I’m trying to fight it by journaling more and trying to remember more of the details that make each day special (good or bad). Even the small things. Whether that is something I did with my son, or something I did slightly different for a routine task.

Does it work? Journaling is a major commitment, I hope it pays for itself.

> “The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce,”

> "The company told employees in March that it was cutting thousands of jobs as it faced investor pressure over raising huge amounts of debt for its AI infrastructure buildout."

Is this a dual threat for employees working in companies that have some goal to build out AI infrastructure? The first threat being the obvious "AI is doing your job now" and the second threat being the company needs more money to build out their infrastructure?

We need your salary to buy the machines that will do your job. :|

This is a timely comment for me. I have been doing research on opening a small indie (new/used) bookstore in a small old downtown I walk through almost every day. It has restaurants, specialty shops, coffee shops and a small local grocery store. I've always thought it was missing a bookstore.

Any tips/warnings that might not be immediately obvious to a hopeful bookstore owner? Do you think there is a sweet spot in terms of square footage of retail space? Margins are low so do you supplement with sidelines/events/memberships?

One of my next steps is to join the ABA as a provisional member to get access to their new bookseller guides.

I'm just an internet commenter who knows nothing about running a retail store and has thought about a bookstore as well. With that out of the way, finding high margin items to sell to offset low margin items would make sense. I think this is why you see coffee paired with bookstores, coffee should be high margin but might also require food licensing/inspections.

Ideas for a local bookstore: seasonal and local items for sale, think gift giving timeframes - mothers day, fathers day, end of year holidays. Items like unique greeting cards, calendars, custom gift wrapping, having a kids section with higher margin items kids like - toys, trading cards, etc. Also you could throw some checkout friendly things like book lights, book marks, candies, etc.

If you find local craftspeople, offer some shelf/floor space for free if you can agree on a split of the margin. Hand-crafted things would pair well during holiday seasons and advertised properly might get repeat visits and word of mouth spreading.

Thanks for the comment and ideas. I was thinking through the different types of things that could be sidelines. You hit on many of them. There are some cultural festivals that occur in the downtown that can bring opportunities for some local craftspeople to share retail space before and after the festivals. Also, some branded items that go well with books like totes and bookmarks.

And if there was space for it, hosting board/card games.

Inconceivable!

The original story, “A Can Ride I’ll Never Forget”, has been posted here a couple times in the past. However, it’s one of the stories that is worth revisiting ever so often. The author also seems to have added a forward with his thoughts about the story and how it was popularize across the internet.

Do you have a link to the previous discussion? I can't find it.

I support this. I’ve been on small parts of the trail and look forward to the whole thing being connected.

Let’s not forget the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. No protest or civil disobedience needed, just need to look a certain way.

Sitting in a coffee shop alone with a pen and journal is restorative time for me. No laptop, no headphones, no phone.

Another thing to try is to go to a diner alone. Same deal.

> Another thing to try is to go to a diner alone. Same deal.

Oh yeah. This is one of the things I enjoy most when traveling for work (more often than not means traveling alone). I can go to dinner alone, watch people interact, feel the city, the people, the staff.

Discovering dinner alone to me was an interesting experience. And a lovely one at that.

Are they actually trying to stop them first?

I’m still working on my iPhone X with iOS 16. Works great except for one banking app which apparently needs the latest version. Apple continues to update with security updates.

If you do decide to recycle, make sure to wipe the phone’s data. E-waste can be a dark/shady business with a lot of the electronics shipped to China.