Calvin’s dad says it builds character.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and amid revolution and resurrection, two cities bore witness to sacrifice as Sydney Carton, seeking redemption, found “a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done.”

Imagine how much time we could save if we got an AI summary of the Cliffs Notes.

No thanks. I’d rather feed a robot and have it vomit into my mouth.

Hope an Android version comes out, too.

Just dropping back in to say you were right. I saw that Mamdani won the primary. Fingers crossed that this goes all the way.

It doesn’t matter. Even if you deliberately attempted to manipulate him into a relationship, knowing full well he was 33, he would still be the predator. Tell Professor Humbert he can fuck off with that Lolita shit.

That’s honestly kind of cool, even if the circumstances that led to it might not have been.

I don’t think a 2025 Armored Personnel Carrier is capable of keeping a teen driver safe. Having said that, I think the best we can do is front and side airbags, crumple zones, a low center of gravity (sorry Jeep), and Electronic Stability Control (ESC). If I had to put a year on that, I’d say 2012, when the NHTSA required all new vehicles to have ESC. A roll cage wouldn’t hurt, if that’s an option. Bonus points if you can convince them to wear a racing helmet and Leatt neck brace while driving.

I don’t know what to think anymore. I guess I’ll have to ask ChatGPT what to do.

I don’t have any data to support it, but I’d speculate that the middle class uses a lot less illicit drugs, lacking the desperation of the poor or the protections of the wealthy.

I like that one. I used to jokingly tell people I drove a classic car. It was technically correct, but no one was impressed by my rusted out, 1980s, economy sedan or its 115 horses.

Good point. I should have said, “illicit drugs.”

That’s a good point. I’d still argue that renting is buying a service, but I agree there may be some ambiguity here.

That’s an intriguing take. Blackberries are expensive in some places. In others, you can just grab and eat them as you walk through the park.

Could we reframe it as rental services? The wealthy pay them to manage the property they own, and the poor poor pay them for the right to live there.

Legal services, fines, etc. I wish I had thought of that.

Financial services as a percent of income, yes. That’s a good one. Being poor is relatively expensive.

Gambling

Transportation services

RVs

Recreational drugs

Horses and related services

This is fun, but I’ll end this with the obligatory: There are two main classes, the ownership class and the working class. The lower and middle classes are subsets of the working class.

• Stardew Valley

• Halo

• POE II

• Starfox 64

• Super Mario World

• Skyrim

• Oblivion

• Disco Elysium

• Civilization VI