I feel like my house is never clean/tidy enough.

You say that, but I have been trying to find a non-smart TV for months, Consumers don't always have much choice.

Agreed. It's difficult to find one these days. My solution is to use a computer monitor and a Set Top Box/PVR. Been doing that for some years now.

Refrigerators aren't (yet, anyway) one of those appliances where there's no choice.

I can remember a lot from being a child. Mostly a sense of frustration and powerlessness.

But also the way in which things seemed more interesting than they do now. Like I could be fascinated by watching a tree sway in the wind in a way which wouldn't happen now - at least, not without conscious, meditation style effort. I remember when an hour seemed like an almost intolerably long stretch of time.

I also remember loads of events in visual detail, though I'm terrible at remembering when they happened.

I'm pretty sure if you just sit down on the sofa, do not stare at any screen, and do not read any book, and just start counting. Suddenly an hour will be back to an intolerably long stretch of time.

A vent: why is it any of your business why I had X months without work? Maybe I had enough money not to work for a bit and felt like doing something different. Why am I obligated to continuous labour even when I don't need it. Why am I subject to your judgement for not renting out my life at every possible moment?

Corporations want obedient wage slaves, so if they find out that you may have some "Fuck you" money that you can use to stop working for them at your whim, they will avoid you.

Similarly, having a mortgage and dependants is seen as a "reliability plus point" let's say. Skin in the game.

I understand what you're saying, but corporation is made of people. How is this communicated to my hiring manager and why do they agree to play this stupid game?

In complex systems, no one sits down and does this. It's the revealed preferences and aggregate outcome when budgeting decisions, or hiring decisions are made. It's the equivalent of stereotypes in organization behavior.

Because hiring managers and HR have different incentives and it's therefore in their interest to play the game.

See: every manager and CEO that gets a bonus from cutting down head count or keeping the hiring budget as low as possible.

You may have developed the capacity for independent thought in that period.