How you judge your sleep massively influences how you feel, so I always judge how I slept, then check the watch if it agrees. If I think I slept well and the watch says no, I say technical malfunction. If I felt I slept bad and the watch says I slept well, I feel better about my sleep. Win win
I once got told off for being at a gay bar by an older lesbian couple. They said “our kind didn’t belong there” after they saw me dancing with my (just-out-of-the-closet) male friend and I guess assumed we were straight 🤷.
I understand they get annoyed when straight people just come to their parties because it is fun, because it is supposed to be a safe space and a space where you go to look for other gay people. At the same time, I wanted to be supportive of my friend and continue going to parties together.
Agree, my smart watch has stopped me grabbing my phone all the time and helps me get less distracted.
My friend has dyslexia and has just started a phd in chemistry. The only time I notice is when we try a crossword and he just has no concept in his head of how long words are and which letters go where.
Through my sports club I volunteer at sporting events every once in a while, like handing out water at races.
I also joined the animal rescue when I was younger, helping clean cages for the rabbits and pigeons etc. For that I just found the local rescue and signed up. In the end I didn’t like the atmosphere that much, because most people were lower class without a job and I was a student at university. I felt like I had little in common to talk about and I was the only one who didn’t smoke. You also have zero time to actually enjoy spending time with the animals.
I think spiders in cars cause quite a few accidents due to distracted drivers. There must be some people who freak out over ants the same way.
Oof, I hate ice cold water. I always drink room temp or slightly cooled… but I like your idea. Perhaps I’ll give sparkling water another try.
Thanks for the elaborate response. I’m finishing up my doctoral thesis at the moment and hopefully when that is done the main stressor in my life is gone. I’ve tried many of your tips about including others and keeping them out of the house, but somehow I always find an excuse to get them again.
I’m stuck on two cans a day, with bad days going up to 4 cans. I do drink loads of water in between.
I have tried that a few times, but can never make it last. Sparkling water doesn’t do it for me and sugar-free gives me gastro issues. I think I accidently made cokes my emotional support food. Does anyone have any tips?
By supporting small companies you make sure alternatives to the big companies thrive. When the new alternatives become too big, now at least there are two companies instead of a monopoly or you start supporting a third up and coming. The idea is not to make the perfect choice, but to make sure there is a choice.
I had a similar experience during a three-week cold, but in my case once I started vomiting I kept vomiting up slime until two days later I got some medication to calm my stomach. Had a mild scare because of chest pain right after, but it turned out to be an inflamed ribcage from all the coughing and vomiting.
I finally realised I kept having recurring colds because I had silent acid reflux, without any symptoms of acid reflux. After 8 months of getting sick every 2 months and staying sick for weeks every time, I started a diet against reflux and so far I have not been sick yet (4.5 months later).
I hope they were native squirrels! The netherlands almost had an escaped-pet-turned-invasive-species problem because some imported squirrels escaped.
I would love having a squirrel as pet. Unfortunately most squirrel types don’t do well in captivity because they are too anxious. I nursed a baby squirrel once as a volunteer and it would just sleep in my shirt pocket or bra and be the cutest little thing until it was old enough to start learning to be a wild squirrel.
Noone calls anyone stupid, lazy or insane in an attempt to accurately describe them. They are all insults used on normal AND neurodivergent people or to describe “bad” behavior.
Also, occasionally I might make a stupid choice. And I know it is harder for me to make the right choice because of how my brain is wired, but it is still objectively the stupid choice and I knowingly show stupid behavior. Although I might have compassion for myself because of my neurodivergence, it doesn’t change the fact that my behavior is stupid.
I actually like geology. But yeah, my main interest is moleculair biology. The thought that so many interesting things are happening in every cell of my body all the time just to keep me alive is so much more interesting to me than stars exploding.
Space science. I’m well educated with lots of nerdy friends, and I should know the basics of physics concerning planets and stuff. But I don’t and I refuse to.
It’s a great experience! I did a lot of solo travelling by train, bike or even hiking as a girl of 17-25 years old in europe. In my experience 99% of people are super nice and helpful and most people that weren’t had an issue with me not speaking the local language or were drunk at the time (daydrinkers, I did not go out to clubs or cafes at night on my own). Italy was the only place where I constantly felt unsafe as a woman, and they unfortunately have a bad record. Other countries I visited include czech republic, romania, hungary, austria, france, spain, belgium, germany and the uk, with no issues (I’m dutch).
Some considerations: While travelling you have noone to watch your bags, so make sure your luggage fits with you in a toilet stall and that you can store your bags somewhere the moment you get someplace. Travelling as light as possible improves the whole experience. There will be a lot of lonely time especially while travelling between places/hostels, so bring a good book or podcast, but also be prepared to enter into random conversations with strangers. With stuff like train delays that are only announced in the native language, it’s good if you have the confidence to ask around for help.
In Lambada by Kaoma there is a part where every dutch person hears “what is that little zebra dog for?” And everyone sings along for that sentence when the music is playing.
In dutch it goes: lalalalala waar is toch dat zebrahondje voor.
My boyfriend is 6’7 and weighed about the same as you when he started climbing (120 kilo). For climbing with ropes, I would advice a partner that is no more than 20 kilos different than you to start, as it is difficult to belay. I don’t know about autobelay systems, but I am sure you can ask their weight limits. The easiest would be to start with bouldering, as you don’t need ropes and the routes are short. (Which is easier for stronger heavier builds)
Rental shoes might be a problem as climbing shoes are often a slim fit. Maybe investing in a beginner pair works better for you than renting.
Every climbing gym I’ve been to has had a friendly and open atmosphere. People of all different shapes and sizes and levels were mixing and helping each other find the best ways to climb. So please go give it a try.
Finally, as a strong person, please take care of your fingers. In climbing, a lot of weight goes into those and the stronger you are, the easier it is to get injuries. So warm up your fingers by gently pulling on some holds and doing easy moves before you get into the hard stuff.