I take off my shoes at home, but at my best friend’s house I leave them on because she has pets and the floors are always filthy.

Speaking as a wife and mother, it’s likely the only time in her adult life that somebody focused on her wants and needs instead of expecting her to cater to theirs.

I was in my 50s before I started understanding this stuff. Before that, I was married to a very gregarious man who was my social buffer. I could hide behind his small talk. But then he passed away and I was left twisting in the wind until I started to learn how to make small talk. Often I just ask myself what my husband would have said.

So are you autistic? Because the literal-mindedness of your answers and the lack of awareness of how to engage in small talk is telling. I say this as one on the spectrum myself; it took me a long time to understand this is just an attempt to establish social connections by finding points of commonality. “Oh, you’re from Calgary? I used to live there, too! Did you know a store called Myth Games?” Neurotypical people are also waiting for you to ask the same things in return and often feel miffed if you don’t show any curiosity about them.

Me the first time I played Skyrim and 10 minutes in, found the giants. I was launched into orbit

Then your real problem is you don’t have an effective way to set and measure goals.

As a woman, I really feel bad for men in our society, especially straight men. They get very little positive interaction at all. I like to compliment strangers; it usually makes my day when somebody says, “I like your hair,” or whatever, and I like to spread the joy. But I have to be cautious about giving compliments to men. A lot of them look at me weirdly if I say, “nice tie,” or “snazzy shirt.” I smile, say it, then move on so they don’t feel obligated to respond. It appears most of them aren’t used to it and don’t know how to handle it. I guess other men don’t compliment them (maybe for fear of being thought gay?) and women don’t, either (for fear of encouraging stalking or harassing behavior). It makes me sad to think of all the lonely people who get no affirmation from anybody. I’m old enough now that my days of being constantly sexually harassed are over, so I feel safe offering a few nice words.

Gay men, OTOH, totally know how to give and take a compliment.

I have a theory that part of this is due to the dying out of religion as a way to keep the masses in line.

Watching Harvey Penick videos helped a lot too.

It’s been 30 years so I don’t really remember. They were higher quality and cut to fit my stance, which is a little weird because I have big boobs. Also I was starting from a really low bar – 56 handicap. The biggest improvement was the distance with my woods.

I’m dead-on average.

Custom golf clubs versus off the rack. Took 30 strokes off my game.

Haircuts / hair dyeing

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Just today I was searching for a news article about a local radio personality who got fired in the last few days. Zero relevant results. Just extraneous garbage. I was stunned.

Vendor trash

Serious answer? The serenity prayer. Recognize what is in your control and what’s not. Accept what you can’t change, change what you can.

Thanks

Is there an idiot guide how to do this? I’ve never pirated and I don’t currently have a VPN. I use my Xbox for streaming straight to my TV using HDMI. I see posts like yours with various words like Plex, overseerr, docker, jellyfin, etc., and I don’t know where to even start. I could Google it, but among the hundreds of results, I don’t know which things are reputable, functional, and not malware.

Right? Such a good show.

For me it was getting sober and specifically the serenity prayer. I have a terrible temper. Like break things and punch people temper. It’s always embarrassing to lose control like that. Well, saying that prayer reminds me that there are things I can control and things I can’t. Serenity is understanding the difference and accepting your powerlessness over things like the past, other people’s thoughts and actions, and even your own flaws. I am so calm now, I just have a “not my circus, not my monkeys” attitude most of the time. Occasionally, something starts to push my buttons and I have to walk away if possible, but that’s rare.

Also, make sure you’re getting enough sleep and try cutting out caffeine. Anything that causes more cortisol production is going to stress you.