Kraiden

City Skylines is one of my staples. It runs fine (1, I don’t own 2 yet. Waiting on a hardware upgrade)

So am I honestly, but to be fair, that place was a dump.

The foundations were subsiding, so the whole flat was on a pretty significant lean. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was easily 5 degrees off level. Think Lilly and Marshall’s apartment in HIMYM.

The building itself was 3 stories. I was on 2nd, and the 3rd was completely uninhabitable due to the roof being swiss cheese. I knew I was about to get kicked out when the ceiling started leaking in my bedroom whenever it rained.

I could go on and on. The electrics were sketchy, my toilet leaked into the downstairs kitchen, etc etc etc. It really was trash, and would have probably cost millions to repair.

The tree itself was causing structural issues as well. It’s hard to explain, so I’ve attached an aerial view. (You might need to view it on my instance.) The grey line was a concrete retaining wall for the grassy terrace thing. You can see that the tree was right up against the house, further damaging it. I’ve also tried to illustrate what it was doing to the stairs so you can get an idea of what it was like.

All in all, I understand why it had to go, but it still makes me sad. And not just because the flat was so cheap I could afford to live by myself in my 20s, 5 minutes from the CBD

I used to live in a rickety flat that had a single old creaky staircase to get up to the front door, and a little grassy terrace area. Only I really ever used the grassy bit. The stairs had a pohutakawa tree growing essentially right through them, making walking up or down them hazardous. Especially when drunk.

I would not classify that period of my life to be “happy” by any stretch, but that tree signified being “home.” It was like the guardian to my space. A physical barrier between me and the shitshow that was the rest of the world at that time. An almost literal gatekeeper (many people were too scared to walk up the stairs lol)

Added bonus, year end holidays, and the height of summer were vividly and brightly different thanks to the red needles they drop everywhere around that time.

It wasn’t until the landlord told me he was planning to have it cut down, and I had an almost physical reaction that I realized how much I loved that tree. I managed to convince him not to have it cut down until after I’d left.

Both the tree and the flat are now gone. A multi million dollar new build is there now.

They’re faster than the stovetop by a lot over here, so if you’re boiling a lot of water multiple times a day (for tea, coffee, ramen, and whatever else) they’re super convenient.

If you’re not making many hot drinks (or have better machines for that) I’m not sure how much use they are.

As for cooking, I know for myself, when I make something like rice, I boil the water in kettle first, and it definitely saves me a couple minutes. A few minutes doesn’t sound like much, but it all adds up. Another commenter says that they’re actually not that much slower over there, so it might be worth timing one compared to stove top?

TIL

Electric kettles (or hot water jugs depending on where you are) are just not a thing there. Apparently it has something to do with your 110v AC system. They don’t boil as fast, and so never really took off. Just a little factoid that blew my mind, considering how commonplace they are everywhere else.

Personally, Tabasco in the bin. Hot sauce on cold pizza the morning after? Breakfast of champions

I think you have enough people saying that this isn’t normal, but…

You’re in your mid 20’s and you cannot bend over to tie your shoes!? How old is your GP? Sounds like they need to think about retirement… or a career change.

Also just want to second what someone else in here said: Get tested for celiacs disease