I am with you on sewing machines, I have run it slowly while watching and it still breaks my mind. I don’t understand how the stitch can hold, what it looks like it’s doing would just unravel. It’s like it defies physics.

I can’t whistle so always called my kids with a trill sound (like a loud Spanish RR, not Arabic ululation) and it is also my recall sound for the dogs. But I really can’t whistle. Can sort of make a sound but it’s laughably mockably wimpy.

Can’t catch at all either, can throw reasonably accurately most of the time but an object coming at me never goes where my hands think it should. I am shamed by my penultimate daughter, who despite nearsightedness worse even than mine was, and a strong drive to be non-athletic, can pluck anything out of the air, has both lighting fast reflexes and intuitive hand eye coordination. But it doesn’t really affect me other than occasional embarrassment - I just pick whatever it is up off the floor after it hits me.

Hmm, I would be a male, short, fat, conservative, idle, angry, gay. I guess I’d get a 4chan account and a big truck I had to climb awkwardly into?

Would lose most of what I like about myself but not sure. On things where we are middle of population we would keep those? So unless wildly brilliant or gorgeous you would not end up terribly stupid or ugly, right?

Kids these days. They are nicer than when I was in school, and mine and their peers got much better education than I did (though that has declined again, there are like 20 consecutive years of kids who were better served by the school system that are just now young adults).

The rise of renewable energy marching on.

The drop in the birth rate. Not because I’m anti-natal, but because it seems like nature is working, that’s a much gentler means of reducing population than most.

The fact that insect life cycles are so short. The insect apocalypse is to me the most dire and frightening thing happening, but if we can address it at least the rebound wouldn’t take as long as with other creatures.

Yes! And you just reminded me, I need to get started on skull ice for Halloween!

Dude, that sounds wealthy beyond most people’s dreams.

I don’t drink beer, but honestly down here I’d ice it too, and put it in an insulated cup. Anything that’s supposed to be that cold won’t stay cold except between the months of December and February.

Wine I like not iced, it’s ok tepid, more important that it sits open awhile to aerate, and coffee and tea are good hot, so I guess not literally every drink. Love that fancy ice though!

I got both together this year and will never do that again. 5 day headache. I have gotten them separately before no problem and will do that again but not both the same day.

I had some in my 20s and some late 30s and I personally wouldn’t want to literally be pregnant older than 40.

If I was not married though, and if I had more money wouldn’t mind fostering to adopt a couple of teenagers. My kids are adult now, they are a good network and those older kids get set free without any help or place to land, we could give family to more kids.

More relevant to your situation - there are no guarantees even if you aren’t old. My dad died when I was 16, he was only in his 50s and I wouldn’t change anything, we were so close, I would rather have had him for my early years than anyone else for longer. And my kids and step kids, the gap between oldest and youngest is 22 years and they all get along. If his kids have kids I do think that could get weird.

ETA - old dads do introduce some risk, higher chance of schizophrenia for one thing, so do consider that, if you thought it was only the mom’s age that mattered.

Ice, ice, baby! I love fancy ice. Have gear to make crystal clear big ice for whiskey, and also a countertop ice maker for what the kids call “the good ice”.

It’s just such a cheap upgrade to any drink.

I love an early supper.

&

I putter in the garden.

We couldn’t. More than 65% of what we make goes just to cover the bills, so it wouldn’t be a possibility. Even if we didn’t eat or have a car.

Would be underwater and back at work within a couple of months.

If you mean some version of 65% of our current lifestyle like magically the house shrinks and costs 65% of what it currently does, then maybe? We don’t eat out much, don’t vacation much, don’t go out much already though.

If you mean health costs all covered, and no more retirement contributions and 65% of GROSS earnings, that would actually give me almost the exact same net pay, and wouldn’t be a different lifestyle. Those things cost 32% of my earnings and taxes 15%.

So I’m not sure exactly how to think about this but in short - I am more willing to work to have a reasonably good life, than to not work and not have a good life, but have a lot of free time. I do know how to have fun for cheap, have been poor before, but I like life now better than then.

Hammock, psychedelic trance music, or there is a lucid dreaming playlist on YouTube Music I like.

ETA “Psybient”, there used to be a perfect playlist called psybient, that may work well as a search term to find that downbeat psychedelic trance music.

No way could I fall asleep to a podcast, but my husband plays Alan Watts explaining meditation, and that I sure can. Maybe it would be a middle ground for y’all - a guided meditation?

I am from here, grew up without air conditioning, in fact even the school didn’t have it until 7th grade. The weather suits me fine, and there’s plenty good about it locally.

Honestly I can pinpoint the hour it went wrong, when Al Gore conceded, though he won. Barely. I always wish I’d landed in the other timeline.

It’s not a new thing exactly, I went to school with kids from NY and Michigan and NJ. What’s new is the ideological idiocy. I’m sure you are glad to be rid of them, but they weren’t doing as much damage up north. It’s like gerrymandering the nation.

I am registered as independent, and vote as progressive as I can.

Also WTF, until 2020, D held an edge in registration. It’s all those fucking conservative northerners who came down here during COVID. Two on my block, plus my boss are in this group. I’ve never been a “fuck off back to where you came from” person, but really, fuck off back to where you came from. May the alligators and hurricanes drive you back up north.

I just got some women’s Levi’s and holy crap it was hard to find the size. I’m about 38-31-41 in inches and 5’9" often jeans fit in a “29” sometimes 28, or 30.

I ordered the 29. Hips fit but waist measurement was 25", what the actual fuck? Who has a 24" waist and 41" hips? Is that even possible?

I ended up with a 31 but they really are too loose everywhere. So comfortable and were cheap so I kept them but WTF, Levi’s?

Length and width ought not be yoked like that, an XL shouldn’t be longer, just wider. You need Short, Medium, and Tall and Extra Tall for that dimension.

I was a tall and skinny kid and the heartbreak of never having pants long enough, because the small ones were all also very short, still I feel it!

As an adult, the first time I saw a ladies size Small Tall in the shop I almost cried.

Women’s bra sizes also suck, because the volume of the cups is tied to the diameter of the half circle the underwire describes, but small boobs aren’t small in width, they just sit closer. Champagne glass, but small bras assume shot glass instead, basically. They need three measurements.

It’s morning here, you can have some coffee & I made raspberry muffins and sourdough bread so toast and/or a wee muffin. The cats are up waiting for breakfast so you can also gaze at them with wonder & admiration.

AWOLNATION

Sharp edged & heavy but nice for napping, with it on low volume in headphones. Has a dreamy quality. Not warm, not cold or expansive. Something about it is neutral to me.

Father John Misty, most of his catalog.

A lot of alternative rock stuff is very neutral sounding to me, not warm or cool, it’s between.