I see the point being made; however, how the fuck else might I jam several clauses into one compound megasentence - overwrought and peppered with purple prose - if not with multiple types of punctuation? Should I summarize, streamline? Clearly not: all thoughts should be expressed in full, replete with all irrelevant details. Perhaps remove unneeded, intra-sentence explanations and asides (like this one, which I’m quite fond of) of details obvious to the reader?! Never!

No AI could write with matching convolution — especially when, unlike me, it cannot do so on the toilet.

Same! I saw that characteristic lighting in the preview thumbnail and got so excited.

excel as an relational database

That reminds me of a story. I used to do IT consulting, years ago. One client was running their 5 person real estate office off a low quality, consumer grade, box store HP desktop repurposed as a server. All collaboration was through their U drive, plus every profile had their desktop folder redirected there.

The complaint was the classic “everything is slow”, which turned out to be “opening my spreadsheet takes 10 minutes then it’s slow”. Yeah, because that poor little “server” had a single 100 Mb jack and the owner had a 1.5 GB excel spreadsheet project where he was trying to build a relational database and property valuation tool. Six fucking heavily cross referenced tabs, some with thousands of entries. He was so proud when I asked him to explain what was going on there. He fired me when I couldn’t fix his issue without massive changes to either his excel abomination or hardware.

This is smart. My partner has changed their name three times in three states due to two marriages. They’ve had to substantiate the entire paper trail each time they’ve done anything relating to official identification, security clearance, or background checks. It’s an additional layer of complexity that can and has caused additional complications.

~2002 through 2007. I was a student at the U of I.

Hey, me too! I also lived in Moscow for a time and during that time went all around northern Idaho. I encountered plenty of your standard issue Idahoan dipshits but never any overt neo-nazis.

Same! Mine have a passthrough mode that pumps through what the microphone picks up but lets you select how much. I leave a little on because I feel weird if I can’t hear what’s happening in my surroundings.

Cheaper manufacturing costs with the added “benefit” of making it hard to repair so users buy another one if it breaks

It claims to have 18k users. I didn’t see their criteria for “active”, though.

I know more than I care to about POTS and what you’re describing is pretty severe. Have you pursued a formal diagnosis and/or treatment? Feel free to hit me up if you haven’t and want assistance there. It’ll likely require some self advocacy which can be difficult, especially at first.

You may know this already, but POTS is frequently comorbid with mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). I have it, hence why I’m familiar with all this. If that is or may be your situation too, addressing the MCAS often helps with POTS problems.

My family dynamic was also similar to yours, so I know how awful it can be. The chronic stress is actually what got me sick. I’m sorry you’re dealing with it now. I have resources that have helped me deal with repairing all that trauma and I’d be happy to share.

Feel free to ask anything if you have any questions!

This is a great question and speaks to your maturity and ability to introspect. Seriously, internet high five.

Regardless of the marriage dynamic, being able to clearly and compassionately communicate thoughts and feelings is a useful skill. More than speaking clearly and concisely, communication is most effective when all involved parties are good listeners, for example by asking questions for better understanding, paraphrasing what was heard to let the speaker know they’re understood, and acknowledging the underlying needs and emotions to show you care. Books I’ve found to be useful are “Nonviolent Communication” by Marshall Rosenberg, “Couple Skills” by Matthew McKay, and “A Couple’s Guide to Communication” by John M. Gottman.

Anecdotal: One of my good friends is in an arranged marriage and found “Love Will Follow: Making Love and Intimacy Work in Indian Couples” by Shaifali Sandhya to be helpful.

Ooof, the blurb about haybox food safety needs to be corrected. Some microbes create secondary metabolites which cause illness. Reboiling won’t destroy them.

And US society reinforces that behavior by shaming men for being vulnerable or showing weakness and teaching others that a crying or otherwise emotionally vulnerable man is something deserving of shame and contempt.

A great example is online advice articles about handling relationship issues: so much advises that stoicism is the only option, otherwise your girlfriend/wife will lose their respect and attraction for you.

I had an ex-girlfriend mock me for crying during our breakup and know many men who have encountered similar shaming treatment from other men and women. It’s brutal.

For anyone lucky enough to have a WinCo foods in their area, they’re the cheapest I’ve been able to find for bulk dry goods. You can order 20-50 pound sacks of grains, beans, flour, etc., with a pretty decent discount on top of already low prices.

I love jellied eels and I will die on that hill.

I tried looking it up and still have no fucking idea. Satan’s Kingdom State Recreation Area?

Definitely the ass gravity.

Probably, but it’s the good ol’ cost-benefit analysis. It’ll survive so much longer than if it wasn’t protected at at all, but the next-level fire protection that would increases its chances is really expensive.

That’s exactly what I’d recommend! The contents will crisp long before a quality silicone bag will.

You’d need a ton of silica gel, pounds of it, to capture steam as fast as it is generated. Your best bet would be a water tight, temperature resistant container like silicone bags for documents. I’d recommend a properly fireproof safe (read: $$$) or planning for potential losses for anything larger.