nBodyProblem

I am an engineer and used to struggle pretty hard with mechanic things because my instincts say that if something isn’t doing what I want that means I’m doing it wrong and forcing it will break it.

The thing that broke that block was a coworker at a startup who was both an engineer and our aircraft mechanic. He told me, “in my experience the best aircraft mechanics are basically just big dumb apes that wail on airplanes with hammers until they do what they want.” Sometimes I would help him do aircraft maintenance and would balk at a task worrying that I’d break a $2M airplane. We had another tech that would say, “who cares? I promise you can’t break it bad enough that we can’t fix it after”

Those things have stuck with me for years and I am no longer afraid of pulling out the big boy breaker bar when I need it.

Have you guys not had the salty “cheese foam” you can get on boba? It’s like stabilized whipped cream.

This doesn’t sound bad at all.

Prices for an equivalent model car really haven’t changed much after adjusting for inflation.

Hondas aren’t the best example because they have steadily been moving more upmarket as a brand. However, in 1991 a base model civic cost an inflation adjusted $15,600. A 2023 base model civic costs $23,750.

Another example that comes to mind is the Mazda Miata since people often complain about how sports cars have gotten too expensive and it’s the archetypal affordable sports car. A 1991 Miata cost an inflation adjusted $35,600. A 2023 Miata starts at $28,000.

I dunno, when I was in high school there were a number of Ayn Rand essay contests with prize money.

I won’t say they’re good books but I did make good money from reading them.

I grew up in California

I’m not surprised about your experience though. I have also lived in the south and many of the southern states are still feeling the effects of decades of extensive lobbying on education by the Daughters of the Confederacy.

They DoC has historically pushed a narrative about slaves being happy and content overall, cared for by empathetic masters who valued their well-being. There are many monuments still standing glorifying the wartime deeds done by “loyal” and happy slaves. It’s really insidious.

I know there is regional variation on how the slave trade is taught, but when I was in school we had numerous, extended, and graphic discussions on the horrors of the slave trade starting from elementary school and extending into college.