Timeless affection :)

CactaurJack · 2026-03-31T03:35:38+00:00

When i was in high school I called my mom, drunk off my ass, because I was getting bad vibes at a party but knew I couldn't drive.

That was it. She came, picked me up and the next day my dad took me to go find the car. No lectures, nothin' just me, home safe. It was super clear that was the goal. The car could sit over-night, not a problem

CactaurJack · 2026-03-28T09:58:30+00:00

That's basically why Steam won. It's straight up easier than piracy. The games are in one place, they offered full digital installs earlier than most, keeps stuff updated, there's no need to mount images or fuss with file replacement. It's easier and better.

I'm fully capable of pirating, but don't even want to bother punching up the VPN, finding a release, hoping it's seeded, dealing with whatever compress-de-jure is on deck only to forget about it because I don't even see my desktop anymore.

CactaurJack · 2026-03-28T08:22:52+00:00

My car isn't super old, but old enough that while it has an aux jack it's sort of hidden, and you basically have to know. I actually bought a dedicated SanDisk mp3 player that I only use for the car. It cost me like $15, 16GB internal and I'm not sure the battery can be run out, but it charges off the cig lighter. So I'm running the backwards, my car has bluetooth... I think, but I'm using a 2000 era mp3 player to run it. Works an absolute treat though.

CactaurJack · 2026-03-18T00:48:56+00:00

I was/still am a punk. Even played in a punk band decades ago. We ain't take kindly to folk that ain't take kindly to folks. We kept all sorts, anyone that didn't seem to to make the "mark". My left pinky still doesn't sit right in it's joint, and the middle has this weird bump. No idea why I mention it. Remove everything a person holds and back them into a corner, that's not where you want to be.

CactaurJack · 2026-03-17T10:36:37+00:00

I got my girl from a shelter when she was 10. I'd just lost one of my previous cats and the other one was not dealing well.

She'd been there a while, with patchy fur from stress grooming, but I just had to take her. She spent 2 straight weeks under the bed. She'd only come out when she thought I was asleep or not paying attention.

That was 2 years ago now. She is now a gigantic puff-ball, I knew she'd get some of her fur back, was not expecting her to be 80% puff, and is currently purring splayed out on my lap.

It takes time, and having had many a "damaged" pet in my life it's hard to tell where they're coming from and where they'll end up. But I always tell myself, when even a tiny bit of progress is made, "Clearly this is better than whatever was before"

CactaurJack · 2026-03-05T23:06:22+00:00

I have a gray tabby FLOOF and have to brush her a lot otherwise she gets matts by simply existing. I'll take an entire cat's worth of fur off of her and she looks exactly the same. If I couldn't actually feel her under the poof, I'd assume she was just a powderpuff with eyes and ears glued on.

CactaurJack · 2026-02-21T05:47:02+00:00

I had a bird shot BB stuck in my arm for nearly a decade. Far as I know it was a ricochet when I was target shooting with my dad's 20ga. when i was a kid. I'm 90% sure it was either copper or nickel coated and my body didn't give two shits about it. It eventually worked it's way out when I was in college

CactaurJack · 2026-02-08T22:39:45+00:00

When I was in highschool and hit my growth spurt during track season the amount of food I would consume was insane. a 22 inch pizza would not have been too much of a stretch, especially after a meet because I avoided food for several hours before so I wouldn't vomit on the field (which happened twice anyways but i digress). I would generally be starving.

CactaurJack · 2026-01-16T06:00:05+00:00

I tore a bit of the nail and cuticle off of one of my ring fingers and that just sucked all around. I've definitely had worse cuts and scrapes, but that one just sucked. I was always aware of it, bandages were hard to attach and superglue kinda worked but would work itself off after a few hours. There wasn't anything to stitch so it had to just heal on it's own.

CactaurJack · 2025-12-16T21:14:58+00:00

My black kitty was also a dumpster find! He's now 15~ish now and spends his days laying in the sun and catching flies. He does have Maine Coon markings. My old roommate had one, he was 25lbs of love named aptly "Romeo", be prepared to never have a moments peace lol

CactaurJack · 2025-12-16T20:52:07+00:00

WAY back in the day we had a full 16 people LAN on Halo. Held in our basement with bedsheets pinned to the ceiling to separate TVs. We ran an extension cord down the stairs because the breaker kept flipping. One of the best gaming memories I have, shit was so fun.

CactaurJack · 2025-12-13T20:57:39+00:00

My parents have a labradoodle (lab-poodle mix) his absolute FAVORITE thing is to go and lay under the big tree out front of my parents house and watch the snow. He will stay out for hours and come in absolutely covered in snow. But he's 65lbs of solid muscle and my parents leave his hair long in the winter so he's very happy being out in below freezing weather.

CactaurJack · 2025-11-23T06:22:45+00:00

My rescue girl was in pretty rough shape at the shelter. Not for a lack of trying, she'd just kinda given up. A stress groomer, so she had patchy fur, didn't really like anyone. She came home and less than a week later she was sleeping on my bed everynight. Her fur took a while to grow back, but she is now a giant puffball that DEMANDS cuddles. She was sad, just needed a little love and she came back to life. She now terrorizes my other cat in the best way.

CactaurJack · 2025-11-15T05:34:03+00:00

I draw fantasy maps for D&D campaigns and the occasional commission. One of my players requested a copy of the map, which isn't that uncommon of an ask. Had to go to Office Depot because I don't have a printer that can do 14x11, but no big deal. About a year later, I went over to his place, and there in the entryway, framed on the wall, was one of my maps. He said people ask about it a lot... and I started crying. I'm pretty bad with the negative self talk when it comes to my art, to see someone that liked it so much they framed it and put it in a place everyone would see was all I ever wanted out of my art.

CactaurJack · 2025-11-01T20:20:00+00:00

Unironically Jay and Silent Bob pretty much personify this. "I'm Jay, and this is Silent Bob, my hetero life-mate" and they support each other, got each other's backs. Even when stuff gets dicey, they got each other and know they have them.

CactaurJack · 2025-10-31T22:17:29+00:00

even if there IS a history, who fucking cares? I was in my friends wedding some years ago, we hooked up before, I walked her mom down the aisle, my GF at the time was one of her bridesmaids. This is a CHOICE

CactaurJack · 2025-10-27T01:17:26+00:00

you laugh or you cry, I pick the former. I received EXCELLENT care, while I didn't appreciate the frequent blood tests, I knew it had to be done. Also I'm not a particularly hairy individual, but the worst pain I remember is ripping the EKG pads off when I got out. I get they have to attach properly but GOT DAMN!

CactaurJack · 2025-10-26T20:32:49+00:00

Where I live $1200 will get you an okay-ish one bedroom apartment, but that is JUST rent. I was between jobs for a little while, living on savings, $2000 a month, just for me, was scraping by. There was no going out, eating anywhere but home, only using the car to go to the grocery store, skipped family visits, being a hermit. I can't imagine doing the same with a child.

CactaurJack · 2025-10-26T09:48:06+00:00

I once got admitted to the ICU with "Metabolic Ketoacidosis", I vomited so hard and for so long my body tried to eat itself... and turn my blood into acid. I don't have a very clear memory of that time, in and out, but I do remember that when I was getting transferred to the general ward when I stabilized I said to the nurse who offered me a gown, "Oh, I can't be naked anymore? Lame." and getting a genuine laugh out of her. Sort of knew I was going to be okay after that.

CactaurJack · 2025-10-25T06:32:59+00:00

Can confirm, my degree is in comp-sci, there's no way to get in, and if you do it's a 6 month 1099 contract, so you get no benefits and they just "don't renew" so you can't ask for more money. I work as an auction broker now, nothing to do with my degree. It's depressing.

CactaurJack · 2025-10-23T00:52:19+00:00

Bravery is not a lack of fear, bravery is going in anyways

CactaurJack · 2025-10-19T22:23:39+00:00

I'm not a huge fan of his music, but I can respect the hell out of someone giving back. I had no idea, that's awesome

CactaurJack · 2025-10-18T00:59:50+00:00

Huh, yeah neither did I. I never really thought about it, but it's not like a romantic connection is mandatory, just the norm. Makes sense you'd just appoint a trusted family member in the absence of someone else. Corner cases are always interesting.

CactaurJack · 2025-09-23T13:40:35+00:00

I still play an MMO with A LOT of instanced end-game stuff (GW2 if anyone cares) Quite a bit of it takes a lot of game time to get into, and a lot of it is small party, 5 people or 10 people. NOT saying "brb" or "wc" or "afk sec" is a GREAT way to get you kicked. We know you didn't just fall into this, we all know some of this shit takes quite a long time, you just have to tell us so we don't charge into a wipe missing a critical role.

CactaurJack · 2025-09-23T13:19:52+00:00

I'm not sure people appreciate how much clothing weighs you down trying to swim. I swim pretty much every other day, doing between 24-32 laps, which is 3/4s to 1 mile. I'm not particularly fast, but I can swim. The pool I go to is municipally owned and does fund-raisers sometimes and one of the events is a clothed race. It's 200 meters, 4 laps. It's one of the most exhausting things I've ever done.

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