d&f 9/25/22
This weekend I did my first cyclocross race, and managed to finish upright and even score a podium place. Women’s cycling events usually have drastically fewer participants than men’s and due to only 2 other women in my class racing, I got third. As silly as it is to get a podium automatically, it was a delightful experience. You may not be as motivated by competitions I am, but doing a sport over 35 is pretty thrilling.
College is something I grew up being told was necessary to a good job and a future, but when the time came to attend, there was no support for me. With a dad not filing taxes or claiming me as a dependent when he did (with no financial support), my ability to get good loans was also pretty poor, and when I left college I had ~70k of debt. Sadly, this isn’t a rare story, and the way wealth and family support influence outcomes is devastating to all but the richest Americans. I hope that Biden’t recent debt forgiveness and changing of interest rate math for student loans is just the start of a far-reaching revolution in equality and support for everyone else. Surely a country with educated and thriving citizens would be better than debt-ridden and tenuously supported ones.
If you’ve travelled internationally you might have noticed the apps people use are pretty different, depending on the country. Ride-shares, banking, games, and other types of services get customized for the appetites of the folks using them, and in this case the appetite is for food and information density.
While we’re talking international differences, let’s dive into the abject failures of many of the richest countries to show any strong positive effect on science, health, or the climate. The sooner the US and other countries internalize that we all share a planet and what negatively affects parts of the world hurt all of us, the better off we’ll be. Putting an end to mass manipulation by companies pursuing riches and success would be one way to start fixing things. Imagine a world where we build connections and community instead of endless scrolling and worry about our ratios. The internet totally rules, in my opinion, but the shit that makes money on there isn’t very beneficial. Hell, sometimes it’s just boring.
Links
- Headline: Guy ‘just playing Devil’s advocate’ hated by all:
- Crime guy? Oh he do crime:
- A real case of the “cure” being worse than the illness:
Closing
I’m exhausted post-race, even with an evening nap, so I’ll keep this short. We just had the summer equinox, and the days keep getting shorter, but the weather in the bay is awesome at least. Get some sun if you can, and get ready for candles and blankets season, space cowgirls~