kubok

Well he did defeat Mecha Streisand.

Robert Smith of the Cure.

I have ridden BMW motorcycles for many years and made a point of using blinkers when needed. Cars have crumple zones; on a motorcycle, you are the crumple zone.

But yes, BMW cars are often driven by self-centered assholes.

We are actually considering replacing our windows entirely with triple layer panes and in-built UV filters. Our current windows are double-layered and ~30 years old.

The thing that bothers me most about office AC, is that the air is stale due to poor maintenance. Yes there are regulations against this, but those are not being enforced because that would cost money and hurr-durr stockholders and hurr-durr employers. Home ACs are just wasteful. I live in a neighbourhood that has many many gardens that are fully paved over. In order to counter the heat, each house has several AC units. Dumb fucks.

I installed solar panels 5 years ago. Back then, a home battery was ~€9000 , so not worth it. Currently, a home battery starts at ~€1500 but with pitifully low capacity. There's currently no real incentive to install these. You may save a bit of money, but at its current rate you would look at a 15 year ROI.

Switching to an EV would be a nice idea for surplus energy, but our anti-environment government has made it very unattractive to buy one, but now I am going off-topic so I'll save that for another rant.

As US-centric as the article is, here's a perspective from the EU.

I have a strong opinion on air conditioning. I hate it as I have worked in too many poortly ventilated offices with the AC as its only source of slightly less stale air. There should be laws against poorly maintained office ACs. However, I am going to need it at home, even if I do not like it. I live in a temperate climate that is getting hotter in summers. Fast. The house I live in was never intended for extremely hot weather: flat roof, lots of glass, poor insulation. I did upgrade the insulation, but the huge glass facades of my house make it a greenhouse in the summer unless I take some measures like sun blinds and whatnot. Even then, our top floor gets uncomfortably hot.

I have installed solar panels that allow me to generate more electricity than I need. However, over the years our neoliberal and current far right government has made it very unattarctive to invest in this as they allowed the commercial energy businesses to impose tariffs on the surplus of generated electricity.

So now I am seriously considering installing AC to use on hot summer days. Not only do I get my house cooler, I also won't be charged for generating too much electricity. What I am not going to do, is keep the AC running all day though.

Fuck this government and its predecessors.

There are brands that sell melatonine that will start working after some time. My son gets a blend of fast and slow release melatonin, as he had the problem you describe: fall asleep somewhat normally and be wide awake in the middle of the night.

I am not sure about kitty litter, but I swear by Numatic, known for the Henry model. Due to its design, it will not lose suction power as much as regular vacuum cleaners as the dust bag fills up. It is extremely repairable and it has great reach (long cable, long hose).

Which kinds of pain? As a long distance runner, I have increased my threashold for physical pain and all other sorts of discomfor, so pushing through that kind of pain and other misery definitely paid off.

Noisy space battles.

This is the way. Also: my bathroom floor is heated for that extra bit of comfort in winter.

I like that thought.