I gather some of the rules have changed since I took my training a year ago.

I want to start shopping, but I want to make sure I'm not setting myself up for trouble. And if the laws/interpretations are really recent I want to make sure any source I'm reading is up to date.

ie: what can I definitely not buy right now? What do I need to do to make sure anything I do buy is legally kept/transported/etc.?

Any tips you can offer would be appreciated.

The first wheeled shopping cart was invented in 1937. It's been nearly a century. Surely by now someone has come up with a way to replace the wheels when they break.

And yet every time I go to the grocery store. *Any* grocery store, I either have to just accept that my cart's wheels are borked, and it'll make a huge racket, or perpetually pull 15º to the left, or thump like I'm pushing it over a toddler's carcass again; or I have to dig through 5 or 6 carts before I find one that rides more or less smoothly?

So I have to assume this is like the deal with the McDonalds ice cream machine, where someone's making more money off them being broken than they would if they all ran smoothly.

Does anyone have the inside scoop?

I was in Japan a year ago, and it felt like the local crows were kind of checking in on me and my cousin as we traveled around. We'd see them everywhere and they'd come up real close and kinda say hi to us. I became enamored with the idea of getting to know my crows back home.

But I have ducks and seagulls. No crows.

And befriending ducks and seagulls does not have anywhere near the same appeal.

I figure this applies more for worlds where magic is at least somewhat common. Not so much if there's only a handful of wizards in the world.

But, for example, if wizards could hurl fire bolts a quarter mile with great accuracy, would anyone even invent the bow and arrow? Or would they see that as a cheap unreliable impression of a real combat mage?

If water mages could purify water and conjure up a deluge, would anyone invent sewers? or would there just be cisterns that you hired a mage to come by and purify whenever it gets full?

If mages can conjure up high quality items, does that sweep the legs from artisans who aren't magical ever pursuing a mastery of their craft and limit them to the realm of 'tinkerers' ie: not a serious profession?

And if mages can make golems with the strength of a dozen horses and able to follow commands, what does that do to the labor workforce?

§246. Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided insection 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are—

(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and

(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

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I see the EM dash, I think an AI wrote this in 1956!

Anyway. The 2th Amendment talks about a well regulated militia. And in 1956 the Federal Government defined exactly what a militia is. And it's very likely you (but not me, I'm too old)

It considers most of you to be the unorganized militia. Which seems a bit insulting, but there it is.

Does this affect how you feel the 2nd Amendment should be interpreted?

One of our greatest strengths as a military- having country was supposedly our ability to supply our forces anywhere.

If the rumors are true, how did this happen? I know the current regime is grossly incompetent, but this?

I am heading rumors of people losing 30 lbs since the start of the war. And my friend can't talk about much when he can talk at all.

Anyone have actual facts?

I am no scientist, of course. But I love reading about scientific discoveries. And I tend to ponder what those discoveries might lead to.

In terms of genetic engineering, the potential seems damn near limitless. When I consider all of the traits we know about across all of the species on the planet, it seems like we would mix and match and solve all sort of pressing issues in ways that conventional engineering has no chance to do. (Like sequestering atmospheric CO^2, or reducing the need for fertilizers)

Do I need a big proverbial bucket of ice water splashed on my hopes? Am I looking at genetic engineering like a tv science-fiction show?

Can someone clue me in to the reality of genetic engineering and what it can, and likely cannot accomplish?

My company doesn't like giving out pay raises or real bonuses. Instead we get 'bravo' points. And those points can be spent in an exclusive online shop full of eclectic home goods and gadgets that are probably overstocked or slightly out of date from the manufacturer.

I've got me some points. And I've spent a good Netflix amount of time scrolling through the wares trying to find something I would actually want cluttering up my home.

One of the very few that piqued my interest was a few camera-equipped drones they have. I figure maybe that might be fun. Enough fun to spend all my 'atta boy' bucks on 'em? Dunno. But if there's a chance that learning to operate one of these things might lead to occasionally picking up some side-money, then that would tip the scales in favor.

I was thinking that there might be a market for taking drone footage of people's boats (I live at a marina) especially if they're putting them up for sale. An areal shot circling around a boat might be worth a few bucks. Come to think of it, maybe that'd go for home sales too.

Has anyone managed to make this earn more than it costs to enter?

I look at all the unethical industries and I have to wonder if we could make DIY or quasi-DIY alternatives. Take something where you buy a bunch of parts and assemble them like you're building your own PC, and when you're done you have a dedicated printer that doesn't need insanely expensive ink cartridges that have a self-destruct microchip.

It would have been basically impossible when the gouging got started, but technologies have advanced a lot since then. People can 3D print at home in a variety of materials, you can order damn-near anything online, and the maker community is stronger than it has been in a century.

Is there some item I need to get in order to increase my luck or something? I'm bored, and if this is all that's left in the game is just endlessly repeating the same fight hundreds of times until I finally get an item, and then endlessly repeating another fight hundreds of times please tell me so I can spend my remaining years doing something more meaningful with my life.

Please tell me there's a trick to it.

Maybe even two friends.

It seems like a common topic these days among new parents who lament that their village did not materialize when they had a kid, and those people who do not have kids (particularly us who never will) that are expected to become providers and laborers for new parents without any recompense. There's clearly a disconnect on just what "the village" really means.

And I commented about it recently, but since then I've been dwelling on it more and I wanted to see if anyone thinks this rings true.

As the saying that Hillary Clinton re-popularized goes: "It takes a village to raise a child." Meaning that it is more than a full-time commitment. And that one anticipating raising a child should have an established network of people who are willing and able to help out so that parents can manage it while still doing the basic necessities. But Secretary Clinton didn't go into detail about how one finds this village, and while the saying circulated again, people got the idea that they could and should expect everyone around them in their circle to pitch in gladly either with their time, their money, their possessions, or a combination thereof. And they're upset when it doesn't happen, or at least doesn't happen enough.

Invariably it is the childfree who get blamed for this. We don't have kids, so we must have free time and money. It obviously falls to us to be the ones who pitch in. And if we don't? We get demonized. They already called us selfish for not having kids, but now they call us selfish for not being automatic auxiliary parents.

And my thinking is that there is someone in the village metaphor that far more accurately describes who we childfree people are. We are not the neighborly parents who can watch the kids for a day. We are not the grandparents who stop by with food and entertain the kids while the parents go out. We are not the parent next door who keeps a watchful eye at the kids playing in her back yard. What are we? We are tourists. We are invited to visit the village, but we are expected to pay our entire way to do so. And we can expect to the resented if we aren't generous enough. And nobody is going to give a damn about what we do or accomplish because it is assumed we'll be gone shortly and be out of mind again until we stop by with more money. We are not invited to become villagers ourselves. Nobody will come to us to help us out, because we are only tolerated while we are providing for the kids and parents.

Does this feel accurate to you? Do you feel like parents are the village and we are just tourists who are allowed to visit as long as we bring our wallet?

With the economy being what it is, I am trying to find ways to reduce spending, generate side-hustle money, and fix things rather than replace them where I can.

And sometimes I come up with ideas that seem like they'd kinda work, but that I don't think I'd be good at. And in some of those cases I think if someone in my neighborhood was doing it as a side-hustle I'd much more happily pay them than a store. Possibly even if it cost more, because it'd be helping out my local economy a lot more than sending my money to corporations far away.

And I think of the gig economy and how we have companies like Uber trying to make billions for a handful of investors by having lots of people do small jobs for short hours on the side (and they did an end-run around the law by charging to connect drivers and passengers rather than charging for the ride). And I can't help but think if we got rid of the investors these gig jobs would be great.

So are there things you repeatedly buy or use that you think someone, if not you, could make at home locally and you could buy from them? Or perhaps something you could make that you're wondering if people might buy?