u/Imaginary_Bug6202

I have a laptop that's basically plugged in 24/7 and I still turn it off every night unless I forget to then I just usually restart it, but I know people who basically never shut their PCs down lol like just how? I get that leaving your PC in sleep move overnight but I'm always a little surprised when someone says their computer has been running for more than a week straight, at that point I'm wondering just how high their electricity bill is...

For me, it was buying a cheap wireless mouse because I thought I was getting a good deal…It looked decent, had all the buttons I needed, and cost much less than the Logitech models I was considering. I figured a mouse was a simple purchase and didn’t expect much could go wrong.
I should have spent more on a decent one from the start because it felt cheap and the cable was flimsy lol

What tech purchase gave you instant buyer’s remorse?

I know it's better for our apps to stay updated but I almost never update unless they stop working and I ask my friends for help and they ask me "Have you updated yet?" or when the app practically forces me to. Tbh half the time I update an app, I can't even tell what's changed but... Am I the only one who does this? Or do you update your apps as soon as the new version is available?

I've been buying games on Steam for so long that I think it's completely changed my expectations for every other game launcher, not even Epic games (even if I claim free games there lmao). Like automatic updates, cloud saves, family/shared library, and especially the community reviews + frequent sales, it all just works. At this point I feel like Steam has kind of spoiled us fr..

Do you think there are any launcher that does things better?

I just want an outside perspective because my closest friends are split on this.

I (mid-20s) got out of a 2 year and 9 month relationship. We officially broke up on the last week of July.

For context, this year has honestly been the hardest year of my life.

I graduated from college, but I had to march without my mom because literally the day after graduation she was rushed to the ER. About a month later, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. Since then, things at home have been incredibly stressful. On top of that, I was job hunting.

Not long after, I got accepted into an internship/training program. My ex and I both became busy, but she knew that after every shift I would go straight to the hospital to visit my mom.

Then, after one particularly awful day, I got into an argument with my dad, work was rough, and I relapsed with nicotine.

This is important because before we started dating, I had already quit nicotine for almost three months. Relapsing was one of her non-negotiables. I never hid it from her..I told her myself because I believed honesty was the right thing to do.

The moment I told her, she immediately asked to break up. She never asked what happened or why I relapsed. She just said it was her non-negotiable, and I respected her decision.

A couple of days later, I sent one last message. I wasn’t trying to convince her to stay. I just wanted to honor almost three years together because I didn’t want our entire relationship to be reduced to one terrible day. I voluntarily explained everything that had been happening in my life.

After hearing my side, she changed her mind and wanted to continue the relationship.

At that point, I asked for 5 days of space because I genuinely wanted to think about whether continuing the relationship would still be healthy for both of us. She didn’t want to wait that long and insisted that a day or two should be enough because she said she’d just keep overthinking.

That difference made me realize we weren’t aligned anymore. I eventually said goodbye. From my perspective, it felt like she wanted me to decide based on her timeline instead of respecting what I needed.

A few days later, she messaged me again, but I didn’t reply. That same night, I saw that she had posted TikToks using our breakup as content. One of the captions was:

“Clutch? Your KAY/O that got left by her partner.”

There ended up being 3 breakup-related TikToks. Mind you she chose a clip and took the time to edit and think of a caption.

That honestly hurt because I felt like something deeply personal had become content. I unfollowed her everywhere.

For the next couple of weeks, I spent most of my time trying to move on. I journaled almost every day, reflected on what happened, focused on work, and spent as much time as I could with my family.

Then something unexpected happened. I accidentally ended up on what became a movie date with one of my coworkers.

Originally, four of us were supposed to go, but the other two backed out for personal reasons. During the movie, she kept holding my hand. There was a lot of tension between us, and I’ll admit that I already found her attractive.

Afterward, I kept wondering, “Is that really how coworkers act?”

About a week later, she confessed that she’d actually been curious about me since my first day at work. We eventually went on our first intentional date, and it went really well.

Around that same period, my ex reached out again asking if my decision was final.

By then, I’d already seen the tiktok videos, and some friends also told me they’d discovered that she had a “happy crush” on someone in her Discord server not long after we broke up. (She owns the server.) I confronted her about all of that and then blocked her on every platform + Which is crazy because she also accused me of cheating/finding someone else while in the relationship. I felt offended cause I barely even have time for myself..

So here’s what I’m wondering.

My friends are worried that everything happened too quickly. They’re not saying I’m wrong for moving on, but they’re concerned that my coworker made a move while my breakup was still fresh and that I might be rebounding without realizing it.

Personally, I don’t feel like I’m trying to replace my ex. I spent weeks grieving, and even now I still think about what happened sometimes. But meeting my coworker wasn’t planned, and I genuinely enjoy being around her.

Do you think it’s objectively too soon to start dating someone new? Or is it less about the amount of time that passed and more about whether I’ve actually processed the breakup?

I’d appreciate honest opinions, even if they’re hard to hear.

I know flagship phones have become incredibly capable, but I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of spending laptop money on a phone. Like if a phone gets into the $800 - $1000, it starts feeling too expensive, no matter how good the cameras or the AI features are and it's still a device I'm probably going to replace in a few years. But at the same time I know some people keep their phones for more than 6 years so maybe the higher price makes sense if you spread out the cost.. At what price range do you personally think makes a phone too expensive?

For me it's a monitor, given that as long as you can test it first and there aren't any dead pixels or major scratches, you can usually get a really good monitor for a fraction of its original price. Unlike phones or laptops, I wouldn't really risk buying a used one for those since I would worry about the battery the most + with a good used monitor it can easily last for another couple of years..

What's one gadget you think is worth buying secondhand instead of brand new?

Is anyone else completely burnt out by every single app requiring a passkey or a 2fa prompt or even a biometrics just to check something or log into your account? I feel like basic digital hygiene has turned into an absolute chore. I'm all for keeping accounts secure, but it drives me nuts when I just want to check my account billing history and I have to stop, fetch my password manager or copy the 2fa authentication code or to approve a push notification just to get past the front door..

Are you loving the extra layer of digital security or are you just as exhausted by the endless authentication hoops?

As someone who's diagnosed w ADHD most traditional productivity advice and planning systems usually fall completely flat for me. The only trick that has actually stuck and made a real difference is the 'two-minute rule' like if a task takes less than 2 mins (even 5 mins tbh) to do so... I literally force myself to do it right away. If I let myself put it off for even a second, my brain immediately files it away under things to procrastinate on indefinitely. Like this could include household chores and even my tasks for work or else I'll forget about it lol.

What's one simple habit or trick that actually helps you get things done?

Even with how fast AI models and automation tools have advanced lately, I think there's still a massive gap when it comes to true contextual 'empathy' and hands-on physical troubleshooting in the real world. Like you can write all the scripts/prompts you want but adapting to a messy or unpredictable environment and reading actual emotional nuance of a difficult situation still requires human input

I often catch myself unlocking my phone out of pure muscle memory or boredom, only for me to sit there staring at the home screen with no actual task/goal in mind lmao. It's an automatic loop that wastes way too much time before I even realize that I'm doing it again...

What's your phone habit that you're actively trying to break?

I've noticed that I instinctively place mine face down almost every time I sit on a desk or table, and it's mostly to keep notifications from flashing out of the corner of my eye and distracting me. However my partner leaves his face up because he's concern of the dirt that gets on his phone's screen, which is fair since we put our phone near our face when we take calls.

How about you?

I almost got hit with a $150 charge because I completely forgot to cancel my google workspace free trial before it rolled over into a paid subscription. Well, it was really my fault for not setting a calendar reminder, but it was an annoying reminder for me how easily subscription creep sneaks up on you lmaoo

What's the most painful accidental subscription charge you've fallen victim to?