u/Sea-Efficiency-2899

This is so ridiculous and I don't know that it's GERD for sure, but I do have a history with it years and years ago so it tracks. Anyway I can not put literally anything in my body without gagging, including liquids. Eat? Feel like I'm going to puke for 20-30 minutes after no matter what it is. Drink something? Same deal. Even water. Taking pills is a living hell. Sometimes even a freaking sneeze makes me gag. Like???????

It's worse on some days and others it is practically gone. I can not find anyone else dealing with this and I feel like I'm going insane.

I do not experience literally anything else symptom-wise. This is it. I'm miserable. When I get sick and start having post-nasal drip it's another version of hell.

Since I was VERY small - literally have memories of this all the way back to 4-5 yo - I have been constantly curious about people's genitals with a compulsion to stare. As a young child, this was considered fairly normal, a lot of kids go through this kind of phase. I never grew out of it. I am now 34 and still like this. I am a straight woman and the curiosity extends to both men and women, and it is not at all sexual in nature. It's like an intrusive thought to stare/wonder what they look like. When I google this... I can not find a single thing about anyone else with this issue. I feel like a massive weirdo. I am a functioning adult and have never acted on anything or done anything outwardly to anyone. What could this even be because there is nothing whatsoever that I can pinpoint that explains this weird obsession that literally no one else seems to have.

My fiance and I have been on the fence for years. We're both mid-30s, and both have the same reasons for staying child-free. The main thing is not being able to do whatever we want, whenever we want. We don't even travel much, I go stay at a best friend's house out of town occasionally, fly to another state for a concert, he enjoys his nightly video game time, etc. It's mostly a matter of, "I can not imagine not having this freedom of movement and ability to do nothing when I get home from work".

But everyone I know who has kids, especially who were previously adamantly child-free and had kids "by accident", says that they don't miss CF life at all and feel more fulfilled and with more purpose. They all say you just feel different after having them and that it is impossible to understand the feeling until it happens. They say they do miss getting to do nothing and have freedom of movement, but that it's 100% worth it to lose that.

Admittedly, I do not feel like I have much purpose at all other than to go to work, teach kids, then come home and scroll reddit. lol. The main reason I think I don't want kids? Not being able to just come home and do nothing. Which is all well and good but at what point will I start feeling bored and directionless? Like do I really want to spend the rest of my life on reddit and watching youtube?

TLDR parents who felt the same as me before kids: Does it really change? Do you regret it and wish you could go back?

side note: My fiance will DEFINITELY be an amazing father. He is amazing with kids, and our relationship is very strong. So I am not at all worried about being alone/carrying all the weight of raising a kid.

I've been taking deli meat/cured salami for lunch for years. I eat it with snack cheese and veggies/fruits of choice (mini peppers, apples, etc). It's fast, easy, and zero-prep.

Recently I learned that deli meat is carcinogenic. I always knew that deli meat isn't the healthiest thing in the world but now I've officially checked out on it.

That said, I need other zero-prep, healthy ideas. I like having the veggies/fruit but I need a protein of some sort that does not need to be heated up because I do not have time to do that at lunch.

My question comes about because there are pretty much constantly situations where a smartphone app of some sort is required. i.e. most of the parking in my city is by parkmobile only (or other similar parking apps). Several businesses, especially small local-owned ones, only take payment through things like venmo or cashapp. A safety alarm app (used to mark location/safety status) used during drills at the school I work at is mandatory. I've been to multiple events recently where paper tickets are no longer accepted, has to be through Wallet app on an iphone or something similar for other phones android/pixel etc.

I sometimes see, "I still have my smartphone that I use for these things" but then what exactly is the point? I'm paying extra for a flip phone for the call/text function, which I can still use exactly the same on the smartphone? To me the main purpose of a dumb phone would be to get away from all the distractions of the internet and social media, but then is it really even possible when so many things require apps now?

The incoming 2nd graders are comically low. This is across the entire grade level. There are maybe 5 or 6 on-level kids in the entire grade level of approx. 70 kids. Across the building we all use the same curriculum, which are well selected and effective in my own personal experience. My kids typically make at minimum 80% of their growth goals on iReady, most of them 100% or higher. Across our grade level, 3 of us, most of our kids go into 3rd grade almost caught up to at least early or mid 2nd grade. We do a lot of heavy lifting to get these kids at least somewhat prepared for 3rd. The scores in the 3-5 grades also tend to be trending higher in the building.

This happens every year. And at some point I stop wondering if it's just a society issue of laziness, lack of parent involvement, etc and move on to wondering if it's the K and 1st grade teachers simply being ineffective. 100% it's still on parents to an extent, but my team regularly contemplates this. My school is the lowest performing in the district despite us all using the same curriculum and there being several other schools with a student body of similar socio-economic status. I know 1st grade is a major foundational year. Gaps that they come out of 1st grade with tend to follow them through the rest of their education. Just some thoughts.

The last 3 years were the best of my career after I finally found a school with AMAZING admin.

Well they all left the profession at the same time and our ENTIRE admin team was replaced. The new guys are......... horrible. They're truly awful, have no people skills, are unprofessional, and make me feel like there's a microscope on me inspecting my every move. when before I was one of the strongest teachers in the building, great data, I was someone my admin supported greatly and provided mentorship opportunities to. I love sharing my passion. They made me feel valuable and confident in my teaching. Now I feel like a meeting to discuss my 'practices' waits around the corner.

I was active, avid runner, in the gym 3x a week. I'm usually really excited and rejuvenated at the beginning of a new school year. Welp. My mental health is in the tank. I have no desire to be in my classroom at all which is unlike me. I can't get bonded with my class. I don't want to do anything but lay in bed. I haven't worked out or run in 3 weeks. My diet/nutrition has taken a nose dive. And it is only week 3. Every time I think of my previous principal I just burst into tears. Everything feels so wrong now.

I don't even want to go into it and what all is going wrong because it's a novel. I just need some support. How do I lift myself up and make myself get on with it?? This is the third time I've been through this stupid shit and I really thought I was finally in 'the place' for my career. So I am just devastated and feels like I can not snap myself out of it.

I have always had a low drive, but I feel like it has gotten 10x worse in the past year. My fiance and I have sex maybe once every 2 weeks on good days, but sometimes even once a month.

I have had blood work done; all normal. I am very active; endurance runner and strength train regularly. No medications that would affect it, I only take meds for seizures and ironically enough one of the side effects of that particular med is increased libido. Not for me, sadly.

I literally have no desire to, occasionally I feel like masturbating but intercourse itself is something I am down for very infrequently. There is no emotional issue there, I love my fiance and he's hot as fuck, and VERY good in bed. I just cant be bothered.

I don't know what to do at this point. has anyone gone through something similar and found a solution? I am fairly positive this has something to do with my ADHD, perhaps an executive function issue and/or inability to focus on it long enough to care for it.

Some asshat blocks my driveway on a regular basis. The number specified by LMPD to call for tows takes me to a so-called 'emergency' line, which redirects me back to another line, which redirects me back to the original line.... going in circles.

I've tried multiple times on several different occasions and can not figure this out. What am I missing????

title. Our garaged is detached and not sealed. A spider here and there, whatever. When I tell you, I knock down webs full of 10+ of them on a daily basis. They're everywhere, all over everything. Even from the floor to the ceiling. It's insane and out of control. I have to keep all the yard tools in the yard because within a few hours they'll be covered in webs. Please help.

I can not do meal prep. I've tried dozens of times. I make the thing, enjoy it the first meal. But then no matter how good it was, I can not eat it again. So meal prep always ends up going to waste. SOMETIMES, on a good day, I can eat it a second time. But no further than that.

I cook maybe 2-3 times a week (spaghetti, or basic air fryer protein and rice) but the other days when I do not have energy to cook I end up snacking all day without any proper meals, or eating out which is obviously not kind to my budget.

If someone else has the same problem I would love your ideas.

I am in a healthy BMI zone. 34F, 5'5, weight somewhere around 135-140. I look skinny, ALL of my fat is stored between my ribs and my glutes. (I am aware targeted fat loss isn't a thing) I've been trying to lose just maybe 10 pounds.

I am an avid runner and marathoner. I strength train and/or lift 4 times a week with progressive overload. My calorie intake is in deficit (measured). I have an extremely fast metabolism - literally looked like a twig in my young years up into my mid 20s. I could eat 5000 calories and not gain a pound. I look pregnant with all of the belly fat - and it's not just me being self-conscious, I've unfortunately been asked multiple times because people are rude. I do get bloated which makes it look worse, but when I am not bloated at all, there's still a significant pudge. The wiggly fat in my butt and cellulite is out of control.

I dunno what's up at this point. What the heck am I doing wrong? I have no medical conditions that would contribute to this. Labs all normal. Thyroid normal.

Title - when I do calf raises, it is hard to describe but it's like a vein or something in popping along the achilles tendon in the back of my ankle. There is no pain or discomfort whatsoever, it just feels quite literally like something is shifting across it with each raise. It is on both ankles in the same spot, and have had it for as long as I can remember. Mostly it just feels icky - like nails on a chalkboard icky - and so I am pretty turned off from doing the raises because the sensation makes me feel squeamish. I can't find anything remotely similar to this online and my PT doesn't know what it is either.

NOT ASKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. It has never caused me any issues, I am just curious to know if anyone else experiences this.

I am having the hardest time in the world getting consistent with working out.

Fitness isn't new to me. I was a runner for many years and did marathons. However, in the past year for some reason it all... vanished.

I am naturally a night owl. It doesn't matter if I go to bed at 7pm, I will STILL sleep in till the last possible second. I can easily sleep 12 hours if nothing forces me up. And no, I have no sleep issues that have been found medically (apnea, etc.). I think having severe ADHD does not help anything at all because not only am I a night owl, but it's also a herculean task to start doing literally anything ever, but in the morning 10x worse.

Now yeah I could just workout after school or in the evening, which is what I've always done. But it has been burning me out, because I am exhausted from work and then doing anything more strenuous afterwards is a doubly whammy. Plus it restricts time for dinner, time with my fiance, generally down time after work. It's like a cycle of sleep in with 15 minutes to spare, get ready, zoom off to work, get home, set things out for dinner, go to the gym, get back and have dinner, have maybe 1 hour of down time, go to bed.

I feel like if I could wake up and work out before work, it would potentially go better for me as far as maintaining momentum after work and being able to come home and just chill. But getting out of bed???? Fucckkkkk.

I have tried apps like alarmy where you have to go through a fuckin obstacle course to turn it off. I will literally go downstairs to scan the whatever, and still go back upstairs and back to bed. I don't even know what to do at this point. Nobody probably has a magical cure but I'd love to hear your ideas.

I know this is something I can google, but the answers are very generalized and don't really apply to our specific situation.

My fiance makes 6 figures + has a ridiculous amount of money in stocks, and I am a measly teacher lol. I know the general "rule" that I hear from people around me is that everything becomes "our" income, "our" bills, "our" debt. He has zero debt besides a car payment (which he is a few months away from paying off), I have significant student debt that will turn into 6 figures by the time I pay it off because of the interest + and a car.

Since our incomes are so dramatically different somehow it feels unfair to me for everything to become "ours". It feels like I'm leeching off of him because what I can contribute is massively less. He has already stated that he is okay with all of this, people have told me it legally becomes both of ours within marriage (?), but I grew up poor and having to fend for myself and my mind is intensely conditioned to feel that this is wrong. My parents also had a very lopsided situation just like this where one was pulling all the weight and it led to resentment and ultimately divorce.

Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!!

No bach party, no showers, no anything. Frankly I don't see the point. I'm not doing bridesmaids, only a MOH, but I feel like even if I did have bridesmaids I wouldn't be interested in doing all that. Again what exactly is the point other than to waste money?

Everyone always drops a jaw when I tell them I'm not doing all that. It's making me feel like a weirdo.

I think it's wrong to make anyone in my wedding party spend money on prescribed things such as a dress, the trips, gifts, etc. Every time I see my people talking about other weddings they been to and how much they spent, I'm like... on what??? I see my MOH on a regular basis, and fiance sees his best man on a regular basis. We just can't wrap our minds around throwing all these expensive events/parties. Am I alone in this????

Edit: This is our situation. Not anyone else's. I am not making judgements about what anyone else chooses to do before their wedding. It is a waste of money to us and our wedding party because we already do things together and everyone is agreement about that. Interpreting me as a victim or as selfish is a weird take.

Other people do it to celebrate and get together with their people, and I think that's awesome for them. Someone said social media makes bach parties out to be these big trips or extravagant events on top of the already big event that is the wedding itself. That is probably where my opinion is coming from. Several people have said their "bach party" was having a sleepover, or going to a bar/out to eat. I didn't think of those things as parties, just regular hang outs, so that is probably where my idea of "pointless" comes from. In my mind, the wedding was the big celebration, without need for other big things beforehand. Though now it seems increasingly clear that the parties in question aren't necessarily big or anything out of the ordinary. I just personally thought of those things as a big whole separate thing that would cost a lot of money for everyone involved, not as a dinner or low key thing. So that's on me.

(this is NOT a ship post)

One of my irks with S4 (I have a lot lol) is that there was no follow-up or closure of any sort after that very intense, dramatic scene. That was a really big deal, for Sherlock to say that and affect his friendship with Molly in such a HUGE way. Then not only does it rapidly switch to the next thing with no real reaction from Molly after he says it, I waited patiently for some kind of follow-up after they got out of Sherrinford, and when one ever came I was beyond pissed.

That is lazy writing. Like, "hey let's throw in this insane character relationship event that will dramatically affect their relationship in one way or another, but maybe we should ignore the after effects and pretend it didn't happen". Be FR..... Showing her for 0.5 seconds at the end is not closure. We needed some kind of brief conversation of some sort. Like the stairway scene in TEH - didn't need to be anything crazy. There would've been plenty of time for it if they didn't do that cheesy, cringy ending montage.

I hate it. 😭

I am frustrated.

Maybe my body is just dumb, but I am constantly dealing with hip/back/flank pain.

I've tried memory foam, gel, hard, soft, plush toppers, memory foam toppers.

Everything feels dreamy and comfortable for a few weeks and then quickly begins to be uncomfortable.

I obviously can not rely on trying out mattresses at a store because of this. How they heck do I find 'the one' without sinking $1500+ over and over?

I want to preface this by saying, I love my job. I can't imagine doing anything else.

Usually, I am pretty excited for back to school. I look forward to getting into my room, setting up, getting ready for the year.

Sadly, our entire amazing admin team jumped ship. Two are leaving buildings to work for the state department, and our instructional coach (who was amazing) was bullied out by immature teachers who hate her for no reason. There were disciplinary measures taken against those teachers, but sadly, that staff member doesn't feel comfortable here anymore. And just as sadly, those teachers are staying put, to probably spread their negativity and cattiness even worse than they were already before.

So we are going into a new year with a completely different administrative team, along with a lot of new staff hired to replace all of the teachers who also jumped ship because of admin leaving.

Thankfully, I still have my grade-level teammates, so within our little bubble things will hopefully be at least somewhat normal. But I just know the new admin is going to come and try to change everything. It is also just going to feel so weird not having my principal give me a hug when I'm crying in frustration over a kid or a parent. I can't say the new admin team won't give that support to us but I'm doubtful.

But, to add insult to injury, my team lead is going on maternity leave either late August or in September. So not only with all the other changes, it's practically a new building, AND I won't have my 'rock' for 6 weeks. She truly is the best person, and she will be a great mom, but she holds the shambles up and somehow keeps shit together and now I won't have that for over a month. And especially with it being at the start of the school year, the timing is impeccably horrible.

I just can't bring myself to look forward to going back, which is unlike me and it really sucks.

What do you think of Sherlock's addiction arc? Opinions? (all welcome!)

Personally, I love it - I think it brings loads of depth to his character and removes him from simply being a genius detective with a cool talent which to me is boring. I love the concept of him having a traumatic childhood that leads into a lot of his destructive, self-hating tendencies. It humanizes him.

That said , Moftiss made a mess of it. As someone who grew up around addiction, the way they wrote it into the series is frankly offensive. I don't like how they portrayed him as "choosing" to use, coming and going with it voluntarily as he pleased. That is literally not how substance abuse works. And then the complete lack of a real detox in S4 really did it in for me lol. No one coming off hard drugs is sitting in a chair quietly drinking tea.

I still love the concept. I wish they'd done a better job with it. It felt like an afterthought in S3. If they'd actually done research and written it properly, and weaved it into moments all throughout the entire show starting in S1, it could have been a really powerful character arc. Sadly...