u/BramblyFoxglove

I think this is an issue I have struggled with my entire life, but truly I feel like I have struggled with this more so in my older age.

I’m in a very long-term relationship, but I moved away from my hometown years ago and have never been able to establish any solid friendships. At work, I am excellent at my job. But I also feel like this makes it easier for others to be annoyed by me. I just do my job, advocate for myself when I need to and go home.

I often feel like people pretend to like me, but no one actually wants to spend time with me or have me around. I feel like I don’t mean much to most people and that I am empty space to them except a relatively nice person and a good worker.

I think I have struggled with people not connecting with me more than surface level my whole life my family even calls me out on it. And honestly, it’s not like I don’t try.

I am not really religious and don’t participate in religious communities. I don’t have kids. I have a ton of hobbies and interests but not really anything that occupies me to the point where I can develop community with people.

I used to have a lot of friends in college and was relatively well-liked then. But maybe, generally, I’m not a likable person and I struggle with what to honestly do about that except be sad.

Does anyone else feel that way? What would you do? I have tried everything to put myself out there and I am just not important or interesting to most people. I’m afraid most people are annoyed by me or hate me.

Thanks for thinking about this and thanks for listening. I’m just really sad right now.

Hi, friends! I have a sweet, energetic and crazy five year old doodle. He loves people and dogs and everyone loves him. As I’ve gotten older, my energy level no longer matches his and I am noticing behaviors he is starting to take on that I need to nip in the bud.

I am not financially able to get a good trainer right now, but when I am able I intend to. I’ve been with my boyfriend for a year and he absolutely loves him, truly, but I noticed in the past few months he’s started doing some things that are leading me to believe he is establishing himself as alpha or super protective of me. When we sleep, he has to be directly in between us or directly on top of me. At first, I thought he just wanted to be in between his two humans, but then he started doing this on the couch and will intentionally like my boyfriend’s face non stop. I think he wants him to get annoyed and go away.

His older sister is a small heeler mix and she is a sweetie pie. I started to notice when he’s playing with her, he likes to wait on the bed like a lion and playfully pounce on her. He now does this at night and I think it’s to keep her on the floor so he can be in bed with me.

He is in no way aggressive and I don’t think he has an agressive bone in his body, but I definitely need to put him in his place. It also doesn’t help that we are in an apartment and he no longer has a backyard to exert his energy in.

Any advice would be helpful! I also can’t give him heavy chew toys because of teeth issues and he swallows things he shouldn’t almost professionally.

Thanks, friends!

Hey friends, I used to work out a lot and had a Garmin Forerunner that tracked my sleep because I spent a lot of time running and cycling. Since I had an injury to my Achilles, I can’t really do those things anymore.

I am very interested in my stats for breathing, sleep, etc. I still use the Garmin, but I have been heavily considering this new Oura ring 5 instead.

Is it worth the subscription service? What features do you find exceptional? I’m heavily considering the purchase and want to hear all the raves about it (or warnings). Thanks, friends!

Hi, friends! I am from a large city where things regarding engagement and weddings are done differently. Honestly, I’m glad I don’t live there for this reason because it’s too expensive and too high maintenance for me.

My partner and I have been discussing our next steps in life and we are getting ready to plan and formulate ideas for our next steps. Because I didn’t grow up in Chattanooga and don’t really have a support system here aside from my colleagues I work with, many who have been married long periods of time already, I’m looking for low maintenance recommendations for when we start looking to plan.

Where does everyone go to look for engagement rings? Photographers? Wedding dresses? Venues for small micro weddings? I really like supporting local, small businesses here in Chattanooga.

We still aren’t sure if we are just going to have a very small wedding or elope or not. But if you have had a small wedding that was particularly beautiful, I would love to know any recommendations or details. I have nothing to go by except Google. Thanks, folks!

They just evacuated Bonnaroo, again. I know it’s late in the day already, but what are the chances we get another cool band surprise like we did Modest Mouse last year? Man, that was a great time.

Not me hoping Noah Kahan makes his way back to The Signal in a desperate attempt at hope. 😂