Similar here. My DND runs automatically between 10pm and 7am, but I have a small number of people whitelisted whose calls will come through. Mine also has a setting where it will let someone through if they call twice within fifteen minutes. I don’t think anyone’s ever actually phoned during that time block but it gives me peace of mind to know I can still be reached in an emergency.

Also because it’s nice to live somewhere clean and tidy?

It’s still Minecraft and Terraria.

DS9 for sure. I like the darker feel a lot, but what really makes it stand out for me are the story arcs.

With TNG, especially in later seasons, it really started feeling like nothing had consequences beyond its own episode – even the events of “The Inner Light” are barely alluded to afterwards, which is crazy if you think about it. DS9 gives us plots and stories that stretch across multiple episodes and even multiple seasons, and it has so much more of a sense that the whole thing is going somewhere. This also allows for an incredible amount of character development over the course of the series.

Plus, Gul Dukat is easily one of the best TV villains of all time.

^…I didn’t care for Vince Fontaine though.^

Lovely!

Late 30s here, I would descibe how I feel as “settled”. I feel steady in who I am and what I do; my youngest child is five and so I’m out of the most intense hands-on parenting years. Looking forward to my forties!

An ultrasound tech once told me that I have a cute spleen.

I get a lot of use out of glass screen protectors. I’m quite clumsy and they’ve saved my screen many times! I’ve used a couple of different brands and they sometimes take more than one try for me to line up correctly, but $10 and a few minutes of mild annoyance is a very small price to pay compared to replacing a whole phone screen.

It’s opportunity costs all the way down, baby!

Heat to 69 in the winter, cool to 74-76 in the summer.

What did they censor? The b word?

Yes, because if you don’t do it every time, eventually you’ll forget when it really matters.

It also provides clarity to other drivers. People do dumb things in cars. If someone’s in the turning lane ahead of me without their signal, there’s part of me that’s watching to see if they’re confused and about to do something foolish. Signals = clear intentions = peace of mind.

Bathing my children, obviously.

But like… why a toilet? You could use the baking soda and vinegar in a bowl just as easily.

It feels like this is an elaborate troll. Are they hoping people will accidentally clog their toilets with eggs?

Honestly I find all of the covid years kind of hard to remember, and I know a lot of people who feel the same. I bet that Trump 1 mostly gets wrapped up and suppressed with all the rest of the general trauma.

I many cases, no. Where I live, a 16-year-old cannot:

• vote
• enlist in the armed forces
• sign legally binding contracts
• legally purchase alcohol, tobacco products, or cannabis
• buy lottery tickets or gamble at a casino
• serve on a jury
• buy or sell property
• marry
• inherit money or property
• own a credit card
• fully control their own medical decisions
• register as an organ donor
• quit school
• get a tattoo or a body piercing
• move out of their parents’ house

Some of these things can be done with parental consent or if particular circumstances apply (such as if the child in question is legally emancipated). But broadly speaking, there are a LOT of rights, responsibilities, and options that do not apply to anyone before the age of majority (18 here).

Crushes are like the common cold, I think. Sometimes they appear out of nowhere, and we have to endure them until they pass, but we don’t have to indulge them.

Something that can help is to pick something that’s an annoyance about that person, or a reason that you wouldn’t actually want to be with them, and redirect your thoughts toward that when you find yourself thinking of them. It can be something really important (“No; I could never be with a married man!”) or even something very dumb or superficial (“Ugh, hairy ears!”). It doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s something that helps to train your mind/heart away from “I want” and towards “I don’t want.”

If you know you can’t be with someone, or wouldn’t really want to outside of whatever fantasy you’re indulging, then finding ways to stop indulging in that romantic daydream is the best thing for both you and them.

Edit: something else to ask yourself is whether this is actually about this man, or about something he’s come to represent to you. You’re a long way from home in a foreign culture. Are you really looking for his love, or are you craving something he represents (stability, home life, end of loneliness, etc.)? It’s worth reflecting on.

I like the in-universe swears from some of Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy novels: Rust (rusting, rusted) and storms (storming) come to mind.

A québecoise roommate of mine got her whole office yelling “chicken FRITE” (fried chicken in franglais).

“What the shoes” is kind a fun one. I’ll also yell “fudge knuckles!” which doesn’t really mean anything but is pretty satisfying to say.

My uncle dropped out of law school right before the bar exam because he wanted to work with his hands. He was a happy car mechanic until he retired. Not having a degree doesn’t say anything about your intelligence or the value of your work.