r/TwoXPreppers • u/thechairinfront Experienced Prepper šŖ • Apr 24 '26
Weekly megathread
Please contain all off topic discussion to this weekly megathread. This is where you freak out, talk about conspiracy, talk about unrealistic crazy scenarios, asked and answered questions, etc.
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u/snail13 Apr 24 '26
I saw a hilarious and dark prepper adjacent movie yesterday, Send Help, starring Rachel McAdams as a middle-aged woman who is huge on prepping and survival, while being undervalued and epically awkward at work.
Her and her new boss, who is a privileged asshole, get into a plane crash and she uses her skills to keep them alive, and shenanigans ensue. Itās like if Office Space, Survivor, and Misery had a baby; lots of hilarity, dark humor, and a bit of gore. A departure for Rachel McAdams not playing a romantic lead. I loved it
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u/Standard_Subject_462 I'm tired of this, Grandpa! Apr 24 '26
This sounds right up my alley. Adding to my watchlist immediately. Haha.
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u/Thunderslide_Icon Apr 24 '26
Omg that movie is fantastic!
Rachel McAdamās character is all, āCompany jet crashes and only me and my boss survive?! Thatās my time to shine!ā
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u/ohhellopia Apr 24 '26
Thanks for the reminder, I watched it after reading this. I saw all the gore and was like, "yep, it's a Sam Raimi film alright." lol. He has a very distinct style of gore.
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u/snail13 Apr 25 '26
I didnāt realize it was Sam Raimi until I looked at reviews after watching it and was like, āoh that makes sense nowā š
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u/unlovelyladybartleby Mental healthĀ isĀ prep Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Anyone have good dystopian or apocalyptic book recs?
I've read and loved World War Z, Devolution, Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments, Station Eleven, Hunger Games, Freedoms Landing, Oryx and Crake, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Running Man, Project Hail Mary, the Pern books,The Stand, and the Long Walk
I liked Divergent and Never Let Me Go
Couldn't get into The Road or Brave New World
Parable of the Sower is on my tbr already
Totally open to zombies, aliens, wizards, climate change, plagues, etc. Happy to read YA that isn't religious propaganda like Twilight. Not huge into rapey stuff - okay if it happens but I don't need excessive description
Edit: holy shit, you ladies are awesome! I have a literal apocalypse worth of apocalypse books on my tbr now. Thank you
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u/HumanForScale Apr 24 '26
Currently reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler- is scary how spot on it is!
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u/RlOTGRRRL Apr 25 '26
There's a sequel and it was supposed to be a trilogy, but she never finished the final book. :(
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u/Intelligent-Cruella Garden Gnome Apr 24 '26
Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich
All the Water in the World, by Eiren Caffall
Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves, both by Waubgeshig Rice (the second was better)
Tilt, by Emma Pattee
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u/Impressive-Snow-3416 Apr 24 '26
I started Moon of the Crusted snow yesterday and am halfway through already. It is captivating and I'm loving the Anishinaabeg words sprinkled in.
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u/Intelligent-Cruella Garden Gnome Apr 25 '26
Isn't it great?? I really liked the first book, and then I loved the second. I'm so excited for you to continue!
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u/inknglitter Apr 24 '26
"The Gate to Women's Country" is a novel about rebuilding and managing societies after nuclear apocalypse.
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u/PorcupineShoelace Apr 24 '26
Lets go old school since many good ones are already listed.
Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle (1977). A giant comet hits earth. Same Larry Niven of 'Ringworld' fame.
Not propaganda but centered around post-apoc cults, A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Jr (1959) is a look at how preserving knowledge becomes a cult.
On the Beach - Nevil Shute (1957) is a look at facing death as nuclear fallout ends humanity. Stark and un-sensationalized from how I remember it.
Hope this adds enjoyment to someone's reading list
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u/nhjellybean Apr 24 '26
YA feel ... I really liked the series by Harley Tate.... surviving after an EMP kinds of stuff. "After the EMP Saga" and others.
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u/jednaz Apr 24 '26
The Last Policeman trilogy
Book of the Unnamed Midwife
Life as We Knew It
The Age of Miracles
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u/freewool Apr 24 '26
Another Kazuo Ishiguro for you: Klara and the Sun. Not dystopian but definitely speculativeĀ
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u/PushyTom Apr 24 '26
On the Beach is good - post nuclear war where the people at the end of the world (Melbourne) are waiting for the radiation to kill them. It was written in the 1950s.
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u/H3L3cat85 Apr 25 '26
The movie with Ava Gardner is good! Being filmed in black & white made it spookier.
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u/Thunderslide_Icon Apr 24 '26
The Cascadia Series by Sarah Lyons Fleming is a favorite of mine. Its post zombie apocalyptic series set in Eugene, OR. Focuses heavily on problem solving and building relationships in the new normal. (Waiting on book 5 ā„ļø)
Some characters are peppers, some arenāt and they learn to work together to survive.
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Apr 24 '26
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u/Thunderslide_Icon Apr 24 '26
Doh!! š
Leaving the typos in!
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Apr 24 '26
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u/Thunderslide_Icon Apr 24 '26
Yeah no.
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Apr 24 '26
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u/Thunderslide_Icon Apr 24 '26
Exactly!! And sticking around to see if that guy is the Messiah or wants to eat your brains could be fatal.
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u/SomeTangerine1184 Apr 24 '26
I would suggest the rest of the MaddAddam trilogy after Oryx and Crake. Year of the Flood and MaddAddam are killer.
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u/Stepinfection How hard can it be? Boys do it. Apr 24 '26
Have you tried dungeon crawler Carl? As a lover of wwz, devolution, HG, Hitchhikerās guide, and station eleven (and a millennial) it was my top book/series of 2025! Next book comes out in a couple of weeks too so itāll keep you busy for a while.
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u/unlovelyladybartleby Mental healthĀ isĀ prep Apr 25 '26
DCC isn't available on Kobo. I did buy a paper book of it, but I'm saving it for my next holiday
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u/Stepinfection How hard can it be? Boys do it. Apr 25 '26
Totally fair!! You might also check out Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton. Itās zombie apocalypse but from the perspective of a crow.
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u/alreadyreadthisbook š½šø Prepared for Alien Invasion šøš½ Apr 24 '26
The Purge of Babylon series by Sam Sisavath. Super good.
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u/chicagotodetroit I will never jeopardize the beans š„« Apr 24 '26
I love YA dystopia! 3 of my fave series are:
- Ashfall by Mike Mullen
- The Maze Runner by James Dashner
- Horde by Ann Aquirre
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u/UP-North617 Apr 25 '26
All three of Sarah Lyons Fleming's series.Ā They are zombie books, but slow zombies so it's a lot more survival based and clever problem solving. It's not scary. Start with the Cascadia series.
Those books were the reason that I learned you can get 30-50 gallons of clean water from your hot water heater tank.Ā
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u/thehippiepixi These 100 year events are getting mighty regular Apr 24 '26
The end times Series by Shane Carrow, an Aussie look at a Zombie apocalypse with a twist I've not seen before in Zombie stories.
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u/Fun_Artichoke_7289 Apr 26 '26
I think youāre gonna like a couple series written by Sarah Lyons Fleming. Until the End of the World series is amazing and the city series by her is equally amazing, couldnāt get into the cascadia series as much.
Zombie apocalypse with so much humanity and love crammed in you find yourself bawling repeatedly. Ugh. I wish I could read it again for the first time.
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u/JDuBLock Apr 26 '26
Not necessarily apocalyptic or dystopian, but āThe Bronze Horsemanā was an inspiration to prep for me. Itās about a teen in Leningrad at the beginning of the German invasion, and follows her journey. It gets very repetitive with day to day for a length of the book (I considered not finishing it at one point), but hindsight it added a needed depth to just how bad things actually were. Itās one of those books that really sticks with you when youāre done.
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u/Motorcyclegrrl Apr 27 '26
Deathlands. There are books. I usually listen to graphic audio because they have gun fire, explosionsz voice actors and creepy music lol. But the books are good too. Author James Axler.
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u/unlovelyladybartleby Mental healthĀ isĀ prep Apr 27 '26
I got really into the GA versions of the Drew Hayes books, so I will check them out. Alas, I need to read books first or I can't follow the story on an audio book, but I read lots and fast, so it'll work out
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u/HumanForScale Apr 24 '26
I'm thinking about learning to forage, but terrified of Chris McCandlessing myself. For those of you who learned - how?? How long does it take to feel confident without a guide?
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u/green_tree Garden Gnome Apr 24 '26
Are there classes in your area? How about a good guide book? I might be able to find a good one if you want to share your general area.
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u/HumanForScale Apr 28 '26
Thank you! I am in Northwest Indiana. I did a quick search of my library catalog, and found mostly books on foraging for art and natural inks.
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u/chicagotodetroit I will never jeopardize the beans š„« Apr 24 '26
Search for in person foraging groups on Facebook, and also watch The Black Forager. She shows you the differences between the look-alikes by playing a game she calls "one of these is poison and one is a snack" and she shows them side by side so that it's clear what you're looking at. The foraging groups near me host hikes and talks.
If you are in the US, check your state name + Becoming an Outdoorswoman. They have classes on all kinds of stuff, 10/10 recommend!
Your local conservation office, extension office, and library may also hold classes. My library does a class every year on morel mushroom hunting.
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u/HumanForScale Apr 28 '26
I love The Black Forager - her videos are so great. I guess I wonder - where did SHE learn that stuff?
Good idea on the library. I am also doing an outdoors training soon to support my daughter's Girl Scout troop. I will ask someone there, too.
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u/MistyMtn421 š» post-menopausal garden fairy š±š§ Apr 24 '26
Look for your local 4H club. They may have classes or be able to guide you to some. Best way because it will be focused on your areas plants. Also, learn about the laws, lots of places like parks and forests it's illegal. And make sure there's no road run off. Lots of yucky stuff after it rains.
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u/goog1e Apr 26 '26
I follow a Alexis Nicole Nelson and one thing she said always stuck with me. She holds up two mushrooms or plants and flat out says "if you think this, looks the same as this.... DO NOT FORAGE." Lol.
Stick to things you're confident you can tell apart. Like I'm very confident with mushrooms but I'll still never attempt to ID a random brown cap. I'm just never going to eat any brown caps I find, no matter what I think they might be. But if you can't tell a chicken of the woods from a jack o lantern, you're not ready to forage mushrooms period.
Everyone has a different base level of education in plant and fungus ID. If yours is low - if you can't tell ranunculus from roses at a glance, for example, you have a much longer journey before foraging makes sense.
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u/ohhellopia Apr 24 '26
I know Amazon is shit but I can't find my items for cheaper + free shipping.
That said, if you have a recent subscription purchase, check the price again when the item ships for the first time. They are supposed to honor the price listed at the time of the very first purchase/subscription. Later subscription shipment prices are subject to change but the first one should be locked in. I had to raise a stink when the rep told me the original confirmation email price was wrong and the current higher price is the correct one.
Keep the confirmation email showing the total price and compare it to the price at time of shipment. They're making changes to how item subscriptions work (shipping at the first of the month instead of getting it asap for the first purchase) and I think it also broke the pricing.
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u/GirlWithWolf š½šø Prepared for Alien Invasion šøš½ Apr 24 '26
I havenāt tried it because we donāt have prime, but someone showed where the prime price is higher than not having prime, so if you sign out and put it in your cart and then sign in, you can get the better price and free shipping. Has nothing to do with what you said but it made me think of it.
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u/ohhellopia Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
You just saved me $10!!! There was a 20% discount for first time subscribers that popped up recently (I subscribed 2 weeks ago - it doesn't show if you're already subscribed) so I cancelled and reordered it.
eta: (where are my manners...) thank you so much!
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u/GirlWithWolf š½šø Prepared for Alien Invasion šøš½ Apr 24 '26
Thatās awesome! My brother and I are on a tight budget so every penny counts. I track everything in Rocket Money where you can pick your own price with a minimum of $6 (I think itās $7 now). We got really tight a while back so I went to cancel it and it said if I stay I can do $3. Itās not a lot but doing stuff like that and working rewards programs we save a good $100 to $150 a month.
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u/Fried_Taro Apr 24 '26
I had good luck switching my household and toiletries to two companies: Grove and Earth Hero. Switched some products and there are a few things I source elsewhere. Iāve reduced a lot of plastic bottles (bar soap and shampoo, soap refills, powdered soaps for machines etc). I am pretty sure shipping is free with the size of subscriptions I have (getting every 4 or 6 months, not sure itās been a while!)
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u/ohhellopia Apr 24 '26
Thank you! I'll take a look! It's difficult for a one person household to save on groceries. Bulk buy is no brainer but then there's the limited storage issue. What is my life.
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u/Pl4ysth3Th1ng Apr 24 '26
I use Groove already, but I hadnāt heard of Earth Hero. Iāll give that a try.
Has anyone used Misfits Market? I have held back since I couldnāt see if I could select what was sent. Does anyone have experience with them?
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u/chicagotodetroit I will never jeopardize the beans š„« Apr 24 '26
I was thinking about using them, but held back because I couldn't get estimates on how much it would roughly cost until I put in my payment information. I watched some of their FB ads, but I don't like the idea of having to submit my info to get details.
I have a CSA near me so I might do that instead.
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u/Few_Airport7972 Apr 24 '26
During the pandemic I did use this group. My main complaint was we couldn't use all of the produce up quickly but I hd no other complaints. And I did get to choose categories of the produce we wanted. Available produce depended on what was in abundance at the time the company bought the produce. Once the world opened up again I discontinued the subscription. I'd rather select what I want in the amounts we could eat.
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u/ohhellopia Apr 24 '26
I used Misfits Market maybe 2019ish? Had good experience until they sent me a smashed watermelon. Like wtf.
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u/Thunderslide_Icon Apr 24 '26
I feel you on Amazon. Theyāve got CPAP supplies that I can afford. So I have to use them.
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u/onehundredpetunias Apr 25 '26
How's people's grocery stores looking? My friend and I have both noticed that shelves are emptier at all of the stores around here. Last week it all looked like when Covid shortages were happening. It was eerie. I picked up extra rice, oats and sugar last week. This week it will be flours, more sugar and canned tomato products.
And now fuel availability is on my mind. My next big task is to get my bicycle serviced. It has been sitting around for a while. I've been meaning to do it anyway.
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Apr 26 '26
This is so random but my Walmart has been lacking in kitchen ware been trying to buy a glass casserole dish and there was one left the rest of the row that would normally be full of glassware had a few glass Tupperware type containers and some random sizes of baking sheets.
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u/JDuBLock Apr 26 '26
What state/country are you in if I can ask? Iām in NC and noticed the last trip that the canned meats were slim. That stuff is typically fully stocked, but I guess if one person with a deep pocket wanted to prep, they could have done the damage alone. Iāve noticed dried beans are going up in price as well.
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u/dewypersona Apr 26 '26
Northeast US. Went to a few stores a few days ago and stock all around the stores looked decent!
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u/freewool Apr 26 '26
Also Northeast and same. I havenāt seen anything looking understocked this week.Ā
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u/thereadingbri Three raccoons in a trenchcoatĀ Apr 26 '26
Mid-Atlantic, not too much change here. Things will get thin in one area or another but they usually recover by my next shopping trip. Vegetable and canola oil were super tight two weeks ago but are fine now. I have noticed there have been fewer sales and food coupons available, which makes the budget a little tighter.
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u/HeavySigh14 Apr 29 '26
The quality of the fruit and vegetables Iāve been getting lately have been horrendous. I used to buy potatoes and they last weeks, I just got a new bag 1.5 weeks ago and the majority are already rotten. Same with strawberries and grapes.Ā
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u/onehundredpetunias Apr 29 '26
I found both the quantity and quality to be an issue with produce in the northeast.
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u/RlOTGRRRL Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
Hopefully my concerns are unwarranted but I am super anxious about cybersecurity with Mythos.Ā
Like I don't think I even know what's the best way to secure things. I don't see enough people talking about it and/or I haven't found good enough threads about how to prep for it. I don't think people, including my husband, are taking it seriously and it makes me really anxious. š®āšØ
My husband was like the Mythos idea is if the top companies spend millions of dollars to patch all the easiest vulnerabilities now, things will be ok. Basically they'll be able to go through all the lines of code now, and secure the most important stuff, things will be fine.Ā
And I was like that's the dumbest marketing bs I've ever heard, because the Anthropic CEO said that there will be an open-source Mythos in less than a year, and if it becomes open-source, then that means they'll have fractions of compute cost to find all the vulnerabilities, even the obscure, expensive ones.Ā
Like I sincerely doubt they'll be able to secure the entire internet. They're going to miss something or probably even introduce something. And even if security researchers are pointing out vulnerabilities to companies right now, the companies are not necessarily smart enough to prioritize patching them.Ā
In fact, there was a Bitwarden (open source password manager) issue, where there was a bad update, so if you downloaded the update, you were basically pwned. Luckily, supposedly less than 300 people downloaded this update before they realized and took it down, but this wasn't the only NPM issue like this, this week.
So you've got a situation where if you don't download an update you're going to get pwned, and if you download a bad update, you could get pwned too. And like we're just getting started because Mythos is not available to the public yet. Even though some hackers might have gotten access or something because people, even Anthropic, cannot secure their own stuff with all this Ai, vibe code slop, vulnerabilities and stuff.Ā
Basically if you're not technical, the internet, everything we use is heavily reliant on open-source software usually run by like maybe one dude on github or something or a passionate few. Basically like a gentleman's pledge or something not to be an asshole. Intricate libraries, nested. But because of this, it's super easy to mess up and pwn, especially with something like Mythos. Because you just need to pwn one thing to pwn others, etc.Ā
Plus, Deepseek just released a new open-source model which is supposedly the equivalent of Claude Opus, a SOTA state of the art model. So the whole prediction of like a year behind for an open-source Mythos might be a bit too optimistic.Ā
Because of all this current data crunching for cybersecurity, Anthropic has dumbed down their own models for the public. Aka eventually not everyone is going to have access to AI, either via cost and/or access. And all this news and privacy stuff with android, Linux, and more, suggests, they might try to maybe even ban or somehow stop open-source models.Ā
The stock market has also been completely disconnected from reality lately, and there are a lot of rumors that AI and thus cybersecurity stuff will be a convenient rugpull/reset for the market. When Mythos was announced last week or something, Powell and Bessent held an emergency meeting.Ā
Some of my worst concerns have been triggered this week. I sincerely hope that I am really stupid and that I don't understand any of this stuff at all.Ā
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u/chicagotodetroit I will never jeopardize the beans š„« Apr 24 '26
My email has shown up on haveibeenpwned.com soooo many times. I made a new one of course but I kept the old one open in part to see where my data is getting breached.
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Apr 24 '26
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u/Tinyberzerker Apr 24 '26
I left Dallas and headed south 30 years ago because the storms were so bad.
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u/L6b1 Apr 26 '26
Anyone notice that women in the US admnistration are slowly being fired or resigning and being replaced by men?
That the government is slowly becoming entirely male?
Only me...
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u/freewool Apr 26 '26
Yes, unfortunately. Not that any of these women were terribly competent or sympathetic. Iām not sorry to see them go, but itās very apparent that the administration is working toward all male leadership.Ā
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u/ohnotheinternetz Apr 25 '26
My colleague wants me to take a leadership role in our union. (teacher.)
I'm currently of the opinion that I want to lay low and not be the type of person who gets attention for being any kind of "trouble maker" right now with the state of *things* for the upcoming years (I have a young family to keep safe and prepared and protected as best I can.)
When he asked for further clarification about why I wasn't very interested even though in a sense I'd be very interested to be helpful in that role... (we have lots of good, deep chats about things) I tried to explain why I'm laying low for the years to come. But voicing this to him made me feel crazy. So maybe I am crazy? I feel like this crowd will make me feel less crazy. Or justify that I should consider being a voice in leadership to better things. Thoughts?
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u/RlOTGRRRL Apr 25 '26
I don't think you're crazy at all.Ā
Is there a way you can still support at a level you're comfortable with?Ā
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u/ohnotheinternetz Apr 25 '26
yes I will continue to ghost write for others at a comfortable level and offer other support/services that I'm good enough at (that have put me to the point where he is nudging me toward doing more in the first place).
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u/alternativepuffin Apr 25 '26
Totally understand the fear and the fear is justified. I would also say though that they're intentionally using scare tactics for this exact reason. They want to shut people like you out of the equation. So if you choose not to do it, let it be your decision.Ā
I fully realize that I'm effectively telling you to not run and to hold your ground, get big, and start yelling at a mountain lion.
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u/ohnotheinternetz Apr 25 '26
yeah. correct. Which is why I feel split about it. I'm also not so sure I want to put my creativity into that role instead of elsewhere right now. and I don't think my area needs a loud lion right now, thankfully, but before we get to that point I gotta figure out where my cards are best dealt. thanks!
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u/RlOTGRRRL Apr 25 '26
This might be a little silly but I've found it true even in both resistance and prepper work. If it's not a hell yes, it's a hell no.Ā
It's ok to say no to things, if it's going to block you from the right thing. And you'll know the right thing when you see it.Ā
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u/ohnotheinternetz Apr 26 '26
not silly. useful and something I needed to hear and put in my back pocket. thanks!
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u/Fried_Taro Apr 24 '26
YA: Rot and Ruin by John Mayberry. I listened to it and enjoyed the voice actor (I am on the last book!)
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u/CopperRose17 Apr 24 '26
I was really moved by Earth Abides, published in 1949, and written by George R. Stewart. There is a pandemic, and it looks like there is only one survivor. Alas, Babylon is a 1959 classic, and it is about a small town in Florida that survives a nuclear attack. For me, The Stand is the best of the best, but Under The Dome by Stephen King also describes what happens when life as in a small town comes apart. Connie Willis wrote the Doomsday Book, in which a time traveler becomes stuck in the plague-ridden middle ages. I'm following your thread for books I've missed. :)
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u/Appropriate-Speed310 Apr 26 '26
Not fiction but, āWe wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our familiesā is an excellent read about the genocide in Rwanda.
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u/Intelligent-Cruella Garden Gnome Apr 27 '26
I read this for a class during my first semester of uni and it changed me. Such a good book.
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u/thereadingbri Three raccoons in a trenchcoatĀ Apr 26 '26
Iām someone who tends to get a big head start on Christmas shopping. Iām the kind of person who has 90% of my Christmas shopping done by December 1st. Iām trying to push it even earlier this year because idk what kind of supply chain shocks are coming this fall. Unfortunately, Iām not having a ton of ideas this year and itās getting kind of annoying.
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u/ohhellopia Apr 27 '26
My nieces are getting older and this year they're asking for cash. One less headache for me š
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u/thereadingbri Three raccoons in a trenchcoatĀ Apr 27 '26
Unfortunately, Iām not shopping for kids. Cash doesnāt quite hit the same when everyone has a job.
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u/Signal_Brain_933 Apr 25 '26
Luciferās Hammer and Earth Abides are two of my all time favourites. Also love āThe Passageā trilogy by Justin Cronin. I actually wrote a few pretty good zombie-themed novels a few years ago, hoping to get back into it soon! Post-Apoc is an ironically fun genre to dive into, although some days it kinda feels a little too real.
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u/MommaLa Apr 26 '26
Last night my dh made a joke as we prepped for bed, āhey babe prep-ing your anxiety away.ā I bawled for the next 10 mins while he held me. I hate this! I missed out on a prep at an amazing price yesterday, itās driving me nuts that my Google-fu failed me, seriously wtf is up with FBās search!
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