Psytrance is ideal. Designed for dancing yourself into a trance, perfect for energetic flow state concentration, like studying.

They’re lucky you didn’t fall over and get injured! I’m sure it’s not the first time the staff have had that happen though…

So this one time in my early 20s, I was at a hippie sort of festival- type thing (rainbow gathering, for anyone interested) up in the hills in Yorkshire. The toilet situation was just piss on the grass, anywhere outside of the main areas, use your common sense. For number twos, there were “shit-pits”, it’s a trench, you squat with one foot on each side, take a shit, then chuck in a handful of two of fire ash and soil to cover it, job done. There’s a beach windbreak for a bit of privacy, and the pits are a bit away from where other stuff is going on. So anyway, there I am, squatting, getting ready to answer a call of nature, when this young woman comes and squats down right in front of me, facing me. Beautiful woman, big long dreads, cute face, nose ring… I freeze up, most awkward I’ve ever been, while she maintains eye contact, squeezes one out, wipes up, and goes on her way without a word. Then I unfreeze and carry on with my day. Weird memory.

Are there any girders in the picture then? Or none, or impossible to tell? I can’t see any, by that definition.

Hard to give much advice without knowing much about your lifestyle, but I try to prioritise sleep above all else. If I need to be up at 6am, I’ll make my herbal tea at 8pm and start winding down, be in bed by 9.30 so I can read a bit and be sure I’m asleep by 10. If I’m having trouble sleeping I’ll look at cutting caffeine completely, and/or no screens before bed. The other part (for me) is physical activity/ exercise. It’s hard to get started when you’re exhausted, but once it’s a habit, it gives you more reserves. And improves your sleep.

I think the material conditions in Iraq had a major impact on the ability of ISIS to recruit and spread their ideology.

I started working at the same company as my neighbour (different office), but haven’t managed to bring it up in a normal human casual conversation way. Now I have to worry about him seeing my pass, or other company paraphernalia, or spotting my t-shirt drying on the line, because it’d be weird if that happened before I say something. On top of the usual just trying not to run into anyone and have awkward smalltalk moments.

My parent’s generation in the UK experienced things like the three day week ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Day_Week ), major disruptions to normal life due to strikes. In the end, the Conservatives in some ways ‘won’ and so this has gone down in the cultural memory as unions having ‘too much power’. Add to this that, largely due to unrelated geopolitical and macroeconomic reasons, the 70s (when unions had more power) were hard times, and in the 80s (when Thatcher and Reagan were doing their thing) things felt like they were getting better for lots of people (even though with hindsight inequality was starting to grow and the seeds of many of today’s problems were being planted).

I also haven’t looked at findacrew.net for years, but I remember seeing a few “M looking for F (>30) for crew/FWB” ads, which seemed kinda creepy. Especially, you know, because of the implication.

Someone already mentioned the community aspect, but I’d like to add gratitude.

I think there are studies/evidence to show that consciously cultivating a feeling of gratitude is good for our mental health and happiness. Everyone has some things in life that are good, big or small, and it can be so easy to take everyday things for granted. Taking time each day to think about how lucky we are, and be grateful, is part of many religious people’s prayer practice. Obviously anyone could do this without believing in a god, but we don’t tend to as often without that framework.

From what I could find out I think most T480 have 8 GB soldered and a slot for replaceable ram. But then the seller I got mine from was offering them with 16, 32 or 64 GB ram, so hopefully that means two non-soldered slots.

Thanks, yeah I’ve gone for a t480 in the end. I think prices are slightly higher for hardware over here than in the US, but I feel I got a good deal as long as it all works properly when it arrives.

Yeah I’m planning to install Linux on my old laptop for just home use so I can get familiar and learn a bit of command line stuff, and hopefully make the switch fully at some point. But for now I don’t feel confident that the Linux learning curve wouldn’t slow me down to much, so I’m about to face the horrors of Win 11 Pro (-_-)

That’s what I’ve gone for in the end, so thanks for the advice!

I think I’d rather give up computers for ever than try to use the web versions of word or excel again. And I’ve explored the option of Linux in another thread but the consensus was concentrate on your degree, then find time to learn and troubleshoot Linux later.

Ooooh! Good one, Grandpa!

(No offence, its likely I’m older than you, but your pun heavy reminded me of my dad’s, and that’s what my girls always say to him when he lets one off)

Thanks for your comprehensive reply. It made me realise I’ve never even slightly considered a mac as an option. I was brought up on ‘PCs’, and in later years have only ever thought of moving over to Linux. Instinctively, the idea of moving to MacOS makes me want to throw up a little, but maybe that’s my prejudice based on the people I know who use their phones. I also suspect it would make things difficult for working on shared documents for reports etc at uni, but maybe I’m wrong.

please accept my humblest of apologies 🤗

I’ve definitely heard there’s a genetic element where some people just smell or taste yummy to them. I don’t have any research or anything tho. From personal experience, I think I get bitten more if I’m eating much sugar, or drinking alcohol, possibly because of a slightly higher body surface temp, or smell/taste different with more blood sugar.

Such a great example of ‘reality is what you’re conscious of’, I feel! ‘Just throw the lure in and wait’ could for another person be ‘arrive at a beautiful waterside location, ritually prepare your tackle, cast it into the water (a skill that can be a minigame in itself, with all the associated space for practice, improvement, and intermittent positive reinforcement), then enjoy the wonders of being still in nature, but also focus on your task and be ready to react instantly.’ It takes all sorts.