There's no hard limit per se, but as men age their sperm absolutely becomes less viable. This leads to lower fertility rates and higher rates of miscarriage and birth defects.

Very true, but it's still surprising that his sperm is viable at that age.

Unfortunately my municipality doesn't (seem to) offer autopay. They say on their website that they offer bank drafting, but the link to the forms for that is dead. I should probably check with their office, but...well, I think you have an idea how likely it is that I'll actually do that

On the bright side, I did pay my bill immediately after replying, so no shutoff this month lol

No problem, glad I could help out!

Nothing wrong with loving the decor...this would just be a terrible product photo lol

Not so sure about self diagnosis not being valid for getting therapy. Isn't that where most people start the process of getting a clinical diagnosis?

No, you two definitely made opposing statements. The issue is that you're treating the statement "you're not autistic if..." as being the same as "you're not necessarily autistic if..." or (as you wrote in your comment) "you're not autistic just because...", when they don't actually follow the same logic.

"You're not autistic if...", taken fully literally, is asserting that having whatever trait follows is positive proof that you aren't autistic, which is false.

The only assertion the other two statements make is that having the trait that follows isn't positive proof that you are autistic, which I definitely agree with you on.

Also, I can't see myself "wanting" to take more of my dosage than necessary.

Seriously, the idea of getting high off stimulants is terrifying to me. I know how I felt the first few times I took my meds while I was adjusting, and how I felt when I discovered that I really shouldn't have caffeine within an hour or so of taking my meds, and frankly that's not an experience that I would willingly take even further.

Funnily enough, I actually could maybe justify calling myself "a little bit paraplegic" if I felt like stretching lol. I have CMT, a progressive nervous system condition causing peripheral neuropathy (basically a fancy word for damaged nerves in the extremities), currently mostly in my legs below the knees. Means I'm lacking a lot of feeling in my lower legs and especially my feet, which impacts my ability to balance, as well as some muscle atrophy and reduced motor nerve function that impairs full movement (thankfully that part has progressed more slowly than the sensory nerve damage)...so yeah, I guess I'm a little bit paraplegic lol.

...to be extremely clear, I'm just joking. I don't actually think my condition is comparable (at least not at its current stage) to being paralyzed. Nerve pain was a bitch and a half until I finally managed to get properly diagnosed and medicated to keep that under control, but I'm still thankfully more than capable of walking regularly (if a little more clumsily than most people)

I regularly forget to pay my water bill until suddenly one day I have no running water (and a $50 reconnection charge on my account in addition to the actual bill and the first late fee)

diabetes medication adjustment period flashbacks intensify

Overcoming the first goomba without any explicit guidance is that "sense of pride and accomplishment" that drives us to play in the first place.

I'm specifically talking about people who don't have that drive like we do.

Its immediately amusing to move Mario on the screen so just moving right and seeing more of the level is it's own reward

I really doubt that actually holds true for everybody, and even then it applies equally to most of the other beginner games people have mentioned. Frankly, I think most non-gamers would be significantly more amused by getting to move LEGO characters around in a game.

I'm sure you've played a mobile game with a guided tutorial that drags on forever. I've uninstalled games because the tutorial doesnt give me enough freedom to learn through trial and error.

...and do you really think that's what I was advocating for? No, I think the better option is to pick one of the many co-op games people have recommended here and play it with them. The "hands-on, guided learning curve" is supposed to come from us teaching them while we play, not just from the game itself.

If you're trying to introduce a kid to video games, by all means just sit them down with SMB and let them have a blast figuring it out on their own the way kids do. But if you're trying to ease an adult into gaming with you, other options are likely better.

Oh, I'm definitely not saying just jump straight into any old game, just that there are probably better choices that give more of a hands-on, guided learning curve rather than the loosely guided trial-and-error type of learning curve that SMB and other games we all grew up on do.

Pleasure is a better motivator than social pressure.

This was actually my point. Loosely guided experiences only work well for learning if you're enjoying the thing you're currently doing.

Yeah, I think the original SMB is a great starting point for someone who really wants to play video games themselves, but probably not so much for someone who just wants to casually play some video games to spend time with you/others.

People who already have kids are completely irrelevant here, though, because they're never going to experience the pressure you originally described.

It’s the if u don’t fking start getting married and having kids pretty soon then ur probably fk and won’t have kids at all.

(figured I'd drop that there in case you forgot where the goalpost was before you started moving it all over the place)

Just wanted to chime in to say that the work you do is valuable and important. I know administrative assistants don't get much respect, but they (and you!) should.

Yeah, I've only really been able to do discord servers that are small enough for me to keep up with everything that's posted. For some reason I just can't accept that I won't be able to read everything posted there, although I'm fine with it on platforms like Reddit. Occasionally I'll hunker down in a single channel of a big server and be active there, but that never really lasts long.

The point is that this (👇👉👆👈 ) is all fake. Almost everything that we think we want that doesn’t somewhere in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is artificial.

Having friends and feeling accepted/popular is literally part of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The only thing that's changed is that many people have a large degree of their interactions online rather than in person now.

I don't entirely disagree with what you've written here, but I don't think it connects to this post. The need for friendship, community, and esteem are fundamental to human psychology, not something that was created by capitalism.

Think that about covers it, best of luck to you with cutting back!

Alternatively, you could take the $100 insults, tell guests what you really think of them until it gets you fired, and have enough money to retire immediately.

I would be doing the reverse, because I think the "proper" usage of "begs the question" is absolutely asinine.

Unless they just want to watch the world burn, that's a bluff.

They won't be able to hold your loved ones from you for long, and if they kill them they just threw away their only leverage at the same time they massively pissed off the unstoppable demigod who could easily destroy not only them and their loved ones, but their entire organization and everything they hoped to achieve in the world.

Wait, is there a particular reason you're quitting related to starting medication, or are you just wanting to quit weed for other reasons?

They're general human behavior, just dialed up to 11 (i.e. more frequent and more severe).

...honestly, I think having the viewer's eye drawn to the cottage is one of the big problems with that piece. My eye gets drawn mainly along the line formed by the bridge, table, and cottage, generally resting on the table...but there's nothing going on in any of those places. You're drawing the viewer's eye to the area that has the least interesting things going on.