Some of these are embarrassing/will seem ridiculous but all is fair in love and minimalism!
-Keep house at 18 degrees (64.4F) year round
-Keep lights off as much as possible. Tv lights the living room (lol)
-If there are lighting fixtures that hold multiple bulbs, only use 1
-Anything and everything is done on the lowest setting if possible
-Device need charging? Gonna be at work later? Charge it there.
-(Get ready to laugh) Pee outside (backyard). Why waste water?
-Hiking shoes breaking? Duct tape bitch! No one is there anyway.
-Summer? AC? Nah! Cool house at night (open windows and have fans running) then shut blinds/close windows when sun starts rising. If house gets a fair bit of shade you can stay comfortable most of the day. Run fans, even one from basement pointing up the stairs to bring cooler basement air up.
-Like video games? Me too, a lot. Online rental sites and sales. Hardly ever buy new (last new game purchase was March 2017).
-Cable tv? Been like 6 years. Internet and Netflix does the job.
-Dish soap or liquid hand soap getting low? Add water, shake and presto! Full bottle again. Also works with cologne, shampoo, conditioner, eye glass cleaner, etc. Sure it's a bit degraded (not the right word but I am blanking at the moment) but it definitely extends your usage.
-Some jurisdictions have varying hydro prices. Find out if your area is one of them and if so try to do laundry, dishes, etc in those hours. Timers help with this if you're at work.
-Do you get a drink, finish drink, throw cup in sink then get a new cup for next drink? Silly goose, quick rinse then re-use! Also works for bowls and dishes and silverware.
-Treating yourself with some takeout? Cool, do that once every month or so myself. Get the big size (full dinner vs. half, for example) then set some aside for another meal. Two meals for a bit higher of a cost works out better than the slightly less expensive one that lasts one meal.
-Unless it's one of those scorching "fuck my life" days, if you're driving out in the summer windows down uses less energy than air conditioning. And if I do run the AC (or heat in winter- bundle up right though and u can avoid this) it's as low a setting as possible.
-Bring my lunch to work (well breakfast lunch and dinner all in one as I do intermittent fasting/one meal a day and work 12 hour shifts during which my eating window falls) and when I am done there is Tupperware to wash? Wash it at work, why waste water at home?
-Take vitamins or other supplements? I take the proper dose most of the time but every so often (once or twice a week) I'll either skip them or take a reduced dosage. Stretches them out more over the course of a year.
-Holes in clothes? Mend 'em. Wash clothes less often so they last longer.
-Run washing machine on cold water setting.
-If you use disposable razors/razor blades, once you are done shaving get the hair out, dry the blades perfectly then run them several times across your forearm(s) in the opposite direction that you would run them to actually shave (hope that makes sense). Do like 10-20 "backwards strokes" and this resets the alignment of the blades which gives you a few extra shaves with the same blade.
-If you use teeth whitening strips and you don't have giant ass horse teeth you can cut the strips in half and get double the use out of a box (you can also use them a lot longer than the recommended thirty minutes but TEST THIS CAREFULLY at first please. You may get tooth sensitivity (I do not and have worn them for upwards of four hours at a time). Please don't tell Crest et al this as I don't want them making them smaller to stop me from doing this ;)
-If you cook bacon you can save the grease and use it for cooking (saves you from using olive oil or whatever and it tastes awesome!).
-Sometimes you'll think you need a new pair of shoes when really all they need is a cleaning and maybe a polishing. If they aren't ripped to shit but just dull, try that first.
-Drive my car conservatively and keep up with maintenance. Use same car forever (I drive a 2003 that still runs great).
I'm sure there's more but that's all that comes to mind at the moment.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Friday, October 26, 2018
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Boss Rush Mode Strategies
Boss 1: Start with Miriam, walk towards him, and then jump towards him and get an attack in the air before you're close. From here, switch to Gebel and do a bunch of jump attacks as the stairs are approaching, you should be able to fit in about 4. Then, jump towards the stairs, and then do a jump without moving so the top step will land under you. From here, do three attacks, then move to the edge of the steps, do 3 more (or 4 if you're risky) and then get off the stairs. From here, run so you don't get hit by the short range fire blast. Then go back near him and keep jump attacking with Gebel. Now the fire rain will come, but just keep attacking until one falls just to the left of you. When this happens, go to where it hit the ground and wait for one to fall where you were standing. After this, just keep jump attacking and you'll win quickly.
Boss 2: Start with Miriam, walk under the middle icicle, and do a slide. This will put you in position to crouch attack many times, so do this until he starts his wind up to go across the screen. When this happens, just jump over it, dont think about getting on an icicle. From here, wait for the 3 blocks waves of 2 blocks each to pass, and then go right to avoid the boss. From here, get in the corner and turn into Gebel. When the boss comes out of her shell, face towards her, crouch, and attack with Gebel many times. The bubbles will come and you'll probably get hit once but it's fine because you did a lot of damage. From here, use Miriam and stay near the middle, using your long whip to jump and attack when you can. All of the bubbles should be gone when she stops, so you can switch to Gebel and kill her quick.
Boss 3: Use Miriam to get to the top of the gold pile and attack him 3 times, then switch to Gebel and get those short range stronger attacks in, and then switch back to Miriam to get more long range attacks in as it goes away. Be Miriam when the hands come, stand near the head, and dodge whichever way you need to because you'll be able to hit him either way when the wave carries you up. Then use Miriam to attack whichever enemies are in your way and repeat until he dies.
Boss 4: Bring the Ice Missile and the Magic Charm subweapons. Begin with Alfted and freeze the top head as soon as the fight starts. This should freeze both heads, so switch to Zangetsu and break the ice on the bottom head with the magic charm, and then slice as much as you can before you have to dodge his bite. Once you dodge the bite, switch to Alfred and refreeze the top head because it should be blinking because it's going to wear off soon. Once you do this, switch back to Zangetsu and finish off the bottom head with another Magic Charm and more slashes. When the bottom head dies, touch the right wall with Gebel and jump attack over and over again to kill the top head with no problems. Then wait on the right platform floating in the air on the far right block for the boss to come back in his second form with Zangetsu. When he is done roaring, throw another magic charm and attack him 3 or 4 times before jumping off the platform to the right. When you are on the lower part, duck and switch to Miriam so that when you jump back after the fire blast it's easier to make it back. When you are back, do another Magic Charm and more slashes and he should die quickly. It may take another round I forget but yeah.
Boss 5: Enter as Gebel and jump attack whenever he flies across the screen to get damage in. Destroy the lightning things when they hit the ground. If he's on the left, be Miriam and slide under the wind to get close and do attacks, and when the wind is gone switch back to Gebel. If he is on the right, then as Gebel get far to the left, jump over him when he comes, and move farther to the right. He will land in front of you and you'll be able to do a bunch of damage without worrying of running into him.
Boss 6: Just bring the lightning and spam it with Alfred and she'll die super fast. Then get to the edge of the screen you can safely get to and just get hit by the suicide blast. If you have full health with Alfred, he'll still live and he's barely out anyway so it's fine lol. I mean you can try dodging it but yeah. If you're trying to go hitless or whatever, you can bring the bat powerup with Gebel and dash attack with the bat through it to dodge it easily, but you won't have enough magic if you use the lightning as I described. An alternate way is to stand on the middle umbrella and use Gebel to attack from there and it shouldn't be too hard. I'd go into more detail there but the lightning just works too perfectly.
Boss 7: Bring the Axe subweapon. Enter with Miriam and get on the blue book platform closest to him. From here, switch to Zangetsu and duck slash until he gets on the wall. From here, get on the far right platform, switch to Miriam, and use the Axe 3 times before getting on whatever platform you need to get on. If it's a close one, you can do another Axe. Jump off with Miriam when he stops dashing around, and duck attack with her long whip. From here, repeat the process and as you're slashing with Zangetsu he should die.
Boss 8: Bring the Demon Essence, Fire Shield, and the three upward knives. Jump attack with Gebel on the first phase until he stops having his hands in whatever position. If they aren't both in the air, switch to Alfred, use the fire sheild quickly, and then switch to Zangetsu. If they are both in the air, then you don't need to use the fire sheild yet but you can if you want to. Move from your current position because he's going to land there, and then use demon essence and attack him a bunch of times. After one more round of this, he should die and it's on to the second phase. Go in the corner and use the upward knives, from the floor, and 2 of them should hit him each time. If you get the yellow moon attack, wait under the boss's feet with Zangetsu and simply jump slash the moons that stop on either side of you. If you get the pink moon attack, get to the left side, switch to Miriam, and jump over them when they come towards you. There may be a way to attack them instead but I don't know it yet. When the spears come, just jump attack with Miriam on the higher platform. Make sure you hit only one eye near the floor as soon as it appears and get on the platform before you get hit. Switch to Miriam when he does his super move to make jumping over the blue things easier, and then get to the edge as soon as that's over to dodge the big red moon. The fight should be over in four or five cycles or something like that.
Boss 2: Start with Miriam, walk under the middle icicle, and do a slide. This will put you in position to crouch attack many times, so do this until he starts his wind up to go across the screen. When this happens, just jump over it, dont think about getting on an icicle. From here, wait for the 3 blocks waves of 2 blocks each to pass, and then go right to avoid the boss. From here, get in the corner and turn into Gebel. When the boss comes out of her shell, face towards her, crouch, and attack with Gebel many times. The bubbles will come and you'll probably get hit once but it's fine because you did a lot of damage. From here, use Miriam and stay near the middle, using your long whip to jump and attack when you can. All of the bubbles should be gone when she stops, so you can switch to Gebel and kill her quick.
Boss 3: Use Miriam to get to the top of the gold pile and attack him 3 times, then switch to Gebel and get those short range stronger attacks in, and then switch back to Miriam to get more long range attacks in as it goes away. Be Miriam when the hands come, stand near the head, and dodge whichever way you need to because you'll be able to hit him either way when the wave carries you up. Then use Miriam to attack whichever enemies are in your way and repeat until he dies.
Boss 4: Bring the Ice Missile and the Magic Charm subweapons. Begin with Alfted and freeze the top head as soon as the fight starts. This should freeze both heads, so switch to Zangetsu and break the ice on the bottom head with the magic charm, and then slice as much as you can before you have to dodge his bite. Once you dodge the bite, switch to Alfred and refreeze the top head because it should be blinking because it's going to wear off soon. Once you do this, switch back to Zangetsu and finish off the bottom head with another Magic Charm and more slashes. When the bottom head dies, touch the right wall with Gebel and jump attack over and over again to kill the top head with no problems. Then wait on the right platform floating in the air on the far right block for the boss to come back in his second form with Zangetsu. When he is done roaring, throw another magic charm and attack him 3 or 4 times before jumping off the platform to the right. When you are on the lower part, duck and switch to Miriam so that when you jump back after the fire blast it's easier to make it back. When you are back, do another Magic Charm and more slashes and he should die quickly. It may take another round I forget but yeah.
Boss 5: Enter as Gebel and jump attack whenever he flies across the screen to get damage in. Destroy the lightning things when they hit the ground. If he's on the left, be Miriam and slide under the wind to get close and do attacks, and when the wind is gone switch back to Gebel. If he is on the right, then as Gebel get far to the left, jump over him when he comes, and move farther to the right. He will land in front of you and you'll be able to do a bunch of damage without worrying of running into him.
Boss 6: Just bring the lightning and spam it with Alfred and she'll die super fast. Then get to the edge of the screen you can safely get to and just get hit by the suicide blast. If you have full health with Alfred, he'll still live and he's barely out anyway so it's fine lol. I mean you can try dodging it but yeah. If you're trying to go hitless or whatever, you can bring the bat powerup with Gebel and dash attack with the bat through it to dodge it easily, but you won't have enough magic if you use the lightning as I described. An alternate way is to stand on the middle umbrella and use Gebel to attack from there and it shouldn't be too hard. I'd go into more detail there but the lightning just works too perfectly.
Boss 7: Bring the Axe subweapon. Enter with Miriam and get on the blue book platform closest to him. From here, switch to Zangetsu and duck slash until he gets on the wall. From here, get on the far right platform, switch to Miriam, and use the Axe 3 times before getting on whatever platform you need to get on. If it's a close one, you can do another Axe. Jump off with Miriam when he stops dashing around, and duck attack with her long whip. From here, repeat the process and as you're slashing with Zangetsu he should die.
Boss 8: Bring the Demon Essence, Fire Shield, and the three upward knives. Jump attack with Gebel on the first phase until he stops having his hands in whatever position. If they aren't both in the air, switch to Alfred, use the fire sheild quickly, and then switch to Zangetsu. If they are both in the air, then you don't need to use the fire sheild yet but you can if you want to. Move from your current position because he's going to land there, and then use demon essence and attack him a bunch of times. After one more round of this, he should die and it's on to the second phase. Go in the corner and use the upward knives, from the floor, and 2 of them should hit him each time. If you get the yellow moon attack, wait under the boss's feet with Zangetsu and simply jump slash the moons that stop on either side of you. If you get the pink moon attack, get to the left side, switch to Miriam, and jump over them when they come towards you. There may be a way to attack them instead but I don't know it yet. When the spears come, just jump attack with Miriam on the higher platform. Make sure you hit only one eye near the floor as soon as it appears and get on the platform before you get hit. Switch to Miriam when he does his super move to make jumping over the blue things easier, and then get to the edge as soon as that's over to dodge the big red moon. The fight should be over in four or five cycles or something like that.
Sunday, October 14, 2018
"If marijuana is so good for you why does it make you cough?"
If marijuana is so good for you why does it make you cough?
This is a question I was asked and in fairness, on the face of it it seems a reasonable one. However, it is very misguided. Coughing isn't necessarily indicative of marijuana being unhealthy. Coughing is just a bodily response to your airway being irritated.
Irritated, you say? Well, see it's bad for you. You just said it's irritating to the airway!
Irritation is in no way a reliable indicator of something being unhealthy. Spicy foods can cause tremendous pain and irritation while being eaten but time and again science has proven spicy foods to offer a wide range of health benefits. Stretching your muscles, lifting weights, running until your body feels like it's on fire or receiving a deep tissue massage are painful and/or irritating to the body while also being extremely good for you. Marijuana is much the same.
Of course, everything has negatives attached and everything can be done too much but moderate, intelligent use of marijuana is at worst a benign undertaking and at best a very positive one with a myriad number of health benefits (both mental and physical health).
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
In Defense Of 'Crazy' Stay At Home Moms
We all know the trope of the 'crazy' suburban mom; you know, the one who screams at her kids and husband all day despite being medicated to the gills with pharmacological agents and vodka coolers and while I have done my share of sneering at them to myself and others (shitty behaviour around kids is hard not to sneer at) I have been thinking a lot about these women and what might be at the root of the problem and I think that "they're just crazy" isn't fair and what really may be going on is totally not their fault but actually the fault of the way we engineered post-industrialization/post-agricultural societies.
If you travel back in time to say 50,000 years ago, what was the life of a mother like? Were they alone, separated into individual houses, or together as a community, dealing with everyone's' kids all at once?
It was the latter.
Assuming we all agree on this point, (and how can't we; I'm always right after all, right C-man? fuma!) what can we take from this? Well, it logically follows that evolving to raise kids in a community would lead women of future generations to basically needing said communities for support and ultimately, optimal mental health. So, separating into houses all along a street and living in their own little worlds with their kids and hubbies (when home from work) could possibly be setting them up for failure. Living contrary to ones' nature is a recipe for mental illness, right?
If we think about the nature of women, are they more oriented towards being solitary or in groups? I think we all know the answer. They are definitely wired towards being hive minded. Men are generally the more solitary creatures. So, in the interest of fairness here, is it really any wonder that once they are separated into individual homes alone with their kid(s) all day that they go "crazy?" They are living without the social support networks they evolved to need!
I always think/talk about how the way this culture is engineered is really bad for men, but I am starting to consider the possibility that it's bad for women as well. It's bad for all of us, I think. One day I'll stop being so lazy and really dig into this idea and post a detailed, cogent, thought out piece about it. I really think there's a lot about the way we are living that we need to rethink. I'm just so lazy.....damn culture's fault!
It was the latter.
Assuming we all agree on this point, (and how can't we; I'm always right after all, right C-man? fuma!) what can we take from this? Well, it logically follows that evolving to raise kids in a community would lead women of future generations to basically needing said communities for support and ultimately, optimal mental health. So, separating into houses all along a street and living in their own little worlds with their kids and hubbies (when home from work) could possibly be setting them up for failure. Living contrary to ones' nature is a recipe for mental illness, right?
If we think about the nature of women, are they more oriented towards being solitary or in groups? I think we all know the answer. They are definitely wired towards being hive minded. Men are generally the more solitary creatures. So, in the interest of fairness here, is it really any wonder that once they are separated into individual homes alone with their kid(s) all day that they go "crazy?" They are living without the social support networks they evolved to need!
I always think/talk about how the way this culture is engineered is really bad for men, but I am starting to consider the possibility that it's bad for women as well. It's bad for all of us, I think. One day I'll stop being so lazy and really dig into this idea and post a detailed, cogent, thought out piece about it. I really think there's a lot about the way we are living that we need to rethink. I'm just so lazy.....damn culture's fault!
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Travel Back in Time and SLAP THE SHIT OUT OF MYSELF
This is a snippet of a "love letter" (blargh) I wrote for an ex girlfriend years back. It's.....I mean.....Jesus Christ. See for yourself:
Someone needs to invent a time machine so literally everyone on Earth can travel back to the moment I started to write that letter and SLAP THE SHIT OUT OF ME.
Disgusting.
It is an impoverished existence, one that is without you in it, and I must now redouble my energies and refocus so that I may live this new leg of the journey that is my life to its absolute fullest capacity, in perhaps a vain but surely blissful endeavour to make up for the dark half of this, mine imperfect and tumultuous life. I look forward to an illuminated, enlightened, and surely more rewarding second half.
May your love ever shine brightly down upon me, and may it always light my way.
Someone needs to invent a time machine so literally everyone on Earth can travel back to the moment I started to write that letter and SLAP THE SHIT OUT OF ME.
Disgusting.
Friday, July 27, 2018
Is All Offense Equal?
If one person is offended by something another person does and asks them to stop doing it but the second person says they are offended by the first person's attempt to control them is the second person's offense as legitimate as the first person's?
I have been thinking about this intermittently for over a year as it happened to me at work with a former coworker- she interrupted a conversation I was having to ask that I stop swearing (she was of the Muslim faith and very conservative) as it offended her. I was mixed on this as on the one hand it's not a big deal to try and reign it in a bit if it makes her more comfortable but on the other hand now I have someone trying to control my language- even when I am talking to someone else.
I ruminated on this for a while and then I asked her "If my swearing offends you it is right for me to stop it, yes?" She agreed and then I asked her "Okay now say I am offended at your attempt to control my speech- should you now respect my offense and stop trying to control what I say?" Her answer, which pops into my mind every once in a while and gets me thinking about this again was.....*interesting.* She simply said "No, it's not the same thing."
Hmmmm......
So I ask you: Is all offense equal or are there levels of offense? A secondary question I guess would be is being offended the fault of a third party or a function of your own psychology and therefore cannot be pinned on someone else?
I have been thinking about this intermittently for over a year as it happened to me at work with a former coworker- she interrupted a conversation I was having to ask that I stop swearing (she was of the Muslim faith and very conservative) as it offended her. I was mixed on this as on the one hand it's not a big deal to try and reign it in a bit if it makes her more comfortable but on the other hand now I have someone trying to control my language- even when I am talking to someone else.
I ruminated on this for a while and then I asked her "If my swearing offends you it is right for me to stop it, yes?" She agreed and then I asked her "Okay now say I am offended at your attempt to control my speech- should you now respect my offense and stop trying to control what I say?" Her answer, which pops into my mind every once in a while and gets me thinking about this again was.....*interesting.* She simply said "No, it's not the same thing."
Hmmmm......
So I ask you: Is all offense equal or are there levels of offense? A secondary question I guess would be is being offended the fault of a third party or a function of your own psychology and therefore cannot be pinned on someone else?
Monday, July 9, 2018
Common Parenting Mistake I See Everywhere
Taking a child expressing (clumsily; they're learning) their emotional reaction to something you say/do as "attitude" or "talking back," getting upset about it (ego) and then coming down overly hard (only making things worse).
For example, you tell your five year old that they need to finish their dinner before they can watch TV. They respond by telling you that you're "mean." You then get angry and come down on them (*how dare you speak to me that way* type of response, often followed by a threat or punishment).
A better response would be taking the time to explain your rationale for making them eat first before TV.
Kids need to know there's a beneficial reason for us stopping them from doing things otherwise they take it as nothing but authoritarian dominance and that sort of perceived dynamic never ends well.
I know we're often frustrated or tired and no one is perfect but trying to minimize this sort of thing is better for both parties in both the short and long term.
For example, you tell your five year old that they need to finish their dinner before they can watch TV. They respond by telling you that you're "mean." You then get angry and come down on them (*how dare you speak to me that way* type of response, often followed by a threat or punishment).
A better response would be taking the time to explain your rationale for making them eat first before TV.
Kids need to know there's a beneficial reason for us stopping them from doing things otherwise they take it as nothing but authoritarian dominance and that sort of perceived dynamic never ends well.
I know we're often frustrated or tired and no one is perfect but trying to minimize this sort of thing is better for both parties in both the short and long term.
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