u/MOUSETITTY

started compounded tirz about 2 months ago. was expecting weight loss (down 12lbs so far, cool) but nobody told me about the mental clarity.

like i used to have this fog that i thought was just normal. hard to focus, constantly tired, needing coffee just to function. within like a week of starting, that just lifted? im getting through work way faster, not needing my afternoon coffee anymore. feels like i was running on 70% before and now it's 100.

no idea if it's the appetite suppression meaning less blood sugar swings or something else. but it's noticeable.

anyway just curious if other people experienced this. feels like a side effect nobody warned me about

took a while but im finally happy with this space. moved in a few months ago and its been a slow process of collecting things that actually feel like me.

the couch was the biggest win. its this soft green velvet that makes me happy every time i look at it.

the coffee table is a thrift store find i sanded down and the rug is from a garage sale. mix of new and old but it works.

still need something on the walls though. maybe some prints or a mirror.

Been trying to get out with the camera more lately and realized Reading has more interesting spots than I gave it credit for. Usually stick to the river near Caversham but the light there gets samey after a while. Some of the quieter residential streets around Newtown have nice old brickwork and shop fronts that work well in morning light. The views from Caversham Park towards the town are decent when the weather is clear. Prospect Park has open areas but it always feels a bit flat for photos. Trying to find somewhere with a mix of buildings and green space that isn't too busy early on weekends. Would be useful to know if anyone has found spots where you can take a few shots without people wandering into the frame constantly. Not looking for anything dramatic, just places where the light works and you can spend an hour or two without feeling rushed.

got a 5 month old australian cattle dog mix a few weeks ago. first dog i’ve ever had and i really want to do this right. she’s smart and full of energy but already showing some rough stuff. pulls like crazy on leash, jumps all over people, and gets way too excited when she sees other dogs.

i try to work with her every day but it feels like i’m not making real progress. some days she’s good, other days it’s pure chaos and i end up frustrated.

how early did you start more structured training with your high energy puppy?

did the jumping and pulling get better mostly with consistency or did you need extra help?

I read a lot of novels, mostly because I enjoy them. Didn't think it had anything to do with work. But after years of doing both, I've noticed something. Fiction forces you to track what characters want versus what they say. You learn to spot the gap between stated motive and actual behavior. That skill transfers directly to client calls and team dynamics. The book doesn't tell you someone is jealous or hiding something. You have to infer it from dialogue, from what they avoid, from what they keep bringing up anyway. Same thing in a conference room. Someone says one thing and means another. Someone's pushing an agenda they won't name. The pattern recognition is surprisingly similar.

The difference between reading fiction and consuming content designed to inform you is that fiction leaves gaps on purpose. Your brain has to work to fill them. That active construction is what builds the skill. Nonfiction hands you conclusions. Fiction makes you build them yourself. That's the practice.

I got sharper at noticing subtext without trying to, just by doing something I would have done anyway. Curious if anyone else has found a leisure habit that quietly built a professional skill they didn't expect.

i’m looking for something that can handle weekend projects and the occasional haul without being a gas hog every day. found a 2020 ford f-150 with 42k miles listed at $28,900 and a 2019 ram 1500 with 51k miles for $26,400. both are crew cabs and the photos look clean, no obvious dents or weird wear.

the f-150 has the 5.0 and the ram has the hemi. i drive mostly city but need the truck for furniture runs and occasional towing. leaning toward the ford for the ride quality but the ram is cheaper and still has lower miles than a lot of others i’ve seen.

anyone have experience with either of these years? anything i should specifically check for on the maintenance side or common issues before i go look at them in person?

Every teacher and counselor pushes this narrative that you have to study for the ACT for like 8 months straight. I just cant do it. Im already drowning in AP classes and if I have to stare at one of those 600-page prep books for another weekend im gonna actually lose my mind.

The whole testing industry just feels designed to drag out our misery and drain our free time. My older sister made studying her whole personality for a year and was completely miserable. Meanwhile a guy in my calc class just did this short intensive sprint thing with boosted brains and was totally done with the whole process in a month.

I want to learn how to actually do that. how do you train your brain to just absorb test patterns quickly so you can get it over with? I don't need to be a genius, I just need to learn how to hack the studying part so I can survive college apps without burning out by christmas.

drop your best efficient study techniques pls

42F and maybe i’m showing my age here lol but i remember when people talked about buying a rental and the first question was basically “what does it rent for?” now i look at listings and i genuinely don’t understand some of the math. friend sent me a property she was considering and she was excited because the rent looked pretty high. we sat down one evening, started putting in mortgage, tax, insurance etc and i ended up playing with a DSCR calculator just because i wanted to see the ratio. and yeah. not what either of us expected.

it wasn’t some disaster property either. perfectly normal rental in a decent area. it just seems like one repair + one bad month and suddenly the “investment” is you sending money to the investment

so people who are still buying rentals in canada right now, what’s the actual plan?

are you putting huge amounts down so cash flow works? accepting basically no monthly return and thinking 10-15 years ahead? or are there still markets where the boring old “rent pays everything and leaves some money” model exists? because i feel like i’m either missing something obvious or the definition of a good rental has changed completely.

ugh okay maybe someone here has dealt with this because my brain is fried from reading about it

my husband and i are separating. not going into the relationship stuff because that’s a whole other post lol. the issue right now is the house. we bought in the GTA a few years ago and both put money into it, although not exactly 50/50. mortgage is still obviously there. he wants to keep the house. i honestly don’t know if i want to keep it, sell it, or just take whatever my share is and be DONE. but every time i think i understand how this works i find another thing about matrimonial homes, equalization, who is on title vs who actually has rights to the house etc etc.

and then there’s the actual Toronto market part of it. like if we sell now, where exactly am i supposed to buy again on one income . for anyone here who went through separation while owning a house together, what did you actually end up doing? sell and split? one person bought the other out? did one of you stay in the house for a while before dealing with it? also at what point did you get a family lawyer involved specifically for the property stuff?

I’m realizing this is way less “we’ll just sell the house” than i thought it was going to be.

Trying to get back into hiking properly and realised I've barely scratched the surface of what's actually accessible from Reading without needing to drive somewhere first. Usually I end up doing the same stretch along the Thames near Caversham or looping through Forbury and out towards Sonning, but there has to be more than that. I work from home most of the week so getting out for a proper walk on Saturday morning has become a bit of a ritual. Somewhere I can take a camera along would be ideal since I've been trying to improve my photography lately. Not looking for anything massively strenuous, just a decent two or three hour loop where I'm not dodging crowds the whole time. The paths around Prospect Park and over towards Tilehurst seem promising but I don't know that side of town as well. Anyone got routes they actually enjoy doing regularly rather than just the obvious riverside stretch? Keen to find something that feels a bit more like actual countryside even if it's still technically in the town. Reading gets a lot of flack but some of the green spaces are genuinely decent if you know where to look.

As someone who treats skincare as a total hobby, I spend way too much time obsessing over how different formulas actually sit on the skin instead of just looking at the active ingredients list.

I was going crazy for a while because my evening routine kept balling up into tiny little bits whenever I tried to seal my Medik8 retinal with a richer cream. Turns out I was just refusing to give the suspension enough time to fully anchor down. Giving it a solid fifteen minutes to dry completely before going in with the next layer totally fixed the pilling issue.

Anyone else spend way too much time testing out weird texture combinations and drying times just to get your routine to behave?

always admired native american jewelry. the craftsmanship, the materials, the meaning behind each piece. there's something about silver and turquoise that feels real.

i've been wearing a stainless steel bracelet from The Steel Shop lately for daily stuff. it's practical, durable, doesn't tarnish. but it doesn't have that same soul, you know?

it got me thinking - what makes a piece of jewelry feel authentic vs just functional?

not asking to compare, just curious how you all think about it

Tried the goal-based approach for years - "I want to run 3x a week," "I want to read more" - and it worked in bursts but always fizzled once motivation dipped. Recently started framing things differently, more like "I'm someone who runs" or "I'm someone who reads before bed," and something about that shift actually stuck in a way the goal-framing never did
Not sure if it's just a semantic trick that happened to work on me specifically, or if there's something real about identity-based framing making the behavior feel less optional. When it was a goal, missing a day felt like falling behind on a target. When it's identity, missing a day feels more like acting out of character, and that's apparently a stronger pull for me than any tracker or streak ever was

Curious if others have noticed a real difference between these two framings, or if this is one of those ideas that sounds good in books but doesn't actually change behavior much in practice

We just moved into a place in Fairy Meadow which is a nice little house. It’s a bit old, but in good condition. I was feeling proud of myself for tackling the dishwasher installation

I connected it myself. Read the manual cover to cover. Followed every step. Inlet hose connected, outlet hose in place. I turned it on for a test run, feeling pretty accomplished

It filled with water, washed, and then stopped. The water just sat there. It wouldn’t drain.

I checked the manual again. Everything looks correct. The filter is clean, and the hose isn’t kinked. I’m stumped

My mate had something similar happen. He said a plumber from Top Flow Plumbing Services told him it was a siphon issue. They installed a separate valve, and it fixed the problem. I don’t know if that’s my issue though. Could it be water pressure? Or something with the pipes in this old house?

I keep thinking it might be something simple I’ve missed. Maybe the drainage hose is at the wrong height. Maybe the connections need adjusting.

Has anyone dealt with this? Any quick things I should check first? I’m hoping it’s something simple I’ve overlooked. I just want my dishwasher to work. It’s been weeks, and I’m tired of washing dishes by hand and my back is killing me already

We're replacing our whole set at home. The old one is chipped and honestly just looks tired. Four people in the house, so I need something durable but still decent looking when we have guests over.

I've been browsing around and found Victoria's Basement, which had a pretty solid range: bone china, stoneware, a few European brands I recognized. Prices looked reasonable compared to what I've seen locally. Some sets were 12piece, others 16piece, and the material and finish varied quite a bit.

What I'm not sure about is whether bone china is actually worth it for everyday use with kids, or if stoneware is just the more practical call. I'm also not sure how much weight to put on brand name versus just going by the look and material specs.

Anyone gone through this recently? What did you end up with?

i run a specialty trade outfit and getting clear accurate daily field documentation back to the office is a struggle. right now the guys just pencil whip standard paper safety sheets but if an actual issue happens like a material delay or minor damage they completely forget to document it because it requires tracking down a separate form. i end up finding out about it days later when it is too late to fix. while reading through some operational threads for solutions and saw a software. basically if a guy flags an issue the app automatically pops up the right follow up questions right then and there so they cant just skip the paperwork.

how to enforce site documentation? do u just deal with missing info or is switching to an interactive digital form app the play here? i need real practical adivce on it

completely stuck. my lawyer bills are piling up and i am flat out broke on a single income. tried to get a top up on the mortgage but no. the lender won't let me touch a single cent of home equity because of the ongoing separation. my ex won't sign the final papers anyway, just stalling on purpose to starve me out.

can't drop the legal case now or i lose everything. i started looking at options online like Plenti and JustFund New Zealand to see if they can pay the solicitor directly from the house sale later.

but those rates look wild. 10-13% plus setup fees. if this messy split takes another year, that compounding interest will eat all my remaining equity. has anyone used these third-party companies? is it a total trap or a realistic way to survive a deadlock?

I used to think I was a decent listener. Turns out I was just waiting for my turn to talk. I'd nod along, but in my head I was already forming my response before the other person even finished their thought.

The shift happened when I started doing one simple thing: after someone finishes talking, I pause for two full seconds before responding. That's it. Just a twosecond pause.

The change was pretty significant. People started opening up more in conversations. I stopped mishearing things because I was actually absorbing what was said instead of halflistening. I noticed details I would have completely missed before. And weirdly, people started telling me I was great to talk to, even though I was technically talking less.

The pause also helped me respond with something more thoughtful instead of just firing off the first thing that came to mind. Over time it started to feel natural rather than forced.

I think a lot of us underestimate how much real listening affects our relationships and work. You start understanding people better, which eventually helps you understand yourself better too.

If you've been working on social skills or communication, this is probably the lowesteffort change with the highest return I've personally found.

Curious if anyone else has noticed similar things, or has a small tweak that improved how they connect with people.

Been living in Reading for a couple of years now and still feel like I'm finding new corners that are actually worth spending time in. Recently started making more of an effort to actually explore rather than just rushing between the station and home.

So far I really like Forbury Gardens, especially on a quieter weekday morning. The Oracle riverside stretch is decent too when it's not completely rammed on a weekend afternoon.

I know Reading gets a bit of a rough reputation compared to other towns its size, but there are some genuinely good spots if you know where to look. Would love to hear from people who have lived here longer and know the less obvious places.

Any cafes, parks, random streets or viewpoints worth knowing about for someone wanting to slow down and actually appreciate the town a bit more? Open to anything really, whether that's somewhere to grab a coffee and watch the world go by, a decent walk along the river, or just a quiet square that most people walk straight past.

Always better to get local knowledge than whatever comes up on Google. Cheers.