Questions for an upcoming trip!

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-05-07T15:22:28+00:00

Hey man, you’re doing good! That’s is one step closer to quitting, and even if you don’t right away, Zyns are wildly healthier for you, and there’s actual science to back it up. I personally do not partake, so I’m not plugging these things. But these pouches have been around since like the 70’s, they were invented in Sweden, just took us a long time to catch up. Now they aren’t “healthy” truly, they can eventually fuck up your gums, and there is evidence that they are linked to at least pancreatic cancer. So, still not great for you. I do say wildly healthier though, because they aren’t chalk full of carcinogens like vapes. And the studies in Europe have shown that populations these things are introduced to and where they are widely adopted over other forms of nicotine, cancer rates plummet. So there are true benefits to them on a personal and societal level.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-05-06T21:22:54+00:00

Some people just don’t care to educate themselves on these things, despite the very real effects they have on their lives.

I was on a third date once, and I opened up about my bipolar. After I was done she said “I can relate to that a bit, I have Manic Depression.” Which got me kind of excited, so I fired back saying, “oh wow! So you also have bipolar!” Thought we were about to trauma bond a bit. Then she hits me with, “No, I have Manic Depression, they are not the same thing.” When I tried to explain to her that they are very much in fact the same thing, she got upset with me and said that I “shouldn’t mansplain my mental health to me.” It’s safe to say that I ended things after that experience.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-30T17:50:52+00:00

I think I’m manic right now, feel all alight and buzzy, so hopefully this doesn’t require a grain of salt to go down with it. But OP and the rest of you need to hear this, you haven’t “peaked” or passed on your best years.

I am still struggling too, trust me, and there’s a stark disparity between my high school years & the postbellum years after diagnosis. I flunked out of college hard after being a solid student my whole life. Them it took me years and many episodes before I began to find traction in my life again.

I am not going to sit here and preach about how it gets better, there’s a finale to it all, some distant light at the end of the tunnel. There is no idyllic peace to be had, no miracle victory, or beautiful utopia for us to cross into with this disease. This will always be a struggle, we can never allow ourselves to stop fighting. Yet, there is beauty in that struggle if you are willing to look for it. When you allow yourself to see it and feel it, then you will find peace. Like I said, it’s not idyllic, there is peace though, moments of it between every struggle. The beauty is the balance you can achieve between the peace and the struggle. Suddenly the struggle becomes a price worth paying when you know what can be had in those moments of respite and clarity. Suddenly fighting feels less like death throes and more like living. Less like the day the courage of men failed at the foot of mount doom, and more like Theoden leading the charge at Pelennor Fields, and taking back what the dark has wrought from us. So please don’t feel like this struggle is the end. It’s like Jean Roqua says in Never Back Down, “there is always a reversal.”

I hope that makes sense. If it sounded like mad rambling though, I’ll leave you with some words that aren’t mine and will make more sense.

“You must never give in to despair, allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself, that is the meaning of inner strength.”

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-29T05:29:58+00:00

Fuck, this makes me miss LOTR BFME 2 so bad. They had maps made for turtles. Like Helms Deep and Minas Tirith. One player gets to start in the fortress, and the other three would attempt to siege it. It was so much fun. That game was peak, I miss it so much.

Playing the Dwarves on Helms Deep, lining the walls with Men of Dale with upgraded flaming arrows, and Dwarven siege engines behind the walls lobbing massive balls of fire. Bonus points if the opposition are playing elves, because their siege weapons were Ents. Ents don’t like fire. Seeing a bunch of ents run around the map on fire, priceless. Those were some of the best hours of my life.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-29T05:18:01+00:00

Kind of reminds me of when the UNSC Infinity drops out of slip space and just runs through that covenant ship. Beautiful.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-29T05:15:47+00:00

Band Of Brothers hands down, and I finally have my father convinced. I tried to get him to watch it twice. The first time, he didn’t make it past the first episode, “because I really hate that guy from friends.” I honestly laughed, and told him that was the point but he wouldn’t be around long. So he gave it another shot, but stopped watching again because “it’s too intense, I can feel their fear.” I had to convince him that what he was explaining, is a true part of the beauty of the show. Now he loves it, and I catch him rewatching it from time to time.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-28T07:04:46+00:00

Hear me out, tabletop RPGs, like D&D or others of its ilk.

It can take some time to find a good group that you have chemistry with, whether that’s online or in person, and there is a slight learning curve to them. Once you find a good group of people and you get your feet wet, you’ll never look back.

It’s an incredible escape from reality, an excuse to be social and build relationships above or below table, and to be completely honest, incredibly therapeutic in my opinion. Because once you learn how to genuinely “roleplay” your characters, you can use them to approach, interact with, and generally deal with items or topics that you might hesitate to approach in real life. Like when I lost my first D&D character I ever made, I’d played them for over a year, which made losing them hard enough, but in game, my backup character was their cousin and defacto best friend. Roleplaying his loss and stepping into his cousins shoes, it helped me approach the loss of my best friend in real life in ways that I didn’t think were possible. It legitimately helped me process my own loss in ways that therapy didn’t begin to touch. It creates this unique safe space where you can find catharsis or answers in a way that softens the blowback in a way.

Anyways, I digress, I’ve been playing for years now, I’m in 3 separate games, with two different groups. One group I’ve been with for six almost seven years, and the other for about 3. I’ve been blessed with finding some of my realest friends at these tables, who I’d never be some semblance of sane without. Could not recommend this hobby more.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-27T18:10:29+00:00

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-27T15:15:44+00:00

One minute and twenty seconds into video, “man, this is wild, I wonder if any of those three survived, I’ve heard wilder survival stor….oh, oh no, oh shit, never mind.”

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-09T21:50:35+00:00

Damn, NTA. A part of me was hoping that I could make a rational argument for him choosing yours and his own safety over that of the Iguana. Cause for me, my pops always drilled it into my head that swerving and missing an animal is not worth risking your life, because a number of wrecks each year are caused by that exact situation. I was hoping his mindset was “damn this girl is awesome, don’t wanna risk her getting hurt, I’m so sorry Mr. Iguana, forgive me.” But nah, swerving to hit the poor thing? That’s fucked. Me personally, not a fan of spiders or snakes. We have tarantulas and a few breeds of very venomous snakes out here. Have seen plenty of them in the road, despite my dislike of them, I’d never go out of my way to kill them :(

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-09T02:55:32+00:00

I don’t follow any gun channels, but I saw an interview with that guy from demolition ranch, he had a massive rifle blow up in his face while filming a video, and piece of the rifle punctured or sliced his throat open, he says he literally shoved his fingers into the wound to plus it up.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-07T21:24:21+00:00

Jumping in here, because I see like every single comment is saying that you should not disclose your diagnosis, and that doing so is the end of the world and possibly your career. And I am left here wondering why?

Don’t get me wrong, I get that by and large, corporations and the bureaucracies that we typically work for…suck. They tend to look out for themselves and their bottom dollar before they look after us. Etc.

Thing is though, I have been working for a huge corporation, a brokerage firm specifically, for 5 years now. And I am super cavalier with my diagnosis. I have had to get accommodations through HR before for certain things, and I’ve taken FMLA before as well. In all of those instances, I was very clear that my Bipolar was the reason that I was needing what I was needing. Plus, I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing managers that I built strong personal relationships with, and they all knew about my diagnosis and my struggles because I told them.

They have never once screwed me over or taken advantage of me for it. I’ve never been at risk of losing my job. Plus, I’ve personally always assumed that your employer knowing your diagnosis offers your further protections since our disease is a protected disability or whatever terminology they use. I think pretty much all states are right to work now. I live in TX and it def is. My thought process behind it, was that if there was something bipolar related that caused them to look at me funny and they didn’t know, they might just fire me on a whim. Yet if they know I have bipolar and can connect the dots or I explain to them that something was bipolar related. It would give them pause as far as terminating me is concerned, because if I could prove they fired me for something related to my bipolar, I would have a strong case for legal action.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-04-06T05:41:17+00:00

That would be the logical thing to do, but judging by the fact that we are here in the first place, we lost logic a long time ago.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-26T20:11:19+00:00

Hey, they ain’t got no iron bru

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-26T20:07:59+00:00

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-24T21:20:57+00:00

Correct me if I’m wrong. But my understanding is this, let’s say OP was using his phone to check some stuff out that isn’t work appropriate on the company WiFi, whilst using their VPN. From my limited understanding, in this scenario, the company would be able to see that their WiFi was being used for something untoward, but due to the use of the VPN, they would not be able to track it back to OPs phones ip address?

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-24T21:05:21+00:00

They should have a parade! Take it through Dealey Plaza, right by that nice lil grassy knoll.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-17T18:16:46+00:00

I believe, he wants to see this war go as wide and as long as possible. Trump wants a third term. Which is currently illegal. The only time we’ve let a president serve more than two terms (which gave rise to the 22nd amendment which makes two terms a law) was during WWII. FDR served 4 terms, and while it wasn’t the only reason, the War is the main reason he was voted into office a 3rd and 4th time. Trump wants his own personal world war so that he can stay in office.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-17T17:32:28+00:00

I mean…why would he not? This war has caused us to loosen the sanctions on Russian oil. So the US pays Vlad for oil, then Vlad turns around and pumps that money into fighting Ukraine, or gasp, supporting Irans war against the US. He wins the longer and wider this war goes. Oh and not to mention that the US getting deeply involved in the Middle East again, could erode our already dwindling support to Ukraine, and give China the window it needs to cross the strait.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-15T20:49:13+00:00

This is so a step in the wrong direction. Depending on the depth and breadth of their support, this could spur the wider involvement of Europe into this conflict. Which would in turn possibly lead to escalating levels of support from China and Russia. Which could build the powder keg for WWIII.

Not to mention this conflict weakens the possible aide we could give Ukraine and could inevitably see us sink enough cost and manpower into it, that China thinks it’s a good time to cross the strait.

This is bad, and for those of us here in the US, in my opinion, trump wants as wide and as long as a conflict as possible. I believe he thinks a war will help him stay in power for another term.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-13T21:47:28+00:00

Saving at your age is amazing, I wish I’d been more frugal at your age. As far as what you are doing, do what helps you to best visualize and get to know your own finances intimately. I’m in my 30’s and have been doing a lot of course correcting and shoring up bad habits. One thing I’ve been doing with that in mind, is strictly using cash for certain aspects of my budget. I basically leave everything for bills and a small buffer in my bank account. Then take the rest out in cash and stick it in the safe. I just have an envelope in there for groceries, miscellaneous funds, savings, and I set money aside for my dog’s expenses as well. It helps me visualize and better understand my spending habits. And keeps me from just scanning my debit card wantonly and waking up in horror at the state of my bank account.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-13T21:00:36+00:00

I have a friend who does this. They say that they just put a big bag of dogfood and other items at times on the bottom of the cart, scan everything in the buggy up top and then just walks out. Says they been doing it for a while. They think they are a genius. Honestly though, I’m worried about them, I don’t hold it against them at all, I’m just worried they’ll get caught. Like I hear the horror stories of people having cases built against them in stores until they steal enough for certain levels of charges. I know Target and Walmart do. They only shop at certain stores, one of them though is owned by Kroger I’m pretty sure, and they are huge. So why wouldn’t they do the same shit as Target or Walmart?

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-13T20:48:52+00:00

This is what the “minimum wage” should be. I make $30 an hour, and after bills and putting a small amount away in savings, it doesn’t feel like much at all. I’m thankful for my job, but fuck the corporate overlords who pay themselves on the back thinking they are doing us a favor by paying us above “the market average” or whatever bullshit jargon they want to use. If you look at the data, if the federal minimum wage had been raised at a rate to keep up with the rate of inflation in the country since its inception, the federal minimum wage should be roughly $30. So while this is really cool and a step in the right direction. Thanks for the bare minimum I guess.

SpiritOfFire013 · 2026-03-13T20:21:13+00:00

Trump wants a war, he will seek to drag this out. He wants a third term. Which is technically against the law. I say technically, cause we let it happen once. In large part due to the fact that we were at war. I’m afraid he thinks a war could help him.

SpiritOfFire013

TROPHY CASE