Mine sits politely at the counter while we cook (no paws on the counter) waiting to taste anything we are cooking.

I don't think she knows she's a cat.

I've found stolen tomatoes and eggplant that look just like that peach. It's like they were playing with it.

Delivery had a lot to do with softening the approach.

Definitely not for all situations, but to be fair, no approach could be.

I had a friend in college that would just say, "So, what's your deal?"

I'm shocked at how well it worked. Open ended, so you only get what they're willing to talk about, but they'll still be ok talking.

Because Bob usually knows, and/or did it.

(I use Bob too)

I think it was Lewis Black who said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but the two party system in this country is a bowl of shit looking at itself in the mirror."

I vote for who earns my vote. I refuse the forced choice of two terrible options.

Similarly, have they offered something worthy of my time and consideration?

Yes, consider engaging.

No? Next.

There's no such thing as quiet quitting. I prefer acting your wage.

Debian. Stable and works for what I need.

300 hours of sick leave? I think I feel a fever coming on.

I was just thinking that I've mowed the lawn shockingly few times so far this year, between the heat and lack of rain.

Usually June and July are twice a week or more to keep up. This year, there were weeks I didn't mow at all.

I know it's anecdata, but it's a meaningful metric to me...

I'm pushing 50 and when people ask me how I know so much about computers, my first comment is that I had to program my first computer for it to do anything.

My second is that I actively sought to learn, and you can too.

Later in life Linux played a huge role in understanding how these contraptions work. Ironically, I'm a human factors engineer, so I'm also guilty of creating part of the problem. User interfaces that "just work"... Until they don't.