u/nervousbikecreature

Sorry if this is the wrong sub but as it's more specific than just "where do I sell books" I hoped to get better answers here!

Been toying with giving up on academia for a while now but several friends have lost their jobs or found out they're at risk of losing their jobs in the past 18 months; I'm ready to close the door, and I am enjoying my secure academic-adjacent role. I have a tonne of academic books (critical theory, cultural theory, philosophy, politics, literary criticism) that are probably worth a bit of money. I'm not fussed about getting what I paid for them, obviously a bit of cash would be nice, but they're too niche to sell through WoB and Music Magpie (as in, these literally won't take them). Obviously there's eBay but I wondered if there was anywhere else that I haven't thought of or aren't aware of?

Alternatively I don't know if a donation to a library would be possible/appropriate as a way to get rid quickly and feel like I've done a good deed.

Hey folks. I've just been sent a link to my assessment questionnaires (I'm on the Right to Choose pathway, UK). I've been putting off thinking about the informant stuff but now I can't put it off any more.

I have a decent relationship with my parents, but they are classic boomers who have a very outdated "Rain Man" idea of neurodiversity. They are both 110% definitely on the spectrum themselves but for them, autism = nonverbal, can't live independently, severe learning disability, and ADHD = "naughty" little boys who can't sit still at school and get bad grades. They will not be able to comprehend that their outwardly high-functioning, gainfully employed, public-speaking, PhD-holding daughter thinks that she has these conditions. My mum in particular has a very "stiff upper lip" attitude to things like mental illness and doesn't really understand why anyone would want to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, etc. She has a lot of shame around mental illness, and my dad isn't much better.

I'm wondering how anyone else navigated using unsupportive (albeit undiagnosed) parents as informants. I'm also wondering if anyone navigated this process successfully without involving their parents. My brother is 2 years older than me and is very supportive (he's also clocked the fact that literally everyone in our family is on the spectrum) -- has anyone used a sibling, and did it go okay?

Hello folks, me again. 33F, had my licence for 8 years. Didn't drive for the first 4 years after passing, had a few refresher lessons in an instructor's car, tried to drive my own car, got freaked out, barely drove for another 4 years. That brings us to today, when I have had another refresher lesson, and probably something like my 150th hour of driving instruction. It's been a long expensive road.

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My new instructor (my fifth, lmfao) is very nice but I feel so gaslit by my car and I guess my own feet. It's a Citroen C1 with a tiny engine and a super high bite point. Once I'm moving it's all good but I have SO much trouble with fine motor control, i.e., getting my feet to do the right things. I understand the sequence of events (clutch down, tiny bit of gas, find the bite point, hold the bite until the car starts to move, clutch up softly) but just can't seem to get it down. I felt like I was doing the same thing every time with different results -- sometimes too much gas, sometimes too little. The difference between too much and too little genuinely feel imperceptible to me. My instructor was using the analogy of coins to explain how much I needed to depress the pedal by (£1, 50p) but that level of finesse feels literally impossible to me. Hill starts are another level of hell.

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I'm autistic and proprioception is a bit of a challenge for me. I'd love to hear how other people have handled this/get some solidarity from other people struggling with the mechanical side of things?

Hi guys. Posting here hoping for some friendly advice/encouragement from my fellow anxious drivers.

I'm currently in the process of moving house and due to some other unfortunate circumstances in my personal life will be temporarily moving into my parents' house while I figure out my next step. I have a lot of anxiety at the moment generally, but one thing on my huge list of shit to sort out is driving my car from my current home to my parents'. It's about 66 miles to go via the motorway (M25 for the UK folks here) or 73 if I stick to smaller roads.

I haven't driven since last spring. The last time I drove, I stalled 5 consecutive times pulling out of a junction on a hill and was crying/shaking by the time I finally got moving, with my partner yelling at me that I wasn't safe to drive and needed to pull over and let him drive. My car is actually his old car, and he could always drive it fine, but it has a really sensitive clutch and is easy to stall. I haven't been behind the wheel since that day and regularly think about whether to keep the car, but I want to be able to drive. Particularly as I enter this weird new phase in my life, I want the independence of being able to go places by myself. I daydream about driving to the coast by myself, looking out at the view with a flask of coffee, my music playing on the stereo, and feeling free and independent and confident.

I learned to drive quite late (I was 25 when I got my licence) and then didn't drive at all for 3 years. I couldn't afford a car and my partner wouldn't let me drive his (now my) car because "I can't afford for you to total my car". When he got a new car, I inherited the old one which I've been struggling to drive ever since. I've never felt as confident driving as when I was a few weeks away from taking my test, and I wish more than anything that I'd just sucked it up and somehow scraped together the money for my own car when I was a fresh new driver and still felt more excitement than fear.

When I inherited the old car in 2022 I had a handful of refresher lessons with an instructor but those were in the teaching car (diesel, very forgiving clutch). This week I'm going to have a refresher lesson with another instructor in my own car and I guess just hope to god that something clicks. I know I may never love driving but I just want more than anything for it to be a normal thing that I can do without feeling like the world is ending. I feel totally confident that I understand the highway code, and fairly confident in my ability to make safe decisions, but the actual mechanical operation of the car is like I'm trying to fly a fucking spaceship. The only way I'm gonna get through this is by practicing, I know. I guess I just want to hear that it's gonna be okay.

33F here, soon to be living with my parents for a little bit after my long term relationship (and housing) went south. Trying to treat the next few months as a chance to rest and catch my breath before finding myself a new home and looking for any of the following:

• Cosy/comforting crime or mystery (Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths, Ruth Ware are all faves) with likeable/relatable characters and engaging plots

• Thrillers/adventure that will absorb my attention and stop me from wallowing in sadness

• Gothic classics for moody escapism (I love Daphne Du Maurier and the Brontes)

• Stories about people making a new start in their 30s, to make me feel like less of a loser (I don't have any examples of these because I'm still on the hunt)

• Comedy, to cheer me up (I know it's not laugh a minute but I loved All Fours by Miranda July, and Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis)

I'm pretty open-minded and a big reader, so open to suggestions of other stuff that you think might ease the mind, soothe the soul, hold the heart, and tickle the funny bone.