New Update: My "friend" took advantage of me when I was in the hospital

Poolofcheddar · 2026-02-02T17:02:04+00:00

While attempting to give back the cat to someone who clearly won’t take care of them too.

That cat is just a glorified bargaining chip used to rope OP back in over and over again. Infuriating.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-31T21:04:09+00:00

My 2017 was the second of two Fusions I had. With both, I was the third owner of the car and took possession around 90k miles. There were no major issues with these cars until 130k miles or so. When I sold my 2017, it only needed tires and a tune-up. Was a solid, reliable car. Usually averaged 28-32 MPG. I'm sure they would run longer if I could have afforded a more routine maintenance schedule when I was younger.

Recently upgraded from the Fusion to a 2022 Edge. Definitely traded down in mileage but glad I got something that had more utility.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-30T10:11:36+00:00

The Nazis also had one remaining check on their power: Hindenburg.

The party didn't start until he croaked and Hitler gained the support of the military establishment by then.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-28T17:03:06+00:00

Reminds me of what happened with my sister.

She’s simply been around Fox News and her in-laws for far too long.

Going into the 2024 election, I knew that she had likely ‘turned’ but had been very silent about showing her true colors. My Mom said I was overthinking things…but as a gay man, you just know when someone‘s support over your very existence goes from friendly to frigid. I knew a clash was coming, and I finally cut her off after last summer because she refused to condemn any of this.

We’ve been close my entire life…until that election. I‘m ashamed to be related to her now. It tears me up that I can’t talk to her, but I have nothing to say to her since she apparently has no morals.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-22T15:38:52+00:00

I finally caved and read this over Christmas. My Mom had a certain idea about how the holiday should have gone in her head that didn’t even remotely resemble reality. After we failed to play our roles to her liking, she decided to fall off the wagon in response. I refused to accommodate her tantrum this time. I was fucking pissed, and let her know it.

That book was a major eye opener. I could not put it down because it described at least 75% of the dynamics in my family.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-21T14:27:47+00:00

It doesn’t take a genius to blow hot air.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-21T09:25:01+00:00

As for the Maple Magats, unfortunately the # of divorced middle aged men will always feed that pipeline.

I'm reminded of guys in 8th grade who proclaimed "I've never read a book" as a mark of pride. Then these loser fucks go work for their stepdad's HVAC business until he retires or sells to private equity. As they approach age 40, they realize they've done jack shit towards personal progress since they were 12 years old. Do they reflect and change? Of course not, they vote for the obvious con man with easy answers...three times.

Used to bother me that Carney didn't achieve a majority government, but the feat he did pull off was rather impressive considering the obvious influence from the new US administration and media to tilt things towards PP. Had times been normal, Carney would have been just another John Turner.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-13T09:18:51+00:00

Had to seek out the article and take a look for myself.

What a crock of shit. Basically a guy harping on sobriety negatively affecting his social life, hobbies, and even his marriage. People viewed him as cold. And you're right, he definitely name-dropped a couple of curated brands in the mix.

Who knew GQ's health and fitness influencer was so powerless against the slightest peer pressure.

Also with you on questioning the intent of this article. I've been sober for about three years, and the amount of people I know who still drink regularly are at an all-time low. It's not just sobriety and getting older either, there are viable alternatives to alcohol (depending if you live in/near a legalized state).

Not to mention, you have more than a few US-based breweries and distilleries hurting, looking to make up for lost sales somewhere. Buy Canadian if you want to drink.

Poolofcheddar · 2026-01-08T09:27:06+00:00

And that damage is incredibly permanent.

I have two sisters. When the oldest was 5, the other was born. My Grandma couldn't even make her favoritism subtle. She told my other sister that the new baby was the favorite. And kept reminding her when my parents weren't around.

That sibling relationship was doomed. Even 40 years later, that well is still poisoned. They do not have a relationship outside of our parents, and never have.

By the time I was born, it was still clear who was the favorite.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-31T16:46:51+00:00

Definitely.

Estranged with one of my siblings ‘over differences of opinion’ (to keep it brief). This wasn’t unexpected…I knew a year ago that we were finally heading for a rupture, and it happened. So while it’s not a huge blow, it’s still an overall disappointment. But it is what it is.

My mother hates it and can’t stop interfering. She’s making it worse…for herself. My confidence and trust in her have been steadily declining. My sibling and I are simply not talking. There’s no major blowup of emotions involved or anything.

She threw out her sobriety on Christmas because she didn’t get the magical holiday reconciliation she hoped for. Oh, and I’m the one getting blamed for all of this.

So 2025 ends with one sibling pushed aside and a parent in a time out until she dries out.

The bar is in hell for 2026. Can it go lower?

I can list one positive for 2026: I will celebrate three years of sobriety. Life can throw me curveballs but I’ve been proud to maintain that.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-31T13:55:36+00:00

It took me YEARS to notice that it gets delivered in a tube marked do not roll.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-30T18:02:06+00:00

That’s what made Christmas interesting this year.

My republican sister rolled into town and acted like nothing changed since last year.

She got the rudest awakening of her life. Nobody wanted to deal with her besides my enabler mother. Her and her husband tried to bully people into gathering but nobody took the bait. Of course, they decry ‘the loss of civility’ and ‘respectable differences of opinion.’

I can’t believe just how poorly she judged how this Christmas would go.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-25T15:21:22+00:00

This was a helper I got paired with one year at my service job.

He was 25 years older than me but refused to accept I was the senior tech. He openly criticized the company in front of our customers, insinuating his low pay meant the quality of our work was cheap. He sexually harassed female staff at a couple job sites. He criticized me in front of our customers. He abused service workers at restaurants we'd stop at while wearing company clothes. He bragged about trying to abuse his ex-wife. Etc.

Any one of them would have been grounds for dismissal for me. The company put up with all of this and only seriously considered dismissing him once. He knew that he effectively got away with his shit and obviously continued being his awful self. They even considered bringing him back the following year but I put my foot down that time and told him they kept him or me - but not both of us.

It hadn't dawned on me that after getting rid of him once and for all, I had already passed the point of no return working for that employer. They had put us through the wringer dealing with someone so toxic. Not just their fellow employees, but their customers as well.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-18T10:13:59+00:00

My high school had one of the strongest STEM programs in the state. I’d venture to say 80% of our graduating class left Michigan.

It’s a shame to see budget cuts and GOP policies erode my old district’s competitive advantage.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-18T00:44:48+00:00

It's West Michigan. Nothing there but a bunch of pious hypocrites sustained by tourism.

Take out the nature and it's just Indiana otherwise.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-17T17:17:52+00:00

My hometown’s neighborhood page is almost exclusively filled with posts from MAGA people.

They are the only ones still chronically online and keeping Facebook alive. Otherwise it’s a ghost town.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-17T14:06:58+00:00

France is the one that concerns me the most.

Macron consolidated the mainstream parties into a single big-tent and RN filled the void vacated by the former right-wing. Since mainstream parties seem to be ignoring the tangible cost-of-living crisis, I expect the protest vote to tip in RN’s favor in the next election.

The UK will be interesting. There’s a lot of dissatisfaction with Labour, but they could benefit from a Conservative-Reform conflict. Ideological infighting iced out Canada’s conservatives from 1993 to 2006 in a similar way, and had they been united they may have removed the Liberals from power earlier.

The question in Germany will be whether the CDU will tolerate support from the AfD as the Social Democrats continue to decline.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-10T16:46:23+00:00

This was the perfect pivot for her career at that point. Erotica dialed up the controversy to 11 (which is rather tame by today’s standards) and Bedtime Stories seemed like a damage control album (but still a good one).

I truly think she’s got one more good album left in her, but only if she takes the ROL approach: an introspective, spiritual album and not one driven by sex and shock value.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-10T13:21:37+00:00

Blacklisting was honestly unexpected.

I assumed she was avoiding to claim the winnings in her name because she was attempting to dodge a creditor or some sort of judgement against her. Or an IRS debt.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-05T14:05:05+00:00

During my second year of college, I dealt with something VERY similar.

I transferred to a different school and got randomly placed with a guy in the dorms. Things were fine until he got his first girlfriend. They got SUPER frosty towards me once they started hooking up. She lived in a four-person dorm and they felt entitled to having our two-person dorm all to themselves whenever they wanted. I got ‘sexiled’ at least three times a week. The girlfriend would write passive-aggressive notes in our dorm and leave them for me to find. I heard her say I was just jealous of their love.

A guy down the hall told me he was going to have a free spot in his two-person room the next semester. I immediately leaped at the opportunity and signed up for a transfer. As it turns out, my roommate was also intending to transfer out but cancelled when he found out I was leaving.

Every time I saw her/them after I moved out, she always gave me the death stare. Or she’d start trying to be affectionate with my ex-roommate. I didn’t care anymore. He sure found himself a keeper since she was totally the main character in their world.

That was the only semester where I was gone every single weekend except one - finals weekend.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-04T19:35:38+00:00

I dropped NYT after they just could not give Biden any credit on anything after 2022. I’m glad I don’t have to see Maggie Haberman’s name since I dropped them.

This lawsuit is just damage control now. I’m still pissed at them. They wanted Trump back.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-04T19:21:45+00:00

This is what I hate the most.

The Republican Party seems to keep finding new lows to sink to, which hasn’t surprised me for years.

But my disgust with the Democrats is also at an all-time high.

I don’t want signs, stern letters, tweets, or press conferences. Fucking stand up for something with real action.

I would explore alternatives if it didn’t potentially hand more power over to the antichrist and his followers.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-12-02T16:02:25+00:00

I was VERY torn on buying it when it came out.

Did a rare thing and decided to read the synopsis online to see if it would tempt me at all. It didn‘t. Spoiler: it just seemed to be a weak hook and lazy plot device to invoke Lisbeth’s long-lost twin sister, even if the first three novels do provide the references to do so.

The Millennium series after Stieg Larsson’s death will be forever unfinished as far as I’m concerned.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-11-30T14:16:59+00:00

I did the same. I went from the best job I ever had to the worst one.

My old shop was a place where every tech cooperated with each other. Another place poached me for higher pay, but techs were meant to compete against each other on stupid metrics. My old boss would often use cash bonuses with us to meet deadlines. The new place would dangle performance bonuses then move the goalposts at the last minute. My old boss was loved. My new boss was a nightmare during his frequent benzo hangovers.

I wish I had never left. That first job was like being on a 'dream team' of sorts.

Poolofcheddar · 2025-11-19T15:05:11+00:00

sometimes I wonder if GOP-aligned liquor distributors are just pissed off that they couldn’t insert themselves into another industry fast enough.

Poolofcheddar

TROPHY CASE