I definitely recommend!

Yeah, I hear you. And even if you post at lightning speed, there’s something about forums that just feels slower compared to the speed posting in a chatroom can get you.

Futurama!

That’s why you dunk it a few times until it sinks!

You know, I’m gonna be the oddball suggestion here.

Forums. What forums? I don’t know, the last time I used them was proboards back in 2010 so I’m sure I’m out of the loop on the options, but I do miss forums sometimes. That was where I ran RPGs, back in the day.

The OTHER cat got me.

You just sparked a memory in me of a future kinda-dystopian book I was reading. Unfortunately the name of the book escapes me at the moment (I think it was a Neal Stephenson book?) but there was this part that struck me hard. The gist is that there was one internet, like there is now, and it’s just a cesspool of ads and misinformation and all kinds of toxic garbage. The difference was, people who had money enough, would basically pay for “live curators” to filter their internet so they only saw things that were verifiably true, had no awful bigotry baked in, etc etc.

Naturally this was not something poor people could afford.

Anyway apologies for going off topic. The “we just haven’t figured out the best way to do so in the information age” reminded me of that.

Some places in the US have this! My local Stop and Shop does.

A salute to our community mod then for the hard work!

Amazing tip, thank you! I set my default to Top Day and then start fiddling with the options when I get through that feed.

I have this inscribed on my soul because it is so true. If someone has a gun to your head and says “Get in the van” you risk the bullet and book it.

Did they introduce the dude this way? “This is X, he’s my best friend so he didn’t have to interview.”

Yeah, it can be really difficult if you live in that sort of place because I feel like making change locally is going to be a lot easier than tackling the state level immediately but I totally get that it’s not always an option.

Certainly! Now bear in mind that this is going to look a bit different for everyone because not only is every state’s politics different, but every city and town is too.

I was fortunate enough to have an already established RCV group in my state that I could reach out to–they’ve had practice getting it passed in various locales already and were able to set me up with a ton of resources.

So, first step, look for anything like that in your state. If you’ve got a group doing that work, reach out to them and connect. They’ll know how to steer you better than someone who probably doesn’t live anywhere near you and is a stranger on the internet.

If you can’t find/don’t have anyone like that already established, you’re going to be working from square one, and that will be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Again, my guidelines might not be applicable to you in this case, but they should at least get you started. Here’s the instructions I was given (in a rough overview) for how to get the ball rolling in my city:

1. Learn your local government. Are you a city or a town? Do you have a mayor? City council? Town hall? How does voting currently work? What seats are available for election and how often, and are they single-seats or multi-seats (like a board or a committee would be.) How long are the terms? Do you have preliminary elections, and what’s the criteria to trigger one? Do you have a town/city charter? If so, give it a once over. Who is the person who primarily handles election duties (such as handling the ballots) and what is their title?

2. Do your local voting machines handle ranked choice voting? There’s actually a website for this! https://verifiedvoting.org/verifier/#mode/navigate/map/ppEquip/mapType/normal/year/2022 - If your machines are too old you might have to include (or start with) a motion to upgrade your machines.

3. This is where things get hard for me to tell you what to say in any detail because it’ll be specific to your home. But the basics is–start reaching out to the people in your local government. See if you can find someone who’s knowledgeable on local legislature who’s willing to help you out, either in general by teaching you how to get things brought to the attention of the legislatures there or who is even willing to help you go the whole way. You might need to get a petition going, you might not. But forging connections with people, even if it’s just one person, is going to help a lot. I’m fortunate that my city has a committee dedicated just to liasoning between citizens and the council–I’ve got a meeting scheduled to talk to them and see if they’ll give me a boost on this. That’s the kind of thing you’ll want to do on this step.

Filling the time between game sessions with writing exercises to help develop the characters we’ll be playing with next campaign!

If utilities and internet speed and stuff are a non-issue (all things are equal), mountain house.

Otherwise, beach house.

Honestly, I like swimming, but I’d rather have a normal ass house than have to deal with pool maintenance.

If people are interested in trying to make a difference on this front, you can. I’m working with a group of people to enact ranked choice voting in our city. If you can get it passed at a local level, that’ll pave the way for familiarity with higher levels of government down the line.

Now you guys are just doing the work for her.

Never smoked, edibles only, but anything but the weakest THC levels gives me an intense paranoia that I despise. However, if I do manage to get something with a stupidly low THC dosage, I get to enjoy it for its benefits. Mostly, it helps my brain let go of obsessive thinking. It’s a bit like a muscle relaxing after holding it tight.

But damn is that a tightrope to walk. I absolutely do not blame you for never touching the stuff again.

Also one time I took an edible that was paired with melatonin and thought I was going to suffocate and die. (Then I slept for 10 hours.)