My cat died.

He had been acting funny for a little while (week or so). Not moving much, growling when you pressed his belly. I was a young teen and my mom didn’t have a lot of money and basically hoped to ignore it away.

Turns out he had some sort of bladder blockage and it burst the evening of my birthday. He died in awful pain while I could only watch helpless (mom worked nights and wasn’t there). I tried to comfort him but he ended up biting my finger, I still have a scar some 30 years later.

RIP Eclipse. You deserved so much better.

If you can, donate to your LOCAL non-profits or the local branches of larger non-profits. Get to know the people in those organizations (volunteer, visit organization open houses/orientations, go to a hosted event) and you’ll feel a lot better about where your dollars are going.

I used to be on the board of a local domestic abuse shelter and now I’m on the board of a local food pantry. Both are amazing organizations, both have incredibly passionate people working for them, and the board is filled with mostly normal working people who have or want to have good community connections.

My partner has a little with big brothers big sisters and that turned into a board position for him because he was super enthusiastic and active. That’s a bigger organization but his contributions are at the local level and we’ve gotten to know the local “ceo” as well.

Also, 501©(3) orgs must publicly list their tax returns and you can find out the salaries of the executives on those tax returns. So even tho in my experience, the executives of the orgs at the local levels earn every damn penny (and it’s def not enuf) you can also find that info out for yourself. But please remember that if a non profit doesn’t have an excellent, passionate and well paid staff, they will NOT be able to get the donations and funding they need to fulfill their actual purpose. I’m talking specifically about local orgs tho, some of those giant orgs with executives making millions definitely should take a closer look at their priorities.

And finally…if you can’t donate money of course there is always volunteering but there is ALSO serving on a board. Every non-profit ive been involved with has had problems filling their board seats with active, enthusiastic individuals. Sometimes there are monetary asks of board members but no one is going to kick you out if you truly only have time and no money. And if u experience that, find a better board, they are out there and they are working really really hard to make things better.

I’ve read the sleeping beauty ones (knew what I was getting into with that)…but literally never knew that about the movie!

Not sure if they’re a “leader” but I got two shark robot vacuums (same model) that are excellent. In the past I have purchased the “bump around and vacuum in circles and hope they don’t get stuck” type and they were just ok. The new ones I have can map the room with IR and you can program no go spaces in the app. I have two because the downside is it can only map one floor at a time so if I wanted it to run on two floors one would be mapped and the other would be “random bumping around” method.

The new one also came with a tank so if I run it on the whole first floor and it gets full it’ll go empty itself and start back up again.

I got em last year and ran me around $350 each I believe.

Twice. First time from waaaay too much time sitting as I had a full time job and then several hours studying for my CPA exam for several months. That time it got better over a couple months just by getting a standing desk at work (I alternated standing and sitting about an hour at a time) and light exercise along with nsaids.

The second time I reinjured it deadlifting too heavy. That one I could not get rid of it despite stretching, PT, acupuncture and laying off most compound lower body work for at least 6 months. But then I went on a week long vacation that involved a LOT of walking…and it was like 70% better when I got home and almost fully healed 2 weeks later.

I still get dull aches here and there but nothing I can’t work around or stretch out pretty easily. Mine never resulted in numbness of extremities but it was pretty limiting. And in my case it really appeared that regular movement and breaking from my day in and out routine made a huge difference.

There was a movie with Rosie O’Donnell called Exit to Eden. My mom was not particularly uptight about us seeing R rated stuff and the previews made it look like a slightly dirty comedy. It was Rosie O’Donnell in like…the 90’s so I mean…she did not look into it any further than that.

Turns out it’s basically a soft core porno with a couple funny bits and it was extremely awkward to sit through.

Hmmm…truly new tech that came out after I was 35…

VR …yeah pretty cool, my partner has one but I’m not a gamer and don’t generally go for anything gaming anyways. Use it more widely for non gaming uses tho and I’m on board. Self driving cars …cool, don’t have one, never been in one, but I’m all over learning/using that shit if it becomes mainstream AI… personally not a fan, mostly cuz I think it could be like nukes where it’s used for more bad than good, but I’ve messed my way around ChatGPT and it’s whatevs. Probably eventually very useful if we don’t murder ourselves first.

Personally, having gotten our first school PCs when I was in 7th grade (92’ -ish), I find that I tend to at least be curious and want to learn about new tech. So I wonder if the late genX, early millennials might break rule #3 just cuz we were forced to know more about computers to run them and thus don’t view tech as inherently scary. Then again, I’m always fucking around with stuff and my siblings (2 yrs older and younger) are always like “woah how u do dat?!?”…maybe im just a lazy oddball always looking for a way to shortcut my life with technology.

What goes around…apparently. My 57 year old co-worker does the same thing and it drives me batty.

My dentist (who is also my friend) told me I have great saliva. Fortunately it was while I was getting my cleaning…not in random hang out conversation.

I stick with pretty neutral compliments towards others but probably in my own profession I’ve expressed over the top enthusiasm for remarkably good handwriting or very organized/complete records. I’ve gotten a couple of laughs out of clients because it’s semi-rare and it’s kinda odd to get excited about those things.

Yah I have a loose treaty in my home too. If I see you and you’re not racing towards my face (or dropping on my head)…no one has to get hurt. If you’re super active and potentially in my way…I have a little bug scoop and off you go back into nature. Also…please don’t make your homes in my bedroom…any other room is fine, basement is preferred.

However if you are hell bent on scaring the crap outta me, or crawling up on me…I cannot guarantee my fear reflexes won’t smash you. I will feel badly though.

This holds for all insects in my home except earwigs, mosquitos and super fast centipedes (I catch and release the dopey ones tho)

Back when I took singing lessons my teacher (who mostly taught kids but I was an adult learner) shared that she often had to veto the songs kids wanted to sing. One in particular that stuck with me was a less than 10 year old who wanted to sing Lady Gaga’s Love Game. Which has the lyric “I wanna take a ride on your disco stick” among other very adult lyrics.

Agree. In the US the tipping culture has gotten out of hand. Tipping is meant to cover situations where it’s legal to pay your staff under minimum wage and thus tipping evens that out (I still hate it but that’s the current law). I only tip in those industries, or industries where the person providing the service is self-employed/subcontracting in most situations (salons, spas, etc), or where the service is above and beyond or very specialized. Otherwise, it only encourages a culture where it’s expected that the consumer subsidize wages.

I do understand that tipping gives more $ in the pocket of lower wage workers, but I feel too strongly that it will lead to an eventual shift of tipping for ANY service I the long run and I cannot encourage that. I own a small business and I pay my employees very well. It is the responsibility of the employer to do this not the consumer/customer/client.

You know…I always thought that cat feets were universally adorable. Then I got my massive orange tabby who has the LONGEST toes I have ever seen on a cat. They are truly disgusting and I tell him so daily (but still kiss them all the time while choking back vomit) >.<

Yes, direct file is guided with a checklist. However there are only certain situations where a taxpayer would qualify for direct file - there’s income limitations and only certain income types qualify (u would not be able to use it if u are self-employed or own rental properties for example). The IRS is planning to expand this but for now it’s limited tho the vast majority of taxpayers would qualify.

Anyone can use the free fillable forms but u either have to know what you’re doing or be comfortable reading irs form instructions if you have a more complex tax situation.