I’m good at lots of things. Navigating the US healthcare industry is not one of them. My wife is in the industry, so I let her find one for me.

If you want a positively singular album, check out Oldfield’s Amarok. It’s a unique experience, start to finish, and the story behind it is great.

I grew up with them, and to this day I’ve never found anyone who quite matches that sound. Just pure musical creativity.

The first, like, 5 albums by They Might Be Giants are unique in their own ways. Just different blends of wackiness and musical sophistication, it’s sublime.

The difference between persuasion and manipulation is largely subjective.

If this is for personal interest, go into it with relatively concrete questions, and then try to answer them.

Her BWV 997 is amazing

Edge.

A man, obsessed with trains, finally sneaks into the engine one day. He’s having the time of his life for a few minutes before he screws up a switch and derails the train, killing dozens of people.

His trial is quick, and he is sentenced to death. The day arrives, and for his last meal he requests a single banana. He eats it, he’s strapped into the electric chair, and when they pull the switch… nothing.

They delay the sentence for a day, to examine the chair for defects. They tighten all the connections, check the wires, and test to make sure it’s working.

The next day, for his real last meal, he again requests a single banana. He eats, they strap him in and pull the switch. Again, nothing.

They delay one more day to tear the chair down to every component, test everything, reassemble, test again. They’re confident that the chair is working properly.

Next day, he asks again for one banana. “Oh no no,” the warden says “I didn’t know how you’re doing it, but you’re not getting another banana”. They serve him roast beef and potatoes, with apple pie for dessert. They strap him in, pull the switch and… nothing.

The bananas had nothing to do with it, turns out he was just a bad conductor.

Nothing. If I’m paying for it, it’s worth it. Convenience, quality, durability, whatever the reason I paid a high price for something, it’s worth the price. If it isn’t, I don’t buy it. There are things that I buy which are more expensive than other options, sure, but that expense is justified. I paid over $1000 for a washing machine, because it will last longer than the string of cheaper machines I would buy instead, which would add up to more than what I paid; not to mention the value of my time and energy in dealing with replacing a broken one.

Look, it’s easy to mess up when you have x-ray vision.

Right, and buying new stuff when you don’t need it perpetuates all those bad corporate practices. You can want to fix that while also not wanting to personally contribute to the excess.

You and I have different tolerances for waste. I’m not going to preach to you about it, but you should at least respect the wishes of people who want to help in the ways they can.

Because some people don’t think it’s misplaced. It’s not an obsession with old things, it’s an avoidance of new ones. Just because I’m only responsible for a tiny fraction doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore that fraction.

Consumerism is why those massive companies pollute so much in the first place.

If I may ask, why is everyone else so obsessed with new things? Why is it the people who don’t feel the need to constantly buy new products that have to explain themselves? That seems backwards.

That’s their problem: their product is very good and very reliable, which means once everyone who wants one has one, there’s no more demand.

I guess needs don’t really factor into my video game consumption. But I do like exploring the range of content available, and you can’t really do that if you ignore the unexplored decision branches.

So I want to offer an alternative perspective.

I don’t know if OP is coming at if from the same place as me, but I’m broadly anti-consumerist. I prefer using the thing I have until it doesn’t work anymore. When it doesn’t work anymore, I prefer replacing it with something used when possible. If I get something new, I do a lot of research to find something durable and reliable that will last a long time.

There’s a moral aspect to it for me. Every new gadget or tchotchy burns in my mind as future trash, as the sum of all the energy and materials to make and fuel to transport and the resultant pollution. I recycle as much as possible, I limit my consumption as much as possible, when I do have things they are generally books or tools to help me otherwise limit my consumption.

When I get some kitschy thing as a gift, that I don’t need and took resources and generated waste to make, I feel like a vegan being gifted meat. No matter how well-intentioned the giver is, I feel implicated in something that is dirty to me. If you keep telling your family that you’re a vegan, and they keep gifting you meat, any warmth from their intent is dwarfed by the sting that they keep ignoring your wishes.

A nice gesture that’s focused on the validation of the giver, in clear violation of the stated wishes of the receiver, is not a nice gesture. The nicest A5 Wagyu is not a nice gesture to someone who already told you they’re a vegan.

Only if you have an air dryer too

Any decision-driven game needs to be replayed at least once exploring other choices. After doing a playthrough as Harry, I had to do one as Raphael.

At least they’re pivoting instead of just doing both.

Was he familiar with Ghislaine’s horse?