I draw the line at whiskey/beer. I need both in order to watch the evening news. I won’t engage with socials until properly lubricated by both.

“This is fine.” (meme)

My best friend at work is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative. He will never not be - and I rush to profess that he is not an asshole…he just thinks conservitave/republican is the side he needs to support probably because that’s what daddy did, dunno. We see eye-eye on most other things.

We do not agree on anything political except that everyone is way too heated up over everything. We are still friends, regardless.

My point in responding is that his gay daughter disconnected from him after Trump v.1 - would not take a call or interact in any way. This is painful for my friend and he has been confused by it but does not realize why his daughter won’t engage. I think she is offended that his political choice doesn’t allow for her right to exist and, frankly I agree with her.

I think my friend has lost his daughter forever because he is a stubborn man. I hope your dad can open his heart to accept you.

Being of use to someone else - something as simple as opening a door or something as hard as helping someone change a tire on the road. That karma is like a hit of the stuff I don’t do anymore.

Mushrooms - I once puked them up on the table when my mom made me eat them…canned mushrooms FTW! I now, of course, can not get enough of them - sautéed, baked, sliced/raw on a salad…gimme some fungus already!!

I join exactly at start time, down to the second. Once everyone has been counted or noticed and the droning idiot starts presenting I bug right TF out. Nothing will happen that matters because its a freakin’ meeting - if something important was going on it would be an email.

If I dig down into the drawer with several layers of old iPhones I can find my palm pilot at the bottom right next to the Treo that replaced it.

I am embarrassed about how often I do this just because I can. My love of advanced cheese polymers with spicy/crunchy has surely packed the nooks and crannies of my gut with wads of micro-plastics but I just can’t help myself around queso.

Single serving crock pot is (to me) otherwise known as the queso pot!

Get a bag of tortilla chips

Throw a block of velveeta in the pot and cover it with Ro-Tel

Turn it on and get all melty

Stir until combined

Open your bag of chips and put yourself into a cheese-coma.

Another poster suggested a Russian disinformation campaign, I would suggest a more home-grown hate faction that was grown from the poll-watcher contingent. They culled and sifted lists of people that were most likely to “spoil the vote” and had nothing else to do do but harass people.

Here’s a hot take - they lose the appeal and the court draws their new districts according to law…sorry, your fascisism has been denied.

My only concern about all of this is that Fallon’s Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor is the best one! I can also groove on Colbert’s but Fallon’s is the best. Don’t cancel Fallon’s ice cream please!

I’m glad you have someone to lean on - that’s what makes the difference for me. I also don’t do bro - hate sports, don’t like pranks. I don’t have many friends but the ones I have are solid and dependable. I see my best friend less than monthly but we talk several times a day to share work complaints, discuss food or what we’re currently binging on TV.

After reading the other replies I went back and re-read your post to check…you don’t mention a partner or any significant other. I think you might be focusing too hard inward (bad mood, cynical, walls up) and not focusing outward (cherishing interactions with others, forming or maintaining bonds with others). Perhaps you’re feeling lonely?

I am a grump but my wife won’t let me get away with it for long. I am cynical but my friends call me on it because I force myself to share. My work puts me in contact with new people every day and I actively seek an understanding of them and have to let them see who I am in order to be good at my job.

Another respondent said “put yourself out there”. I agree but would also add seek out interactions with others and be a participant not an observer.

I don’t have a problem with this. I was an “essential” employee in the before-times and I muddled through and never had an incident of sickness…I think my masking and sanitation saved me from hazard. I’m not downplaying the whole pandemic - I lost a few very good people because of it (I miss you, Russ).

The before-times are past…we need to work through the now times and that requires that we are together as people and a part of being present in the now-times is not hiding behind fear. We need to connect and see each others visage to gauge our connections.

Wear a mask if you have the sniffles (cold/flu), wear a mask if you want to avoid allergens or smoke in the air. Wear a mask if you, like me, are just plain ugly and it makes others more comfortable but do not wear a mask because of covid anymore. That threat is behind us as a people just as the Spanish Flu is behind us as a people, despite it’s presence in the world at large.