Propaganda from the fossil fuel industry.

Solar panels are the cheapest source of electricity now. Batteries have dropped in price by more than 90% in the past decade, and are now viable for grid-scale storage, addressing the main issue with renewable energy. EVs are competitive with combustion cars, and in some ways superior. Heat pumps are now superior to furnaces in many locations. The solar punk future is now! But you wouldn’t know any of this by listening to the public discourse, mainstream media, and many politicians.

Relevant video from Technology Connections

Los Angeles uses plastic balls to cover their drinking water reservoir… At least solar panels provide energy too

Donald Glover. He’s so talented in so many ways.

He started as a stand up comedian and now has 2 Emmy’s and 5 Grammys

He’s got EGOT potential

Not sure if it’s still the case, but airlines used to give flight credits to doctors who helped out. Probably not Spirit though…

I started volunteering with my local Weed Warriors group. We tackle invasive vines and bushes that kill native trees and block out the understory for native plants. It’s really satisfying when you liberate a tree or rip out an invasive bush. I like the exercise and social connection too. Search to see if your community has a weed warrior group or other conservation group that does field work. They can have a training/certification program. Some improve hiking trails too.

Your financial situation could vary a lot in ways that may not provide good advice from internet strangers. Suggest talking with a financial advisor, see if you employer has access to one as a benefit.

For buying a house three key factors are: what is your current interest rate and potential new interest rate? Do you have stable income/recession resistant job (even if a recession may be a ways off)? How many months of an emergency fund would you have after the purchase (is that enough for your risk tolerance?)?

Timing the economy is challenging and many have lost out on trying. Even if you see bad signs for the economy, it can take years for that to have real world impacts on employment or housing values. The market can stay irrational/in denial for a long time until a crash.

I replaced my gas water heater with a heat pump water heater. It’s great! I live in a humid climate and having the extra cooling/dehumidifying in the summer is a great bonus. It does make the basement noticably colder all year round though. The energy/financial savings are essentially, I get free hot water in the summer, and a little extra demand for heating the house in the winter.

Recovery time is not really noticeable unless we have company staying with us. My Rheem unit has a “High Demand” mode that kicks on both the heat pump and resistive elements to provide recovery comparable to a gas heater.

The old heater was end of life and the local incentives made it cheaper to install a heat pump water heater than any other type. 15-20 years is considered end of life, most warranties only go to 10 years.

Most tank water heaters have a sacrificial rod or two regardless of heat source

Tankless water heaters are really only practical with burning either oil or gas, the main benefit being you’ll never run out of hot water.

Undecided with Matt Ferrell has a good video on heat pump water heaters Technology Connections has a good video on home electrification

Edit: find a contractor(s) who know how to work with local incentives. Federal tax credits were ended by the “Big Beautiful Bill” last year.

And very few working class people have an effective tax rate of 40%, even in high tax states

BMI was never discredited. It’s always been intended as a population-level estimate of obesity. There have been a number of studies over the years that have correlated other health outcomes to BMI, but those things are intended to be population-level correlations. For example BMI is correlated with average expected life span, where a BMI in the “healthy” range is correlated with longer average lifespans, and both under or overweight BMIs are correlated with shorter average lifespans. Your specific health situation may vary.

MRI or DXA scans can more accurately determine body fat percentage to determine obesity. Comparing those with BMI has an error rate of around 20% of people being miscategorized as under or overweight.

Bottom line, don’t be sedentary all the time, get physical activity and eat a healthy diet instead of getting too hung up on what metrics are best. Progress over perfection.

I like Harvard’s Nutrition Source for science-based nutrition info that’s easy to read.

I didn’t learn these tricks because I was experiencing obesity…

Try volunteering at your local food bank some time, they certainly need the help right now