folks that they actually want it you have to overcome my snarky roleplay. This is the attitudes of most American suburbanites. They won't want a car-free life because they can't even conceive of what that would look like, it is an entirely foreign concept

You may just be a bit more on the introverted side of the spectrum and that's normal. There are social expectations that we should "have lots of friends" and that college is a time to meet and hang out with people and do crazy stuff to think back on when we are in our 40s. I think those sentiments were created a few generations back when the cost of college wasn't necessarily a concern. But even you, who managed to do it so far without debt, had to think about the cost as a big factor and it impacted how you attended. Surprise! A bunch of young adults trying to get an education while being stressed about a potentially life-altering amount of debt and an uncertain future aren't really in the best place to be social and have fun. My point is don't blame yourself; the system is kind of fucked right now.

If you get your degree that's great, you'll have access to more doors in life and hopefully that means more free time to devote to things you already know you like and maybe some stuff you've yet to find out you like. If you feel like you want more friends, there are social clubs, discord servers, and meetups in towns/cities you can look into to find folks who are more or less aligned with your interests rather than your education level. There is still a lot about life you've yet to see and I think a not-so-great college experience won't be something you think about even a year after graduation.

I have an F150 with a small bed in the back, heated seats and working AC. I can drive 15-20 minutes to the big-box or local grocery store rain-or-shine and load up my truck bed so I can feel like I'm actually getting some use out of it and grab a latte from Starbucks on the way back in like an hour and a half total. I'll get home, backup into the driveway and unload into the freezer in the garage and the fridge/pantry in the kitchen. Done.

"Yes but imagine if you could walk to the grocery store and have nice things to look at! Imagine spaces that feel comfortable and inviting, small cafes on the corner and people out and about instead of just a bunch of cars."

So what am I walking for? I just want to get groceries and get home why would I deliberately take longer to do a chore? And where do I put all my stuff after checkout? They have those locks on the carts now so you can't even take them outside of the parking lot, do I like bring a duffel bag or something? What if it is raining? I'm not sure where I put that umbrella I bought 10 years ago for my vacation. And snow? Forget it, the plows push all that muddy ice up onto the sidewalk, I could never even make it out of the house.

gasp how could we possibly manage without another carrier? We just barely have more than every other country in the world and you jest about not building another one? Just because you said that we're going to throw another billion of un-asked for cash into the "defense" budget.

We would have to create entire new ecosystems, cities and towns with incredible public transportation that is flawless and easy to understand and use and either dirt cheap or completely free. And even if that happened all over the US by some magical means like all the billionaires who own our country decide to unite and rebuild the country (hah!), it would only be kids and teens using it because they don't drive yet and it's more independent than asking their parents. Then that generation might finally be the change that makes it normal and permanent.

I think he has a point that fixing the US is somewhat hopeless. There are many pieces that go into the puzzle that is the United States and its citizens and together they create such a hostile and undesirable place that is adamantly resistent to change. Not only were our cities literally demolished to make way for the car, the whole idea of driving and what that means is deeply engrained in our culture and identity.

This isn't just about removing stroads and designing some cutesy livable spaces and parks in cities. This is about changing the identity of what it means to be an American. Do you think you could convince even a portion of Americans that the European old way of living is better than the American way?