Kongar

Hollow knight Elden ring Nier Automata

Single person’s data point:

I’ve had numerous gpus-I’ve been all over the map for years. Sometimes amd sucks, sometimes nvidia sucks. Right now, I’m rocking a 4090 and it’s working better in endeavoros than I’ve ever seen nvidia work in linux. (I’ve always had problems with nvidia cards screen tearing, stuttering, and general installation issues).

But honestly, those complaints have been resolved at least with my distro. I think both brands are in a good spot right now. I think you’re safe to buy whatever floats your boat.

IMO

Linux and gnome pretty much gtfo of the way for me - as an OS should. I used to care a lot about what Microsoft did, now I couldn’t care less - F em

Congrats! Mint is a good place to start.

It varies a lot for people, and the bills you actually pay depend on a lot of things. It’s complicated here.

I would say I’m the average “I have healthcare through work” person. But that’s not average for the population (many people have no healthcare).

I pay about $600 a month for a plan that lets me go to any doctor (called a ppo). If I wanted a cheaper monthly bill, I could get on board with the plan where you have to go to the doctors and facilities that are “in the insurers network”. I’ve had problems with these plans as they’ve become more and more run by the insurers than actual doctors - leading to shoddy care. So $600 a month for my family it is.

I did require major surgery about 10 years ago. I was in the hospital for a month and had a million office visits. The grand total “bill” was just over a half million dollars. My portion of that was about $10,000. It was crazy to look at the itemized bill though. Two Advils cost like $50. An X-ray? Like $1000. But that’s like this this fucky-fuck game insurers and providers play with each other. Sometimes people are flat broke, and the hospitals still have to care for them if they wander into the ER - and they get paid nothing. It’s a weird system.

If you don’t have health insurance-you’re kind of in trouble. Interestingly, those $1000 X-rays become $200 if you’re uninsured. Definitely more manageable-but you’d be screwed if you required major surgery. You’d be bankrupt.

Basically it’s very American-it works great for people doing well in life - screw everyone else less fortunate- get a job…

And here I am trying to help this guy with suggestions. You’re right - there’s like 15 people doing the same thing. Same attitude, same responses, same “no can do” attitude. Gotta be the same person - shame on me for falling for it.

Ya I mean it’s hard to meet people if they aren’t around. I don’t know what “the middle of nowhere means”. Some people really do live where there just aren’t people around. But lots of people use that phrase when places of gathering are half an hour or maybe an hour away. I’d suggest it’s still worth the drive if you can figure that out.

I was suggesting targeting type things, not necessarily just guns - because they tend to have low barriers of entry. Pool, bowling, archery, darts, etc. They also tend to have social components as well (happens in a bar for example, or there’s a club house/place where people meet). Leads to other things. Sports are also great - even if you’re not athletic and bad at sports. Especially the “weird” sports - you may find something non traditional that you’re good at, and usually people are super happy just to have anyone who wants to participate.

Just things to think about - that’s all. Find out what people near you do. There’s gotta be something. Then go try it even if it doesn’t sound like your thing. You may like it, you may not. Keep doing that and sooner or later you will find something to be passionate about.

Meeting people - romantic or otherwise - is a result of you engaging with people and enjoying the thing/hobby/whatever you’re doing together. People who share common things gravitate toward each other personally. That’s just the way it works - embrace it my friend! Go have some fun! ;)

I agree. If you’re not looking for hobbies (plural) that are fun just for the sake of fun (not meeting people) - then you’re short changing yourself in many levels. When you’re passionate about a hobby, it’s almost impossible not to make friends. When you make friends, you’ll meet their friends, and with all those people - your chances of finding something more than friends increases.

Video games can be very social IRL, but it’s not the norm in my experience. Some suggestions: Go to a gun range, archery range, axe throwing, anything target based and show up for a public shooting day. Those people (myself included) LOVE people who are new to the sport and they’ll let you use all their equipment and show you how to do it. Pick up a pool cue and start practicing by yourself at a pool hall. You’ll become a regular and again people love to show you the ropes with that sport. Join a fishing club - it’s not just old men who do that (although there’s plenty of them) but before you know it you’re going on other people’s boats and whatnot. Mountain biking - requires more cash to get going as you need a bike - but those people are animals and are always looking for people to go on a ride with. Get involved with your local library and book clubs if you like to read. Again more expensive- but golf. Lots of people who love to golf - if you go alone, you’ll usually get paired up with and find others to golf with. You get the idea, pick up an instrument, rc cars or planes, habitat for humanity - there are endless things to do and you’ll soon be looking forward to your alone time ;)

Those my friend are some loaded questions! :)

But I’m happy to answer. In my opinion there are three types of tanks. Freshwater, saltwater with just fish (often called FOWLR - fish only with live rock), and a reef tank (has corals).

My tank is a reef tank. Freshwater and fish only saltwater tanks are cake. Mixing saltwater being the main difference. Corals add probably 2 or three orders of magnitude in challenge, knowledge, required maintenance, and money. Some corals are pretty forgiving and easy to keep, others are downright difficult.

My tank is a small one - 20G. Small tanks are less $, but in my opinion they are extremely hard. Everything about keeping corals is about stability - fish tolerate wide ranges of water parameters, but some corals die overnight if the temp rises a degree, or salinity moves just a bit, etc. Nanos are hard because of the small water volume, one drop of something in my tank moves the needle - one drop in a 200G tank is undetectable. On the plus side, I can “fix” a problem with a large water change (I can mix 20G of water, I can’t mix 400G).

I spend about one half hour per week doing water changes, scrubbing, and doing maintenance. I’ve gotten good at it, when I first started I probably spent 5ish hours a week. It’s worth noting I’ve spent considerable effort building mixing stations and creating a system to do maintenance quickly.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely-as long as you have a few things:

1. You REALLY like saltwater fish and corals - like you don’t get bored of looking at the same fish for coral for 30 years (because that’s how long they live)
2. You are willing to commit to learning a lot first. If you just do it without learning, you’ll fail. I recommend watching the BRS 52 weeks of reefing on YouTube.
3. You have the time and desire to do the maintenance-bigger tanks take more time than mine.

I’ve always wanted a reef tank. I could watch it all day long everyday. Long ago, I realized the $ and commitment required, and backed off because I wasn’t ready. As I got older with more disposable cash, I took the plunge and I’m super happy I did. But it’s been the hardest hobby I’ve ever tried to be successful at and at times it’s been heartbreaking. But I think I’ve figured it all out at this point, and I’d encourage anyone who has the fascination for these animals to take the plunge-it’s worth it if you enjoy these creatures.

Right! I use the flatpak myself - works great.

I like the bubble algae hat - looks like a bad toupee :)

Sometimes he rips up strips of hair algae and it looks like a green Mohawk :)

Sometimes he rips up my corals and uses them as hats - that’s not funny. It’s annoying :/