I think this is one of my strongest (and favorite) qualities, but brutal waves of depression make it really hard sometimes because I don’t feel much beyond a whole mess of negative feelings.

I’m going through one of those spells right now, so thank you for reminding me of this.

Of course. I just feel like that was my absolute highest chance of catching airborne rabies in my life, and thought I’d share.

Holy shit. When I was 16, I was visiting Yucatan with my family, and my cousins that we were staying with knew of this local cave that was “owned” by one of their friends. Basically, for 20 pesos each, their friend would take me, my brothers, and my two younger cousins on a cave tour where we were actually climbing in and up and all through this cave.

Keep in mind, this is Mexico, so there’s no regulations on this very small time operation or really much thought of safety, no equipment except for headlamps, etc. As a teenager, we all thought this was great cause it meant way more adventure. Tbf, it was a hell of an adventure for sure. But retrospectively, pretty sketchy. My youngest cousin ended up slipping on a rock we were climbing up and started sliding down the right of it with nothing to grab onto (the rock was very slick) which led to this black abyss of cave rocks some 50 ft down. Confident that little dude would’ve died if my oldest brother hadn’t snagged him by his oversized shirt and brought him back to relative safety…

But anyways, this didn’t faze us (cause we were dumbass kids who felt invincible) and we continued on with our tour guide (who was straight up wearing flip flops). After about an hour of climbing further and deeper into this cave, crawling through tunnels, he eventually brought us to this pretty big “room” in the cave that just had this weird stench about it. And the second you walked in, the floor was entirely squishy and there was so much screeching. Turns out the room was FILLED with bats and we were stepping on a lot of bat shit. Like we continued on a little bit, and we couldn’t not step on bat shit. It was up to my ankles and absolutely covered the ground.

The dude said we could continue on and there was another 1.5 hours of adventure we could do, but that was around the time we called it, and started heading back. We were probably only in that room for like 5 minutes before leaving, but had we continued on, he said we would’ve had to traverse deeper into the room to get to the next spot.

That seems like the exact conditions you’re describing for airborne rabies…

I’m glad I had that experience (only because nothing bad happened), but never again. For a lot of reasons.

My pup straight up skinned a squirrel a few weeks after we adopted her.

…sooo I’m a decently attractive (child-free) lady that’s historically been this way with my partners (granted, not every day. Basically all of my relationships have been long-term, so y’know, sometimes the mood just isn’t there).

This is the first time I’ve heard of the mom fetish, and it also made me feel weird lol. But also made me reflect on why I’ve always kinda been that way, and wonder if this is maybe subconsciously the reason?

Turns out, the answer is a solid “no” lol.

I definitely had an upbringing that conditioned me to be the type of person that serves others. And so as I grew up, I guess that turned into a way that I show interest/love.

So maybe it was a similar thing for your girl? Ooooor maybe she was REALLY into feeling like a mom lol. The world may never know.

I lost my dad (whom I was very close with) at 15, and my mom made my life extremely hard and confusing after that… I think I’d be mostly happy at how seemingly well-adjusted i am.

I’m objectively well-off, but turns out i care far more about non-financial things.

Idk if you’ve seen Euphoria, but that’s the show that really made me like her as an actress. Didn’t think much of her before.

I’m really struggling to imagine this.

Financial literacy would be considered an essential subject.

I see what you’re getting at - if we’re gonna allow our citizens freedom of speech, this is part of what it looks like. For the record, these dumb ass takes on my LGBTQ+ peeps do NOT align with my own personal feelings. However, freedom of speech is objectively a good thing.

Problem is that entities like Meta and X are suppressing the voices of people that are making comments against the status quo and challenging the uber rich, and elevating the voices of the bigots.

All that to say I think that’s why people are downvoting you, but I agree with you.

S05E14 of Breaking Bad - Ozymandias.

I vividly remember watching it for the first time. I’ve had emotional reactions to movies and shows in the past, but not like this. This is like the immediate aftermath of everything coming to a head, and everyone’s acting made the whole episode so immersive. I felt like I was there, and this was happening to my family.

::: spoiler Specifically the scene of Skylar sprinting down the street chasing Walt’s car after he kidnaps Holly… or shit, the scene where Walt is wrestling with Walt Jr. over the knife. Or shit, just the realization that Skylar and Walt Jr. have that Walt essentially killed Hank. Everything is just compounded with the immense grief of losing Hank in such a brutish, unceremonious way. :::

This is still one of my top 3 shows. I’m not good at picking favorites, but I know it’s up there.

In the past, i have because my mom would routinely snoop to see if I was still talking to the boy she forbade me to date (I was, and i got more clever about hiding it). The only way she let me keep a phone was if I didn’t put a pass code on it.

Fast forward to a couple of years after moving out of her house and in an emotionally abusive relationship. That dude ended up putting spyware on my phone (without my knowledge) because… well, idk, control i guess? I was messaging a close guy friend of mine, and my boyfriend fucking blew up at me, which is when I realized he had been spying on me. I wasn’t flirting with my guy friend or anything (we really didn’t have a relationship like that at all). he was just messaging me late at night because his step dad was abusive to him and I was helping him through that tough time. My boyfriend did not allow me to message another male after 9p.

Those had me paranoid, but can’t say I’m paranoid anymore. I’m married to a guy I trust, and he has my phone password info and I have his. I don’t snoop in his phone and I trust that he isn’t snooping in mine. Not like I have anything juicy in here, anyway.

But yeah, if you’re feeling paranoid without someone having previously violated your trust, it could be because you are doing things on your phone that you consider to be very private/embarrassing/nefarious? If so, that kinda makes sense I think. If that’s not the case, then respectfully, it might be good to see a mental health professional… life becomes a lot less stressful without worrying about shit like that.

The second one is at least an “easy” fix. I had Lasik a couple of years ago, and don’t get me wrong - it was weird and uncomfortable. But literally took less than 5 min, and they gave me an anti-anxiety pill beforehand.

I agree, but i can’t help but wonder if the internet changes this.

I started working at a local restaurant/bar when I was in college. I started out as a server and worked my way to bartender. One of the nights that I was running the service by myself (we had really slow Tuesday nights), this couple came in and sat at the bar. They were super cool, ordered a ton of food and drinks, and we just fucked around and had a great time together. I walked to the back to take their dirty plates away, and when I came back like 45 seconds later, they were gone. Bailed on the tab.

The little money I had made that day was taken from me to cover their bill. Plus the owners demanded I pay the rest of it with my future tips - i.e. I wouldn’t get any money until it was all paid back. They paid me $2/hr, and they were going to take another $200 of my money. The place didn’t get a lot of business, so it would take me like 1.5 weeks to pay that back without making anything myself. It was a huge punch in the gut. I had worked hard for these guys for at least a year. Unheard of at this restaurant cause most people left after like a month.

I cried like a baby in the manager’s office when she told me what the owners said, and I quit that night.

I find it less creepy and more disingenuous. But I can appreciate the intention.

I’ve been a serial monogamist since I started dating (way back in middle school), and my major relationships have been 1.5 years, 5.5 years, 2 years, and my current relationship which is 8+. My “ones that got away” were actually people that I wish I had messed around with in a no-strings-attached sort of way when I happened to be single. Problem is that I was never single for very long. Should’ve seen that as a personal red flag at the time, but I lacked the maturity and clarity.

Anyways, it’s not like an active desire I have. I’m really lucky - I’m married to a great guy, and I truly believe I’ve chosen an excellent life partner. Certainly the best fit for me from all the guys I’ve met. Just sometimes I wish I hadn’t taken love and sex so seriously when I was younger, and tried to have more fun.

If any young person is reading this, get it out of your system! Anybody that’s gonna judge you isn’t worth your time. Just be smart and safe about it, but you’ve got your whole adult life to be serious.

Assuming Kindle Unlimited is a paid service, the book isn’t free.

I clicked the wrong comment section and thought you were replying to this post

Brooklyn woman sues Subway, claims Steak & Cheese sandwich in ad has ‘200% more meat’.

I want to both upvote and downvote this comment… I chose upvote.