u/mamayss

I'm mid 30s and have been spending the last several years converting to a total clean skincare regime. My vanity table is filled with organic cold pressed oils, rose water, and plant based serums. For a good many years now I’ve had glowy skin.

But then in the last 7 mos the most drastic change in my sleep habits has thrown all of that out the window. I've got myself suffering from severe insomnia wherein I spend hours lying awake at night while feeling a constant tension in my chest. As a result my skin is looking absolutely awful due to a lack of reparative sleep. Extremely dry and dehydrated with fine lines around my eyes which were not there last year. Expensive clean skincare products just sit atop of my skin because my cellular turnover rate has slowed down to almost zero.

In my quest to improve my sleep quality, I took 5mg synthetic melatonin chewables for 2 wks just out of sheer desperation. However it only resulted in giving me frightening nightmares, grogginess in the mornings, and making my eyes appear puffy and swollen in the morning. What I am seeking is a natural method of grounding my nervous system and reducing stress cortisol hormones without resorting to using any hormones at all. Since I have a busy schedule traveling for work, mixing up loose herbs or using a 5 step evening elixir is not an option.

near the end of my Accutane course it's been a journey. my skin is clear for the first time in years and honestly I don't really know what to do now.

before this I had this whole skincare routine. 10 steps, serums, masks, all of it. trying to fix my acne with products. and none of it worked. now my skin is clear and I don't even know how to take care of it.

I've been thinking about what my routine should look like now. do I go back to all the steps? do I keep it simple? I feel like I've been traumatized by skincare lol.

I read something from some London aesthetic medicine specialists about skin being revealed not created. it's not about Accutane but it made me think about how I've been fighting my skin instead of just letting it be.

anyone else finish Accutane and not know how to treat their new skin?

hey guys, anyone else feels like a glorified janitor for their own business? I have a few small side projects and instead of doing anything useful to make money, I spend all my time on boring tech cleanup. completely stuck in the weeds lately.

seriously, every week is identical. instead of doing marketing or finding new clients, my hours just vanish into fixing plugins, cleaning up spreadsheets, or digging through old user data to keep database costs low (just using random cheap tools like MailTester Ninja to drop dead weight).

it feels like death by a thousand cuts. you start a solo business for the freedom, but you end up being the janitor, the accountant, and the IT guy all at once.

for those of you who managed to scale past the solo stage, how did you break out of this cycle? did you start outsourcing the boring admin stuff even when profits were low, or did you just automate everything using scripts until you had the budget for real help?

honestly feels like I’m busy all day but accomplishing zero actual growth.

Got about 200k in shares and another 100k sitting in offset. Been thinking about buying an investment property but I keep going back and forth.

shares are easy- liquid, no tenants, no maintenance but property gives you leverage which you just cant get with stocks. 20% down on a million dollar asset sounds pretty attractive.

Problem is I don't even know where to buy. Sydney's obviously out. Been looking at Brisbane and Newcastle cause they seem to have better yields.

I like the idea of property but I also like not having to deal with broken hot water systems at 2am. Anyone else been at this crossroads? what made you decide one way or the other?

Been renting off and on for years and honestly the property manager can make or break the whole experience. Had one place where maintenance requests just disappeared into a void. Never heard back for weeks. Compare that to another spot where the manager responded same day. Completely different feel even though the properties were similar.

Is it just response time? Or does it go deeper than that, like transparency about repairs, clear communication on lease stuff, actually treating tenants like people?

A lot of companies talk a good game but the daytoday experience tells a different story. If you've had a manager who genuinely stood out, good or bad, what made the difference? Curious what others have run into.

Ugh, I’m writing this from my mom’s kitchen table because we’ve been stuck in a total tech nightmare for the last five hours. She got one of those "failed package delivery" texts, but the creepy part was that it actually had her correct full name on it. She thought it was legit, clicked the link, typed in her info... and boom. Within literally two hours, she got logged out of her primary email, and her password stopped working. Then she started getting notifications about weird attempts to access her online banking.

We did the immediate damage control-called the bank to freeze everything, changed her main passwords, and turned on 2FA where we could. But it’s like playing whack-a-mole right now. Her phone keeps buzzing with random verification codes for sketchy apps she’s never even heard of. It’s terrifying how fast these scammers move once they get a foot in the door. She’s older and (shocking absolutely no one) reused a couple of passwords. held passwords in a notebook list named "PASSWORDS", so I'm spiraling thinking about what else they already have access to.

What else are we missing? Should we factory reset her phone and laptop just to be safe from malware? I’m honestly so overwhelmed and don't even know how to make sure they are completely out of her life. Any advice is appreciated.

last week i went to attenzione food and wine and really liked it a lot. the food was excellent and the whole place had such a warm and welcoming vibe that made the night feel special without trying too hard.

what are the most vibey restaurants locals keep recommending around sydney? any favorites with great atmosphere and solid food that stand out from the usual spots?

had my cousins visiting vegas last week and went with them to pick up a car at the rental center. absolute worst mistake ngl. the corporate rental chains are such a predatory scam now. they advertise like $35 a day online but by the time they hit you with the vegas airport concession recovery fee, facility taxes, and forced upgrades it literally tripled. we stood in that miserable line for an hour just to get ripped off

We literally walked out of the line it was so stupid. I just hopped on turo while we were standing there and found a clean civic parked right in the terminal parking garage for way cheaper with zero surprise fees

im just so incredibly sick of corporate rental counters draining people with hidden fees the second you step off the plane here. next time family comes to town im telling them to completely skip the rental center shuttle bubble.

Maybe I just know unlucky landlords, but every person I've talked to with an investment property seems constantly dealing with something. Tenant moves out last minute, something breaks, a tradie goes quiet. I figured it calmed down after the first year but apparently not.

I'm genuinely curious about people's experiences here in Queensland. Did you hit a point where selfmanaging just wasn't worth the headache anymore, or did it get easier over time? And for those who did hand it off to a property manager, did it actually feel like the right call looking back?

honestly I dont get why the quick showroom demo is still the standard. Switching to a tesla is basically a whole lifestyle shift and driving around the block with an advisor talking at you teaches you literally zero about daily ownership

My biggest anxiety was just figuring out public charging and adjusting to the one pedal driving without feeling like im gonna rear end someone. I ended up booking a model Y on turo for a couple days just so I could sit in my driveway messing with the screen and test out the superchargers at my own pace. it made such a huge difference just being alone in the car to figure out the actual tech without being rushed

It just feels like the "quick spin down the highway" model is totally broken when you're dealing with software on wheels. did the UI and driving dynamics actually click for you guys during the official demo, or did it take a few weeks of normal commuting to finally get comfortable?

I'm at a point where I'm seriously questioning whether owning a house still makes sense for my lifestyle

About eight years ago, buying a house felt like the obvious goal. I was tired of renting, wanted more space, and liked the idea of having a yard and a place that was completely mine

At the time, it felt like a great decision

Now I'm not so sure….

I live alone except for my two cats, and the reality is that the house feels a lot bigger than I actually need. When I bought it, I imagined I'd eventually have a family, fill the extra rooms, maybe spend weekends working on projects around the property

Life went in a different direction.

These days, these additional spaces are simply cluttered with unnecessary things, while each new issue that arises in maintaining the property can be considered an item on yet another never-ending list of things to do

But the worst issue for me now is my commute

I have to travel back and forth from my office which is situated on the other side of the metropolitan area and spend about an hour traveling each way because of traffic

Then I walk through the door and get reminded of everything else that needs attention

The water heater is getting old

Part of the fence needs repair

The roof has started showing its age

There are plumbing issues that seem to come and go whenever they feel like it

Nothing is catastrophic, but it's always something

What frustrates me is that I rarely have the time or energy to deal with any of it properly. Weekends that are supposed to be relaxing turn into maintenance weekends. I'll cross one thing off the list and somehow two new things appear

Recently, I’ve caught myself checking out apartments more toward downtown areas

Several years back, I would have thought it was crazy

Now it seems pretty tempting

No lawn maintenance

No concerns about having to replace a roof

No spending all Saturday waiting for contractors

Most importantly, I'd get back a huge amount of time from not sitting in traffic every day

The more I think about it, the more I realize that my priorities have changed. When I was younger, having a larger house felt important. Now convenience and free time seem a lot more valuable

The problem with my situation is how to deal with the house itself

It's not in a bad state, but it certainly isn't ready to move straight in either. There are a few things I can do to it before putting it up for sale, but I really don't know if I want to put any more effort into it given the way I feel

Part of me thinks I should fix everything, list it, and try to maximize the sale price

Another part of me wonders if I'm overcomplicating things and should focus on simplifying my life instead

Maybe I'm just burned out from years of maintenance and commuting, but the idea of closing this chapter and moving somewhere that better fits my current life is becoming harder to ignore

Has anyone here transitioned from being a homeowner to living in an apartment voluntarily let’s say?

In case of selling property that needed repair work, did you go ahead and make the repairs first, or did you think that it was not worth the trouble?

I've been playing on and off for about three years now. Mostly hacking around, losing balls in the woods, three putting from six feet, the usual. Nothing glamorous. But last weekend something clicked. I was playing a par 3, about 160 yards, slight wind into my face. I stepped up with my 6 iron, made a decent turn, kept my head down, and pure flushed it. Ball lands about 8 feet from the pin and I actually had a legit birdie putt. Missed it obviously, but that's beside the point. For the first time I genuinely felt like I belonged on a golf course. Not just someone taking up space between the real golfers. It got me thinking about how this game works differently for everyone. Some people have that moment early on, some chase it for years. It might be a long drive, a chip in, a scramble save, or just finally breaking 90. What was that moment for you? Was it one specific shot or more of a gradual thing where you looked back and realized you'd actually improved? Did it change how seriously you started taking practice and equipment?

Would love to hear the stories. This community has some good ones and it might help newer players understand what to work toward.

I've been fighting a cockroach infestation in my house for the past three months. It started after a big rainstorm when I noticed a few in the kitchen sink, but now they're showing up in the bathroom and even the living room at night. I've sealed cracks and kept food stored away, but they keep coming back.

I tried over-the-counter traps and sprays, which kill some but don't stop new ones from appearing. It's gross finding them in cabinets, and I'm worried about health risks with my kids around. What natural repellents have worked for long-term control?

How effective are professional treatments for roaches compared to DIY?

What should I expect in terms of cost for a full inspection and treatment? Any prep steps I need to take before calling pros?

my 4 month old has bad reflux with lots of spit up and discomfort after feeds even on current formula i tried a few standard ones but they had too many additives that seemed to make it worse. i am looking at organic options because they carry clean european brands with organic ingredients like grass fed milk no palm oil and added probiotics for gentle digestion. what worked for your babies with reflux and how long did it take to see improvement any tips on transitioning without more upset? thanks for any advice.

I thought that landscaping for commercial buildings was mostly cosmetic nonsense and waste of money. Like, as long as the parking lot wasn’t full and the trash got picked up, who really cared if there were fancy plants near the entrance?

The thing is that I run a small business in one commercial building with multiple offices and space and for years the outside looked… let’s day fine, I guess… Like I really didn’t care as long as it was functional. A couple dying bushes, harsh parking lot lighting, cracked walkways, benches nobody wanted to sit on. Nothing terrible, but definitely not a place you’d ever stop and notice… But it was an office building not a garden or park

Last months our landlord hired a company and out of the window I saw that it was Total Dynamic Services to redo a bunch of the exterior areas around the property. They were installing better lighting, creating as they say cleaner landscaping, seating areas, updated pathways, more greenery and the whole thing just felt more intentional afterward

At first I rolled my eyes because all I could think about was thinking that rent’s probably going up now and we need to find something new

But honestly? The difference was weirdly noticeable almost immediately

People started hanging around outside more instead of rushing straight to their cars. They also started to spend mor etimes outdoors, like drinking coffee, having some fresh air, even I went there a couple of times and really felt rested

Customers would sit outside with coffee after appointments. A couple people even started taking pics near the entrance because the space actually looked nice. One of the restaurants also popped up in the building and now has a summer terrace

Now the overall mood of the place changed. Even tenants who constantly complained about every little thing suddenly seemed… calmer? Like really less tension, fewer petty emails to management…

And it made me realize something I’d never really thought about before: people judge a business long before they walk through the front door. The outside sets the tone whether you notice it consciously or not

I always assumed landscaping was just one of those looks good on paper expenses businesses waste money on. Turns out atmosphere does a lot more heavy lifting than I gave it credit for