I am not a socialist, trade unionist, or a Jew, so I don’t see any problems here.

Coronation Street. I spend $10 a month for a BritBox subscription to watch just that.

Not as bad as when you think, “That first time was probably a fluke…I’ll try drinking again.”

Some things are in our control and others not.

Epictitus, The Enchiridion

Boston is further north than NYC.

I’m in a fight club, but I’m not supposed to talk about it.

I’ve had my Hotmail account since 1999 when I was in high school and it still works well enough. It’s what 99% of my accounts or web presence is tied to. I still occasionally get emails from old friends or forum members I haven’t heard from in years who only know me at that address.

I’ve spent (to me) a significant amount of time getting the folder structure, auto-sorting rules, and junk mail filters set up the way I like them. I just can’t be arsed to do that all over again for some new address that will also be considered uncool in a few years time.

I do have a couple more ‘professional’ emails, like first.last@respectableprovider.com, but they just forward to my Hotmail account anyway.

I have a hoodie with a little tunnel sewed in it to route your headphone wire down to the phone pocket.

Not sure I fully understand the question, but does your water heater have (or can you add) a sacrificial anode?

That non sequitur caught my attention, too…best guess is they’re referring to the Carter Administration trying to stabilize the dairy industry with subsidies in 1977 which led to a massive backlog of cheap, processed cheese stuff that Reagan unloaded on welfare recipients throughout the '80s.

I don’t even remember why now, but just a couple days ago I looked up how long ago Harris Yulin died…still alive.

I’ve tried to focus more on “being friendly” than “making friends.” It’s definitely beneficial to be cordial and stay on good terms with people. The last 3 jobs I’ve gotten have been through networking and direct referrals from old coworkers. I hate bowling but I still accept the invites to the semi-annual charity bowling events at my old workplace because I like catching up with some of the old guys and I want to keep my options open if something open up.

I also think it partly depends on whether you’re just punching the clock or if you have career aspirations. I’ve known plenty of guys who were buddy-buddy with everyone then got promoted to a managerial/leadership position and struggled because they didn’t know how to maintain professional distance.

As far as dating at work…after a couple rough experiences in my early 20’s I’d say never again. Echo what someone else said, “don’t do it at a job you can’t afford to walk away from.”

This will not rate against actual horror stories that any other server could tell, but it’s all I’ve got so I’ll tell it anyway.

My family briefly owned a restaurant years ago in our small rural hometown, I briefly worked there as a bartender when I was down and out. Before it was our restaurant, the building had housed a seedy blue collar bar; video poker lounge, selling drugs out of the kitchen, most of the clientele arrived on foot because they were on suspended licenses for DUIs, etc. We were not a fine dining establishment by any means but definitely more upscale by comparison. Tablecloths, steaks and chops, largest selection of craft beers in the county.

One night while I’m behind the bar a 50ish year old guy comes in with his two early 20s sons. Dad is dressed like upper middle class, kids are preppies. Loafers and polo shirts. The dad is visibly surprised and confused when he sits down at the bar. He explains that he had intended to show his boys a good time at the crappy dive bar he used to haunt when he went to college in the neighboring big city years and years ago, couldn’t believe this was the same place. I explain how we’re a respectable family establishment now, make small talk about his old college days, reminisce about ol’ man Patterson who used to hold up the end of the bar every night back in the day (died of lung cancer), recommend beer pairings for the food they order…basically charming the shit out of him. Can’t stop talking about how nice it is, how great it is, how they ought to come back with the rest of the family sometime.

He settles up the tab. “Wow, what a great meal! This has really been great!” I prepare to receive the a hefty tip. Check the receipt book…no tip. I even went so far as to check the floor on the other side of the bar, thinking maybe the cash money had accidentally slipped off. Nada. Got stiffed.

The next night, him and the sons are back, this time with mom and two other couples, a table of nine of them all together. They get the big table in the back room, everyone orders the ribeye, multiple bottles of our best wine, in there for several hours getting grade A service. After closing their waitress comes over to me. “Can you believe those fuckers didn’t leave a tip!?”

Yes I can, Haley…yes I can.

That is an important one and I’ll expand on it slightly…I spend probably 80% of my time either sleeping, sitting in front of the computer, or out walking around. Consequentially, the most comfortable and expensive things I own are my mattress, my office chair, and my shoes. Spend your money where it matters.

That is an excellent book, and I agree with you about how hard the third act hits. If you’re interested, she has a couple other novels in the same setting (time-traveling historians): To Say Nothing of the Dog, a much more light-hearted Victorian-era farce that overlaps with events from the real-life novel Three Men in a Boat which is itself a good and funny read, and the two-parter Blackout and All Clear, neither of which I have read but are on my list to get around to someday.

Yeah, I would recommend it. My biggest takeaways from it so far have been understanding how many of my habits and personality quirks are actually coping strategies that I just didn’t realize. Like, I always thought I just happened to like chewing gum all the time because I enjoyed the minty flavor. Turns out the repetitive chewing motion can actually stimulate the dopamine I crave. I thought everyone has a collection of rhyming phrases or little songs that they only say in private and we all collectively pretend like we don’t because it’s embarrassing. Turns out that’s verbal or auditory stimming. It’s been great in that regard, helping me understand why I am the way I am.

Can’t really speak to how effective any of the ADHD management techniques in the book are since I’m still working through it and trying to take things onboard, but the author also has a very popular and successful Youtube channel where you can probably find all the same information and more if you’re interested.

• The Mercy of Gods: The first book in a new trilogy from the guys behind The Expanse.
• How to ADHD: Because I wasn’t diagnosed until 40 and now I have to rethink everything about me.
• My War Gone By, I Miss It So: The memoir of a British war zone journalist who covered the Bosnian War and other Balkans conflicts. I originally read it decades ago but was reminded of it after watching Civil War earlier this year. I heard lots of criticism about the main characters in that movie not being relatable or very likable so I picked this back up to confirm that yes, that’s accurate, and I think part of the point of the movie…

I’ll take “Books that made me sob like a baby” for $500, Alex.

Given St. Pauli’s reputation for left-wing activism, kinda surprised they were still on Twitter for this long.

What, Netanyahu cynically making political moves for his own gain and damn the consequences, stop, that’s crazy man, you’re blowing my mind, dude.