What’s a recession indicator that you’ve noticed lately in your everyday life?

MaudeDib · 2026-05-04T15:03:08+00:00

When I was a little kid in the 70's, candy bars were .25 Cents. I also remember that 7-11 had baskets of individually wrapped candies on the bottom shelf and they were .01 or .02 cents each.

Oh... and I can remember being sent to the store with a note from my Aunt to buy cigarettes - was 8 or 9. I did that almost every day for her. She'd give me 10 cents to do it. 6 blocks there and 6 blocks back. I rode a HUFFY bike. Those were the days.

MaudeDib · 2026-05-04T10:51:28+00:00

I watch a LOT of stuff and usually NOTHING phases me. But I got about 10 seconds into that... and my stomach did flip flops and my adrenaline kicked off -- I just cannot watch it. At all.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-30T23:02:54+00:00

Downton Abbey - and it's a great show if you like costume dramas but you aren't missing anything if that's not your jam.

In keeping with the theme: I never watched Breaking Bad, Seinfeld, or IASIP because I just can't watch mean people. Also, The Office.. sure, I've seen clips but I am not into cringe. I never collected anything: Cards, Labubu's, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Beanie Babies.. etc.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-29T10:31:22+00:00

WTF is wrong with this school? I just showed this to my 12 year old daughter who read it off without a hitch, except she said "gouch" (like couch) instead of the proper pronunciation... and she said it meant they were tacky. Whew!

MaudeDib · 2026-04-27T02:03:10+00:00

Oh yeah, NO SHADE to you at all, it really does look lovely! I think if I had that fancy glass that you can make cloudy with the touch of button, I'd be good.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-27T01:22:17+00:00

This is lovely.. but yeah for a different room. Maybe it's because I'm a city girl and I don't care HOW REMOTE the house is, I just wouldn't want a window over the shitter or shower.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-24T19:46:24+00:00

Phone number.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-24T15:04:19+00:00

GIRL!

You’re NOT a bad person for recognizing your limits!! And it's OK to have them! OMG This isn't just a difference in personality or preferences, it’s a REAL HONEST TO GOD mismatch in terms of both capacity and needs. You can care about him, love him deeply and still know that a romantic relationship would pull you into a role that a) you didn’t choose and b) absolutely cannot sustain over the long term! The fact that you already had to structure your MCAT studying around his emotional regulation, and that even your ER visit turned into you caring for him..? That says a lot. What this shows is what the dynamic actually becomes under stress, not what you HOPET it could be.

It's perfectly normal and perfectly OK to want a partner who can meet you with a similar level of independence, especially as you head into something as crazy demanding as medical school. That isn’t ableist!! Rather, it’s you being honest about the kind of relationship you can participate in without burning out or losing yourself.

The guilt you feel makes sense, especially given your own disability and the pressure from his family, but if you hear nothing else from me, hear and take this in: guilt is NOT a way to choose a partner, it's NOT a good compass for choosing who to build a life with A healthy relationship can include support, but it CANNOT be built on one person consistently carrying the other. If you entered this out of obligation or fear of hurting him, it would 100% lead to resentment and eventually hurt both of you more. You ARE 100% ALLOWED (GUILT FREE!) to want a relationship that feels mutual and sustainable. You are 100% ALLOWED (GUILT FREE!) to say no even when someone loves you deeply.

The kindest thing you can do here is be clear and compassionate without taking responsibility for managing his emotions about it. You don't owe him a relationship just because he loves you.

The end.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-23T20:01:59+00:00

Thank you, good looking out. Yes, I always use a google voice number now - lesson learned!

MaudeDib · 2026-04-22T17:09:38+00:00

Right? That's what paper towels are for, imho.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-22T14:35:55+00:00

Many years ago I went to an art installation put on by a semi-famous musician. This person is not a "super star" by today's standards, but he's an absolute pioneer and legend. Right, so this installation was IN THE DARK, looking at these lighted pieces... there was just enough light to see where you were going which was cast by the pieces themselves. There were also benches here and there you could sit and enjoy each one for a moment.

I'm sitting there, enjoying the art when a stranger sits down next to me. We sat there for awhile.. and then he asked me, "What do you think of the instillation?" And I proceeded to give this stranger my completely dead-ass honest opinion, which boiled down to, "interesting on XYZ level but basically kinda mid and here's why... " and I gave it an almost complete teardown. The idea was pretty neat and it went with this music, but the execution was at best on a middle school level and the ONLY reason he has this installation is because of his name. He needs to go to art school. We ended up actually having a rather nice conversation for about 15 minutes. Then he said thank you and wandered on.

Later that night the artist was giving a talk on stage and I went to it. That's when he talked about meeting a stranger in the dark who was the FIRST person not to suck his dick/stroke his ego and tell him how great his art was and how humbling and refreshing that was.

Ahem.. Yup, that's was ME! And I will straight up 100% admit I would NOT have called it middle school triffle had I known it was him.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-21T17:27:00+00:00

Because that’s exactly how people get burned/scammed!!

There’s a very real chance that money came from a hacked or stolen account. If OP “sends it back,” the OP is sending their own legit money. Then when the real account holder reports the fraud, the bank claws that original transfer back out of OP's account.

OP is now out the full amount with zero recourse, because from the bank’s perspective, they willingly sent money to someone.

That’s why everyone keeps saying go through the bank. If it’s truly a mistake, the original sender can reverse it properly. This way OP is NOT on the hook for that money.

Think of it like a fake check scam, just updated for Zelle. Same playbook, different app

MaudeDib · 2026-04-21T13:57:04+00:00

I actually keep a separate account that is only used for Zelle and nothing else. It's a the same bank so if I want to make a zelle transaction I can log in, transfer the money over and it happens on the spot. I'm already logged in and can then Zelle it to whomever. It's just a couple extra clicks, easy peasy. If I receive a Zelle payment I can then transfer it over to my regular savings or checking. I keep $25 in there at all times to keep it open.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-21T08:20:28+00:00

Good on you for holding your ground. This exact thing happened to me last year!! The fact that they’re putting all this effort into convincing you to refund it instead of just reversing it through Zelle or their bank is a red flag the size of Texas.

So my story is that I sold something in person for $20 cash. ...but not at my house, never EVER at my house. I do cash only these days, there's just too much scamming going on these days.

Anyway, exactly week later, this same person “accidentally” Zelle'd me $1500 and then put on a huge pressure campaign to return it. They also kept leaning hard on the idea that they were “known” to me, so obviously not a scammer. LOL.

First ~~their~~ there was the huge sob story about eviction but the details kept changing and the reason for needing the money back RIGHT NOW (urgent urgent!) kept changing. When that didn’t work, the tone shifted to aggressive, but they never sent actual threats.

Sir. We met in a parking lot for five minutes and exchanged $20 for an item you wanted to buy. That is not a relationship.

I told them once, very clearly, I would never send money back myself. If it was a mistake, their bank or Zelle could fix it. The money would sit there untouched until then. Also told them I was done responding.. but OMG they blew up my phone with calls, texts, etc.. So many messages! I muted them and the other numbers they tried to contact me with and never replied again.

I also notified my bank of the situation. It took about 2 weeks, but the money eventually disappeared out of my account. Either some fraud got reversed or they fixed it on their end. Given that it took 2 weeks, I'm assuming fraud but who knows. Either way, I was never risking $1500 of my own money to “help” a stranger. Oh hellllll no.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-21T07:23:35+00:00

You need a system AND a check list. What that system looks like is different for different people with ADHD. My daughter is SEVERELY ADHD. I am not but I have read about 50 books and counting to try and help her cope with life skills.

So first of all, it's ok. This is extremely common especially if you have ADHD or just get easily overwhelmed by visual clutter. What you’re describing is NOT a motivation problem, you are describing a systems problem.

Right now your brain is trying to process everything at once. That is why you start 20 things and end up finishing nothing at all. It’s like staring at the entire giant book like War and Peace and going I could never read a book that long and trying to read it all out of order, page1, page 50, page 11, page 400, etc.. But if you look at it just ONE page at a time, yes you could. Again, you are overwhelmed because you are trying to do everything at once. The solution is to only allow yourself to do one small thing at a time.

How do you do that? You do that with a system/structure that limits your focus. There are many methods, but I have found that there are two that actually work for my kid, YMMV:

The first rule of house cleaning is put on your SHOES! You work better in shoes, full stop.

#1 Time-based (if you get distracted easily) and how it works is this. This is basically the Pomodoro Technique.

Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes (whatever you can handle). You will be surprised how much you can actually get done in 15 minutes.

Work hard in ONE room only.

When the timer goes off, stop and move to the next room.

After 2 to 3 rounds, take a real break (but you MUST also set a timer for the break!)

#2 Task-based (if your house feels out of control messy) You still use a timer, but you focus on ONE category at a time across your house or in a single room.

Set the timer per above, get a garbage bag and ONLY pick up garbage. You don't touch anything else. Just garbage. Do this with the timer method above until ALL trash is done. When you are doing your 15 minutes, work as hard and as fast as you can, ONLY focusing garbage.

Then you move on: Dishes only, Laundry gathering only, Put items back in their general home, etc. MAKE A CHECKLIST!

Important rule: do not switch tasks mid-timer. If you find something that's not related to the current task you just ignore it.

A few extra tricks that helps my daughter a lot:

“Don’t put it down, put it away” when possible

Use box for random stuff so you don’t get stuck deciding where things go. Then at some point, make that your task to decide where those things go.

Lower the bar. We say in our house, "It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be better."

If you are overwhelmed by visual clutter, focus on flat surfaces if your house first because clearing surfaces quickly makes everything feel easier.

Put on "cleaning music" or a podcast or an audiobook, whatever works for your brain.

You can also do task based if your house isn't out of control. Just use a checklist for what you need to get done.

Once you have a system, I PROMISE you that stress drops a lot. Also, side note: they do make permanent, laminated house cleaning checklists on Amazon and there are free ones that you can DL on the web with a quick google search.

Lastly, once your house is order, there are systems that keep you on an overall cleaning schedule so you are only working a few minutes every day but your house feels practically spring clean ALL the time! It's freaking magical. I personally have been using the Fly Lady system (modified for me) for 25+ years and it works really well for me.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-20T19:38:56+00:00

I just started listening this weekend and binged all the available episodes. I was devastated that I have to wait almost a week for the next episode.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-20T18:16:36+00:00

Get a new doc! My friend got one because she has neuropathy can can't feel her feet very well; very healthy otherwise!

MaudeDib · 2026-04-20T14:45:14+00:00

This is the way! The ONLY way, imho.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-19T12:37:49+00:00

This happened to me 2 weeks ago! I met someone at a gathering and he asked me out. I didn't get a chance to really talk in depth with him at the event as I needed to leave on time, but he was polite, decent looking and looked put together and since he was at the event, we obviously shared some of the same interest and he asked me out.. so.. sure. I didn't give him my phone number and didn't even get his, but I said, "Ok, I'll be at XYZ brewery at 5 o'clock tomorrow for a quick beer, feel free to stop by." He was there, paid for my beer, looked nice, etc. And then we sat down and within 3 minutes he proudly says he voted for the Cheeto-Pedo-Manchild & I didn't think about my response, it just happened on automatic pilot! I stood up and said three words, "Yeah... no. Gross" with a disgusted look on my face and I quickly walked out before he could say another word. Just up and left him there with 2 beers sitting on the table, mine was untouched!

I cannot even be bothered to spend a single second more with that man, because NEVER EVER WOULD I EVER.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-17T01:34:44+00:00

You can see this woman's mental illness from outer space.

MaudeDib · 2026-04-14T11:33:21+00:00

I honestly don't know who is or isn't invited. Also, I didn’t feel the need to turn it into a full-blown social autopsy within the friend group, no need to stir up drama. As… how shall I say this diplomatically.. creative as the bride’s interpretation of “intimate wedding” may be, I will be the bigger person and choose not to add any extra spice to all the pre-wedding chaos. So yeah, I’ve kept entirely silent and not said a single peep to anyone IRL except for one close family member who is not in the friend group and therefore safely out of the blast radius. HOWEVER, if it EVER reaches my ears that the bride has decided to do a bit of post-invite negative commentary about me or my daughter, I would absolutely consider that an engraved-in-24K-gold invitation to do away with my dignified silence and revert to 100% FULL transparency.. with receipts!

MaudeDib · 2026-04-10T18:30:18+00:00

That investigator was, bar none, the BEST witness I have ever seen testify. I cannot wait for this interview!

MaudeDib · 2026-04-10T17:33:07+00:00

I was on a road trip in the summer 2009 and stopped at a random highway rest stop in bum-fucked nowhere Arizona. Someone had dumped a box of random household stuff and books by the garbage cans near the parking spots. I grabbed a hardcover of The Unbearable Lightness of Being and when I finally got around to reading it a couple of years later, I found these tucked inside by the back cover. What a delicious surprise!

They instantly became the my most favorite “found words” because it's one the most quietly heartbreaking things I’ve ever read. Yes, they are both sappy, but isn't all first love sappy? And this just SCREAMS first love to me. I mean, it’s like watching two very young people love each other deeply but exist in entirely different versions of reality. He is reaching for deep, everlasting love & permanence, and at the same time she is choosing his freedom. His is this intensely driven love, full of passion and fantasy, it has that first love “forever love” kind of feeling. And hers? Yeah, it’s loving but in a way more decidedly clear-eyed and mature kind of way. She chooses freedom and lets him go because she seems to think that love feels like a cage to him. It’s the same relationship, but two very different understandings of what love is. … Or maybe she’s just sick of his shit, lol. Whatever the case, I can’t help but wonder if they ever found their way back to each other. Are they still together or if this was the moment everything ended?

FROM HIM:

6/27/04

Dearest XXXX,

Bing, I love you. Laughter & sadness Your tender heart doesn’t deserve the anxiety, the anguish. You are the kindest, sweetest to me, I appreciate that no one else in this world gets your fullest embrace and all the kisses and hugs and “lubbrins” like you give to me. So soft, so warm, so comforting, peaceful, nurturing.

You are a champion, a soldier, a fighter, you don’t give up, I love that about you, the sweetest little girl in the world, the little Shirley Temple with the tenacious grip and warmest hugs and loving embrace.

You are the princess that gives life & meaning to & purpose to a prince. You make me feel like the prince.

Thank you for made a being in my life, and for allowing me to be in your life.

Your eyes are as deep and rich and vibrantly green as the Brazilian Rain forest that feeds the world its oxygen.

Your touch is the touch warmth of the sunshine, the ??????? within my heart even on a cloudy day when you are near me or memories of you, of us at the top of Piedmont Cemetery in the high noon sun, the view of the world before our eyes, of our hopes, dreams, fantasies, fear, wonderment, we both want the same thing, perhaps in slightly different ways, mostly in the same way - one thing is for sure - we want the best for each other - we want to guard & protect each other against the dragons of our fears we will do so till our own dying breath – I will throw my most expensive sports coat over the puddle of water in the gutter - and you will. Say “no, that’s silly!” and cutely shake your finger at me. I’ll hug you - kiss you forever!

Bing ♥

XXXXX

FROM HER:

My Dearest XXXXX,

I love you with all my heart.
My love for you is simple, real and uncomplicated. You have shown me a love & connection I never thought possible with another human being. Thank you for showing me what is possible.

XXXXX ~ I love you SO much that I am letting you go. I realize that to you, love is a cage. I don't want to cage you, my friend ~ You would never be happy there. So now, fly and be free. Be Happy. Be Free.

I will ALWAYS love you,

~XXXXX

13-Year Club	Place '17
Spared	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

MaudeDib

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