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Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

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Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#441

Post by loeg »

hasbot wrote: post #438
loeg wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it takes days to fill up the dishwasher to a level where running it isn't wasteful Dishwashers are much more efficient than you think -- more than handwashing. Just run it every day or two.

Having lived off-grid without running water, I know very precisely that I use slightly more than a gallon of water to hand wash my dishes. No way a dish-washer beats that.

It comes close on an every other day cycle, and if you waited to run it until filling it, it would probably beat that. (Maybe it goes without saying, but your ~1 gallon figure is extremely efficient for 15 minutes of hand-washing.)

That said, unless you live in a desert, or off-grid, 1-2 gallons of water a day has no real cost. E.g., I pay 0.7 cents/gal for the water and 2 cents/gal for the outgoing sewage.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#442

Post by loeg »

giantg2 wrote: post #435
loeg wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you live that has a moderately high cost of living and a 9-years of experience dev can only demand $85k? I feel like that is an uncommon combination in the US.

Philadelphia region, which seems to me like the worst US market for IT pay vs cost of living. There are some bonuses and profit sharing that might bump it $5k-15k. The housing market here has been hot for years now. Even with a long commute a builder grade house in the 1500-1800 sf range on less than an acre is over $250k with about $4-5k in taxes. It's about double that price if the commute is half as long. As an id…

Yeah, that does seem especially bad.

In Seattle with a short commute you'd pay $900k-1M on a 1500-1800 sf house on 1600-3000 sf of land depending on if it's a townhouse or 1930s construction. $100k is a starting salary for new grads here. And plumbers/mechanics still charge about $100/hr, I think. (I have never had need of a professional plumber -- I do it myself -- and haven't had to do any auto work beyond oil in a few years.)

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#443

Post by ragebol »

Our first child.

Born last June. Working from home with a baby there too for most of the time has been quite OK actually, much better than expected. Since the pandemic hit we have both been working from home (I already was working remote) and I can't imagine coming home from work at eg. 17:30 and then the kiddo going to bed at ~19 so I would only see him for a short while.

Without, the pandemic would have been much much harder to bear.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#444

Post by buzzerbetrayed »

meken wrote: post #268
Nbox9 wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In contrast I hate driving cars. I feel like it’s my least favorite tool. I have a nice car, I’ve driven even nicer cars in different styles and hated them all. Driving requires so much of my attention I feel like it’s invasive. In addition I feel like I have to sit relatively still and use my muscles in very particular way. It’s a trap for my mind in body, and an experience I don’t find pleasant. I am an American an…

Interesting. Yup, if that was my experience, I would hate driving cars as well. I’m able to drive pretty much on autopilot. Plus, I don’t feel I’m wasting time listening to podcasts/audiobooks because I’m “doing something/headed somewhere”. I’ve driven almost 20k miles in the past 3.5 months.

> I’ve driven almost 20k miles in the past 3.5 months.

Wow. I drive everyday, but this is a lot of driving. You're looking at nearly 70,000 miles/year at that rate. Out of curiosity, what requires you to drive this much? And is it worth the tens of thousands of dollars you need to spend per year on fuel and car maintenance to do that (on top of the time commitment it is to drive that much)?

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#445

Post by billytetrud »

globular-toast wrote: post #164
eproxus wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends. Sometimes you realize that you’ve always been the one initializing the interactions and when you stop nothing happens anymore. That might be a sign it’s a lopsided relationship.

Some people, like me, never initiate interactions with anyone unless they have to. This isn't because I don't value their friendship. It's because of the high mental load and the many other things that take priority when allocating that capacity. For me, the choice to contact someone is not competing with no-ops like watching TV etc, it's competing with work like keeping my finances in order, fixing stuff in the hous…

I gotta say, that's a selfish mentality, and you're definitely losing out on good friends because you've decided your work comes first. Realize that everyone else has their own work and their own problems they need to spend mental energy on, just like you. What kind of friend are you that is ok with putting that mental burden on someone else but aren't willing to reciprocate? You'll eventually lose those friends and will regret it later in life.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#446

Post by f311a »

OrbitRock wrote: post #392
sprkv5 wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. This is exactly what I started watching last summer to keep myself calm and optimistic through the pandemic. The channels I watch are - Nomadic Ambience[1], NIPPON WANDERING TV[2] and IURETA e[3]. Here are my favorite[4] video[5] walks[6] from Japan. Hope you like it. As for other places, here's two from NYC[7][8] and another from Olympic National Park[9] which is not a video walk per se, but would appeal to fo…

I’m wondering what camera would be best for this kind of thing? I’d love to make some.

Osmo Pocket is a good starter

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#447

Post by toyg »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #182
toyg wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of this could be fixed very easily by employers by widening their range of office hours. Commuting times grow exponentially when everyone has to do it at the same time. When I was commuting in a car, the exact same path would take me 45m to an hour at peak time, and 15m off-peak. Just by pushing forward the starting time by about an hour, I saved loads of time and aggravation. This applies to public-transport co…

There are some children for whom the rigid nature of school schedules actually provides structure which makes them less stressed out :)

I don’t particularly disagree, but there are still thtings that could be done, e.g. different schools could use meaningfully-different times.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#448

Post by nicolas_t »

csixty4 wrote: post #264

Transitioning my gender. Living my truth. Coming out to everyone in my life and being forced to confront the shame that held me back for decades. It took a lot of reflection and was cause for a lot of growth. But now I'm not only mentally happier, I'm taking better care of my body because it finally feels like it's my own.

Congrats! Happy for you... I've seen a friend struggle with this before transitioning and I'm in awe of the courage it takes. She's so much more happy now than she was before.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#449

Post by atom-morgan »

btzo wrote: post #327

Accept that I didn't need a regular job like everyone else. I abandoned my fear of being an entrepreneur and embraced the idea. I lowered my cost of living, valued my skills, and started freelancing to pay the bills while I try to build something. My best decision so far. Ironically today I work a lot more, but the realization of doing something with my time aligned with my dreams makes all the difference.

How was the transition for you? Did you already have clients from past work or did you start cold?

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#450

Post by csixty4 »

azeirah wrote: post #356
csixty4 wrote: post #264

Transitioning my gender. Living my truth. Coming out to everyone in my life and being forced to confront the shame that held me back for decades. It took a lot of reflection and was cause for a lot of growth. But now I'm not only mentally happier, I'm taking better care of my body because it finally feels like it's my own.

Same same same same same! A lot of positive things have happened in the last year, met my first serious girlfriend (and living together now!), got two cats, moved to a larger apartment. Transitioning has enabled all that. I wouldn't have gotten cats alone, I didn't experience romantic feelings prior to taking hormones. Am so so much happier now

That's so awesome to hear!
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