Using toilet paper...bidets are easier and more hygienic.
Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
571–580 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#572When my then-gf/now-wife and I first moved in together, I got really mad at her because she kept "hiding" my stuff when I left it out for more than a day. I couldn't find anything! At some point, I yelled, "It's like you don't even want to see any of my things when I'm not using them!" Then I stopped for a second. For the first time in my life, it made sense. The whole point of putting things away is to hide them! No…
ADHD weaker object permanence means that lots of people need to see their stuff to keep it in mind. “Hiding stuff” is problematic (and so is clutter).
The problem is that someone else does it. If I put a thing away and find a spot for it I will remember. But if someone else without my hierarchy for stuff does it it will inevitably land in a place I will not even think to search in the first place.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#573I used to assume the religious people were missing something and missing out on the latest and greatest. Now I am seeing that often it's us the non-religious that have lost something of value and are trying to replace it with things that don't work as well.
Community is the main thing religious provides. But in exchange, you typically have to believe in some type of sky magician. It's too bad because I enjoyed the community aspect of religion growing up but never really was able to buy into the sky magician part.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#574When my then-gf/now-wife and I first moved in together, I got really mad at her because she kept "hiding" my stuff when I left it out for more than a day. I couldn't find anything! At some point, I yelled, "It's like you don't even want to see any of my things when I'm not using them!" Then I stopped for a second. For the first time in my life, it made sense. The whole point of putting things away is to hide them! No…
One way this was said by one lady in a tv show was to not use your home as storage. By home she meant hallways, on top of furniture and so on. It makes your home look more like a storage unit and less like a house. It helped me to start putting things away in drawers and so on, but also to think about how often I use them, or if I still need them. The tv show was about "proffesional organizers".
> on top of furniture and so on
Pfff, fancy posh TV lady with her ACTUAL DEDICATED STORAGE SPACE in SPACIOUS HOME.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#575It was when I was younger, I was independent and living alone that I realized that I had the power to change myself. In order to succeed there was only one person responsible for my happiness and good fortune, myself. I had to stop waiting for good things to happen, and make sure that I took faith in my own hands. This has led me to change employment, often, but not that often. It has made me approach many challenges…
I had a similar experience. I was independent fairly young, lack of experience is expected but without well-defined goals and mentorship I didn't leverage it to the fully. tip for others in similar situations: being independent doesn't mean you go alone.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#576For the past 15 years or so, every night before bedtime I would proclaim “Time to hit the shack!” or “I’m going to hit the shack”. In reality it is a “sack” that you hit, not a “shack”.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#577such a fun thread. I started reading when there were 600 comments, I only managed to read a few and now there are 900. but I'm learning a lot! I even improved my shoe tying skills!
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#578Ive modestly tried to lose weight my whole life. Ive never been fat, but still had to work to keep my calories low. Im 5' 9", and it took 10 years to go from 170 to more like 160. Losing weight made me weaker and caused me to lose muscle.
Ive recently started weightlifting for strength (low reps high weights) and the mindset is totally different. With weightlifting to keep your lifts going up you have to eat more. One standard is 1g protein/pound of target body weight. It turns out it is really hard to eat that much protein and when you do you arent that hungry. Im now trying to gain weight to get up to 190-200. Ive gained 10 pounds back to 170, but it is more muscle than fat.
In the end weight is just a meaningless number and building muscle becomes a positive spiral. Losing weight causes a loss in muscle which becomes a negative spiral.
Paradoxically you can be leaner, look better, and be stronger at a higher weight.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#579I think I was in my late twenties when I found out I had been tying my shoes wrong all my life. There is a correct and an incorrect way to do it. This affects not just how the knot looks (straight vs crooked), but also how easily it becomes untied: https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/theres-a-better-way-to-tie-...
Also, the material type can play a role.
I have one pair of shoes that will not stay tied. Nike runners with flat laces. I'm not sure if the synthetic material just wants to unwind. Replaced and have no issues.
Re: Ask HN: Something you’ve done your whole life that you realized is wrong?
#580One of the worst thing I did for many decades was drink bottled water and/or tap water. For many years I bought bottled water for home consumption. I eventually learned about under-sink reverse-osmosis water filtration systems and invested in one. For the last ~15 years, I've used such systems, following scheduled filter replacements. The water tastes and feels better than bottled water. Last year, my county water ut…
Typical reverse osmosis filter systems have to throw away 1x-3x the amount of water filtered, which could be quite wasteful depending on your water usage. It also removes many minerals which some people then have to add back into the water. With the water shortage issue in California, I decided to switch to just regular undersink water filter as a replacement for bottled water instead of reverse osmosis.