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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • Tomo means friend in Japanese (友), so my bilingual ass would probably go the other direction and end up interpreting her messages to be more cheery than intended.

    “Tomo the street sweeper is coming through so don’t forget to park in your driveways.”

    “Tomo we are holding our annual HOA elections; make sure to attend!”

    “Trash pickup was days ago, so don’t let me catch your cans out tomo.”




  • I think this still shows a poor grasp of percentages/statistics. If you were to follow up the Texas question by asking in turn, “what percentage live in California?” " How about New York?" “And Florida?” “So then what percentage live in the 46 remaining states plus US territories?” you’d watch a classroom of students slowly realize they’ve way surpassed 100% thanks to their overinflated initial estimates. Or conversely, if you gave them a paper with a list of states and asked them to write down what percentage of Americans lived in each state next to the state’s name, it might not be accurate, but it would probably add up to 100% for significantly more respondents.

    The over/under estimation problem is almost certainly worsened when you ask about a single demographic in isolation, rather than all possible demographics at once.


  • Given that the “estimated proportion” range is only between 20-76%, this seems more indicative of a poor understanding of statistics than an over/under estimation of specific demographics, especially since a lot of contradictory demographics are way overestimated.

    For example, I am significantly more likely to believe that Americans suck at percentages than that they believe nearly ever single person in the country is either Muslim, Jewish, or Catholic (these three “estimated proportions” add up to 98%).

    Side note: interestingly all religious categories listed add up to 189%, but there is some overlap depending on definition (e.g. some people might argue that “Catholics are Christians” or “Jewish is an ethnicity so you can be Jewish and atheist”). Thus I picked the three that most people would agree are extremely unlikely to overlap, which coincidentally added up to nearly 100%.




  • Walking your cat is a great way to get them outside, but (depending on the individual) it’s quite different from walking a dog. Most cats aren’t very interested in the actual walking part of walks, and may be much happier finding a nice bush to sit under for half an hour. However a leash is a great way to keep your cat supervised and under control for outside visits, either in the back yard, around the block, or to a nearby park.

    Other warnings: starting them young is ideal, but older cats can get used to the leash with a lot of patience (on both of your parts). Cats that were previously outdoor cats will have the most trouble adjusting to their loss of freedom, but indoor-only cats may be excited for the opportunity (or terrified: pushing your cat a little out of their comfort zone is okay but don’t overdo it!). A well-fitting harness/vest is crucial, and even then a very determined (or scared) cat can probably wriggle out so be prepared. Keep a very close eye on your cat’s emotional state and be ready to go home at signs of anxiety. Low-stress outdoor places (with few cars, dogs, screaming kids, etc, and with some form of cover like trees and bushes) are best especially to start. Treats and verbal encouragement, paired with small steps and lots of patience, are key! Above all stay consistent: once you’ve made the decision to make your cat leash-only, don’t let them go outside without it: your cat needs to make the connection that they have to be on a leash if they want to enjoy the outside.