Sincerely, I wish her the best. I know it is common to jump in with hate-the-rich feelings here, but I don’t know of anything she has done that makes her deserve cancer. Cancer sucks. The flight is awful, and once it is done you don’t get to know if you are actually better for a long time. For the rest of your life you get to carry physical and emotional scars from the fight.

I did this fight. I would wish it away from anyone except the most evil. I hope her treatment and recovery are as smooth as possible.

The original Pizzaria Uno cream of broccoli soup from the 90s. It was maybe the perfect version of that soup.

This is where AI could legit change the world for the better in the future. Use fewer pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides as the problems can be fixed mechanically on a highly localized level.

This could even help fix problems with invasive species - imagine a drone fleet that could kill kudzu just as it erupts from the soil.

Aaarugh! So you have any idea how many times I tried to force my phone to use the right word and still failed? I think my keyboard hates me.

This is a huge case of, “Yes, but . . . .”

Yes, exercise absolutely can and does help mental health. It helps me a great deal. That said, exercise requires some level of time, energy, and focus. The key is to find a form of exercise that you enjoy or at least do not mind. If going to the gym is exclusively a chore, you will more likely fail. If exercising brings some Internet inherent reward, you will more likely succeed.

I love lifting weights, but I did not have the mental energy to put together a program or figure out how to work around big physical issues after cancer. I paid a trainer to help, and that eliminated enough of the focus needed that going to the gym became fun. Now I am transferring to running my own program because I have learned enough that it is not as big of a mental load. Along the way my energy has also increased.

Contrast this with running. I hate running. It hurts my joints. It hurts my lungs. Getting outside and running should be easier than a trip to the gym, but it is actually much harder for me because there is no inherent reward. It just sucks, and it continues to suck as I get better at it.

So yeah, exercise is great for mental health, even if it is not a cure all. This only holds true once you find something you enjoy. If you think you enjoy nothing, you are most likely wrong. Keep looking. Keep trying. Maybe you like walking. Maybe you like a specific martial art. Maybe you like biking, but only on a stationary bike in your living room while binging your favorite shows.

Find something that you enjoy doing that fits well enough into your life. That way on the days you don’t want to start, you will anyway because you know it will be enjoyable once you are doing it.

No, this was just from general wear over time. It would be less bad if we threw it away at the first sign of wear, but that felt wasteful. Why ditch a sponge with a little wear on one side when the rest remains fine? Now we know.

This is where I am going to get on my soap box (pun intended) and castigate the entire Scrub family.

When snaking my shower drain, I get to go pretty dang far down to remove a clog. I was easily to the point point where my kitchen sink joined the drain line. Among the last things I pulled out were several Scrub Daddy chunks of good size. Can I be sure that these caused the clog? No. Am I sure these could screw up my septic pump or cause clogs even further down? Absolutely.

The chunks these sponges shed can wreck havoc on your drain system. It’s not worth it for a tool that cleans no better than a dish rag and a stiff bristle brush. Those actually clean better, last longer, and are more environmentally friendly.

I want to love Scrub Daddy. I just cannot afford the aggravation and potential cost they bring with them as they break down.