Answering my own question (re: grass-fed beef in Aus)
“It’s important to know that most big-supermarket beef around the country will be grass-fed meat finished on grain, but if the meat comes from southern Victoria or Tasmania, where grass is more likely to be in abundance, there’s a good chance it was reared entirely on grass or silage”
Also there seems to be a taste/health tradeoff for grass vs grain-fed beef. wagyu, after all, is the epitomy of grain-fed beef...
“nuts (pre-soaked to remove phytates)” what are phytates, and why should I be scared of eating them? (given I’ve been eating un-soaked nuts since I was a kid without (apparent) ill effect)
The biltong looks good. I’m surprised about the grass-fed beef thing… is is just that Byron Bay is the only company that claims to use grass-fed beef? AFAIK grass-fed is much more common in Australia than, say, the States—due to our huge outback ranches—almost all sheep are grass-fed, and a much higher percentage of beef is free range too.. though I’ll admit I haven’t done serious research on that front.
I agree re: the spiritual baggage in meditation, but I guess I was hoping to just ignore that part… there seem to be a few classes where I live, so I’ll give them a go and see where they lead. I’ve also sat through a lot of spiritual guff in my past (non-rational) life… so I might have a higher patience for sitting through the BS
Cycling is indeed a great idea, but I work too far away for me to go directly from beginner to cycling-to-work :( I tried various ways of getting there and have come to the unfortunate conclusion that it’s actually quickest to drive (30min vs 1hr20min public transport) Luckily I’ve discovered that I can listen to audio-books while driving, so I’ve started doing that.
more information required on what you’re asking?
I bought snacks for while I was working.. .that were healthier than the alternatives.
Like I said—there is weak evidence for the former.
However—if you don’t have RSI, then it may not be because the layout is not optimal… it might be because you are less prone to RSI, or because you’re young and able to bounce back from RSI easily, or because you just haven’t been typing long enough to develop RSI yet.
Whereas somebody that already has RSI… already has it, so if you change layout and the RSI goes away—that’s pretty good evidence that the layout-change has had a direct effect on the RSI.
That’s a great link—I’ve just had a bit of aplay with it. It plays the sound in-browser, with great controls over the sounds. plus it has a bunch of other sounds too—rain, waves etc… and you can buy the albums. I’m thinking of downloading the pink-noise version for my go-to-sleep sounds… it’s much better than the sloshy-water noises that come as standard with my alarm.
There is a big differences between:
“I use layout X and don’t have RSI” vs “I had RSI with layout Y then switched to layout Z and stopped having RSI”
I would be inclined to say that the latter is strong evidence that layout Z is better than layout Y for avoiding RSI, whereas the former is only weak evidence for layout X
Mortgage offset accounts are an excellent substitute, if you want the full liquidity of a bank-account with a very good “return”
How much incidental (non-helpful) knowledge must you learn in order to know what are the things that are worthwhile and what are not?
Likewise good quality earplugs and/or noise-cancelling headphones.
Is the time-investment more cost-effective than just paying a specialist?
And if so—for what kinds of repairs do you get the most benefit?
Once you’ve cut the top off your first finger… you learn to grow much more cautious about using them ;)
“staying alive”, “fun”, “keeping up appearances”, “investing for my future” and “charity” (not necessarily in that order)
Perhaps I should elaborate, by saying “making my life better” I mean making my life significantly better instead of incrementally so (which most of the others (not explicitly excluded in the original question) do).
Snap—yeah I was thinking “Sales”
Passes all the criteria above except maybe “frequent rewards” (It’s a field known for high rejections) and maybe “baddassery”. That said it has an even higher “useful” criteria.
If you’re at all familiar with the SCA, one of the three peerage orders is that of the Pelican: http://www.sca.org.au/pelicans/ it awards people for outstanding service (seriously, to get one, you have to have run many events over a decade, and worked damn hard making people happy to get it). You are unlikely to get one unless you consistently, and sustainedly want to serve the needs of others for long period of time.
You strike me as potential Pelican material...
Note: The fact that this community (the SCA) consistently gives accolades for service is, I think, one of the reasons why it is so successful at being a Community.
By contrast, the other two peerages: Chivalry (for sword fighting) and Laurels (for making cool stuff) are both “Look what I did/made” orders… full of heroes (the former more than the latter, in my mind). Which is great and necessary and really cool… but without the Pelicans, the Society as a whole wouldn’t exist.
My suggestion: adopt and help sustain a community of rationalists near you.
I never said that the things I had to buy were goods… experiences and services work too, and better than many goods :) Also—I never said that it was the only way to a better life…
In fact—it was precisely to fight against the “I’m sad, I’ll buy another Thing” idea that I started this process… because I wanted to make sure that if I were buying things that it wasn’t “just another thing”, but something that would be a strict improvement of my life, rather than just something that I’d discard without much use.
ie—we are in agreement about the problem, just have different solutions. Your solution is “Things are the problem, therefore never buy any Things ever and get rid of all the ones you have now!”* , mine is “i am where I am now and have the Things I have now… but I don’t want to keep doing that. What can I do in future that’s different to what I’ve been doing?”
(note, gross oversimplification and exaggeration intentional for humourous effect)
I second the use of Ubuntu :)
Re: Umbrellas
Well, I found mine in local shops. A large umbrella with more spokes than usual (12 instead of 8) and sturdy construction. and a foldable umbrella that was listed as being able to turn inside out and be popped back without damage. My finds were accidental.
However, if you’re looking on the internet, there are really good umbrellas out there. I was thinking: http://www.wantist.com/products/senz-storm-proof-umbrellas OR http://real-self-defense.com/unbreakable-umbrella/ Depending on your inclinations
Re: defensive driving
In this case, I think google is your friend. “Defensive driving” is the codename for driving safety courses in Australia—it may be different where you are located—so try “Driving safety course yourlocation” and you should get a few hits.
Other solutions: 1) write your name on the mug 2) clean and hide your mug in your desk drawer when you leave 3) buy a mug for everyone
An alternative to 3 that doesn’t leave you out of pocket would be to say “this is my mug that I bought, it’s nice isn’t it—if you like it so much, why don’t you give me $X for it (which is how much I paid) and I’ll buy another one for me.”
Nice mug
does it compare as healthy compared to chocolate or mints? Also a snack with fibre (even with sugar) is better than a snack with little-to-no-fibre—if it helps with satiety and is better from a fidgeting-must-eat perspective.
Sure, there might be snacks that are even better than dried-fruit… but as a first step improvment it was a good step.