Shade is everything. Tree shade is the best, because trees transpire, cooling the ground beneath them even more than shade would alone.
Inside your house (depending on what kind of home you have), you can also take a look at your overall energy efficiency, including windows, doors, insulation in walls and attic, and weather stripping to seal all gaps
Atheist. Religion is an explanation of the world that’s made the fuck up. I think people make shit up to explain reality because accepting uncertainty is difficult, but that doesn’t make it ok. The world around you exists, just like it is. There is no special place you get to go if you follow the right set of rules .
OP, I’d urge you to reconsider framing this whole thing as an “extrovert vs introvert” battle. Your boss is demonstrating poor boundaries and disrespectful and inappropriate behavior, and that has nothing to do with whether she’s an I or E on the Myers-Briggs.
Whether or not you go to HR depends a lot on your company culture. Either way, you need to be documenting specific comments and specific behaviors that are inappropriate first. Every time she asks you an uncomfortable question, especially if it relates to sex, write down what she asked, how you responded (that you declined to answer and asked her to stop asking personal questions), who else was present, and the date/time. Keep this in a personal account, not company. Do NOT go to HR without documentation.
We don’t know how big your company is, but odds are if she’s a middle manager she’s got people above her already who know she’s a gossip and hate that. If you have any relationship at all with her supervisor, it’s generally viewed as following the chain of command if you bring concerns like this directly to them, as well.
Better Help is also awful for the therapists, it basically turns them into contracted gig workers and they’re less invested in their clients’ success. It’s also awful for the clients, because going to therapy is hard and requires hard work and facing some difficult things. The platform makes it overly easy to switch therapists whenever, and a sizeable chunk of people will jump shark when challenged, continuing to throw money down the Better Help hole with no progress to show for it
Chiming in to say comparing thermostat settings between houses is comparing apples to oranges. Your AC is only “on” or “off,” changing the thermostat setting only changes how much time it’s on vs how much time it’s off.
On a 100° day, the HVAC in a well-insulated house with double paned windows and solid weatherization is going to be able to maintain 77° with little effort, where a poorly insulated, leaky house may struggle to even reach 77° with the HVAC running continuously. These two houses may have their thermostats set the same but their internal temperatures and energy usage will be different, maybe even radically different
There are thousands of species, and almost all are either critical pollinators or predators on other insects, including mosquitoes and other flies. Only a few species are known to sting people when threatened, but they’re some of the biggest and most visible wasps, so they’re what people think about
The Austin Chronicle has reliably good content. Lots of local stuff, but also commentary on the state of Texas, and a ton of arts pieces