That was sarcasm.

Taking back a cheating girlfriend could give you concessions in a relationship.

Ah yes. The key ingredient in any healthy relationship: Leverage.

“We’re good.”

Translation:

“I haven’t slept in four days. My kids are staging a sleep strike and refusing to negotiate. This morning I had an argument with a toddler about whether blueberries are blue. Their mother almost fell asleep in the street while getting the mail. We are having serious discussions about whether they’re too old to drop off at the nearest fire station.”

I miss having a Jacuzzi in my master bath. For some reason it made reading more enjoyable. It’s like it provided enough sensory stimulation to keep the “squirrels” occupied that I could soak in it and read a book without feeling bored. I love to read but I’ve done very little of it since I sold that house 5 years ago.

I’ll see your dual screen and raise you a Casio desktop calculator.

Whether this is possible depends on your parking/e-brake configuration. Pretty much have to have a hand lever controlled brake (hand brake) to do it effectively. The only manual vehicles I’ve ever owned have been light trucks, none of which had a hand operated brake. Trying to operate four pedals at once is just not practical.

“I swear to God I’m gonna pistol whip the next guy who says ‘shenanigans’.”

Starting out in second gear can sometimes help prevent your tires from slipping on slick pavement. Also useful if you ever drive a pickup truck with a “granny” [first] gear, which is only intended for getting you moving from a dead stop under heavy load.

Vehicles with manual transmissions have a backup starter if you find yourself with a dead battery. If you can get it rolling, you just put it in at least 3rd or higher and let the clutch out . Should normally start right up.

Learn how to stop and start going up a steep hill. Depending on where you live, it may not happen for a long time. But when it does, you’ll want to be prepared. It’s done with a quick but smooth motion. You “feather” the clutch, allowing it to drag enough to hold the vehicle in place but not so much that it stalls the engine. Then you let off the brake and simultaneously accelerate and let the clutch out until you’re moving up hill. Takes a little practice but not too hard to get down.

Reminds me of the time my inlaws switched to Patriot Mobile to get away from the “liberals at AT&T”. I don’t know which part of the grift is the most laughable.

A.) The fact that AT&T is not at all “liberal” and is very supportive of conservative politics.

B.) The fact that Patriot Wireless is an MVNO and at that time operated solely on AT&T’s infrastructure, so now your money is going to AT&T AND a third party middle-man.

MAGA is essentially just one giant con job.

It’s not like they have to work very hard at it at this point.

I’m pretty sure most parents have moments where we want to slap the shit out of our teenagers. I’ve never done it but I’ve certainly been tempted a few times.

I remember one time I was upset with my mom about something. I think I called her a bitch to her face. She whipped around, scowled, and punched me square in the face. It didn’t even hurt that bad. It just caught me off guard because it was way out of character for her. She was normally the cool, laid-back parent. Right or wrong, she made her point. That was the first and last time I ever said anything like that to her.

I’ve had a few" landmark moments" with my dad over the years. A lot of my experiences growing up with him were not positive. I think the most important thing I learned about him was that he wasn’t a bad person. He genuinely wanted to do the right thing. He was (and to some extent still is) a broken man who’s own father completely destroyed him. That realization made it easier for me to forgive him and work towards repairing our relationship.

The most important thing I learned from him was that anger is a cancer. If you can’t learn to let it go, it will metastasize. It rots you away from the inside out; physically, mentally, and spiritually. Robbing you of joy and cutting you off from the people you love while doing nothing to resolve the things you’re angry about.

I am extremely thankful that I learned that lesson at a relatively young age and before I had kids of my own. By the time my dad figured it out the damage was already done.

You got me there.

Saudi Arabia & murdering journalists.

Name a more iconic duo.

Jellyfin, Immich, and Paperless-ngx are three of the apps I use the most but you do whatever works best for you. That’s half the advantage of self hosting. You can have a solution that’s custom tailored to your needs.

Considering they’ve been murdering Palestinians en masse and the Trump Administration has been perfectly fine with that, I’m sure the Israelis have a pass to do whatever they want. Explicit or not.

I would hope I want them considering I have three. Kids are a ton of work. As a dad, I found the newborn stage to be miserable. No one warned me about that. The teenage years can be pretty rough too. But there are lots of incredible experiences in between. I wouldn’t trade any of mine but I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to have kids. It’s a lifelong commitment.

I grew up in a lower middle class family. I know there were times when money was tight (like the couple of times my dad was laid off) but we lived in a relatively nice house in a quiet neighborhood and I never worried about where my next meal was coming from.

My wife, on the other hand, grew up dirt poor in rural Missouri. They lived in run down trailers or houses with no AC and ate lots of venison – from deer her dad shot – with hamburger helper. She never had a lot of toys and spent most of her time playing by herself. Her childhood sounds very lonely to me but I think she learned to be comfortable being alone. In fact, being alone with a book is one of her favorite ways to relax.

If you don’t have access to a vehicle out there then you’re stranded because there is a whole lot of nothing for miles in any direction. So, when she turned 16, she got her GED and went to work full time so she could buy her own vehicle and get around. She’s pretty frugal, which I appreciate about her. But she will NOT eat venison or hamburger helper.

Pretty much anything DIY. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. I’m not an expert at any of those things but I can actually do a pretty decent job. I’m not afraid to research a project and take a crack at it myself. I’ve completed some really nasty projects that turned out well.

From an American perspective, flying on an airplane sucks. 9/11/01 resulted in a whole bunch of security theatre at the airport and airlines have slowly whittled away whatever comfort or convience remained.