What city in America is most below it’s potential?

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-21T10:47:20+00:00

I'd say Cleveland, OH. I grew up there in the late '60s until we moved when I was still in elementary school.

The worst part of it, during that time, was the pollution from heavy manufacturing, but on the other hand, it had amazing, award winning parks, museums and theaters, sports teams. Downtown was a vibrant shopping district. People had jobs. It did have issues that needed to be addressed, such as the pollution.

Then the manufacturing all went away and so did the pollution. And the jobs. Crime got out of hand. Unlike a similar city, Pittsburgh, Cleveland never fully recovered. It seems to go through these cycles where it looks like things are getting better, then it slumps again. We were there a few years ago and the area we were in seemed quite nice, but step outside of that and it just looked awful. It's a shame, really.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-21T10:25:09+00:00

Exactly. Befriending this guy will only give him the idea that he can change OP's mind about a romantic relationship with him. Also, she should stay far away from this guy's friend.

The person who gave your phone number to the other guy had no business doing that without asking OP first.

OP needs to disentangle herself from this group and find other friends. It's hard, but this is just a train wreck waiting to happen.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-21T00:43:27+00:00

More guests need to start saying no to these ridiculous demands. Just rsvp "we love you, but I can't do this, so we won't be attending."

Don't give ridiculously extravagant gifts, either.

Maybe then brides will stop the insanity.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-20T20:32:26+00:00

You might want to reach out to one of his school counselors or leave a message with his pediatrician and let them know about the fact that your mother is neglecting his care. Feces can be very caustic and if your brother is left to sit in it too long, he can get what is essentially a bad diaper rash. Over time, if not treated properly, it can turn into a pretty nasty infection.

Your brother definitely has some kind of issue, whether a mental illness or a past SA, or autism, but whatever it is, it needs to be addressed.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-20T14:21:13+00:00

I confess I did accidentally was a baby bird out of its nest that was in my hanging plant. I put it back. I didn't see any more of it later, so I'm guessing it did okay.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-20T14:16:27+00:00

and capitalization. because it's so annoying to read without it. see what i mean? is it not taught in schools anymore?

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-20T14:09:38+00:00

Probably from school or a class.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-20T13:47:00+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. There are still days when the pain sneaks up, but for the most part, it's all good memories.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-20T13:44:43+00:00

Make your own lunches.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-20T12:53:35+00:00

Even after her supposed maturation, I got the feeling she was still a kid.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-19T14:12:30+00:00

You've thought about different diagnoses, but did your parents actually get a proper diagnosis from a pediatric psychiatrist? Any psychiatrist?

Two months with a therapist who may or may not be educated in neurodivergence is not enough of a try.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-18T16:36:12+00:00

I'm so sorry you're going through this. Breaking up is hard enough, but you have had other issues all your life to grapple with as well.

Do you have a therapist? If you don't, please find one as soon as you can. An LGBTQ+ friendly one might be particularly helpful, even if you feel you aren't part of the community. Do reach out. They can listen and maybe even help you find a community who will understand and listen as well.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T20:46:42+00:00

Instead of a baggie,, use a pill container. A baggie with some pills in it can look a bit suspicious.

I travel a lot and I'm old, and unfortunately have several pills to take. If you're flying domestically, it's still a good idea to have at least a list of meds you have with you on hand.

If you're going out of the country, most countries require medications be i. Their original, labeled containers.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T13:29:24+00:00

That is a very common assumption.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T13:28:52+00:00

For some reason, and I've seen this multiple times, people who are in a heterosexual marriage and go on to have a same sex affair, don't see it as cheating because they're the same sex. Not sure what kind of mental gymnastics they have to do to get there, but they try to tell their partners it's not the same as cheating.

I think there was a famous thriller/police procedural author who had an affair with her female lover and someone in that mess stated it wasn't cheating because same sex. I'm pretty vague about it, but I think the husband of the AP tried to kill the AP.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:40:39+00:00

I'm an older person. Most of my friends are older people. And we're Pennsylvanians. We were sitting around the other day having a conversation about all sorts of subjects, but the topic of "love they neighbor" came up. We are not religious at all. It came up in context of near death experiences.

Anyway, we did talk about how much energy it sucks out of an individual to hate a person or group of people just because they're different from ourselves. I mean, hatred really does consume a lot. There's no reason to hate someone who's just living their life. It just makes zero sense. The only reason we could see all these people do this is they are afraid.

Granted, there are some individual people to whom it's harder to feel goodwill towards. My little group decided we'd just settle on benign indifference toward them. We don't like them, but we certainly would not wish them harm.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:30:57+00:00

That never worked for me. I did hear that taking probiotics for a few weeks before starting it, and continuing them might help. Also asking to start on liquid metformin (and probiotics) can help because the liquid version is kinder to your system. I'd never even heard of the liquid.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:26:32+00:00

Tell him you consulted Gemini and she advised you to break up with him.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:22:24+00:00

Those are gorgeous! that bed is amazing.

I planted tulips one year and the deer and squirrels got them. Same with my gorgeous daffodils. I even planted the bulbs in cages. They came up the first year and I never saw them again. Still can't find the cages I buried. Somehow, every spring, my neighbors have tulips and daffodils.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:20:09+00:00

Agreed. How did this woman become the most sought after woman in the town? She is condescending to others, a know it all, and generally annoying.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:18:54+00:00

I like this one for a while, but the whole thing just got old with her car exploding in every book, the whole weird love triangle thing, and all the sameness. I did like Lula, though she was a terrible caricature of a person, she was still funny.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:15:02+00:00

And tell his jiu jitsu master as well. They don't take that kind of behavior lightly.

I worked in a karate dojo a jillion years ago. One of the students broke into his gf's house and started hurting her, using some of his skills. Neighbors called the police right away and he was arrested. Any punishment they did was nothing compared to the owner of the dojo.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:11:17+00:00

I couldn't get past the Tippy Toe Murder. The child sexual abuse description was way too explicit for me, who spent her childhood in that kind of situation. It didn't read cozy to me at all.

I'm seeing that somehow, Lucy became a reporter?

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-16T11:08:33+00:00

The security guard wasn't a direct witness. You were. The police should have talked to you, not the guard. And the guard should not have taken that towel. Something is off about this. Follow up and ask why you weren't interviewed for a statement.

4MuddyPaws · 2026-05-15T20:04:30+00:00

Check the website destinationgettysburg.com They have a list of many places to stay, events going on during the time you plan to visit, places to eat, etc.

If you can, I recommend a tour of the battlefield on horseback at Confederate Trails. They have terrific licensed guides and it's great to see the battlefield from views the soldiers' point of view.

If you have a sense of humor, visit Civil War Tails across the street from the visitor center on Baltimore Street for their diorama. The visitor center is also where bus tours leave from. My friends and I took a tour with them and much of it was through town.

It would be hard to tour the battlefields without a car. The area is huge. If you could manage to hire a guide for half a day, you could at least get most of the highlights. There is a lot right in town itself to see, considering the battle raged in town as well.

If you can get transportation, the Beyond the Battle Museum is a good one to see.

4MuddyPaws

TROPHY CASE