u/Armithax

English is my mother tongue. I can't hear the "u" in prueba. What I hear what I listen as closely as I can to Spanish speakers saying "prueba" is NOT (using American English phonetic spelling here) "proo-ay-bah", all I hear is "pray-bah" as if the word was spelled "preba." In other forms, I can hear it: pruebe and pruebo, I can correctly hear "proo-ay-bay" and "proo-ay-boh." But not with prueba.

Out of the larger set of Session Zero norms/expectations that we use when assembling a group and embarking on a long-term campaign (or if not a campaign, long-term buy-in for a fairly static group of players), what would be the SHORT LIST ( please keep it to 3 to 5 bullet points) you would extract/condense for a DM to hand-out and review when they regularly run intro-to-D&D sessions with different groups of teens or young adults?

These folks are looking for a fast start and not thinking about group dynamics/politics over the long haul, and I'm absolutely certain the usual, more comprehensive list of norms* would totally turn-off an ad-hoc group that doesn't even know if it likes the game enough to play regularly.

What does the wisdom of experienced players/DMs say?

*Not dissing the longer lists, IMHO they're very well thought out and incredibly prophylactic against many kinds of future conflict. Highly recommended for longer-term groups.

63 y.o. male. A year ago, I was on Metformin+Januvia (also called Janumet or Zituvimet) and watched my carb intake meticulously and had several small meals a day. My fasting blood glucose was between 110 and 180 and my A1C was around 6.7. On this regimen, I became emotionally and metabolically depressed (slept 15-20 hours a day), and at least muscularly unfit--skinny, but flabby, and had real difficultly standing up from a sofa or putting on socks and shoes. For the depression, I was put on Lexapro and Welbutrin. I was a svelt, but listless 170 lbs (I'm 5'10") The Dr. added Farxiga, which landed me in th E.R. after three months due to extreme constipation and severe pain (where you might expect for appendicitis, but the scans showed otherwise). [Tangent: it was a really weird constipation because I did not notice any absence of defecation or extremely hard feces.]

I gave up the Farxiga. Went back to my sugary drinks (Coke, Red Bull; not diet versions). And that gave me *just* enough energy to hit the gym. That started a virtuous cycle. My depression abated.

Today, I am off the psych meds. Kept the Janumet. I eat a high protein diet (slightly tilted toward protein, not one of these extreme only-protein diets) of natural foods, and in between meals of high protein shakes to assist muscle gain from lifting weights. But I have large meals. none of this titrating calories across the whole day. I run 30-45 minutes of treadmill in the morning and follow that up with 2 hours of strength training (heavy weights; low reps). But--as I mentioned, I also have 1 or 2 Cokes a day and a large Red Bull before hitting the gym. I need those, both to feel awake a lively during the day, to make it through a hard workout--and also not to slip into sleepiness and depression.

No retinopathy. No neuropathy. No renal breakdown. Hypertension and cholesterol well controlled, great, even.

Here's the rub. My numbers suck. They're worse. My blood glucose--when I'm testing it at least--is in the same range as before (110-180), but my A1C is now up: 7.6. My response is: fuck it. Time to live fast and die old. My life is soooo much better now. I'm not sleeping the days away. I'm fit. Flexible. I look jacked. A solid 205lbs. I feel great. No mind-fog. My memory is back. I'm thinking sharp. I'm getting a crap-ton of chores done.

The best I can really hope for at this point, I guess, is that a massive stroke or coronary takes me out quickly rather than leaving me an invalid for years. I'm sad about that. But it's the gamble I am taking. I can either be a wraith until I'm 99 or--take my chances of being a wraith for a very end-of-life stage but until then actually living a life.

If both are okay, is there one that sounds more natural? (If dialect matters, then assume Madrid.)

I am guessing really long model numbers, like on the back of an appliance or electric device, are broken out by digit. It would be pretty onerous in any language to convert C43251266 to a number in the tens of millions. Not to mention hyphens.

I used to love so many things in D&D 1e that I would find vexing now. Mapping the dungeon, square by square, by verbal back-and-forth with the DM. So much fun, then. Such a time-suck, now.

• I used to love the "hurry or wandering monsters will come" mechanic. I even loved fighting them when they did pop up. Now, I feel like "What's the point? They're not important NPCs."
• I used to love tracking XP and encumbrance. Now, I won't play a campaign unless it's milestone XP, and a Bag of Holding is sure to be found somewhere in the early levels.
• It bothers me that I do not understand my own sense of fun, what defines it, or what causes it to change slowly over the decades. But it surely does change. Attempts at "going back" have resulted in acute unfun, followed by "abort, abort!"
• (Related: Loved the early Infocom text adventures. Burnt away endless hours on them. Can't last more than 5 minutes with one, now.)

Am I alone in this shift of what qualifies as D&D "fun?" Any insight as to what become boring and what doesn't? I eagerly await any wise insight.

I have what I suspect is a relatively minor condition/correction to my feet. I had a small area of neuropathy (side of the ball of the foot, halfway up the big toe), and a prior doctor addressed this by building up a fairly high arch support and also addressed some pronation. This was twenty years ago.

The final orthotics are fairly expensive ($1k+ USD). I'd like to get more than one set for several reasons, but they aren't covered by my insurance. So when I see these over-the-counter products for far less, I am tempted to try them.

Is it pointless to ask my new doctor if there are "good enough" over-the-counter solutions? Or does that run counter to his job (like he is bound to say, "Oh, no, you must use medical grade custom made products")??

I mean, when I see the kinds of elaborate appliances, etc., some folks are posting pictures of on here, I really think my situation is trivial.

I wince pretty intensely any time I perform difficult finger tasks. Opening a loose jar, I look like I am opening an impossible to open jar. Trying to pick up a sheet of paper that is slightly difficult to get my finger under, ditto. Stretching to grab the seatbelt buckle, ditto.

But playing electric guitar or piano, no.

My wife remarks that I look like someone is pulling my toenail out. Occasionally, strangers may ask, "Are you OK?" I just feel the need to concentrate a tad bit more than usual on the coordination of the task, not the strength needed to get it done. That need to concentrate results in a grimace.

I do have a cousin that had a pretty severe tic in childhood (head twitch, shoulder shrug), but otherwise, there is no one else in the family that does what I do.

Is this just learned/habitual behavior?

I've logged on a few times in the past six months, and I get a very different feel. It seems festivals create a bump of activity. New quest lines in new areas have slightly larger bump. Raid unlocks an even tinier bump. But other than that, the world seems very...wan.

I've loved this game for years. Maybe, it's me? I've hit the wall? (Metaphoric wall, not the region The East Wall.)

There are a lot of lists of underrated artsts or artists only appreciated after their death, but I wonder if historians have noted artists whose only major attribute was popularity in their day. An artist who, in the longer view, didn't innovate, didn't influence later artists, and from our far-future point-of-view were highly overrated in their day. Thinking about nineteenth century or earlier. Definitely not post WWII, that's too recent.

I am confused. Many websites say that, in order to avoid scams, never rent until you physically see a place. But I am in the USA and want to secure a rental in advance. Those two things are mutually exclusive...can't do both.

How do people do this? Do they book a short stay at a hotel, and look for the rest of the stay (in my case, a three-month stay) once they have feet on the ground in Spain?? That's seems very last-minute; who knows if anything would be available

Or, alternatively, do they just use Idealista and secure the rental from abroad without seeing the place in-person? That seems prone to all the scams the Internet says on-site inspection is meant to avoid.

Or is there a method I am not thinking of?

(We've been to Spain several times on holiday-- Costa Brava, Valencia, and Andalucia-- but only for a week or two, and stayed in hotels. We love Spain, and we're immigration-curious, and this planned 3-month holiday is really a trial run to see if we eventually want to come back and try to immigrate... but that would be a couple years from now.)

I'd rather not use AirBnB or VRBO or any other method that adversely impacts the locals. But if that ends up being the only way, I guess I'll have to capitulate.)