Don't. You don't know where they've been (Epstein island? 🤮).
Compost them instead!
Here in Belgium taxes on the purchase of a second (or third, or fourth, ...) home are nearly nonexistent but taxes on the first home are 20%+
I hate being ruled by wannabe oligarchs. I say wannabe because they would wish they could run amok here like in the good ol US of A, but it isn'y for a lack of trying.
My 15 yr old kitty Terra had a tiny operation to remove a type of abcess from one of her toes. She'd been limping for a while and at the doctor's request we first tried with just antibiotics, but no go. So they sedated her and opened up the offending toe.
She's been feeling noticeably better since and has already returned to her old shenanigans.
And last night she slept in my arms - not something she usually does. It was as if she was so thankful to be rid of that pain that she wanted to 'reward' me.
Hoping to have her around for several more years as long as she enjoys life.
Cat tax:
It's businesses betting on a trump victory. They want to be able to preemptively get on their knees to suck his cock so that he'll think they're good boys and girls.
Erdogan once said "democracy is a bus we ride until we reach our destination". I feel major similar vibes from the GOP.
The animals featured heavily on social media, so it could literally have been anyone. I agree with the sentiment though. Some person had to be the one to insert the needle and inject the poison, knowing full well the animals would test negative. I don't know how someone like that can sleep at night, but if there's anything I've learned these past few years it's that human pettiness truly has no limits.
I can't speak for anyone else but at 40 I'm very keenly aware that I'm halfway or over it already.
I used to run VM's in parallel for my job, which eat RAM like candy. Other than that though, I've never had a use case for more than 32GB RAM.
Well fuck. Guess I'm one of the "lucky" ones.
You're not far off the mark. One tomcat I had once brought with him a new cat, a girl I hadn't seen before. He shared his food with her and now she lives here as well.
1975? Not even silver...
I uhh... I got nothing. If this isn't in the new South Park season I don't know what is.
You should see her face when she's watching you balls deep in the missus.
I'd agree, but that was before the days of mass surveillance. People could expect to get away with mob justice back in the day. Today you'd be caught between dozens of cams and cell towers.
The mark of the beast was fiat money and we've been using it for a while.
There's no better way to stifle a discussion than to see there's 10k+ replies already. Pissing in an ocean of piss.
This is starting to have all the makings of a true world war. Especially the first.
Pretty much for form I suppose, there are other ways to get those drivers.
I've been in a few online games with RU players and it struck me as so weird to be playing a game with someone from a nation we are basically at war with. Major WWI Xmas football vibes.
I wouldn't trust a Boeing condom at this point.
As stated in the title. I've worked in IT for over 15 years despite having no related degree.
I've been closing tickets nonstop at my current company for almost 10 years. After several restructurings and shuffling of higher posts, it has become clear to me that while this employer isn't the worst out there, I will never be internally promoted or have my job duties changed if I don't leave.
Worse, ever since Covid I've started falling out of love with IT and computers in general. I used to be stoked to learn about all the new developments in tech, nowadays, not so much - the only "innovation" I've seen in the last 10 years was companies trying to make absolutely everything a fucking subscription model. Now I honestly don't know nor care what's in the newest tech stack, how security has evolved,... I just want my shit to work and not having to worry about everything under the hood.
So getting another helpdesk- or related job seems out of the question for mental health reasons.
What would be another niche or industry where someone with an analytical mind and a greatly developed loathing for corporate mooching could find their spot in the coming two decades or so?
I've long since accepted that I'll never be able to climb any ladders anywhere since I never had the right contacts or stayed long enough, so it would likewise have to be something I could mentally and physically endure being in the bottom rungs of for the aforementioned duration.
Was the best moment of the day by far. Thanks for the li'l boost, fluffy princess!
I'm 40 years old, in a crappy job without prospects despite degrees, and I have 0 friends.
I used to have a grand total of 2 friends before Covid, but then we lost contact. I've tried to rekindle, but all effort was onesided so I stopped.
I'm a lifelong spineless people pleaser despite lots of therapy, and the ironic thing is that this turns people off of you instead of having them like you.
At this point I don't see any reasons to continue trying.
If I had one wish in life, it would be to be a stereotypical asshole with actual self esteem - those are the kinds of people who seem to be anle to reach all of their goals and have others worship the ground they walk on.
But as for me, I'm so turned off by other people in general that I would probably be morbidly amused to read, oh I dunno, that Moscow nuked Kiev (or vive versa), that Jerusalem is burning, or that my hometown was wiped away by a hurricane.
Not to be "edgy". It's emotionally debilitating, and to be clear I don't enjoy/wish for human suffering.
I've just become as indifferent to it as the world seems to be to me. Simple tit for tat.
I'm tired. Kinda hoped I wouldn't wake up from my anaesthesia today. Ah well.
EDIT; I can't reply to everyone individually but thanks for all the suggestions! Opiates are out of the question, doctors here will only prescribe those in terms of absolutely extreme suffering or end of life care. I also don't particularly feel interested in developing a hard drug habit. Diclofenac and such are available but also only on separate prescriptions, I'd have to visit another doctor for that. I'm well stocked on paracetamol & ibuprofen, and apart from that, lots of ice cream, pudding & soup :)
Also, since a fair few people seem to doubt the veracity of my story, here's the 22 extracted teeth (the other 10 were already gone in previous extractions).
I've been playing since about a month after release and have since reached lvl 81 (just to show I put in quite a lot of game time since I started). In my first month of play I came across ONE single griefer who TK'd people on purpose. Considering I'd played hundreds of games I thought this game was a shining example of a great community.
However.
The last three(ish) weeks or so, I feel like I'm playing a whole different game. About 1/3rd to a quarter of my games involve randoms with really toxic behaviour. Training mobs on you, throwing barrages on the group for fun, destroying our own sentries in defense missions...
But there's one thing that is apparently suddenly a "fad", I guess? That is kicking someone from the game right before extraction. Seriously, I've run several full 40 minute rounds, usually on decently high difficulties (7-8), with no real communication with any players whatsoever, let alone tk's or toxic shit, and then you suddenly get kicked as soon as the Pelican is on the ground.
WTF gives? I don't know if it's a reportable thing, I doubt it, but I sincerely hope it's just players getting somewhat bored while waiting for more content and that it'll pass, because if this is going to be my regular experience from here on out, I'm going to look for something else to play. Not the devs' fault in any way.
It took ~5 minutes and there was ZERO pain.
I even anticipated this. There was no reason to think it would be hard in any kind of way.
Why am I like this?? Why is my brain such mush when it comes to my executive functioning while several other parts of my mental being are more than fine or even slightly supercharged (when I'm not depressed or out of mania)
The kicker? The appointment isn't for a doctor or a dentist or something else that would be "normal" to dread.
It's an appointment to pick up a brand new company car. A 2023 Mercedes EQA to the tune of 50K€. Most people would JUMP at that kind of opportunity, but not me. No, I sit there contemplating whether I even deserve a car that costs twice my annual salary, and that I'm just deluding myself into thinking I'm a valued part of society, that someone will realize they made a mistake and such a car was never meant for me (or "anyone like me").
This after a double dose of 15mg ritalin, by the way. Without it I would never have been able to push myself over that limit to begin with.
Fuckin' a...
AI inflicted this upon my retina, so you shall suffer the same fate.
I'm a 40-year old dude with... let's say, plenty of issues. Most of them stemming from childhood but adulthood has been equally painful so far.
I've been looking into self-help a lot lately and notice that many techniques tell you to focus on a person whom you consider an example, a role model you want to emulate.
The problem is, I don't have any. None. My own father was an abusive alcoholic who offed himself when I was 15. My mother did her best but was a neurotic wreck with many untreated mental health issues of her own. She eventually found a new partner whom I looked up to for many years since he was finally that role model I thought I needed.
But a few years ago he tried to seduce my own partner (which luckily didn't succeed), resulting in my esteem for him immediately imploding completely.
In the greater world, outside of my own little atmosphere, there aren't really any actors or business people or coworkers, bosses, teachers... that I've looked up to or ever had any kind of relationship with. Sure, there are many people I admire for whatever they may have contributed to humanity, but that doesn't mean they're some kind of shining example in every area of their lives.
I guess I'm just trying to communicate that I'm a 40-year old dude with daddy issues and I have no idea how to healthily cope with it or even fix it.
Before anyone asks, I'm on a waiting list for professional treatment. Been a month, 5 more to go (in a best case scenario).
How did others cope with this specifically? Did you have any insights in what ideas to emulate or how to handle certain difficulties in life through the lens of a mentor? Is it even desirable or is it just another crutch for the weak-minded to cope with, well, being weak-minded?