Honestly, I think the push for electronic shifting on every high-end build is getting out of hand

Tbh, I was building up a custom gravel bike for a client in Portland last week, and they insisted on a wireless groupset. Ngl, the install was smooth, but two days later they brought it back. The battery in the rear derailleur was totally dead after a single wet ride, and the app to check the charge was glitchy. I had to put a regular mechanical setup on there so they could actually go on their trip. It played out fine in the end, but it cost them extra and wasted half my Friday. I get that it's cool tech, but for a bike that's gonna see real mud and rain, a simple cable is just more reliable right now. Has anyone else had a customer regret going fully electronic after a real-world failure?

I was in Singapore last month and saw a book pulled from a store shelf.

It was a graphic novel about a political protest, and the clerk said it was on a list of banned imports. I mean, it was just sitting there in a normal bookstore, and then it was gone. Does that kind of thing happen a lot in other places too?

My dad still thinks he can run the dredge better than me. He can't.

My buddy keeps asking me to fix his cheap store bought cabinets

Every time I go over, he points out a new wobble or a drawer that sticks and says 'you can sort this in five minutes, right?' I explained that particle board with stripped screws isn't worth repairing, but he just doesn't get it. Now I'm avoiding his calls because I don't want to tell him his whole kitchen needs replacing, lol. It's like he thinks I have a magic wand for bad furniture.

Getting my video pulled taught me to speak up anyway

I made a clip about a local issue and it got taken down for vague reasons. I used to avoid tough subjects to keep things smooth. Seeing how many others face this made me change my tune. Now I post on a forum that lets debates happen, and folks actually talk. It's not much, but it feels like progress.