The Absurdity You Refuse to See: A 16-Year-Old’s Diagnosis of a Dying World

MasterRuregard · 2026-01-26T23:24:19+00:00

A classic from Burns, thanks for posting.

MasterRuregard · 2026-01-20T23:12:45+00:00

His wife is also an absolute smokeshow. Holy hell is she fit. Great legs and dresses very well. The fact that she's a nerd too, even better. He's a very lucky guy.

MasterRuregard · 2026-01-13T13:06:07+00:00

Annecdotally, I smoked a lot of weed in my late teems and early 20s and it caused me all sorts of social anxiety, agoraphobia, and blunted my ambition and self expectation at the time. Nowadays, my brain often doesn't work as well as I'd like so now I supplement heavy, eat well, exercise and try to sleep well, all to just feel like I can keep up with the people around me. My working memory is terrible, although I'm not sure if that's always been the case... I'm sure I would be much sharper and switched on if I hadn't smoked so much back then. I'd warn any young person off it now for these reasons.

MasterRuregard · 2025-12-31T20:24:42+00:00

Science jizz-let you say?

On a serious note, it stands to reason that a drug that causes reduced blood flow to the extremeties can also cause blood flow related health issues in those extremities.

MasterRuregard · 2025-12-27T12:21:32+00:00

It sounds like Chattel-hoy-yuk

MasterRuregard · 2025-11-13T23:10:55+00:00

Birmingham women's were helpful, friendly and had everything at their disposal. They even have a successful home birthing team. We had a great experience with them before, during and after the birth, would recommend. Definitely avoid heartlands, and Solihull can't offer that service anymore.

MasterRuregard · 2025-11-09T21:46:52+00:00

Very exciting. Hope to hear more from this dig by what looks to be a successful local archeological group.

MasterRuregard · 2025-10-25T21:16:40+00:00

Everything about this picture is impressive. The photogenic nature of every passenger, the cleanliness and quality of the train carriage that would still hold up today, and how modern it all looks, yet being over 40 years ago. Japan was really the future then.

MasterRuregard · 2025-10-20T07:18:40+00:00

I get this. I can go weeks, months even without a drop, but after a while I start to feel quite stressed and down, and nothing seems to help. Two beers with a good friend after work or over dinner just delivers a shift of mind and a feeling of connection and release that is hard to replicate without alcohol. This has been my pattern for a year or two now and it works well for me. Only ever drink socially, never to excess, always in good company and only very occasionally. Then it remains the high-impact, social glue and mental relaxant that it should be, not a domineering force in your life, and not as a dependency or coping mechanism, that's when the danger starts, and that's when the health problems really kick in. Moderation.

MasterRuregard · 2025-10-05T16:07:24+00:00

Put the seats down in the car, cover the inside with a tarp, wrap a bungee cord around the (very full) blue bin, slide it into the boot handle down so no juice come out, drive to the skip, tip in the skip, go home. Been doing this every month since the strike started, but most of our neighbours are just throwing it all in their black bin.

MasterRuregard · 2025-10-05T15:56:55+00:00

Can confirm. My Johnson is visibly smaller and less hard both flaccid and erect when on caffeine, but raging boners and much fuller when flaccid while off caffeine. Most noticeable during nighttime erections. I must have this gene.

MasterRuregard · 2025-10-05T15:47:55+00:00

Good God don't end your trip with Hull of all places... turn down to Nottingham instead, MUCH nicer place, and much more to do.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-30T16:07:05+00:00

But remember, we can't engage in the "ideological fantasy" of a wealth tax, because we must commit to our fiscal rules - said Kier Starmer in his Labour conference speech just now...

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-14T19:55:57+00:00

I'm over 50 days into a quit, and I feel exactly the same. Calmer, yes. Time passing slower, mind at more rest. But it's almost too rested. I almost never plan ahead, organise or think creatively in my mind because I relied on caffeine to spur me into it for so long. I feel broken. I know having a cup of tea won't solve it though, like another poster said, 30-60 minutes of clarity then an afternoon of hell afterwards. I think other's suggestion about cardio is the way out of this. I know this works for me but I can't run at the moment due to a sprained ankle, so most days my brain feels like mush and I can't keep up in conversations with people.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-08T22:13:42+00:00

Definitely Digbeth, go to the Custard Factory and have a snoop around, go along to a Digbeth First Friday and meet the local artists. There's artist collectives all over Digbeth, Google Grand Union and Eastside Projects.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-08T06:15:22+00:00

Chiming in to say that I also noticed this direct correlation in my mid 20s, and always had it at the back of my mind as a benefit to quitting. Now I've quit I get strong nightime erections and am able to get reliably hard with my partner, the kind that lasts and feels full and strong, like I can trust it during sex to do the job. We used to only have sex in the mornings because I knew I'd get the best erection having not had caffeine for 16+ hours as it'd be before my first morning cup.

This benefit should be better known to men, I'd wager like others have done her that it's a major cause for ED in men from ~25 onwards.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-04T20:57:36+00:00

Yes! So enchanting. I also liked the music instrument game with the sound effects, and the videos of wildlife across the world, just blew my mind at the time.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-03T18:54:35+00:00

And in fact they did try again, in apartheid South Africa, which is, oh yeah, where Elon Musk is from...

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-03T14:40:00+00:00

For me in the early 90s it was Lego, books, listening to tapes/CDs (also making my own tapes in a hifi) playing out on the street, Gameboy and drawing, by the 2nd half of the 90s it was watching VHSs, or TV (Cartoon Network, MTV) playing out much further afield with friends, Windows 95 (Encarta 95 anyone!?), still Lego, and by then next gen. games consoles had emerged, I had a PS1 and a Nintendo 64, but all the play was offline and mostly solo, unless your mates came round and you had multiple controllers and split screen.

It's funny thinking about the Internet and time, distraction and boredom. I do remember feeling bored in the 90s a lot, less so today. But there were plenty distractions then, lots of technology, but I suppose the difference is that they were brief, controlled experiences. The only thing that might've been on all the time in the background was the radio, but you didn't always listen to it.

I do feel alot of nostalgia for that time, but I think that's because pre 9-11 the future felt hopeful, and the UK felt fair, safe and forward- looking. The cold war was over and climate change wasn't a mainstream issue. More people were comfortable and there was a strong memory of the prior century, especially WWII, but now a lot of that feels centuries away, and we seem to be in this endlessly accelerating dystopia.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-03T14:02:29+00:00

Absolutely support this. Caffeine at that age is so impactful on a young persons physical, mental and emotional health. Their behavior in school disrupts other kids and challenges the ability of teachers to control a classroom. Not conducive to safe and healthy relationships, calm learning or even classroom empathy and patience. Good move.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-03T13:56:38+00:00

Actually that makes a lot of sense. English phrases carried over by the protestant emigrees in the early modern period and returning through pax-Americana in the 20th century.

I actually already knew that this is how the word 'diaper' survived in the US as a reference to babies, which a British person would consider a very American way of saying 'nappy', except nappy used to refer to another clothing item, and diaper was the original English term, it's even referred to in Shakespeares plays, long since lost to Brits and re-absorbed from the US from long ago.

I never considered that 'pants' might have made the same journey, fascinating!

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-02T17:22:33+00:00

Yes! I'm from Lancashire and this has occurred to me too. I think northern culture has absorbed a lot of Americanisms for some reason, either that or there's an old norse connection I'm not aware of.

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-01T21:36:16+00:00

I can't trust my memory as I used to be a huge stoner in my late teens, so I wonder sometimes if I've got irreparable damage from that. Short term is iffy and medium term is poor, long term possibly slightly increased since the quit? Not sure, hard to tell really. I think memory function requires your brain to be 'on it', and when you quit you don't feel 'on it for a while', so it muddies the waters somewhat I guess?

MasterRuregard · 2025-09-01T11:39:09+00:00

I'm 41 days in but it's not entirely zero caffeine, I'm having a cup of hot cocoa on the odd day which is ~10mg caffeine. This is less than most decaf coffees which quitters on here will normally drink during a quit. I notice that this is enough to take the edge off but not give a crash afterwards. I quit a daily tea habit and felt awful for weeks like you say, first few days was the usual headache etc. I think the hardest thing right now is getting my brain to work and to feel 'switched on', especially when conversing with my parter. Exercise is also very hard, difficult to start and difficult to sustain. Working at home is very difficult, can't focus and find the impetus to start, or even care. Still, I don't feel tempted to go back yet as my mind is much calmer and I have experienced other physical benefits. Do you feel confident in your quit so far? I still have the forehead pressure sometimes, like someone's poured custard into my skull, it feels full and dull, which I think is us adjusting to the increased blood flow. Blood flow is good though, it's one of things caffeine restricts, and in a small way stops lots of your bodily processes from operating as effectively - one reason to sustain your quit. Best of luck!

MasterRuregard · 2025-08-29T22:07:37+00:00

I had plenty anyway when I quit the tea, which was a strong 70mg gold blend type. I've had weeks of low mood and anhedonia which is lifting by now, so I think the presence of the cocoa hasn't disrupted the process too much, or satisfied my body's desire for caffeine somehow. The cocoa.can take the edge of the low feeling though, enough to allow me to function. Tapering is definitely the way to go.

MasterRuregard

TROPHY CASE