Dating is essentially butt-sniffing. The longer you do it, the more familiar it all is. And it is a commitment - for many they’re committing to focus their interest on one person for a bit to see if they want to make it a longer commitment.

That said, I got a great piece of advice after getting out of a long relationship. A friend told me romantic relationships only end in one of two ways: you break up or someone dies. You only have control over one of those scenarios, so how can it be a Bad Thing all the time?

Y’all, every relationship is different, sometimes wildly different. It’s true that every relationship takes some work. How much is dependent on the relationship itself.

Slowest pitch in history.

It’s not a bad problem to have, TBH. The thing that stood out to me is what you consider “not necessary.” Other than this, you seem to have figured out a sensible budget, and you’re prioritizing your future self. I have the same thoughts whenever I make a large purchase, and sometimes they win out. Sometimes they don’t. The thing is do you feel like your frugality is keeping you from something, or negatively impacting your life?

He should hide ASAP, before he winds up “not deported” in El Salvador or somewhere in Africa.

Same here. I don’t mind microblogging, but I find it hard to find good content to follow on Mastodon. Also not a fan of my feed being filled with replies. Not having the thread right there for context is distracting and annoying.

No idea what sharkey is. Don’t really care to find out.

Same as everyone else, I came over with the API refugees. I still lurk on Reddit using Brave (that and YT are the only things I use Brave for) because some communities there are still good fountains of information. I don’t post or vote on anything there, though.

Still have Apollo on my phone though.

Came here for this. Yeah, you’re the enemy because you invaded another country, and have been trying to gaslight the rest of the world about it ever since. In fairness, though, the gaslighting has worked on one particular idiot.

Given the story about OP’s exam, I read the “F-“ & “B-“ as grades and thought:

• “F-“ as a verb. I like it.
• “B-“ as a noun? Given the “F-“, it fits.
• ”B-“ for OP’s ex is… generous.

Right, but what did you do?

I think we are at the point where Americans just need to make this their profile pic on all their social media accounts.

Fuck him too.

I mean, I know I did.

One of these days they’ll realize that putting restrictions on the weapons given to Ukraine is playing into Putins hands. They’re so fearful of “escalation” when Putin’s already escalated.

Putin knows opening up a second front by attacking another former SSR would force the rest of the world to acknowledge what they already know - that he has no interest in any peace he hasn’t solely dictated - and actually respond to the obvious threat. So, he’ll play the war of attrition against Ukraine, Trump will fellate him, Europe will do little, he’ll rebuild his army and go after the next former SSR. Rinse, repeat. Modern leaders have no stomach for dealing with a bully like Putin. Or even a stupid Billy like Trump.

Super old, but also a cockroach of a human being. They tend to outlive expectation.

Doesn’t sound like they aren’t saying it “feels like” anything. Sounds like they’re calling it what it absolutely is.

This is what “running the country like a private business” looks like. Line must go up.

There is a special place in Hell for all these self-professed “Christians.”

[x] I am a meat popsicle.

I was thinking about this the other day. Awhile back I was talking to my mom about, I think his name is Haberman? There was an article about him awhile back that, among other things, took issue with him doing ads for athletic greens. She said she doesn’t hold that against podcasters since they have to pay the bills like anyone else. The article’s issue was that, given his background, he would know better that AG1 is basically placebo - that to get the advertised benefits, one would need to drink a prohibitive amount. While I hate ads, I also like not paying for some things. I don’t care that Robert Evans does Better Help ads. He’s not a psychologist or psychiatrist, so I know he’s just reading ad copy to “pay the bills.” I would have a larger problem if the hosts of Maintenance Phase did this. They’re also not professionals in those fields, but they have researched them pretty extensively; so I would expect them to know better.