Woo hoo, as an insomniac, I'm a bit of an involuntary expert in this area, out of necessity.

1. Get outside during the day both Vitamin D and the other things help.

2. Go to bed at roughly the same time every night. your body has patterns that it tries to keep.

3. Hot shower, cool bedroom... our bodies got used to going to sleep when the sun went down and fires were out, it got cold, body wants sleepy time.

4. Don't eat in the two hours before bed. You shouldn't eat before bed for a couple different reasons, but getting better sleep is one of them.

5. Limit your caffeine intake pretty much any time after noon. Caffeine is a stimulant, even if it doesn't keep you awake, it will make your sleep lower quality.

6. Melatonin (over the counter) may help, talk to your parents about that, if you think you might need some drugs to help with sleep, talk to your doctor about that.

7. Consider/talk with your doctor about the timing of other medications, e.g. some of your meds, even simple over the counter allergy meds, may work better if you take them in the morning (for ones that keep you awake), where some that may make you drowsy would be better after dinner time.

//oblig safety note: If you have gone for three days straight with 0 sleep, tell your parents, at four days, you need to tell your family doctor immediately, at five days, you need to go to the ER.

I'm simple, I like Zell's.

Snugglebert Plimperton Merriweather III

labels are to help you describe yourself to other people, they're not boxes meant to lock you into anything. It's ok to work through your feelings, there's no rush.

So, there's a couple things we do.

At the beginning of the walk, we don't leave until I say [dog name] free... they stay in a sit position while the door opens, we wait a minute, chill out, then go.

One of the first things I do when I foster or adopt a new dog is we work on leash pulling, specifically, I do the deal where if they pull, I turn around and go the other direction. The most stubborn dog I've had went on a 90m walk that only got us about 200ft from the house and back, because he just wouldn't quit pulling. Even he, eventually, learned that the only way to walk/adventure was to not pull. I do allow them to sniff stuff all over our walk, because ultimately the walk is for them... part of the reason we walk twice a day is for exercise, but the other part of the reason we walk is because dogs who know the neighborhood around them are much less likely to try to bolt when the door is opened... they already know what's out there, they know they got to explore it earlier in the day, and they know they'll get to explore it tomorrow.

We kind of have a few basic things:

very short and short: https://ruffwear.com/products/roamer-bungee-dog-leash

It has a loop right next to the clasp for close control, but also, the bungee bit really helps my shoulder when occasionally they do pull on the short leash. The ability to hitch him to a tree for a second is also super helpful

long leash: https://www.chewy.com/flexi-giant-nylon-tape-retractable/dp/186721

That's more of the "I'm gonna let you run around all over, and play in the river" kind of leash, he understands that he still can't zigzag between trees , and it gives him more latitude to roam, while still giving me enough control to keep him out of trouble.

camp leash/tieout: we use a heavy kettle bell and either the 25ft or the 75ft vinyl covered steel leash... the biggest problem we have is that he doesn't have a concept that the leash exists, and trips over things/knocks things over with the leash all the time.

for the first year though, it's almost always the ruffwear bungee leash, the long leash is kind of a graduation, once I know I can trust them not to rip my shoulder out of it's socket, the long leash is in play.

Lol, as someone with a degree in statistics who just happened to end up in AI and ML Engineering... ya.

I'm so confused by this... you asked him to end everything, but then were surprised that he didn't wish you happy birthday four days later? That seems pretty confusing.

Good relationships are based on clear, direct communication, so some of the stuff is just... normal. Also, like... why would he ask you to stop crying? If you're sad enough to cry, your feelings are valid, and it's ok to cry. It kind of just sounds like he was listening, and what you wanted was an intervention, but didn't say that.

It's not about being "demanding" or anything, but it sounds like you're having a couple different problems at the same time. One problem being that he's not as emotionally reactive as you want him to be... that's not really something you can demand, or even really ask of another person, so that might just be a mismatch. The second part is just teenager stuff, and that's ok, you haven't quite got a handle on how to communicate directly, how to ask directly for what you want, and how to communicate more clearly than just leaving breadcrumbs that you hope will lead the other person to the place you want them to be at.

The communications part, both of you can work on and get better at, but it also sounds like this might not be quite the right long-term match for you, and that's ok too.

Ya, but custard is the base for my ice creams mostly, so though there's heat involved, the end goal isn't hot stuff. Words are hard.

Hi friend, my s/o and I specifically rescue abused and difficult placement huskies. Some of this is just about building good habits, getting them on the leash and collar, and going for walks so regularly that when it happens, it is scary. It is also super common for huskies to not love harnesses at first too... same deal, treats, praise and stitches while it's happening and consistency is key.

$600k in pennies, for sure... because then I'm gonna pitch Coinstar and Mark Rober on some marketing opportunities, maybe a CrunchLab coin sorter and roller.

Go out and do it. Most teams have Varsity squads, JV squads, and practice squads, they'll put you at the level you're at, and you'll get better over time and make your way up the ladder. Sports are great because even though you're not social, you're gonna meet some people who like something you like (soccer), and you'll have something to talk about.

lolololol... my inheritance?

I'm spending about a third of what I make every paycheck on a memory care facility, paying for the balance with what little my mom had saved. My inheritance is gonna be a mountain of paperwork because my big brother is blind and my stepbrothers are usually unreachable.

Also, I don't wanna be a landlord... greedy a-holes buying 5th and 6th homes as investment properties are part of what's driving the housing market to completely unaffordable levels. I've got no beef with people who rent out an extra room in their home or whatever, but this whole centralization of wealth thing is just getting way out of control.

Is a doggy door an option, so she can just go outside and pee/poop when she needs to?

We had the bells on the door that my husky could ring if he needed to go out, but ultimately I was pretty annoyed by those and the insulated doggy door ended up being a better solution.

First, there's nothing wrong with being submissive and so on, it's just a matter of finding someone else who is looking for the same sort of relationship that you're looking for. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, you're the one who has to live your life, so work on finding someone who has the same relationship goals you do, and live your truth.

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Sorry there's so much preaching going on in here.

The right answer is that you need to have a conversation with your family doctor, given your health history, and potentially any other drugs/health conditions you may have. It doesn't necessarily have to be during the visit, if your doctor has a messaging system/health portal, you can let them know before the appointment that this is what you'd like to have a conversation about, so they can be more ready. In addition to birth control, you may also want to have a conversation with your doctor about PReP (pills that prevent HIV transmission). Pregnancy isn't the only thing to worry about when having unprotected sex or if a condom breaks.

Edit: if you have an ob/gyn, they might be a better conversation than your family doctor, but ultimately what matters is that you're talking to one of your doctors, because everyone's body chemistry is just a little bit different.

Cooking doesn't necessarily just mean hot stuff in the summer either, making ice cream is pretty fun too.

Make plans!

Do you have a local community center with some activities, hobbies, or things you'd find interesting? Mine has everything from pottery classes to board games to swimming lessons.

You mentioned working at night... do you have enough money for a bike so you could do stuff like go to a local pool or mini-golf place? Having like a regular day, e.g. I go swim on Fridays, helps fill out the week.

Cooking- for me its fun to find recipes on youtube or elsewhere around the internet, and try my best to make something good. It's not always successful, so sometimes I order pizza afterwards. :P

lol, I bring a kettle bell camping with me for the dog... not everywhere is good for stakes in the ground.

but seriously, you're gonna die just b/c the Chili Con Carne is so good you're gonna eat all of it the first day and then starve because there won't be food after that.

We exist as ourselves no matter what, but the labels help us to find people who share those labels, so we don't have to exist alone. The labels don't define us, and some of them even aren't that permanent... I mean for decades, I'd have put "hockey-loving" as one of my labels, and now that I'm older and all beat up and can't play any more, it's just not that big of a part of my life any more.

We get lots of labels, and we get to assign them to ourselves, and change them whenever we like, as a board gamer, video gamer, as an AI engineer, as a backpacker, as a dog rescuer, and as a gay guy, those are some of my labels right now. In the average month, I spend a lot more time backpacking than I do having sex, but both labels are still there, still valid, and still part of how I can share a little bit about who I am with other people to find common interests.

I'm so glad that he got to have a friend like you.

I like when they bring guests, but for things like board game night, I get annoyed if someone brings a friend who wont actually play board games.

I'd be very happy if I bought a roof and got that.

I got a biolite firepit + and a camping blanket.

I think Chadley or Vincent, tbh. In my heart, I think Nanaki deserves it as payback, but I think Vincent had it a bit rougher, and Chadley might be having it even rougher right now.