Lemmy, lose terribly at pinball, excessively long walks when I have the time, check out live music if something cool is happening that won’t bankrupt me, pot (due for a long break soon), drink (same), read random stuff online, watch movies (usually hilariously bad ones), maybe clean my house.

Kinda need to branch out, tbh.

List your useless shit on a buy nothing group. Chat with the people who pick up said shit and learn about their circumstances. If they’re not psychos/grifters, set up means to keep in touch. Repeat this process. Pay attention to things those people need/their circumstances, and connect people who can help each other. Encourage others you meet to do the same.

Keep it up long enough, and bam, you have the bones of a mutual aid group.

I’m talking out of my ass here, but hmm…

My gut says fuck no. My brain says have a frank, balanced discussion with your kid and decide from there.

I know my own answer would still be fuck no, but I don’t know you or your kid.

It’s normal, and frankly as old as the internet (any of y’all remember the term ‘flame wars’?). A lot of people here have made great points as to why it happens.

My suggestion? Ignore the attacks, and speak to the content in as even a tone you can manage if you feel the topic is worth discussing. If it gets to a point where the meat of the discussion is lost in the attacks, disengage. Recreational discussion on the net doesn’t need to be a combat sport.

The worst you’ll get with this approach is an accusation of ‘sea-lioning’, which makes some assumptions around intent you can’t really correct all that well if someone’s decided that’s what you’re doing. Though I welcome any suggestions - good faith is hard to prove online when people are so used to attack/counterattack discourse.

On a CRT? Sure, probably a lot haven’t seen it. On a modern TV? Still possible for some - mine does this if I hit the channel button rather than volume accidentally.

At the same time though, this kind of thing is the best sort of learning. Take your assumptions and make a theoretical model, go out and test it, and learn first hand what elements you didn’t account for.

My opinion is that once your kids hit a certain age, your role is more support and providing guidance to avoid/recover from really bad outcomes (see: if your son’s plan had a flaw that would’ve left them stranded. They made it there and back, if exhausted and slightly [but from the sound of it not unrecoverably] poorer. Shitty, but they probably learned some valuble lessons.)

Edit: This may just be copium from my own “I’m gonna move to the middle of a different province with my homies” adventure that left me with just enough cash for a bus ticket to supportive family if I survived on Corn Flakes for two weeks. Ah, to be 19 and know everything again…fuck that would suck.

I have two spots on the other side of the country, that I haven’t seen in almost twenty years, that still serve this function if trying to calm myself down. One is a waterfall in what was then a very lush patch of forest. Another is a quiet bay surrounded by pine trees.

If I’m having a rough time, more likely than not I’m slowing down my breathing and visualizing one of these places.

This is an excellent example to pull if you ever want to talk about memetic warfare as a concept.

Two choices:

1. Medical mask and sunglasses (preferably those boxy ones people wear over regular glasses). Few people question medical masks these days.
2. Embrace the lunacy, and wear whatever mask/facial covering you think is cool/funny. Life’s short and a lot of people would do well to embrace harmless weirdness.

Frame it in a cheap glass case with a little placard that says “Break glass in case of cereal emergency”

IIRC, sh.itjust.works refederated with hexbear several months ago. I just don’t think the userbase engages in a lot of those communities.

Then again, I browse by All New pretty frequently, and I’ve never seen a hexbear post that way that I can recall. So idk.

I feel like there’s WAY more of a story here - why on earth would a bunch of folks think you hacked them just because you have a commonish, if esoteric sounding, skill set? - but if you’d rather leave it there that’s cool.

I’ve been working from home for almost 5 years now, and to be honest it drives me nuts. I kinda miss people, thus the bar. Not exactly the healthiest social outlet, to be fair, but I like it more than staying home.

Boo! Go to a bar and ask someone weird questions! You might get cornbread, who knows?

Raising one to you my friend - I know how tough it is to connect with people after moving sometimes. 👊

Someone got really drunk and was in the bathroom willing to take all comers at a work function.

It was a shame, I liked working with them.

Assuming you are in a position to do so safely (given the mental illness stuff), stop smoking/vaping/eating weed for 3 to 6 months and I can almost guarantee your tolerance will reset.

True, but you can meet in the middle re: this kind of thing with the ring. Having established that it’s going to happen at some point, take a trip to a jewelers ‘for fun’. Pay attention to what she goes ‘oooh’ over - style, stone, cut, etc. Write this information down to search separately.

It’s a bit of a stereotype I suppose, but trust that your future wife knows what she’s doing on that visit (particularly if y’all don’t browse jewelry together frequently - it’s kind of an anvil of a hint). This way there’s still an element of surprise, but you’re not just picking something random in hopes it pleases.

Be there this weekend.

If you feel strongly enough about this - or anything, really - trust your instinct and give yourself permission to act without asking it of strangers. Said sympathetically, I’m not immune to this phenomenon either.

As Canadians, this should alarm us as well. The U.S is our biggest trading partner, we share the largest land border in the world, our political climate is directly impacted by what goes on to the south, and we have our own growing alt-right movement which the CP is pandering to - taking direct inspiration, if not outright manipulation, from the same elements at play in the U.S.

We are not immune to any of this. The deeper the U.S. gets into the shit, the more dire the implications for Canadians become. If Project 2025 comes to be, and our government doesn’t play ball with their approach to international relations, we’re fucked. If we DO play ball, we’re probably also fucked in different ways.

Thing is, it’s not that uncommon to do this, and it’s not like the cashier is going to report you as suspicious to the relevant tax authority. Sometimes people don’t have the full value for groceries in their bank account, or are right at the tip of their credit limit - but do have cash on hand to cover the rest.

The point is to have a paper trail/transaction history of lesser value for the tax man. Two transactions in one visit is just as valid as two different visits using different payment methods.

Comes down to whether you feel awkward doing the first one I guess (cashiers generally won’t think twice about it, aside from maybe mild annoyance). It is a classic “Things aren’t going great for me rn” move - but who cares, you know the truth.

(Ignore all of this and pay your taxes, people)

It’s definitely not for everyone, but I’ve met a small number of disabled people who do exactly this, for similar reasons.

Wouldn’t offer it as a suggestion though, kinda feel like people have to come to that decision on their own.