madjayhawk

Everything is racist in today's world. You cannot hold a decent discussion of anything even remotely dealing with race. I have been kicked off 8 different subs for 'hate speech'.

Moderation on many sites starts with the question "Is this person conservative" If the answer is yes, literally anything he posts is 'hate speech' and he is banned. Some mods look up the poster's past posts I believe and ban people based on that. There seems to be an effort on Reddit not to ban 'hate speech' but to stomp conservative minded people into the ground.

Have rules, certainly. But who will honestly apply those rules without bias? That is Reddit's problem in many cases. There are lots of good reddits with intelligent discussions going on. Just have to look for them and not post anything, even if it adds to the discussion.

The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. An absolutely brilliant account of the founding of Australia. A review: https://cs.brown.edu/~sk/Personal/Books/Hughes-Fatal-Shore/ Questions to think about as you read: Why weren't criminals transported to the Americas instead of to Australia? What if they had been? Do governments ever consider the long range implications of their policies? Were German the only people who practiced government-sponsored barbarism against subsets of their own people?

I used to like music. Now I think it muddles the brain. I am 80. Brains are marvelous things but the thing I don't think can handle multiple inputs over a significant period of time. I prefer quiet when I am engaged with any project or activity except those involving the opposite sex.

My birthday was yesterday. I have now lived 80 years on this planet. Seen a lot, done a lot. Do I feel old? Absolutely not. Few aches and pains and other physical problems I let my doctors worry about.

My advice, for what it is worth, is to find some things that you enjoy doing. It can literally be anything. If you are an introvert do things by yourself. Do not force yourself to be around others excessively. If you are an extrovert find things to do with others. That is the real key to happiness. I am an introvert and do things that do not require me to interact with others. Makes me perfectly happy. I have friends. Some of whom go places with others and do things constantly with others and that makes them happy. You will see by my list below that I am a card carrying introvert.

I decided to learn programming. Now I am on problem #50 of the Euler Project. I am, by own estimation, a pretty decent Python programmer. I found bread making some time ago after I retired and bake things for myself and lucky friends and neighbors. I travel. Been literally everywhere with a smile on my face and a walking stick in my hand. I now have time for reading now. Just read The Fatal Shores by Robert Hughes. I love history after hating it in high school. Walking: walk 2-3 miles a day. Ukulele: one of the most relaxing instruments in the world. I love sitting down for 30 minutes and working on a song or two. Then there is backgammon. I am a backgammon fiend. Play it daily. Have become a 'feared' player because of how aggressively I play.

Point is: have a variety of interests, some of which can be passions. Try something and if you don't like it find something else. If you are an extrovert, find a group of people to do things with. Forget stimulants like alcohol or drugs. Life is stimulating enough. Wake up every morning with plans for the day.

Just ordered a Herman Mill Aeron from Crandall. They have a 10% off sale going on. 2 year warranty. It is taken apart, inspected, damaged parts replaced, steam cleaned, new cylinder, and put back together. Free Shipping (both ways if you do not like the chair).

I got bigger cylinder and better casters. Paid around $530 with discount. Could have gotten a used chair off of CraigsList for $350 and taken a chance. To be sure this chair is expensive. My current chair cost $89 and I hate it. This Aeron is hopefully my last chair. I'm old and spend a lot of time contest programming.

Appreciate all the comments people made. Really helped me to make a decision. Shows we are all in this together especially now. Thanks.