The Greatest Democracy on Earth.

I probably overstated the cooking time - a regular powered microwave can cook a small baking potato in as little as 5 minutes. If yours is cooking larger potatoes in that time though then it is likely to be significantly more powerful than most domestic microwaves.

You can cut the time in half if you use a microwave first. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and place in a silicone tray then microwave on full for 5-15 minutes depending on size (check that it's soft inside with a knife.) Cover in oil and seasoning then air fry on full for about 15 minutes. The silicone tray allows you to transfer from the microwave to the airfryer with minimum mess and fuss (so not essential.)

For me though, it's homemade pittas. So much better than the flat discs of carboard they sell in the supermarkets. Takes a bit of time for proving, but I like to make a large batch and freeze a bunch, or keep some dough in the fridge and have a second meal with them later in the week.

https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipe/1990/pites-gia-soyvlaki

Edit: Microwave cooking times for potatoes were a bit off

I would guess it was interpreted as the slur for Japanese people (perhaps an automod thing - never really used Reddit though so I dunno how these things work in practice.)

I hiked along some cliffs in Mull where there was a large feral goat population, and was swarmed by these fuckers (we call them deer keds). Absolute nightmare fuel. They would quickly shed their wings and nestle in hair (mostly my beard) or inside clothing. They're really flat and leathery, and cling on for dear life - making them unreasonably hard to remove (they would wriggle free from my fingertips as I tried to prise them off.) I removed several dozen over the day and still found their corpses in my laundry.

The only goats we saw were dead and stinking. On the plus side, the weather was bad enough to mostly keep the midges at bay. Without a doubt, the worst experience I've had in the Western Isles.

I think this is a common misconception about games like EVE. I played it for about 7 years, and have continued playing full loot MMOs and survival games since then.

The PvP in EVE was the most exhilarating experience I have had in a computer game. This was intrinsically tied to both the consequences of loss and the thrill of victory, and reward - something you just cannot get from 'theme park' MMOs. Learning to harness the adrenaline rush and overcome the post-fight shakes was a very real thing that many of us spoke of. It's that which kept myself and many of the people I played with locked in for so long.

My focus was solo and small gang PvP - initially low-sec piracy, but later moving on to null-sec roaming and wormhole diving. After the first few months, I played almost no PvE content, and funded all ships and eventually my main account through PvP activity alone.

It's been about 10 years since I stopped playing - and the game may well have changed significantly - but the solo and small gang PvP which I engaged in was pretty easy to get into then. Sure you'd die a lot in the first month, but the trick was to keep your ships cheap, play to it's strengths, and try to learn from every engagement.

Occasionally I find my duvet like this in the morning, but it fixes itself when I make the bed. Only way I could see this being an issue is through using duvet covers which are incorrectly sized, or not making the bed (properly) before getting back in.

I wonder if this is a case of people using duvets but having not been shown how to make a bed with one.... For the benefit of the uninitiated, stand at the foot of the bed, grab the bottom corners of the duvet and hold them wide apart. Lift up to shoulder height then use a quick downward motion - the top of the duvet should flick out like a whip. This will push the duvet back into the top corners of the cover and redistribute any loose filling which may have migrated down through the night.

Also never seen ties in a duvet - seems pretty pointless to me.

Perhaps Halting State. Piranesi is a great read though.

Is the public charging network in the US that bad? Should be half the cost per mile on public AC versus petrol - so maybe worth it at 30,000 miles. I appreciate that this is entirely dependent on having chargers close to where you normally leave your vehicle, but worth checking if you haven't already. Also, if your parents have a driveway then you might be able to trickle charge while there.

It's also worth considering the maintenance savings at the distance you're driving. In the UK it's estimated at 4p per mile (so I'd guess 4c per mile.) So even if you are relying heavily on motorway DC charging, there's still savings to be made.

I've had good experience with Nudie Jeans and Service Works.

What was the article? This one from November claims revenue has still increased - while ridding themselves of more wealth hoarders:

"Revenue from it has climbed despite the exodus and now sits at 0.6% of GDP"

https://www.reuters.com/business/norways-wealth-tax-trades-millionaires-equality-2025-11-24/

They've had a wealth tax in Norway since 1892.