• 1 Post
  • 229 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: June 22nd, 2023

help-circle

  • A mentor once gave me an exercise to identify my “core values” or goals or motivators. Out of a list of 60, the task was to narrow down over time and conversation to my top 5.

    E.g., I value financial stability. Not to be confused with other values of earning high compensation or achieving lofty corporate positions and recognition.

    It helped me frame for myself that I’m going to work to be comfortable and stable and beyond that, my motivations lie elsewhere, like spending time with friends and working on personal projects. There are people who put greater value on achieving a high salary or earning the c-suite title or having their names on patents; that’s perfectly valid and great for them, it’s not me and that is also ok.

    There are tons of similar exercises online. If it sounds like something that might help you define your perspective on work differently, to narrow it down to you instead of getting overwhelmed with the whole world’s problems, please look into it and good luck.







  • Just like any hobby or leisure activity, my interest peaks and wanes. Marie Kondo said it best, “if it’s not sparking joy, yeet it out the window”.

    Pretty sure that’s exactly how she said it.

    Personally, I tend to enjoy listening to audiobooks over reading. I keep a looooooong list of books that look interesting so I can pick a title when I feel like reading. Note, I don’t call it a “to-read” list because I am not going to read them all. I will never read everything on the list unless I stop adding to it at least ten years before I die. And that approach to a to-read list does not spark joy. From the get to, recognize this is not a list to ever be “completed” by design.


  • I don’t watch television in a way that exposes me to commercials. Same with YouTube and Spotify.

    I fast forward through ads during podcasts assuming my hands are free enough to do so, but will listen through them if I’m driving. I don’t absorb much from them, I’d be hard pressed to recall any I heard even within the last hour. I think I’ve been hearing one on repeat lately about subscribing to a service to tell you what services you’re subscribed to; couldn’t tell you the name of the company though.


  • I tend to get headaches more frequently at a certain point in my ~monthly cycle, not at the same time I have my period. It’s nice to know it’s coming so I can plan accordingly. Like avoid being on a road trip at that time, or proactively knocking it out with meds before it even starts.

    Some people find their cycles affect their energy and recovery a lot, so they adjust their workout plans accordingly. Like knowing when within a cycle estrogen and testosterone are at their peak, versus progesterone.

    Aside from just day count between periods, some people track temp, consistency of vaginal fluid, mood, weight, and probably other things depending on their needs.


  • I’m not familiar with how they work or what kinds of data they track and return.

    Uh, they track menstrual cycles. So unless you have a thing that runs on a roughly 21-35 day cycle, there’s not much dual use to get from a period tracking app.

    Are you trying to think of an alternative use for when cops try to use the app data to prosecute a woman when she miscarries? There are probably some plants that need to be watered ~monthly. Like a cactus or succulent.



  • Indoor climbing gives a big, wide-open, brightly lit area that scratches my itch for being outdoors.

    Hot yoga burns out any chill I have.

    Trying my darndest to keep a very consistent sleep schedule. January is my toughest month usually, and my friends know when I say my bedtime is 10pm I mean it. New Years, parties, travel, whatever be damned.

    Edit: oh, new this year is a weighted blanket. That’s the “cozy” bit compared to the above. I like the weight without having to add 5 quilts that are just going to make me sweat.


  • A friend invited me on vacation with her family. They are very wealthy compared to me. It was clear up front that lodging and meals were covered by them, but I was hazy on everything else. It stressed me out so bad.

    Do I want to go with them to do some Expensive Activity? Of course, but am I paying for it? Can I afford it? Even if I can, do I want to spend my limited money on that? Do they see me as a freeloader? How are these other not-rich friends navigating this because no one ever seems to talk about money? Fortunately, my friend saw my stress and had a discrete conversation with me where we set some guidelines.



  • Ever seen Superman III where Richard Pryor’s character realizes there’s rounding in the numbers of his company’s payroll, taxes, etc, so he writes a program to skim those partial cents into his account and he ends up shocked at the amount? And he knew it was illegal and everyone who learned of it knew it was illegal?

    Companies profiting off AI trained on stolen material feels like that, but if the cops who discovered Pryor’s crime were to say “eh, partial cents aren’t a real thing anyway. No harm, no foul” and let Pryor keep skimming.




  • Idk what the mod team’s philosophy is on incorporating member feedback vs shaping it to mod teams vision, but fwiw, here’s mine.

    I don’t want to see every other post being about Trump either. But I also want conversation to happen. The compromise solution seems to be a mega thread; conversations continue without flooding everyone’s feed. For however this temp rule is in place, delete offending posts and redirect to the mega thread.