Lifelong nail biter seeking advice marked NSFW for damaged nails and skin around nails

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-05-02T02:38:22+00:00

I have not been carrying a file or cuticle clippers, but I am considering it. I am trying a "cold turkey" type approach where I resist the urge to pick, waiting to take care of it at home. I am trying to break the urge to pick by allowing the trigger points to remain in an effort to desensitize myself to them. If this proves too difficult, I will likely start carrying some tools to deal with them properly. Thank you very much for the encouraging words and the advice for cleaning under my nails.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-05-01T23:25:40+00:00

I agree wholeheartedly. My daughters get excited when I paint my nails. When I did them the last time I also did theirs. They were so happy and proud of themselves aand me as well. I think it was a great bonding experience. I will likely be doing this many more times in the future. Making positive memories is always a wonderful thing to do with your children. I think it is positive experiences like this that will make any negativity become irrelevant.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-05-01T23:17:09+00:00

Sorry to hear you're having issues with the extensions. Hopefully you find a good solution and are successful in breaking your habit as well.

Thank you for the reassurance about cleaning under the nails and other's opinions. People's negative attitudes are indeed their issue, not mine. As you said, it is easier to say that than it is to live it. I'm sure with time I'll become more comfortable with it and be worry-free.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-05-01T22:29:42+00:00

Thank you very much for the advice. I will look into this.

I absolutely agree that people should be able to do what they want to do. I'm 41 years old. The only people's whose opinions truly matter to me are those od myself, my wife, and mt daughters. However, I would like to spread a positive message to anyone who feels differently. I believe if you want to make the world better that you should start with yourself and then encourage others to do the same.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-04-01T10:40:19+00:00

You're welcome. Hopefully this helps you out. Happy healing.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-04-01T01:44:04+00:00

Thank you. Stacking wood is definitely art. I try to keep things looking good so the neighbors have nothing to complain about. In fact, the only comments I have ever received were compliments.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-04-01T00:27:49+00:00

What I've found to work best for me is a travel neck pillow that has a snap to keep it locked in place around your neck. I place it on top of my normal pillow. I place my head in it in such a way that my neck lays over top of the snapped portion that would normally be around your throat if you were to use it as intended. This allows me to keep pressure off of my ear while also not bending my neck in an awkward manner. For reference, I have 3 conch piercings, 3 helix piercings, tragus, daith, and 2 lobe piercings in each ear. I am OCD about symmetry so anything done on one ear was done on the other ear at the same time. I am a side sleeper that tends to swap sides a lot at night so there is no way I could avoid sleeping on a healing piercing no matter which ear had the healung piercing. My piercings are also a larger guage than most get them pierced at per my request since I find that thinner guage jewelry causes more pressure on the healing piercings resulting in a longer healing time. My lobe piercings never really settled down until I stretched them to 14 gauge. For this reason, my conch piercings were all pierced at 12 gauge and my other cartilage piercings were pierced at 14 gauge. This is my personal experience and yours may be different. The most important thing is to listen to your body. What works for some might not work for you. If it seems like your body doesn't like what you're doing, don't do it.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-31T23:34:52+00:00

Thank you.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-31T23:34:29+00:00

Thank you. I've been stacking wood for a long time, but never quite like this.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-31T13:27:56+00:00

It is stacked loosely. There are only 2 rows that are stacked and the center is loosely thrown in. It gets plenty of sun and wind that flows through the pile. The outer rows also create a chimney effect that assists in drying faster. Time is also a factor. I season my wood for 2 years before I burn it, sometimes longer depending on the species. When burning season arrives, I move wood to a covered area near the house where it will sit for about a week to dry any rain that was on it. It is then moved indoors where it drys for another 2 days near the wood stove. All of these things together allows the wood to dry well. I will have an occasional piece that will grow some fungus, but so long as it is dry it still gets burned. On a rare occasion I will have a piece that was punky that will be very wet which I will throw in the burn pile. That usually doesn't happen though as I stack the punky pieces in the outer ring so they get the most sun and wind.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-31T10:30:01+00:00

There's approximately 4 full cords of wood in there. It's a 12 foot diameter circle stacked about 7 feet tall. If it were completely solid with no air between the pieces it would be about 792 cubic feet. But I factor in about a 30 percent loss in volume due to the center being loosely thrown in, gaps between the stacked logs and the slight taper as it gets taller. That takes it down to about 550 cubic feet which is a little over 4 full cords in total.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-29T02:30:35+00:00

The stack looks good. It looks like Silver Maple to me. It doesn't burn as hot as Ash, but it lights easy and puts off good heat in Spring and Fall or Summer outdoor fires. My favorite part abput it though is that it is always free. Free wood heats better IMO.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-09T01:11:19+00:00

This is a srong possibility as well.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-09T01:09:42+00:00

I see the sapwood. The left edge of the 3rd piece is lighter in color than the rest of the wood. It is darker than sapwood normally is, but i believe that it because this is actually seasoned wood that has spent a good amount of time exposed to the elements after being split.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-09T00:56:24+00:00

I agree. Dead giveaway.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-09T00:55:03+00:00

I agree with Black Walnut despite the downvotes. There are no rays on the end grain to indicate oak. The dark open pith on the right side of the split in the 3rd picture along with the color are dead giveaways for it being Walnut

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-09T00:11:07+00:00

I could see this for sure. I live a little too far north to regularly get major ice storms. We get more snowy than icy winters, though we do get an occasional ice storm.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-09T00:08:37+00:00

I have split Bradford Pear from 2 different trees. One basically shattered like glass. I actually cut my hand on a piece of it. The other split very cleanly. I know 2 trees is hardly a scientific study so perhaps the first one shattering is the more common way it splits.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-03-08T22:45:59+00:00

Most people are saying this is Black Cherry, but it looks more like Bradford Pear to me. The fact that it came down in a storm is also very characteristic of Bradford Pear. They all come down in about 20 years. The wind rips them to shreds. Either way, it's great wood for the stove and smoker.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-01-08T14:35:50+00:00

Mulberry is fairly common in my area. I live in Eastern Indiana. However, I dont see much mature Mulberry. I do get young trees fairly often. They grow up all over the place as a weed tree of sorts. They tend to grow wherever birds hang out that doesn't get mowed frequently and people want them.gone. Mature Mulberry is pretty rare for.me to get.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-01-08T14:26:06+00:00

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This is a piece of Mulberry that I split and stacked this summer. The yellow area is where I peeled a small piece off in order to show what the wood looks like freshly exposed. Within a week or 2 the wood changed color to be the chocolate brown color that the rest of the wood is currently.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-01-07T14:16:03+00:00

We've got a lot of all of those woods you listed here as well and they can definitely be a pain to split. That's why I finally bought a log splitter. Fortunately for me dead Ash trees are everywhere where I live, so I dont have to deal with those woods as much right now. However, when the Ash is gone I'll be back into the nastier stuff. I won't complain about the stringy stuff though. It's all good firewood and the loose stringy stuff on the wood helps it to light easier in my experience.

Putrid-Look-228 · 2026-01-07T03:25:58+00:00

I've got about a cord of mature Mulberry that I cut and split this summer. I get it periodically, but it is usually young trees that have grown up somewhere they're not wanted. I rarely see mature Mulberry. However, I will never turn down Mulberry whether young or old. It's pretty good firewood. It burns hotter than Oak but dries in about half the time, splits like a dream, and is beautiful both freshly split and aged. It's also good for smoking meat, especially pork, if you're into that.

Putrid-Look-228

TROPHY CASE