I really don’t see what’s insane about that to be quite honest

Moose can be pretty good, but I think I would have to say Turkey

While not ideal, this can still be useful. In Sweden, we employ speed cameras strategically around areas of higher risk, such as intersections with cars coming onto a larger road with an obscured view. Reducing the speed in that particular spot does probably save lives.

Still, adjusting the design speed is the preferable alternative, but that does not make speed cameras completely ineffective.

It’s not about actual safety, but perceived safety. If the design directly prevents you from feeling like you can go fast, you don’t do it.

Mass go brrrr

Residential wind for electricity generation is not really recommendable afaik, but it could be viable for some amount of heat generation, potentially: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2019/02/heat-your-house-with-a-mechanical-windmill/

Bullshit.

You can’t opt out of government-provided health insurance. It’s not even really referred to as health insurance, it’s really just referred to as health care.

I get my additional private health insurance paid for by my employer, so I never actually pay myself, but the same one seems to be going for about €110 a month.

I don’t know that I would buy it if I had to pay myself, but I’m quite happy to get it for the small amount of additional taxes I have to pay on the benefit from the employer.

For me, it’s not music. Not mentally stimulating enough, it just makes me irritated. It has to be podcasts for me.

Music works when I’m doing tasks that are already mentally stimulating.

They look quite sturdy too.

Yes, but there are two different ones - one for medical appointments and one for medicine.

Sweden.

A few alternatives:

• I could book an appointment at the local health center. I would probably get a time at the earliest next week, and it would cost me $30. Health center doctors are generally quite overworked, and can sometimes be a bit dismissive of your issues in my experience, but they will help you. If you need specialist care, they will give you a referral, which could take several months depending on the priority of the case and the type of specialist.
• I could use an app to get access to a video call with a doctor, after having described my symptoms in the app. I would get a video call the same day and it would cost me $30. Given the remote nature of this kind of contact, they can be a bit limited in what they can do for you, but will try to help you regardless. If your case requires in-person examination, they will ask you to go to a health center instead. If you need specialist care, they will give you a referral and you’ll have to wait the same amount of time as for a referral in the health center scenario.
• I am lucky enough to have a private health insurance plan through my employer. If I have any problems, I’ll submit them to this private health insurer, and they put a human on the case and connects me with a specialist right away if the problem warrants one. Typically this happens the same or the next day. This costs me nothing, apart from what I pay in benefit taxes to be on the private health insurance plan.

All in all, things work fairly well in Sweden, but having gotten private health insurance has definitely jaded me a bit on account of how much better the experience is when you have that. If only the public system wasn’t systematically underfunded and run by the dumbest politicians on offer in the country, then maybe everyone could have great patient experience.

The joy of seeing the first tomato is almost overwhelming

Watts are very individual, I wouldn’t compare to anyone but yourself over time, if you’re looking to improve your power.

I don’t think MnDOT are complying.

I’ve had my Fjällräven backpack for 8 years with more or less daily use for a large part of that lifespan. It could do with some minor repair, but it’s largely still going strong without any maintenance

Fwiw, I believe they manufacture their stuff in China these days.

I’d trade off the massive amount of bathrooms for at most 1 bathroom with shower + maybe one toilet-only bathroom. Separate the kitchen out to a small room, make the common area larger, and add a balcony. The room sizes could probably also be varied slightly - not all rooms need a double-bed. Singles/bunk beds can be used to great effect.

It’s fully possible to share bathrooms with roommates, just as possible as sharing kitchens.

The alternative would be to just make a small kitchen and split these off as single units instead, this is just poor utilization of the space.

Blackout curtains are mandatory equipment for any Swedish bedroom, in my opinion. There’s no way to get enough sleep without them. Sleep masks also help if you’re particularly sensitive to light.

AC is generally speaking not required, as nights are cool and letting in air can provide adequate cooling for all but the hottest days of the year. This is of course a problem for people like me who are allergic to grass pollen, which is active during summer, but I’ve been able to get by mostly with a fan these days.