Between $75-$120 a month, for two of us.

We pay an average of $22 for a 12 oz bag of the good stuff from local roasters (Temple or Chocolate Fish) and go through just over a bag a week. Work days we have 2 cups each, weekends we go all out and have 3. We buy whole beans, grind them at home, and exclusively use the Chemex. Sometimes when we pick up a bag at the shop we treat ourselves to a latte (stupidly expensive) and that bumps up the average.

I have a bright orange Subaru Crosstrek named Poppy.

Walmart and Sam’s Club.

You know you’re probably dealing with the baddies when the Criticism and Controversy section of your main article on Wikipedia grows to the point where it links to another Criticism of Walmart main article.

Reminds me of Trump and his… frustration with low-flow toilets.

“You turn on the faucet and you don’t get any water. They take a shower and water comes dripping out. Just dripping out, very quietly dripping out,” the President continued, lowering his voice as he spoke about the drips. “People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once.”

Not exactly what you’re looking for, but for a laugh, check out the We’re Here to Help podcast :)

•Bear Brook

•We’re Here to Help

•Reveal

•Radiolab

•Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me

Check out Tom Bihn!! They make durable bags that are of excellent quality, and definitely BIFL. They also have a pretty dedicated following of customers that post to a community forum (you can find the link from the Tom Bihn website). People there were really helpful when I posted about waffling between two styles and sizes for an EDC backpack. I definitely recommend checking TB bags out, and going to their forum for helpful advice.

This is awesome! So I get replace the hose, but then do you prop up the new one so there’s no low point for water to collect? Or will it just be an ongoing issue and need periodic replacement?

Not too scary, but the intro to Tune-Yards’ Gangster makes me reflexively look in the rear-view mirror to see if I need to pull over.

You could a niche interest that you can lean into and find established spaces that cater to said community. Like gardening? Attend workshops and presentations by your local native plant society. Know how to knit, or want to learn? Weekly Stitch & Bitch events are everywhere. Interested in history and know a bit of mechanics? Volunteer at a historic railroad nonprofit.

Sourdough starter!

Seconding the mythology recommendation! My nine year old loves d’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths and was stoked to find a new podcast called Greeking Out by National Geographic Kids. She’s been listening to it practically everyday, and we just picked up the companion book from the library this weekend.

• Unicorn Rescue Society series by Adam Gidwitz
• Ben Yokoyama Cookie Chronicles series by Swanson and Behr
• Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland
• Wow in the World books by Mindy Thomas and Guy Roz (they have a companion podcast that’s absolutely bonkerballs as well!)

All of these have a nice mix of comedy and mischief/adventure that he might enjoy.

The cozy murder genre is my jam. Here’s some more they might want to check out:

• The Doctor Blake Mysteries
• Endgame
• Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators
• The Glades
• Castle
• The Sniffer (in Russian, with subtitles)
• Burn Notice
• Inspector Morse
• Perry Mason (The reboot on HBO starring Matthew Rhys)
• Justified

(Bonus recommendation, with a caveat: the new limited series Bodies on Netflix— I’m 5 episodes in, and it’s pretty good!)

*Mare of Easttown

Second It’s Always Sunny! Absolutely Fabulous and Trailer Park Boys definitely have that lighthearted dark comedy too.

Open a random page in any P. G. Wodehouse novel and you’re good to go! Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bingo Little, Kipper Herring, Stiffy Byng. Or, my personal fave, add in an extra letter like he did for his character Psmith, where, he explains, the “p” is silent, "as in pshrimp.”

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks

The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford

Hometown by Tracy Kidder

House by Tracy Kidder

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

I found Headbanger’s Kitchen pretty accessible when I was researching keto-centric cooking. He also does a lot of Indian dishes and some vegetarian as well.

https://m.youtube.com/@HeadbangersKitchen

Horns up! 🤘

Love Jane Austen! I feel a pleasant coziness when I re-read her works as well. I recently found annotated editions of Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey at a second hand bookshop that were really interesting. It offered a bit of historical context, explanation of games or dances the characters would do, insight into the daily life of people of that time, etc. I highly recommend grabbing a copy if you find one.