u/VagabondVivant

I've always loved writing, but any attempts at prose always found my descriptions and scene-settings incredibly lacking. I would read books where authors could expound for pages on the way a place looked and smelled and sounded and felt, but when it was my turn, I struggled with even the most basic of descriptions.

Small wonder I ended up more of a play- and scriptwriter, focusing on dialog (which I had no problem with since my ADHD-addled brain often has inner conversations running constantly) and the occasional bit of action. It was only a week or so ago, while discussing my recently-discovered aphantasia, that I realized my inability to describe the scenes I was writing could be connected to my inability to see those scenes.

Which has me curious: is it like this for all aphantasiacs, or have some of y'all managed to come up with strategies and mechanisms to get past not being able to visualize the things you write about (if you even need them at all)?

I'd like to go down to Mexico for three months in January and I'm wondering what it's like when you have a dog (which tends to limit your activity options) and want to do more than just beach camp.

I've found a lot of posts from folks talking about Mexico vanliving, but they've mostly been from dog-less vandwellers, and the few folks that did it with dogs only seemed to be beach camping (at least, based on the photos they posted).

Is there more to it, or is that mostly all there is for us be-dogged folks? I'd really like to immerse myself in the culture and people as much as possible, which tends to be difficult when you're hidden away in a beach camp spot, and would love to hear about what life is like down there for gringos with dingoes.

Thanks!

While generally not permitted outside of developed areas and campgrounds, I know that some NPs allow dogs on certain trails. But are there any that permit them to go backcountry camping?

I keep having to replace the aluminum foil and it feels a little wasteful.

(Infomercial Voice) There's got to be a better way.

In the hopes of finding design inspiration, I'd love to see what you've been rocking to protect your stoves from wind.

To be clear, I don't mean dog parks. I'm not looking for fenced-in lawns but rather large open spaces where a dog can run around.

My go-to is Briones Regional Park, which is only about ten minutes away and has a number of off-leash areas in the hilly parts. Only issue is that he's got long hair, so he tends to overheat as well as wind up covered in burrs I spend hours combing out. And there's no water to be found beyond the drinking fountains.

I'll sometimes take him to the Albany Bulb, where he can run around on the beach and in the water, but if I don't time it right I can sometimes be looking at an hourlong drive back.

Are there any spots that offer the proximity of the former with the wateriness of the latter?

Every "lint-free" cloth and towel I've found on Amazon has proven to be a lie when I actually went to apply finishes (especially Tried & True). What are y'all using to apply your thicker, tackier finishes?

I've been seeing articles about how the new Spiderman movie is set to break all worldwide box office records, which seemed odd to me because I remember Titanic being incredibly massive when it came out in '97. I looked up the chart and was surprised to see it at #4 until I realized they were comparing 1997 dollars to 2026 dollars.

Adjusting for inflation, Titanic made $4B total worldwide, not the $2B they credit it with, which puts it handily at the top of the list.

Why do these articles and rankings not take inflation into account?

I have been the administrator for my dad's domain ever since buying it via Google Domains, 22 years ago. My dad was the registrant, but I was always the owner and official admin contact.

When SS bought Google Domains, the domain moved over with the rest of the domains I own.

Even though I'm 90% sure I had it on auto-renew, the domain expired last month. I was never notified. I only found out when I got a letter from the bank saying emails to me (I use the domain for my emails as well) had been bouncing.

For whatever reason, I was unable to simply renew the domain via the control panel (despite it saying I should be able to).

Because my dad died last September, the support team wouldn't just let me renew the domain. I had to submit the death cert and other docs in order to take control (again, I am and have always been the owner and admin contact).

I submitted all the requested docs. It's been a week since then and every time I follow up, they just tell me "The docs are still being reviewed."

I'm posting this not to complain, but in the vain hope that an SS rep monitors this sub and can help me. I have less than a week left, and then the domain is lost forever.

If there's anyone out there that can actually help me, please do. I cannot afford to lose this domain.

I bought a thumb cam and was all excited to start using it when I discovered that the necessary app required you to pay to use it. If you tried to use it without paying, it just froze on you and did nothing. You could still use the camera to shoot video, but that was it. No adjusting settings, no taking pictures, no doing nothing. I immediately returned the camera and uninstalled the app.

I know there are tons of camera options out there, but I also know that with a lot of no-name tech on Amazon, it's all the same device with just different casings or minor spec changes. And since the app in question was made by a third party and not the manufacturer, it stands to reason that other cams also require the same app to do anything besides shoot video.

All of this being said, what are good thumb cams that don't require shelling out $50 for an app to be able to configure/use them?

I went to check my Home Mini settings via the app, but the app said the device was "Not available" despite the phone and device being on the same network.

Odd.

I went through the laborious process of resetting it and setting it back up as new. All of this was done through the app. Once it was finished, I went to the device settings.

The app claims it's "Not available."

wtf.

How do I get the Home app to see my Home Mini?

I'm looking for a thumb cam I can mount inside my helmet (like this guy), but I want it to shoot horizontally. Are there any thumb cams whose lenses can be rotated so you can mount the camera vertically but still shoot in landscape?

I fell off a few years ago (reality was bleak enough, watching Black Mirror would've been a bridge too far) and every time there was an episode with an actor I love (like Rashida Jones, my forever crush), I'd be warned to stay away because it was too depressing.

That said, there have been a lot of really great episodes that were either only kinda-sad, or even not sad at all. So with that said, what are the gotta-watch eps from recent history?

I know it's already started, but the AI-fueled call center apocalypse is going to get a lot worse very soon and I'm wondering what's going to happen to all of the infrastructure, buildings, IT parks, and entire support systems that had been built around the call center industry, not to mention the thousands on thousands of people who work in it.

Has anyone talked on this? Have any companies made any statements? What are they doing to prepare for the crash?

(Huh, just noticed there's no BusinessPH flair)

I need to find a mechanic to look at my van's cooling issues, but I'm just coming off a pet emergency and need to pinch pennies a little.

I've been making calls but there are a lot of shops in the area, so if anyone has a lead on a solid mechanic with a reasonable rate, I'd greatly appreciate the tip.

Thank you!

Ten years ago, I used the couchsurfing.org forums to find the two guys I rode from Hanoi to HCMC with.

I'm about to do the ride again, and as my original buddies are no longer available, I'm looking for new ones once more.

I'll be posting to CS again, but I'm curious if other, better resources have popped up in the interim. I'm not on Facebook, so that's not an option.