I was riding my bike on the sidewalk downtown on Main Street the other day and noticed that the curb cuts for a long stretch were only in one direction. Like, ideally you should have a curb cut if you want to cross Main heading south and a curb cut if you want to go west. But all the curb cuts I saw were to the south, which was inconvenient for me since I was heading west. It would have really sucked if I had been in a wheel chair.

I am trying to make this happen by biking everywhere. But I feel like you kinda have to be crazy to make this choice, with the way people drive. I have had three near-misses with cars over the past couple of weeks. None of them have been my fault, but it doesn't matter who is right or wrong when two tons of metal is coming at you at 40 mph.

So I don't blame people for weighing the dangers of biking vs driving and electing to go with the latter.

Get a high quality lockbox and hang it out your door knob. Keep a copy of your house key in it. This way you won't have to worry about getting locked out of your apartment. You will also be able to give friends/coworkers access to your apartment when you aren't present.

Renter's insurance is good to have whether single or not.

Timers are awesome. I have timers for lamps in my living room and dining room so that they are always on when I get home. Not only is it nice not having to fumble around in the darkness, but the lights are a deterrent to any would-be cat burglars

This is so vague that it is actually harmful advice.

Like, who is this directed at? I really want my upper management to speak up on issues, even ones that aren't essential...because speaking up early and often is how you avoid problems in the first place. And guess who ends up having to deal with the problems? The peons like me.

And even low-level peons should be encouraged to speak up...even for piddly stuff. Because 1) what may seem piddly now might actually not be piddly tomorrow and 2) there is absolutely nothing wrong with expressing your views so that others are aware of the pitfalls they may not be thinking about.

I don't care if you have an ulterior motive when you speak up in a staff meeting or an email chain At least you are trying to contribute something to the discussion. It is up to your manager to rein you in if your contributions aren't helpful. Don't waste any fucks on what the apathetic peanut gallery may think.

It would be the unusual 26-year-old who has their shit together mentally. I know I didn't when I was 26. People sure thought I did because I was a good student, but they didn't know how anxious I was all the time and how unsure I was in myself.

Now that I am 45, I have a lot of confidence in myself. Ngl, sometimes I feel like I might be arrogant! But I come by it honestly, by climbing a bunch of mountains. When I climbed my first mountain, I thought to myself, "Well, other people carried my bags for me, so it doesn't really count." When I conquered my second mountain, I thought to myself, "That was hard, but I only succeeded because the weather was so nice." I started feeling like I really am a bad ass only after I had climbed my tenth or 11th mountain...because it can take a while for you to appreciate that your accomplishments are meaningful and real.

All the meaningful victories I have under my belt remind me that I'm capable, strong, and not to be underestimated. But when I was 26, I didn't have anything like that to lean on, so of course I felt like a lightweight.

You probably don't need to change your mindset at all. You just need to remind yourself that you are young and that it is totally normal for young people to not be put together yet. One day you will be.

What's wild is that white folk still make up the majority of the student body. I'm guessing they also make up the majority of the faculty and staff. If a white person is uncomfortable even when they are in the freakin' majority, then hell yes they should understand how some minorities feel on predominately white campuses. But they won't. Minorities need to "suck it up and deal", donchaknow. White people are lucky enough to not have to do that.