u/SunBetter7301

The eagle was pretty cool and the flag was okay, but aside from that, I think I would’ve preferred a longer fireworks display instead of the drone show. It was small and they positioned it horribly.

Also, THANK GOODNESS for that breeze that eventually came through 🥵

I’ve been a Trader Joe’s lover for 10 years now, but I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed by TJ’s the last two times I shopped there.

They used to be known for regularly rotating their items based on what’s in season, but I’ve noticed that they’re not doing this as often anymore. For the most part, except for a few seasonal items here and there, their inventory has hardly changed over the last two years or so.

Not only that, but some of their items are truly trash (specifically, their packs of ramen noodle soup and quite a few plant-based items) and their produce prices have skyrocketed.

Like, unless I’m going there for something really specific (like their stuffed grape leaves or sunflower seed butter chocolate cups) there’s really no point in going to TJ anymore imo.

I’m not sure if there’s a correlation but wanted to see if anyone has experienced the same thing.

I have genetic high cholesterol and was diagnosed with borderline high cholesterol in my 20s. By 30, I had inched into high cholesterol territory. Still, aside from the gradual increase, it’d remained relatively stable considering the fact that I’ve gained, and lost, 70 lbs over the last 5 years. I tried making dietary changes, exercising more often, drinking Metamucil, taking various supplements… everything. I’ve also followed a vegetarian diet for the last 13 years. Still, it’s really done nothing for my cholesterol levels, except for perhaps slow the progression.

Well, I just went in for my annual checkup, and my levels have somehow miraculously decreased by more than 20% in less than a year (from 261 to 202 mg/dL, which is barely borderline high atp)?? They’re now at the same levels that they were when I was 23. I had the same BMI back then as I do now, but I only had 14-17% body fat at 23, and def have way more now. Even last year, when my BMI was lower than it is today, and lower than when I was 23, my cholesterol was at its highest ever.

So, I’m just completely dumbfounded bc I’ve quite literally done nothing over the last year to actively try and lower my cholesterol levels… aside from, like, switching to fat free feta cheese lol. The only thing I can think of is that I’d started stimulant adhd meds within the last 1-1.5 years.

Anyone else experience a similar effect from stimulant meds? I’m currently on Concerta.

[spoiler]

I’m sorry, but I just can’t with the decision to cast him as a high school this season. I know that he was supposed to be a teen on Yellowstone, which was believable then, but he doesn’t look like a high schooler by ANY stretch of the imagination anymore. It’s so bad that they had to write the fact that he looks way too old to be in hs into the script. Just, like, why? 😭 Especially considering the fact that we never saw him in hs on Yellowstone, and that he is rarely ever even shown in hs on Dutton Ranch.

Not to mention the fact that he’s dating a full grown woman, which is just really disturbing for a supposed high schooler. I understand the necessity of his and Oreana’s relationship in this season’s plot, but why was it necessary for them to be dating as a weird, borderline ped couple? They easily could’ve made him a recent hs grad and it would’ve made no difference.

I just don’t get the point of any of it.

S3E8 still doesn’t live up the any of the episodes from S1 & S2, but it’s the only episode in all of S3 that has any real depth to it imo. I actually teared up at times, which def was not the case for any of the other S3 episodes. Yes, there were still a lot of cringe moments, and the finale still left a lot of unanswered questions, but it felt way more like Euphoria than other S3 episodes. The finale was this season’s only saving grace. That said, I really wish we would’ve gotten clearer endings for many of the characters (Jules, Fez (did he actually even exist this season??), Faye, Cal, etc).

I also really like the note that Cassie and Lexi’s relationship ended on. I literally could not stand Lexi this season, but seeing them fall back onto that “we’re sister above everything else” dynamic was really heartwarming. It was also refreshing to see Lexi’s empathetic and compassionate side.

I’ve worked with this therapist, on and off, for a couple of years now. I was diagnosed with C-PTSD, and she’s helped me through quite a bit of it through a specific type of therapy. But, now that I’ve “graduated” from that specific type of therapy, things have changed. It’s almost like she expected 3-months of therapy to undo a lifetime of trauma, and now that she’s realizing it hasn’t, she’s grown frustrated with me (mind you, it’s only been 3-months since “graduating” said therapy). Now, I find her regularly jumping to conclusions about what I’m experiencing during our sessions, and getting frustrated with me when I try to tell her that she’s misunderstanding what I’m trying to explain.

I admit that I can sometimes struggle with explaining my thoughts and feelings in a clear and concise way since I’m neurodivergent; however, I feel that if she’s unclear on what I’m trying to convey, she should ask probing questions to get a better understanding vs. speaking at me about her interpretation of what I’m going through, while pushing back when I try to further clarify.

For example, recently, she accused me of withholding information from her and borderline raised her voice at me while doing so. I was extremely confused bc, to my knowledge, I hadn’t. I just kind of let it go, though, bc it’s been so hard for me to find a half decent therapist. I honestly even started doubting what I knew to be true (that I hadn’t withheld any information from her) bc she was so adamant that I had. Fast forward to our next session, and it eventually comes out that she’d completely misunderstood and misremembered something I’d previously told her, and that’s what’d fueled her accusations. I understand that miscommunications happen, and that therapists are only human.. but it’s the way that she was so unapologetically accusatory of me even when I was trying to tell her that what she was suggesting didn’t feel right. And, it keeps happening.

Today, for the first time, I actually cut her off mid-conversation as I noticed her falling into the same pattern. Just as before, it turns out that she was yet again jumping to a pre-conceived conclusion that she’d drawn about me in her mind for some reason. She also keeps saying that we’ve talked about certain things that we haven’t spoken about, and when I point it out, she snaps at me in frustration, saying things like “I can’t remember everything we’ve spoken about”.

Normally, I’d think maybe I was just being too sensitive. The thing, though, is that I’ve seen her act the same way towards office staff. It struck me as a bit concerning when I saw it happen, but I wrote it off since I obviously had no understanding of the workplace dynamics in her office.

Idk. I’m just really starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable with sharing things with her atp bc, when I do, there’s like a 50% chance that I’m going to be misunderstood or met with unfair frustration. It’s just really starting to make me feel unsupported and like I’m dealing with a snarky mean girl who always wants to be right… when, at first, she felt like a supportive friend (I know we weren’t actually friends, ofc) that was on my side.

This is just my opinion. And, ofc, as long as the quality doesn’t keep declining 😭

Still, I see a lot of people ditching Starbucks for places like Dutch Bros and 7Brew, and for valid reasons: more syrup flavors, more sugar free syrups, less “burnt” tasting coffee, cheaper, etc.

The one thing I think will keep Starbucks around, though, is the stronghold that their PSL has on millennial women (including myself). Sure, every coffee shop in the US has their own version of PSL in the fall, but they’re never quite able to replicate Starbucks’ PSL. Ironically, I think Starbucks’ “burnt” coffee taste is exactly what makes their PSL distinct. And, because it was such a cultural phenomenon among millennial women, it’s something that many of us will hold onto until the day that we die bc it evokes such a sense of nostalgia for us. For me, it takes me back to walking across a college campus with cool, crisp air and crunchy leaves on the ground, while wearing the standard millennial infinity scarf, jean jacket, leggings, and riding boots 😂

So, while I agree that Starbucks has gotten old, boring, and has become way overpriced, there’s a part of me that could literally NEVER let go of their PSL. Like, I know if I ever had to start the fall w/o their PSL, I’d be very upset about it and would probably never get over it lol.

I don’t mean emotional regulation. I’m talking emotional responses that happen so quickly that you don’t even get the chance to attempt emotional regulation nor think anything that comes out of your mouth through at all.

Despite being 32, I still really really struggle with this every now and then. It was really bad when I was a teenager, but has improved with age. Still, I find myself saying something that I immediately regret in response to stress maybe 2-3 times a year (max), and it’s really embarrassing. I’m particularly worried about it now bc, after many many years of working in a white collar field, I’m having to return to customer service (I have no other option atp). Although the last time I worked in customer service was more than 10 years ago, it ended pretty horribly (I told my manager I quit in front of everyone in the restaurant, in response to him screaming at me in front of customers, and walked out of my job on the spot).

While I only respond in such ways when I’m being objectively mistreated, it really never does me any favors in the long run bc… you know, I have adult bills to pay now.

Anyways, does anyone else still struggle with this at such a big age? If so, is there anything that helps you better control your outbursts? My meds somewhat help, but I’m having a really hard time finding the right meds/dosage that works for me rn, so the help from meds is minimal atp.

I completed my master’s degree 4 years ago. Prior to that, I’d worked in my field for about 4 years. I landed a job using my master’s degree within 9 months of finishing it, only to be laid off within 9 months. That was 1.5 years ago, and I haven’t been able to land a role in my field since.

Today, I accepted a job outside of my field making less than $20/hr. I’ve literally gone from making $75/hr (1.5 years ago) to less than $20/hr, and I’m honestly relieved bc I’m just so over beating this dead horse that is my career. I spent 10 years building my career, only for it to fall to pieces as soon as it peaked. Trying to recover it for 1.5 years with no avail was not only stressful, but was incredibly discouraging, depressing, and devaluing. I also learned along the way that I actually hate my field, and that I only ever entered it for the money… which failed to materialize.

So, yeah, now I’m working a job that’s a waste of my hard earned skills, but at least it’s something that won’t suck the life out of me while continuously damaging my self-esteem through repeated rejection… and all for something that doesn’t even fulfill me.

Anyone else throw in the towel on their career in response to this job market?

I’d rather be called unattractive. Nothing’s worse than being told you’re almost good enough, but still not good enough, imo. Like, keep that sht to yourself and just let me go on believing you think I’m ugly instead 😭

It just occurred to me that many people don’t know what it’s like to only have full siblings.

What’s hardest for me to wrap my head around is that I couldn’t imagine either of my parents (even though they’ve been separated for 20+ years atp) having children with anyone other than each other. I honestly probably would’ve been devastated if my father had children with anyone else. I also can’t imagine having a sibling that is half my parent and half someone else that didn’t raise me. Above all, I keep thinking that, if I had a half sibling, I would’ve worried growing up that my parent favored one of us over the other simply bc of who our other parent was.

I’m sure it’s not nearly as convoluted as I’m making it out to be, and that it’s probably really not much different than only having full siblings, but I just wonder if there actually are some differences b/t the two types of upbringings.

I’m a millennial zillennial, but graduated college and went to grad school with gen z bc I took longer to finish my undergrad degree. That said, I was in the workforce (since I worked all throughout college and grad school) at least 3 years before the eldest gen z members.

My career success was on a quickly climbing trajectory all throughout college and grad school. Then, after the pandemic ended, not only did it completely flatline, but it’s completely bottomed so far out that I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s completely unrecoverable at this point… after wasting 100k and 10 years on it bc I was told that my selected career would more than repay the debt and would be worth the time and effort I’d sacrificed.

Fast forward to today, and I have not been able to get a job in my field for 1.5 years, despite having significant experience and academic success. Aside from that, the longer I remain in a position outside of my field, the more my skillset becomes obsolete and erodes. Remaining in school to maintain and grow my skillset isn’t an option since I literally cannot afford it atp, and I do not have the financial flexibility to maintain it through unpaid work.

Then, I look at gen z members, and realize that this sort of job market’s all they’ve known, and it p*sses me off for them. It p*sses me off enough when older generations or even older millennials (with well established careers) criticize me for being unable to find work in my field, let alone a stable job at all… but at least I’ve been in the workforce long enough to be able to justify that I’m not just imagining or pretending that the job market is f*cked. Gen z, though, really has no other frame of reference to rely on, or prior experience with the job market to stand behind, when standing up for themselves… so, no one takes them seriously.

I literally can’t count the number of times I’ve seen recruiters say things like “it’s bc you’re not doing [insert whatever ridiculously tedious thing] on your resume” to gen z on social media, and gen z eats it up bc they just need a job and think it’s normal for employers to nitpick resumes down to who uses 11pt vs. 12pt font. That’s NOT NORMAL. Not so ironically, when I chime into these convos by saying to recruiters “hey, no, it’s bc the job market is trash… which I know since I have 10 years of experience of effortlessly landing jobs w/o having to do any of these things you’re mentioning… stop gaslighting applicants” their tune suddenly changes to “it’s just a suggestion”.

It’s just really messed up. When it comes to the job market, it’s not just boomers vs. zillennials/gen z. It’s literally anyone born before like 1994 vs. zillennials/gen z, and I feel like it’s not talked about enough.

I’m a skilled data analyst trying to earn some extra cash over the next 6 months.

That said, I’m only willing to offer services for things such as data cleaning, data transformation, data subsetting, and descriptive statistics, but am targeting clients with large datasets (ex: over 50k observations, over 1k variables). I’ll be using R to carry out the tasks.

Looking at other’s pricing, though, I’m not sure offering my services on Fiverr is even worth it anymore. The average price for services similar to what I’m willing to offer is $30 for a 1-7 day project. I’m sorry… but, I can literally sit on my a** and do virtually nothing at my current job, and make more money in a single day.

Am I missing something? Are those prices just for extremely simple analytic services (like cleaning a 50 observation, two variable dataset)? In terms of handling large and robust datasets, I just can’t imagine ever accepting so little for something that requires such attention to detail and specialized skill (since, clearly, you’d have to know how to use advanced statistical software, and how to code, to handle robust datasets).

Now, the hourly rates that people list seem a lot more reasonable. My only thing is that the hourly rate seems to be reserved for long-term projects. I’m unwilling to commit to any given project for more than 6 months, so that’s my only hang up with that. Is it possible to find long-term projects that don’t exceed that duration of time?

What would you charge for the services I’m offering (as “a la carte” services and for long-term projects)?

I’m not a parent, so I have no idea at which ages milestones are normally met.

Basically, she’s been able to navigate an iphone, by herself, and without being taught, by 1.5 years old. I thought that was impressive, but also thought maybe it was just bc kids are exposed to screens (even indirectly) since the day they’re born, nowadays. I figured she’d likely picked it up quickly from watching her parents use their phones (especially FaceTime since she was a pandemic baby).

Now, she’s 4 years old, and we’ve realized that she knows how to read. Then, one day, she randomly explained to me that she was tired bc it was dark outside, and that it gets dark outside at night time bc of where we’re located in the solar system. Another time, out of the blue, she asked me what the word “viable” means.

I just find myself increasingly shocked by what she’s able to learn on her own, the older she gets. Maybe I’m just not around other kids enough? Or, maybe she just seems a lot smarter compared to my aging brain 😂

Her grandmother could read a newspaper at 3, though, so it’s not entirely surprising. It’s just incredible to witness myself.

Aside from the pre-licensing course… how much did you have to pay out-of-pocket? Is it necessary to become an NAR member? Is it possible to find a brokerage that’ll cover marketing costs (even if it’s deducted from commission) and even E&O costs?

I have a decent amount of time to dedicate to getting up and going, however I’m very limited on funds, and can’t afford more than $1k (max- outside of the pre-licensing course) in the 1st year, which I’d need to be spread out over that period of time.

I do have personal connections in real estate in my area, though, if that helps anything. I also don’t need to make a killing in the 1st year, nor do I mind being on a team (I’d honestly probably prefer that) vs. an independent agent. As long as I’m able to net like $25k in the 1st year, I should be fine. I also have another job that allows me to work as needed and do whatever personal stuff I need to do on my laptop while on the clock (so would have almost the entire workday to chase leads, market, and communicate with clients). That said, I would not be looking to join a brokerage that requires me to be in office.

Does my situation still sound doable/realistic or will I just be wasting my time given my limited funding?

For me, it’s that they significantly worsen my time blindness and somehow seem to make me more forgetful?

I take, and have tried, several ADHD meds, but am pretty sure it’s the Concerta that I take that does this for me. I have combination ADHD, and it seems that while Concerta really helps me focus by calming my mind down, it doing so also seems to like turn off any sense of urgency that I have for anything outside of what I’m concentrating on. It’s like once I decide to do something, it’s the only thing in the world that matters for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, I’m really sensitive to like all meds, though, and don’t really have any other treatment options besides my current adhd med mix, so I’m kind of stuck with these side effects.

It’s annoying, at the very least, but my other adhd symptoms are so much worse without it.

It’s one thing if a young child (like younger than 11) has a crush on you, and it’s endearing to you bc you know it comes from a place of innocence vs. actual physical attraction.

Once they hit their tweens, though, it becomes a whole different thing. Of course it’s not wrong of tweens and teens (who are being bombarded by hormones and still figuring out which feelings are appropriate and which are not) to have crushes on adults. What I don’t get is when the adult that the kid has a crush on, like, revels in it and uses it to boost their own ego. Personally, as a 30 y/o woman, I’m mortified when I learn that a teen has a crush on me… bc, like, ew. They are still babies in my mind, yet are having adult thoughts in their mind about me, so basking in the compliment just feels incredibly inappropriate and like a huge boundary issue.

Sadly, I’ve still come across this behavior in adults quite a few times, though. Men and women alike.

I use Uber regularly, and I can’t tell you how often my drivers are beyond their 50s. Within the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a couple in their 60s and one in their 70s. I only ride with women drivers, too, so these are elderly women that we’re talking about. Idk if it’s just me, but I certainly don’t remember having Uber drivers any older than like in their 40s in the late 2010s through early 2020s.

It just makes me so sad bc is this what our society’s come to… making it so that the elderly have to taxi people around to afford living? I know that the internet loves to blame boomers for everything, but it seems like a good portion of them aren’t doing well themselves and are really struggling.