• IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Takes all of 5 minutes to start a car and drive a mile and back. Nobody walks into a Costco for just eggs or brings the entire family.

    I get that you all hate cars but when you make up fantasy stories like this you just harden mind of those you must convince.

    • Sekoia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      7 months ago

      There’s no reason you should need to drive for that kind of stuff. Sure, it takes 5 minutes, but it’s worse for your health, the environment, your wallet, and your morale.

      • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I never said you should. Only that the above in no way describes the majority experience. It’s really not that stressful in the least bit. It’s a 10 minute experience with an extra wide parking spot for your f150 at one of the dozens of choices you’ll have to grab your eggs.

        I am particularly lucky in that I could go to Wegmans or one of several farms within that 10 minute time frame.

        • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 months ago

          It’s far closer to my hometown experience than what you describe.

          I know of 2 grocery stores there (the other half of that town is a mystery to me, probably a couple more there but it was 10 minutes just to get over the bridge, 40+ minutes in the summer, so I never went there), and they got their first supermarket in a decade about 5 years ago now, after the previous one closed 10 years before. For a town of 30,000.

          Granted, it’s a summer vacation town, so it’s like 60% rich people’s summer homes, but everybody I’ve talked to who’s lived in a summer town has described more or less the same experiences that I had growing up.

          When I lived there, it was a 5-7 minute drive to the closest grocery, where you could pay tourist prices, or 20 minutes to that new supermarket. Your other option was to drive to the next town over or 30 minutes by highway in the other direction.

        • boonhet@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          I visited the US once for a week. Visited Walmart exactly once, and Wegmans every other time. Wegmans blows even my European expectations for a grocery store out of the water.

          • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            They are pricy but my wife is celiac and they take their allergen labeling very seriously and importantly consistently. It’s so easy to find GF on the labels for canned goods and such.

      • shastaxc@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Sure, and a suburbanite could bike 10-15 minutes there instead of driving. This isn’t really a problem with suburbs. Grocery stores are incredibly common there, probably moreso than urban areas.

        • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 months ago

          Unless you live in the US with its Euclidean Zoning laws which prohibit mixing land use types in a lot of the country. Groceries are commercial use, and so have to go in commercial developments. Plus the big box stores have killed off most of the small grocers, so you have to go to the strip mall on the edge of town.

          • daltotron@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            This. Have no clue where these people are living, probably in proximity to a larger city, but everywhere I’ve ever lived (mostly smalltown shitsville suburban america), your options are maybe a corner store that has your bare essentials, at an insane markup (mostly, I suspect, in order to exploit people who don’t own a car, forgot something on their way to the grocery, whatever. Capitalize on proximity.), or like, a 20 minute drive to the grocery store. 20 minutes both ways, plus the time you spend in the store, and parking, and traffic. That’s probably like an hour out of your day, at the least. Probably more, since you’re usually getting all your week’s worth of groceries at once, since you wanna minmax your time.

            Being in a commercial district and not an industrial one, and, being as most people drive their cars everywhere, and everything tends to be spread out to meet parking minimums, you probably don’t end up close enough to the grocery store to pick up stuff on your way back from most of the other things you’re gonna be doing. It all leads to more dedicated trips where you want to plan out more thoroughly what you’re buying and what you’re eating through the whole week, there’s not a lot of spontaneity there. Even plan out what you’re doing for fun, which I think is kind of antithetical to the idea of having fun.

            I have never lived in a place where all of this wasn’t the case.

        • samus12345@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Yeah, turns out people keep needing food every day, so it makes a lot of sense to have places selling it close to where they live.

    • Exec@pawb.social
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      7 months ago

      Drive, a mile? To a whole hypermarket for eggs? I’d just walk down the 95 meters to the grocery store here to get those missing eggs

      • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Okay, that’s still a similar effort. And I don’t disagree the preferred approach. The above is absurd though. If anything it describes a more rural experience and still quite exaggerated IMO.

        The above is fantasy circle jerk material. Meme better and have a basis of truth. Those are the best memes.

        • Exec@pawb.social
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          7 months ago

          If I didn’t have to dox myself for that I’d gladly go out and record my way to the store. Just because you can’t have basic necessities over there across the pond it doesn’t mean everyone is going out of their way to lie for magic internet points.

        • boonhet@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          Honestly? Walking 95 meters to the grocery store is way less effort than getting in the car, putting on your seat belt, starting the car, driving off, and parking.

          I lived 300 meters from a small grocery store and a 5 minute drive from a bigger one. I almost never went to the bigger one even though it had a better selection of food.

        • mister_flibble@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          Yeah, realistically this hypothetical person just grabbed eggs while they were at the Wawa. Nobody goes on a whole ass Costco run when they were already making dinner just for fucking eggs.

    • inverted_deflector@startrek.website
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      7 months ago

      Yeah I agree that car dependent suburbs are a problem and car brainedness is an issue in North America, but these fake stories are kind of laughable.

      Ive lived in suburbs and cities all over NY state and this story is funny. I’d probably be able to get to like 3 or 4 regional groceries (not cosco) in 5-10 minutes or to a gas station with good prices on eggs and milk in 2-5 minutes. Ive been to orlando so I know the OP isnt entirely untrue, but Ive lived in plenty of places where I’d be there and back again before the city guy gets to the bottom of the elevator/stairs. Also the corner bodega is almost definitely going to be more expensive.

      Again I agree car dependency is bad, but this whole thing is silly.

      • skyspydude1@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        This was definitely something I didn’t realize was a thing until I moved into a far more non-car dependent suburb. I grew up in suburban sprawl so bad it would literally take you half an hour to foot just to leave the neighborhood. It’s not nearly as good as some of the places I’ve stayed in Europe, but it was eye opening to say the least.

      • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        You should try an English suburb. The one I used to be in had a couple doctor’s surgeries and everything. On a main road that leads into the city centre too.

        The next one had a whole shopping centre just to itself.

    • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I’m in a rural town in the USA and I have all these options available. 5 minutes away from grocery stores and restaurants, fresh produce and eggs growing in my own backyard. Room for my kids and pets to roam and no HOA and even low amounts of traffic to deal with.

    • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      My suburb is within walking distance of a big grocery store. I have a wagon I take with me for big orders. Sometimes I see a bunny.

      • barsoap@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        In a proper streetcar suburb there should be a supermarket at the tram stop. Also daycare and small primary school, a hair stylist, a GP office, and a restaurant/takeout. Parcel pickup. You only take the tram if you need to go somewhere that has a larger catchment area than a tram stop and especially the supermarket and takeout should be directly at the tram stop so that commuters can grab something on their way home, the rest can be a bit more distributed. One tram stop might have a clothing store, another a shoe store.

        Have plenty of bike parking that doubles the radius for the catchment area. housing density should gradually fall off from the tram stop outwards, you can e.g. have a couple of 8-storey blocks around the tram stops with a quasi-urban feel surrounded by 3-5 storeys interspersed with football pitches and greenery and playgrounds, then terraced homes, then finally single-family homes. As to street design: Plenty of cul-de-sacs and traffic calming, make sure that the cul-de-sacs are only for cars, bikes can continue on (you don’t need separate bike infrastructure in traffic-calmed areas), also plenty of small paths cutting through everything so kids can visit friends living away 100m without you having to get on a highway first.

  • crapwittyname@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    I’ve been an urban pedestrian/cyclist all my life. Unfortunately I chose a career path that means I now have to work far from a city. I just failed my driving test. I don’t even want to drive. I fucking hate this so much.

      • spicy pancake@lemmy.zip
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        7 months ago

        Yes, have used psyllium, flax seeds, and chia seeds to varying degrees of success. Xanthan gum never hurts either

        • kameecoding@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Heh, that is the combo I mix into my oatmeal cake, it’s oats, psyllium, flax, chia, some protein powder, lots of berries, old bananas, comes out really good.

          • spicy pancake@lemmy.zip
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            7 months ago

            In baking, in many cases, yes

            For an omelette, no

            for baking, I mix 1 tsp psyllium with 3 Tbsp room temperature water and let it sit for about 5 minutes (or until an egg-like viscosity)

            psylli-egg has a more neutral texture and flavor than a flax or chia egg. unlike flax it won’t go rancid (I’m still using a large bucket of it that’s years old and hasn’t changed flavor or effectiveness). its only real downside is it takes slightly longer to hydrate

            I personally wouldn’t try to replicate a shakshuka or anything with it but if you try let me know how it goes haha

            • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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              7 months ago

              My wife is vegan so we do a lot of vegan baking, especially around the holidays, but we also don’t stock eggs or dairy in the house anyway.

              So usually we are using applesauce as an egg supplement. I never liked flax in general, but I do keep chia and fiber supplements around (especially since starting Adderall), so that’s good to know.

              • spicy pancake@lemmy.zip
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                7 months ago

                for the chia, worth tossing them in a coffee/spice grinder if you don’t want whole chia seed texture in the baked good (though they’re a decent poppyseed substitute imho)

                works wonders for flax as well, but yeah flax is really the C tier of egg replacers lol

                i also just had the thought that basil seeds might work similarly to chia seeds. they also gel

          • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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            7 months ago

            “me, being broke/cheap/lazy”

            that implies they want a cheap substitute for eggs, to which you replied with something you need to order online…

            • kameecoding@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I mean, if you have psyllium at home vs you have to drive x miles for the eggs then psyllium will be cheaper for that one thing, probably, also depends how much you value your time, which I value highly

      • boomzilla@programming.dev
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        7 months ago

        Aquafaba. Can be bought readymade but is also a by-product of cooking dried chickpeas. After soaking chickpeas in water for a night discard the soaking water. Bring fresh water to boil and cook the chickpeas for 1/2 an hour or so. Collect the cooking water. You can even also freeze it for later use. It’s important to bring it to room temperature before using it in baking. Can bring a good amount of fluffyness to your doughs.

        • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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          7 months ago

          No clue why you got downvoted, bean water is kind of just the best egg substitute, if the leftover water from soaking dried beans works as an egg subsitute why on god’s green earth would people use anything else? (yes obviously they should use something else if they can’t eat beans, i should not have to say that)

      • KoboldOfArtifice@ttrpg.network
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        7 months ago

        Shops closing on Sundays in Germany is no workers rights issue. No one is asking workers to work 7 days a week.

        Germany as plenty of students, for example, who’d love to have a job on the weekend because they have the freedom to choose a bit better when they work and when not.

        The reason Sunday to this day is still a day when almost all shops have to close is mostly religious. There are restaurants and some other shops that are allowed to stay open and most of them choose either a different rest day or make sure that they have someone on any of those days. One workday on a Sunday is plenty to fill out a typical untaxed low payment job that are very useful to students and others looking to just get a bit of an income.

        Actual workers rights aren’t telling people that they can never work on Sundays, they’re guaranteeing people that they will never need to work too much.

      • computerscientistI@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Why? Cause shops are open on sunday? Having no workers rights makes that a lot easier

        Yes. Shops being closed on Sundays is a major PITA. I have 2 days off a week. So I have to buy groceries in overcrowded shops in the evening or in overcrowded shops on Saturdays. Or I drive across the border and buy in Luxemburg, on Sundays. So the VAT I am creating stays in another country. Which is just plain stupid.

        Also: workers’ rights and shops being open on Sundays aren’t mutually exclusive.

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          The churches don’t have enough political influence to keep Sunday a rest day. That we still have a mostly closed down Sunday (minus vital and emergency services and recreation) is union influence. IG Metall and Ver.di would skin the SPD alive if they were to propose abolishing it.

          Consider the alternative: All your friends have different days off, so organising a grill party becomes a once in a summer opportunity when all your days off happen to align.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              On the contrary there’s a lot of shift work in industry, especially IG Metall’s “core” clientele, metalworkers. A blast furnace don’t care whether it’s Sunday you need workers to work it, 24/7 – with extra extra pay for night shifts and Sundays. But IG Metall also covers the engineering side and with that IT workers, plenty of white-collar jobs included it’s a really big tent.

    • Pretzilla@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Ray of hope: many if not most places of business in the US were closed Sundays through the 60’s.

      Then religious influence waned, and capitalism and consumer influence grew and businesses listened.

  • mctoasterson@reddthat.com
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    7 months ago

    I live in suburbia in the US and I can walk to 3 different grocery stores from my house. If I go to the warehouse store, I will drive. Between telework, walking, and avoiding unnecessary trips to various places, I try to drive less than 1 mile per day.

    Density kinda sucks to live in, but we can all make more effort to waste less energy.

    • Michal@programming.dev
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      7 months ago

      If you drive less than 1 mile per day it sounds like you shouldn’t have to drive at all. It’s walking distance - is your destination not reachable on foot?

      • mctoasterson@reddthat.com
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        7 months ago

        Its an average. Some days I don’t drive at all. Some days I have to bring a family member several miles to an appointment, or get something bulky from a store that I can’t feasibly move without a vehicle.

    • BlitzoTheOisSilent@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I’m in the same boat, I have two grocery stores, three gas stations, a bank, several fast food/take out restaurants, a Home Depot, a pharmacy, and several walking trails, all within about a 10-15 minute walk from my house. Also live in suburbia, and would like to get a bike this summer to start cutting out driving.

      Can’t eliminate most of my driving though, I work about 30 minutes from home for a general contractor, and public transport would require me to leave my dog alone for over 12 hours a day, which just isn’t an option.

    • Patches@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      Instructions unclear: I grabbed 4 tablespoons like you said but it won’t stop. Oh God it’s everywhere, and it hurts so bad. Halp.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        There’s a simple solution. If the recipe calls for n eggs and you’re replacing each egg with 60mL of blood but instead have M mL of blood, make M/(60*N) recipes.

        Eg, recipe calls for 2 eggs and you’ve bled 1.5 L of blood, first do the difficult conversion from L to mL (my witch doctor tells me it’s 1500 mL). Now, use the formula: 1500 / (60*2), which simplifies to 25 / 2 or 12.5.

        You just need to make 12.5 of your recipe. Just multiply each of the ingredients by 12.5 and you’ll be good. Oh and you’ll need to adjust cooking time, too, though maybe keep a fire extinguisher handy.

  • hector@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    In Europe at least it is super hard to afford rent inside the centre of a big city. But yeah being a “walking pedestrian” is soooo cool.

    And you can actually do it in the urban suburbs :) but in Paris for example, the cost of living is so high in the suburbs and the center.

    • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      In China it’s easy to afford rent in most of the cities on a full time minimum wage job, and the cities are extremely walkable. My wife lives in a 18 story building, and immediately outside of her development are at least 6 supermarkets, 20 restaurants and countless bus stations and subway stations. Sounds like it’s more of a problem with the economic system than the city itself.

      • hector@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        If it weren’t for authoritarianism, pollutions and terrible cyberpunk stuff + human’s right violation I think I’d love to live in China lol

        • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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          7 months ago

          It is the single greatest place I have ever been in my life. The air pollution in the cities I went to, which included Beijing, was no worse than it is in my Colorado city. They’ve done a lot to combat it, and though there’s still bad days, we also have bad days. Hell, we were known for the “brown cloud” for decades, and still regularly have inversions that cause the cloud these days, thankfully much less often though. There’s also a lot more electric vehicles there than there are here, so less ground level pollution from exhaust. I felt so sick my first couple days back in the states and everything smelled so bad. I didn’t even realize how bad it was until my nose wasn’t accustomed to it anymore.

      • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        What boggles my mind here, in my province, is that a lot of new dense condos/apartments are built without any walkable services. It is mind boggling that it still happens.

        Nothing worse than having to take your car to do small errands.

        • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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          7 months ago

          We have to fight the armies of NIMBYs and developers to even get a suite of overpriced luxury condos or apartments built, and we’re still building gigantic McMansion suburbs like they’re going out of style, so I feel that in my bones. My nearest grocery store is more than 2 miles away, and there’s no way to get there without having to go down a 45mph road with no sidewalks. But we have pretty monoculture lawns! -_- thank god my family is willing to turn most of our lawn into pollinator gardens and food gardens… now if only we could convince our neighbors to do the same.

    • RatBin@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Europe’s city centers are friggin expensive, if you know what I’m talking about you know. The suburbs are usually fine, also some of the best paces ever are between the suburbs and the center. Locals in the old town will make you pay for the oxygen they have in

    • trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I think I only ever lived in the real “center” of a city once when I was crashing at a friends place while looking for an apartment.

      All of my other places have been further out in neighborhoods outside of the center but there were still shops everywhere. Single use zoning and the tendency to obsess over shitty copypaste single family homes is the real culprit in the US.

  • Sibbo@sopuli.xyz
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    7 months ago

    Who can even afford living in a city or on the country side? City is too expensive, and country side is cheap but there are no jobs. If you wanna have some kind of a decent-sized place for a family with kids, suburbia is a must unless you are somehow rich. Or happen to have a job that exists in the country side.

    • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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      7 months ago

      Here in sweden you can find municipal housing apartments for 400 bucks per month literally right in the middle of downtown, in smaller cites.

      The wonders of actually building enough housing and not having it all be for profit.