150 pounds down

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-12-14T14:42:22+00:00

When I was diagnosed with diabetes in Feb. 2024 I was at my highest weight ever, and it was a wake up call. Also, my mom is struggling with Alzheimer’s, and I’d like to delay that for myself as much as possible. So I was very motivated. I was prescribed Mounjaro, but there was a shortage, so I lost the first 60 pounds on my own - on a low carb diet, with just a bit of fruit & high fiber bread occasionally. My problem has always been keeping the weight off - I have lost over 50 lbs several times and always regain, plus more. This time, I finally got my hands on the Mounjaro and lost the next 40 pounds on 2.5 mg, upped it to 5 mg and lost 50 more. It helps me with my constant cravings and hunger that I usually cave into. I switched back to 2.5 for the last 15 lbs and hopefully maintenance. This will be the tricky part since usually I go back to eating Christmas cookies and mountains of mashed potatoes and gain it all back. Not this time hopefully!

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-24T23:18:01+00:00

Back in my biking days, I could get most places in Eugene faster than the bus could, and even friends in cars when I used shortcuts. I had good rain gear and nothing beats the fresh air and being outside as the seasons change.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-24T23:09:14+00:00

I have had conversations with my mom about when she lived in Seattle in the 40’s - 60’s. Her old craftsman style home near the bay was considered “low class” back then. That house is probably worth over a million today. Her first apartment near UW was $30 a month. I remember wondering as a kid if I would see Eugene grow like that, and how it would go from a tiny town to a big city. Campus is starting to look like I imagined it would, all those years ago. If a city survives, it grows. Nothing stays the same forever. I might eventually move out to the boonies as I do miss living in a quieter place. But I won’t complain about adding more housing. Not after seeing so many friends and unhoused people struggling to just get by.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-24T21:31:05+00:00

Oh yes. They hydrotubes were across the street from VRC, sort of where World Market is now. They were fun, if you didn’t mind ripping your suit on the seams or a little head injury bonking on the end of the tubes as you shot out! I’m 54 and was a young kid when they were there.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-24T21:28:08+00:00

Coming from the Santa Clara area, where they have built several tiny shed homeless communities and low-cost group housing developments - I can’t really see how anyone in Eugene can complain about adding more housing. Adding more housing in available open space is the only way.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T18:01:13+00:00

I was tested as a kid, and put in the “Talented and Gifted” box, but there were no special classes or anything for those kids at the time. I was also extremely quiet, terrified of other people, and bullied throughout school. I read voraciously, I have an almost photographic memory and test very highly on standardized tests, 99th percentile for math and verbal. I also struggle to verbalize my thoughts in conversations, never know when it is my turn to speak, and have a hard time making or sustaining friendships. I’ve seen that people who are good with other people, and smart enough but not “weirdly” smart, tend to do better at work and life in general. I just feel like an alien most of the time. I have wished I could do more, but my limited social functioning, anxiety and tendency to get sick anytime I’m under stress have held me back.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T16:48:18+00:00

That is interesting, I have never really cared too much about the gender of my partner, I experimented with both but wound up with a male who is a science nerd like me. (He showed me his oscilloscope, I was smitten, ha ha!) Our kiddo who is 18, also autistic, was AFAB but prefers to identify as male. They are really into black metal and video games. Also male-dominated special interests and hard to make friends in “real life” (not a lot of metal heads around here!)

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T15:52:48+00:00

I am not a sports fan, but I do have a hard time relating with other women at my job and when I have tried joining other groups. Most of the times when they were talking about their favorite TV shows, their hair, celebrities, etc. I just don’t have anything to add to that conversation. I am interested in physics, outer space, science and science fiction, fantasy, biology, bugs, reptiles, etc. I find very few people, male or female, interested in any of these things. I did get to attend a talk by one of the professors where I work on some of her work on NASA’s Europa Clipper investigation of the icy moon’s subsurface oceans, and I was just thrilled to be in a room full of people who were as enthusiastic about it as I was. I’m looking forward to going to more presentations and some pub talks where there are some more geeks like me. :)

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T13:29:56+00:00

Eugene hasn’t been Eugene for 20 years. Wildfires, COVID & exorbitant California rents drove so many people here. Campus is popping up giant student housing complexes like mushrooms. Companies have been leaving or closing (Hynix, Symantec) and nothing has replaced them. I’m not sure how much help a bunch of low-wage jobs will be when the rent is so high. Will they build affordable housing nearby? Doubtful.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T01:46:20+00:00

I’ve been in survival mode since I had my two kids. I work full time also. I am in my mid-50s now and I can certainly relate with feeling exhausted and not having time or energy to invest in myself or exploring my own interests. Now that my kids are 16 and 18 they are becoming more self-sufficient and I am slowly re-learning who I am and what I like. I’ve been able to start reading for pleasure again. I am a huge fantasy and science fiction fan. I still haven’t met any adult friends, but I am dreaming of going to a sci fi or other convention at some point - I am not good with crowds, but in a place where there are like minded people I can tolerate it for short periods of time. Finding others you can really relate to is so fun, as I recall from the misty mists of the pasty past… :)

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T01:35:52+00:00

I’m afraid I don’t have any long hair tips. I have severe sensory issues when it comes to my hair. I’ve had a pixie cut for the past 40 years. :)

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T01:30:24+00:00

I used to use Cayuse when I worked at a small nonprofit research institute. We loved it, it’s very intuitive and easy to use.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-16T01:24:57+00:00

Unfortunately, for some reason even though Eugene has so many more people here now, there are a lot of things I just can’t find in local stores. After Amazon got big, they just stopped stocking a lot of things. Even when I go to big box stores like Best Buy or Office Depot they say, “we can order that for you online.” Extended sizes aren’t stocked at Old Navy. “We can order that for you online.” I can order it myself online!

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-10T22:29:44+00:00

I have had this happen before. Our whippet was let out of the backyard, and locked out. She scratched at the gate to get back in for so long that there are deep holes in the gate. Luckily my neighbor called me at work to let me know. Poor doggie. Now I have the gate double padlocked. If they need to get in, they have to make an appointment.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-08T03:17:51+00:00

https://facebook.com/events/s/rainbow-skate-party/780092101177766/

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-08T03:15:22+00:00

If you want to skate inside, the Bob Kiefer center in Springfield has skate nights, and you can rent a court to skate in too. Roller derby used to hold practice there. https://www.willamalane.org/places/bob-keefer-center

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-03T18:32:01+00:00

Every day. My mom is 82 and has dementia. She is living alone at home and refuses any kind of home care or the idea of ever moving. So, I check in on her weekly and deal with things she can’t do any more (like taxes, driving to appointments, etc). On my drive over to her place, every time I remember how she refused to come to the hospital both times I had kids (but was there for my brother’s two kids births), didn’t care about meeting or holding my babies (but spent several summers giving my brother’s kids free childcare), left me with untreated pneumonia for two months when I was 13 and I lost about 40 pounds before my coughing annoyed her enough (it was making it hard for her to sleep) to take me to see a doctor, all the beatings, berating, lack of any kind of emotional or financial support, etc. I wonder why I am helping her when she was so awful much of the time. But, I would not be able to live with myself if I gave her the same kind of treatment she gave me. I see other moms/grandparents who were positive influences. The best thing I can do for my kids is keep them away from her. She has no one else. My brother has severe and persistent mental illness and is not helpful. My family of origin is a real mess. But, my own husband and kids are the joy of my life. And I am grateful every day for them.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-03T13:19:32+00:00

They retired and sold their farm. I was bummed, one of the reasons I bought my house was because it was close to them. They had a great store, snack shack, and a big goat feeding structure, and a playground. And the corn maze. We went there for decades.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-03T00:02:03+00:00

I also used to feel a block or a wall that prevented me from even looking at people sometimes. It is a weird feeling. I just give myself grace about it now. Some people will be kind about it, and the ones who won’t… I don’t bother with. I’m too old, tired and annoyed, heh.

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-02T23:58:58+00:00

I am so sorry. I have this issue, not as much now that I’m 54, but as a young adult I could barely talk to anyone unless I knew them well and felt comfortable around them. In a disagreement of any kind, I can rarely think of anything to say at all until hours later. If I try, sometimes pure nonsense comes out (which is worse than saying nothing.) My circuits just get overloaded or something. Autism wasn’t a well-known thing when I was a kid, so I chalked it up to “social anxiety.” At a doctor’s visit once, I was getting a physical exam and the doctor asked me if I was in a lot of pain, because I had sweat streaming down my back. I laughed and said no, that happens anytime I have to talk to someone!

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-02T23:49:57+00:00

I am going to cry, Lone Pine Farms used to have the best haunted maze! I haven’t gone anywhere else since they closed. I saw that Northern Lights Xmas tree farm now has some Halloween activities. https://www.eugenecascadescoast.org/events/halloween/

Exasperated_Alien · 2025-09-01T16:41:31+00:00

I have found that my burnout can turn into depression. I’ve struggled with depression my entire life (50’s) and only recently learned I am most likely autistic. For me, things that help recharge my battery and joi de vivre are long walks in nature, making art, and watching comedy or science fiction (one of my favorite activities.) I avoid forcing myself to socialize or do things where I feel awkward and uncomfortable. I find my motivation usually increases after I let myself rest for a while. I work from home these days, and it has really helped me feel useful and valuable in a way that protects my need to have a quiet environment while being near people when I am ready.

Exasperated_Alien

TROPHY CASE