will_work4tears

I've read them through around that many times too, if not more, though while the books were enjoyable, that wasn't the only reason I did so; I played a lot of the DRPG game based on the books, so regular research was needed.

Been in this stage with my son for awhile. I had "I'm just a fish" memorized and could recite it to him without looking at the book.

His latest books he just loves to have read to him over and over are "The Gruffalo" and several of the author's other books (Gruffalo's Child, Room on the Broom, Snail and the Whale, etc).

He also loves to watch the animated shorts on Hulu/netflix (no Snail on the Whale though, just the others).

What sort of machinery did farmers use "back then." (not sure how old you are)

I ask, because some of these mega-tractors have a lot of functionality (more complexity seems to just cause more points of failure), but you can still buy a good old general purpose tractor that will last a lot longer.

*not a farmer, but really into homesteading and getting a small self sustaining farm going at some point.

That makes me wonder though, is the statistic that women live longer than men a first world, modern thing, or is it a historical trend? I'd think as little as a hundred years ago it might not have been as true, or am I off base?

He's 43, but your comment makes it sound you think he's older.

I'm not sure he's a great example. He has inertia and a lot of money made from when he was much younger. Take an average person at that age, middle class income, family, etc, and see if they can accomplish life changing goals that they just started chasing.

I'm not going to agree with the poster above that claimed that "At 40+ you realize you've pretty much accomplished everything you're going to with your life." but I think as a generalization it's probably closer to truth than feels comfortable (I'm 37).

However, Semantic.gs is pretty good. Minimal and much more semantic.

Interested in knowing how this changed your life. I have a two year old that loves this story, but can't think of a way it has changed my life.

Grizzly bears don't hide in relatively short grass and are very rare and limited to certain areas, and nor does America have spiders that bite your ass when you are trying to poo. Well, we might, but they aren't deadly.

I agree entirely, medical progress is really the only thing that really interests me, aside maybe material science and engineering breakthroughs (e.g wastewater treatment, etc).

I never got the flying car thing because we can have flying cars. The technology is there, the barriers are more.. social or political, if that makes sense. I sure as hell don't want people flying anywhere near my house in a 2 ton vehicle 20+ feet above the ground at even residential speeds. A nice yard, some trees and maybe a fence keep a runway car out of my living room, not so with a flying one.

I'm pretty sure that you'd be able to glide some distance without power. A human powered helicopter, on the other hand, seems particularly dangerous.

> saturated fats absolutely and unequivocally lead to atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease

This isn't true at all. Too much saturated fat, perhaps, does, but this idea that if a drop of saturated fat crosses one's lips, you'll die a horrible death in 5 year is just plain silly.

Possibly not though. NextDoor has my location and EveryBlock only has Philly and Chicago, it appears.

Gotcha, Sorry for jumping to a conclusion then.

Sugar and white rice are on that list and you single out potatoes?

Nutritiondata.self.com has a "completeness score" of 57/100 for potatoes, but only 27/100 for white rice (long grain), and a 0/100 for sugar (which is nothing but empty calories). FWIW, wheat flour is listed as 33/100 so potatoes are the top of the whole list.

Edit: for comparison, Kale (raw) has a "completeness score" of 85/100 and Spinach (cooked) has a 93/100.

Eggs are probably "mostly fine" to be honest. Most homes could easily raise their own chickens and have a nearly unlimited supply.

As a prepper and a homesteader (amateur/beginner), I realize that low carb and high fat/meat isn't really feasible when SHTF, and I mostly stock lentils, pintos, rice, wheat, quinoa, and a few other standard staples. They stay good, when properly sealed for like 25 years (quinoa only 8 years or so though...). No meat known to man (or at least myself) does that. Also, even doing basic homesteading, you tend to eat more veggies and much less meat.

In the meantime, I admit that I eat plenty of meat, and could probably raise a cow or some pigs, or at the very least do the rabbit thing, but it's a lot of work and planning, and it's just easier to get your meat from a can in an emergency situation.

Edit: I prep for emergencies, FWIW, not health. Calories and nutrition are the major requirements.

Well, one instance of this working pretty well is John Chow[0]

[0] - http://www.johnchow.com/

I swear I saw this before, or a similar thing. Also I swear I saw something similar in Independence, MO; but I cannot find a thing about it. Perhaps I was conflating it with this event.

Oops, sorry, I didn't state my case properly, I wasn't suggesting alcohol is converted into fat (which I've been taught is exactly zero- the body treats it as a toxin and it gains priority on using it - but I guess a small percent or fraction of a percent is small enough that zero is an approximation), but that glucose can be stored as fat in the presence of alcohol. Drink a beer and eat some bread and it's likely some or most of those calories will be stored as fat. Even the carbohydrates. Also carbohydrates in the beer (though not the alcohol).

Your last point was the main gist of my post, though I didn't spell it out so well. I didn't realize that about fructose though.

>and it's VERY rare for our bodies to convert carbs into fat

Not THAT rare. Add alcohol, or just eat a whole lot of carbs and few fats[0].

[0]-http://examine.com/faq/how-are-carbohydrates-converted-into-...

Yep, we had a bunch of these we rented out at our paintball field when I worked for a small company in high school. It was a blast. Working the "concession" stand (selling paint, renting equipment) wasn't that much fun, but I got to referee an equal if not greater amount of time (our field had a central area with an abandoned building and we can climb on the walls to watch multiple groups).

Also I could play free whenever I liked (off hours).

Austin seems the obvious choice. Of course it's hotter than hell there, humid, and you probably have to have an eye out for Tornados.

Personally if I had to pick anywhere but the Seattle area (perfect for me, the gloom doesn't effect me like it does others), it'd have to be either SLC or Boulder/Castle Rock (both near Denver).

SF is probably better climate, IMO, and the idea appeals to me, but the cost of living combined with the traffic... no thanks. Seattle traffic is above what I consider acceptable, SF would kill me.

There are a bunch of State Tech jobs too, not just for lawyers. They don't pay nearly as much as Seattle jobs. Tacoma doesn't either for that matter, and Tacoma doesn't even have the Government thing going for them (just the base).

There is some "trickle" effect for tech jobs slowly making their way south (I see regular postings for Tukwilla, Renton and even Federal Way development jobs), and some in Tacoma, but my experience is they tend to hold onto that 50-60+ hours a week work ethic, but only pay 35-45k. No thanks.

There is, however, a surprising number of Government tech jobs, but they don't pay well. There's a big base (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) with a bunch of contracting jobs, and Tacoma has a small amount of tech jobs. Nowhere near the level of even Seattle though. I know from experience - I live in Tacoma with no real desire or ability to commute to Seattle daily (at least for a couple more years). I also am not willing to work in Olympia for less than 75k (and even then the job would have to be pretty interesting), but most of the jobs are .NET C# type things, which I don't currently have experience with, and the ones that are left pay more like 55-60k,

I hadn't really considered games (or even games and apps), but now that you bring it up, it seems like the perfect fit. I think it's certainly feasible to merge the two ideas into the same solution.

>and few of them have me looking forward to a world without publishers

But some do, correct? I've been reading quite a few (more than 10, probably more like 20-30) lately and I've ran across more than a few great finds. Granted, maybe our "Standards" are vastly different - I admit freely to being spat upon by literary purists for reading Science Fiction and Fantasy.

I've ran into more than a few utter piles though. I'm more selective based on total reviews, so I'm not getting anything cutting edge (10 reviews - 4.5 stars, no thanks, 180 reviews 4 stars, sure). I don't have friends or contacts of any sort that read what I do, so unfortunately that's all I can do.

That's true, but they also are very selective and pay very little of the actual profits to the author. My project will help any author, even those with the standard publisher, but it's really aimed at finding the good writers from the flood of newly "published" authors on Amazon. There's so much noise due to the sheer number of self published authors it's really hard to find anything. It's like the Netflix problem, you spend all your spare time going through looking for something by the time you find it, you don't have free time anymore.

I feel Amazon really supports authors more than any publisher. I'm actually working on a project that will help authors on Amazon find an audience. Hopefully I can launch something before somebody else does(it's a pretty obvious idea, and either way, I wish the best for Indie authors).

Why do you feel that something that is incorrect (even blatantly) isn't useful? I have often observed a thread where somebody ignorantly spouts something and is taught appropriately. I've learned stuff from those and left with a net positive. The original poster might never admit to being wrong, or changing his world-view, but I certainly have many times.

Totally agree with your impressions of the Belgariad. I had a friend that just loved it and it was kinda... meh. I'm also with you on Endymion, the second part of the series was seriously lacking the same quality of the first two books.

Also, for whatever it's worth, I've never read ASOIAF, though I've tried a couple times. Never could get into it. I kept getting the whole WOT vibe from it too (too many characters, too many subplots).

I'll throw in a few more recommendations -

Kindle Unlimited books:

The Origin Mystery by A.G Riddle (alternate history, aliens, seeded origins, etc)

Brilliance Saga by Marcus Sakey - Kind of a superhero thing, 1% of humans since the 80s have been born with superhuman abilities. Not bad, probably a 3/5, but entertaining.

Almost anything by Douglas E. Richards - his Mind's Eye book was a great action/mystery, Same with his Wired and Amped books (series). I'm looking into his Prometheus Project series, and might read it next.

Awakened Series by Jason Tesar - Multiple worlds type of deal. Prophecy, fighting evil beings, high powered hero and enemies, and more. Probably not the "greatest" writing or editing going on (I spotted a few spelling errors), but it's a great plot and his character development is pretty good.

Not Kindle Unlimited:

The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - Multiple worlds, epic storyline, and getting better with each new book. Can't wait for the next one (The Long Mars).

The Taken Trilogy by Allen Dean Foster - Human abducted by aliens, escapes, has great adventures with his talking dog. Humorous and engaging. Highly recommend.

The Tide Lords by Jeniffer Fallon - Powerful, immortal, nearly gods when the "tide" is up, merely un-killable when it's not. Great read (Fantasy).