I have a generic leather backpack with a design similar to this one. It's a decent (medium) size and can fit everything I usually want to have with me: iPad and/or laptop, snacks, chargers, toys.
I like the small pockets on the front for accessories, the side pockets are just large enough to fit a water bottle, it has a top handle, and the leather has worn very well over the years.
I am not a fan of the thin fabric lining (including the slightly-padded computer pockets) that sags away from the sides. The outside pockets were just tab enclosures until I added actual buckles and straps (I found leather dog collars that matched the bag leather). The shoulder straps are narrow, so I made wider leather pads to go over them. I also added some dense foam to line the bottom, as I didn't trust it to protect electronics.
Once modified it's done everything I need, and I've had it on many trips with no issues. Plus, the design gets at least one positive comment every trip.
Loose jasmine tea in a tea ball, boil water on the stove in a kettle, pour over the tea & steep 3 minutes (more than that and it goes bitter). Remove tea ball, add a small spash of milk & enjoy.
My mum uses tea bags and adds the milk right over the bag as it steeps. For some reason that enrages me, so I turn away when she's up to that nonsense.
Yup. I remember plating Battleship with pencils and graph paper. Great fun, and if your opponent cheats, make them use a pen so they can't move their ships.
Local/regional chains seem to stay more reasonable, but honestly, local restaurants in my area are almost cheaper than fast food. A typical combo meal seems to run around $10-15, and you can find lunch specials and weekly specials for $8-12.
The food is way better as well.
I could go to Arby's for a combo (roast beef sandwich, soda, and fries) and spend around $14. Or I can go to the sushi place half a mile away and pay $11 for their made-to-order bento box: teriyaki salmon filet, small salad, 3 gyoza, 4-piece Cali roll, and tasty rice. I haven't been to Arby's in years.
100% all of this. I don't want to leave a trace behind. If a place is a certain way, I assume it's the way it should be. Leaving it in another state is not acceptable. In fact, if I can repair part of it that needs service, I will.
The issue is: why are restaurants not paying their staff "proper" wages? Why are they the outlier, subsidised by customers?
If I eat at a restaurant, I already know I need to tip to make up the embarrassing gap between what the restaurant pays them and what a proper wage would be. Just raise your stupid prices to account for that and let me not do math after I eat.
But no, the Great Unwashed love a good illusion, so posting the actual price of a meal will drive them away. Adult society is full of toddlers.
One of my co-workers is a stoic boomer who's in charge of a huge division of the company. His ringtone is the original Mahna Mahna and it cracks me up every single time.
I'm a member of a Discord that is the primary source of discussion and information about a piece of hardware, including technical & usage tips, firmware announcements, etc. It's a terrible way to track this stuff.
That said, the only other forums that have decent communities around it are Reddit, Facebook, and Elektronauts - none of which are even close to as active, but in which many of us will post important info & tips to get the news out. Over 3 years into the project (which is not open source) it would be ridiculous to try shifting the whole community to a new platform. We're kinda stuck.
Luckily the community as a whole seems to realise this, so we happily answer noob questions over and over and provide links to the appropriate resources, discussions, and pinned posts without snark or judgement. We've all been there. It's the nature of the beast, it's not efficient, and it's not the end of the world.
Finally, with the state of search engines in decline due to monetisation, encroachment of AI bloat, and general enshittification, it's a matter of time before very little real information will be easily searchable. Insular communities who decide to withdraw and do everything their own, better way will likely become the norm. The internet needs a reset anyway.
It's not their job, but they can do it with very little effort and they don't. Like it or not, children are on Facebook, and if Meta can slap you within 3 seconds of posting a nipple, they can remove content that actually IS harmful.
I hate platitudes, but I did hear the saying something like grief is love with nowhere to go. The amount of suffering you feel is proportional to the amount of love you gave your cat, so it sounds like your cat was exceptionally lucky overall.
We lost our cat a few years ago. She was quirky and weird and sick her entire short life. She had lymphoma - the vet never even tested for it because she was too young. The day we were supposed to bring her home from an overnight stay was the day we had to put her down, and it scarred us deeply. My work sent me home, I was so useless. I cried for hours when I realised our other cat had stopped eating from half of the bowl they shared.
It sucks. It always sucks. It feels like it will never get better, and it won't, but it'll get dimmer. You'll be able to remember the good stuff more often without the final moments crashing in. It just takes time.
For now if you have to wallow in despair, do it. You lost a loved one. It's your right. Remember though, you're going through all this because your pet didn't have to. You held up your end of the deal, and your pet got a great life because you took the pain of loss away from them.
I have a generic leather backpack with a design similar to this one. It's a decent (medium) size and can fit everything I usually want to have with me: iPad and/or laptop, snacks, chargers, toys.
I like the small pockets on the front for accessories, the side pockets are just large enough to fit a water bottle, it has a top handle, and the leather has worn very well over the years.
I am not a fan of the thin fabric lining (including the slightly-padded computer pockets) that sags away from the sides. The outside pockets were just tab enclosures until I added actual buckles and straps (I found leather dog collars that matched the bag leather). The shoulder straps are narrow, so I made wider leather pads to go over them. I also added some dense foam to line the bottom, as I didn't trust it to protect electronics.
Once modified it's done everything I need, and I've had it on many trips with no issues. Plus, the design gets at least one positive comment every trip.