Yeah man, there’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s also nothing wrong with wanting more which is what he said he wanted. Honestly a ‘wholesome’ moment but only in the boomer sense of ignoring that other people may want something different/more to life than you
These are nice to read, although his one comment about a meaningless existence sort of bums me out and reminds me of being in China and knowing Chinese people who were all depressed but didn’t identify it since depression is not popularly recognized in China.
I hope he is actively choosing to live a simple life instead of feeling forced to live a simple life of passive resistance because he can’t abide by the rules of his society.
I will say that living a simple life and lying down is a pretty good way to deal with frenzied capitalism-derived-depression.
Congrats, I hope it stays fixed! I can’t repair anything, but I support the movement in principle. I usually try to take good care of the things I own and buy things which with replaceable parts (think headphones) or things which are more ecological (think traditional wet shaving with a DE razor). Actually, come to think of it, I might try to repair my headphones. Something that can’t be replaced broke – part of the headband near the ear cups but I think I can fix it with tape.
Straight razor user here! Nothing cuts through a week-old beard like a straight razor. DE razor (which I also own and use) barely manages - I have to unscrew and flush it every now and then. The new fancy cartridge-based ones with 17 blades just clog instantly.
As for hoarding shaving soap - that happens when you promote a tool into a hobby.
I relate. I like working on my car for similar reasons. As others have touched on, you feel like you’re cheating the system when you do it yourself and save money. Very satisfying.
I’m new here and I’m not sure what defines simple living but I usually go by foot around town.
Distances are relatively short and it doesn’t take long to walk around. The cities in my country are very walkable. When going out of town I prefer the (dilapidated) train network. With my discount card I can ride 400km in around 6 hours for as little as 10$. I’m terrified of driving and I don’t want to bother with maintaining a car, not to mention the environmental impacts. If I really need a car when I’m overloaded with groceries, I order a cab but that’s rare.
When I am doing stuff in my city I do everything by bike. For longer trips, for example when I’m visiting my parents I travel by train. Those are pretty much the only ways I travel besides walking.
For me this is everything I need. In my opinion traveling by bike is the nices way to travel relatively short distances. You have no traffic, don’t have to wait for busses or trains and it’s by far the cheapest way to travel.
But trains are also a very nice, at least when they are not completly full. You have enough space, you can work or study. In generell you can just do whatever you want in a comfortable seat.
Car. There’s really no alternative for me. I use the bicycle occassionally, but that’s mostly for fun and can hardly be used for my actual travel needs. By car, I can move anything in any weather.
I am also bound to using a car due to where I live. Fortunately I work from home, and most of what I need is close by so I don’t need to use it too much.
Same. I ride my bike places when it’s feasible, but I live a few miles from anything. A bike ride into town implies at least 20-30 minutes of sweating, which means I have to drive my car more often than I’d like. I have a plugin hybrid that gets about 30 miles without burning any gas, and that gets me most anywhere I commonly need to go, so there’s that at least.
The bike I own is a mountain bike. I could buy another but I don’t really need to. I have to cross an interstate highway to get anywhere useful, which is the real problem.
Last week, I unhooked the toilet in our summer home and dragged it outside. (If you ever unhook your toilet from sewage, stick a plastic bag into the drain, to block the stink.) - it was dripping near the intake hose, and the button mechanism didn’t work. Oh, and every now and then there was a mysterious puddle on the floor under it… Cleaned out the accumulated rust/mud/junk from its tank with a garden hose, dishwashing sponge and vinegar (not sure if the vinegar actually dissolved anything or not). Removed the tank, and removed all the old and deteriorating plumbing stuff from inside. Replaced the leaky gasket between tank and bowl (ha! found the reason for the occasional puddle around the toilet) and reassembled the tank. Installed a new flush valve (30€) and a new filling valve (15€) (tho on the second look, the intake valve was actually still serviceable). Replaced the gasket between intake hose and filling valve (1€ for a package of 10) and hooked up the whole mess.
Result:
The intake hose is not dripping into a bucket anymore.
I now have a button to press, when I want to flush, instead of manually lifting the whole flush valve :D
I saved the cost of a new toilet (that’s somewhere around 160€ for a cheap one, less 46€ for the replacement kit I bought)
The work took an hour or a couple. Shopping for a new toilet and installing it would also have taken an hour or a couple
I ride my bike for all day-to-day stuff. ie. to and from work, to shops, to visit people, and basically everywhere else. For longer distances I use public transport.
I have never owned a car, and I’m getting old enough that I’m increasingly confident that I never will. I value the principle of ‘do no harm’; and my dislike of cars seems to go stronger the older I get. That said, I understand that different people and places have different needs. I’m not trying to talk you out of using a car if that’s what you do.
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