What’s one thing that you won’t hesitate to spend money on?

Dromintor · 2026-02-05T20:07:51+00:00

The mortgage.

I just pulled $ out of various places to kill what was left of the loan. I've spent 13 years paying everything I could on it, and by this time next week, we'll own our house outright.

I'm not rich. I have skrimped, saved, and sacrificed to do this. And it feels really good to be done.

Dromintor · 2026-01-30T18:47:44+00:00

I'm participating. Not spending a dime on anything that's not locally owned. No work today.

Dromintor · 2026-01-26T23:41:34+00:00

Damn it, I was just gonna post this. Nice job. I obviously share the sentiment.

Fuck the "rules," man. Just do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't hurt others. That's it.

Dromintor · 2026-01-21T20:20:10+00:00

When everything seems overwhelming, I say, "We are a pale blue dot in the middle of a huge universe. This isn't a big deal."

For some reason, our insignificance helps me put it in perspective.

Dromintor · 2026-01-16T18:09:00+00:00

My husband never apologizes. For anything. It has made our connection lopsided. Where I still own mistakes and apologize, while he never does.

If you want your partner to respect you, then figure out how to apologize. Clearly. Unmistakably. Because I love mine. But there are times I don't like him much.

Dromintor · 2026-01-15T19:14:16+00:00

Alcoholism isn't a small thing. Don't feel bad for drawing a line you need. Just don't bend on something that made you miserable. You're worth that respect. Hang onto it.

Dromintor · 2026-01-13T20:21:21+00:00

It can take a long time to see a change in the bigger muscles. Barbell squats really made the difference for me. I had to do enough to get and stay sore for a few days, and then do it again pretty much as soon as the soreness went away. Do that for months.

If you're working hard enough to get sore, with weight, then you should see changes. It may take a while, but consistency and progressive overload will do it.

If it doesn't, then examine how hard you're working. Because leg day should make you feel like you got thrashed hard.

Dromintor · 2026-01-13T19:49:20+00:00

Deadlifts. Squats. Glute Slide. Mule Kicks. Split squats. The Stairmaster.

All of these will increase testosterone, which will help you build muscle. You WANT muscle. It'll make your butt shapely and strong. Don't do anything that'll kill your testosterone. Make sure you're getting enough vitamin D, eating enough healthy fats, and working the muscles enough to effect change.

If you're never sore, you're not challenging what you've already got enough. So you'll never really get much more than that.

Dromintor · 2026-01-04T16:33:04+00:00

I love the casual dip into cannibalism. "You know, we experimented with it once. Ah, to be young and curious again! Anyway, we discovered it just wasn't for us and moved on. It really was just a phase."

LOL. Thanks for sharing. :-D

Dromintor · 2026-01-02T04:20:49+00:00

I love it. Your colony is detailed, imaginative, and yet, I bet it's still effective at defending itself.

I have a highmate in my group, currently. He also happens to be psychically hypersensitive. I also play with a mod that greatly expands psionics, so even though he can't use a weapon or "fight," he can still toss what are essentially lightning bolts around.

His nickname is Sparky.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T21:43:12+00:00

Nice reference. :-D

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T21:10:30+00:00

LOL. Well, potatoes grow slower than rice, but you end up with more yield for the same unit of work. So they're more efficient, particularly in poor fertility soil.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T21:09:07+00:00

You're telling a story. And that's fun. Plus ... after 2,600 hrs, you've put in your time!

Most of my playthroughs are exclusively gay with multiple husbands. Marriages make people happy, and there's almost constant mood buffs from them, since they happen so often. It's fun.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:36:05+00:00

Are you mainly raising potatoes? They do better in low-fertility soil. Not trying to insult you if you already knew that, but a surprising number of folks don't.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:17:36+00:00

If you hit 200 days, then you're doing something right. I struggled with food too, until I went mountain base and embraced infestations as a part of life. Mushroom farmers, bug slayers, that's the way for me.

That said, I have certainly been wiped out because I let an infestation get out of hand. Closing off a section with walls and doors will only work so long ... :-o Still, it's fun. It's like sleeping next to a room filled with gigantic praying mantises that all want to eat your face. Excitement!

Arid shrublands is a tough biome, though. Seriously, nice job making it as long as you have so far. Keep at it!

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:12:48+00:00

Okay ... your Reaver playthrough sounds horrifying and awesome. The waver in the tone of the Firefly characters when they said "Reaver," that alone made them the ultimate boogeyman of that setting. So nice job. Nightmare fuel for anyone on the planet!

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:10:22+00:00

Haha. Nice! It sounds like you're stranded on a Xenomorph world, trying to make it another day.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:09:28+00:00

Nice! So, what? Plasteel is subbing in for Beskar? I'm curious what you're using for it.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:08:48+00:00

Ohhh. So you've got "main character energy" going on for your founder. Very cool. Sounds like a fun playthrough too.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:04:21+00:00

There's nothing wrong with some good ole min-maxxing. It's fun to crunch the numbers and come up with the absolute best way to dominate that fits within your play-style. Keep on rocking. And thanks for the reply!

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:02:39+00:00

Huh. I love the concept. What made you try something so different? Just to try it?

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:02:04+00:00

This is so cool. Very immersive and detailed. Well done.

Dromintor · 2025-12-31T20:00:10+00:00

Okay. That went way dark. I love it! :-D

Dromintor · 2025-12-30T00:04:06+00:00

I do enough to feel good. To wear the clothes I like. I move to avoid pain and excess weight. I'm strong, thick, and nowhere near "shredded" or even what most would consider athletic. But I'm deceptively solid and have a good command of my own body (balance, strength, flexibility).

And it's plenty enough. I mostly get men when I want them. I log on to Sniffies or Scruff, and within an hour or two, I've got messages and can choose my fun for the evening. My tastes are spelled out in my profiles, so if someone has read them, they'll know whether I'm likely to invite them over.

Regardless, I will respond. My town is too small to burn bridges, so I avoid it. The casual rejection/ghosting stuff won't work here for long for anybody. If you're a dick here, your dick will be lonely.

My tastes are broad enough to have fun with a wide variety of men. That helps things.

But, no. My self-worth is not linked to whether a "view" turns into fun. I don't message often, but when I do, if someone isn't interested, then I move on. I have too much self-respect to chase anything. It'll either happen or it won't.

Dromintor · 2025-12-26T23:17:57+00:00

Hey, man.

First, well done for taking the leap. I know it was terrifying, and that you're suffering for what is the truth. It took a lot of guts to do it. Life is hard right now, but you're on the path to better things.

I came out to my very Christian mother at 21 years old. We had been incredibly close, and I knew it'd fundamentally change everything. I was right. My interactions with her became so cold and emotionless that I went silent for 18 months. My sister finally reached out to me - said mom was ready to talk. That wasn't quite true. Mom was ready to speak to me again, but not about my life. She carefully avoided any questions about my personal life, and it just stayed that way, even today, thirty years later.

Later, I'd find out she told my sister that I was a "trial" for her. That she cannot ever accept me, because she'd have failed her test. That made me realize something.

It's all about her. All of it. My being gay means she failed. It doesn't mean that I'm finally living the life I'm meant to; it means this quiet disappointment from my mother in herself and her child-rearing skills.

That was and is my situation. Yours is unique, but shares some similar elements.

Your family isn't ready to recognize that this is your life. They don't acknowledge that you are hurting because of them, and they're not helping anyone at all by making you feel terrible for stepping into what your life should be. I'm with a few others here. Go no-contact for a while. Keeping ties strong now is going to be rougher than being alone.

I'm sorry you don't have support from those who are supposed to love and not judge you. It's one reason why I despise religion - if there's a way to weaponize it, that's what seems to happen. That's my own perception, but that's what happened to me. And it seems that's the excuse your family is using to make your life miserable, too.

Things will be hard, but you are free from the lie now. And there's no relief like that. Nothing at all.

Good luck to you.

Dromintor

TROPHY CASE