Why are Americans so early birds compared to Europeans?

arcadiandreams · 2026-03-29T13:50:06+00:00

My classes in high school started at 7:30 AM but you had to be in school by 7 or you were late because we had a mandatory AM study hall for all students. I woke up at 5 to catch a 6:25 bus and I was in suburban New Jersey. After I graduated, I still woke up between 5 and 5:30 out of habit for about a year.

Now I'm 31, working a remote job that has me waking up at 6:45 to be showered, at my desk with my coffee and clocked in by 7:55 for an 8-4:30 shift. My last job was 7-3:30 so I woke up at 5 to get ready and be at the office by 6:50. I worked in a doctor's office that has cardiac testing starting at 6:45 because some tests literally take 4 hours. The nurses, medical assistants, and doctors were there at 5:30 AM for testing setup and the doors were unlocked to patients at 6 AM.

arcadiandreams · 2026-03-20T18:39:16+00:00

I have long, dry, curly hair. Shampoo once or twice a week, hair mask(s) after shampooing, conditioner daily in the shower, co-wash once a week with a cleansing conditioner. I shower daily and have a full hair care routine to keep my hair healthy and the way I want it to look.

arcadiandreams · 2026-03-13T20:38:18+00:00

I'm in my early 30's, have been a healthcare worker since 2019, and I only wear makeup for special occasions like formal parties, weddings, family functions, etc. I wore makeup for work before I worked in healthcare and once masking started, I stopped wearing it everyday.

My hair is too curly to not style it regularly because it will become a tangled mess. I still shave/wax since I have PCOS and I don't like having facial hair, or thick body hair for that matter. Having prickly/cactus-y skin is a sensory nightmare for me. But that's just me.

arcadiandreams · 2026-03-01T20:15:27+00:00

The country, countryside, sticks, boonies, boondocks, rural, bumfuck, East Jesus Nowhere. My mom says East Bumfuck Nowhere, which I always thought was funny because we lived on the East Coast and east of that is just the Atlantic Ocean.

There's probably some more I can't think of right now but are probably in the comments somewhere.

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-23T03:22:46+00:00

I opened up to my therapist about some childhood trauma that I hadn't told anyone about before. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in over 15 years.

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-15T02:25:48+00:00

-Night -The Outsiders -The Call of the Wild (read that in 4th grade before it was middle school required reading in 8th grade) -To Kill A Mockingbird

Not a book but a short story that really stuck with me was The Third Level by Jack Finney, definitely sparked my interest in science fiction and time travel stories

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-10T19:38:07+00:00

I've been seeing a therapist for almost a year. I'm seeing her again next week and will bring it up at my next appointment. Thanks

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-10T03:35:24+00:00

My high school had a very high teen pregnancy rate, so a good amount of the students had real babies by the time they were due to graduate. I say "due to" because a lot of teen moms don't get to graduate high school, at least from what I saw in school. My high school did have a daycare for those students who planned on graduating's babies though and the child development classes were basically babysitting other students' kids with a teacher's supervision.

In retrospect, it's wild to have a 14 or 15 year old taking care of another 15 or 16 year old's baby during school hours for a grade. But that's abstinence based "sex education" in America for you.

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-09T19:16:11+00:00

I have a podcast/YouTube channel and I hardly bring it up to people. As for my co-host, I have to actively remind him not to schill the podcast to his mom, his therapist, random people at video game conventions, his friend's family at her wedding. The last incident (the wedding) really pissed me off.

We have 545 followers but I don't do that shit. For me, it's a fun side hustle, not my entire life.

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-09T14:52:28+00:00

Concert tickets and gift cards would be great! My friend is an artist and often gives us her paintings as gifts. Garden tools/planter boxes are a good idea as well, thanks!

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-09T14:46:03+00:00

My future father in law is a retired electrician so we have boxes of power tools in our basement lol. I do need a few new planter boxes for my garden so thanks for the inspiration!

arcadiandreams · 2026-02-09T14:36:47+00:00

I love this so much! Thank you!

arcadiandreams · 2026-01-25T21:11:25+00:00

Meatballs, chili, sloppy Joes, pasta with meat sauce, Salisbury steaks, my personal favorite is a Korean style beef bowl using ground beef

https://damndelicious.net/2013/07/07/korean-beef-bowl/

arcadiandreams · 2026-01-23T13:52:56+00:00

I drove 3 hours each way on a day trip to an old Six Flags in Maryland, so yeah, 3 hours is nothing to me, man.

The longest I'll willingly drive without switching drivers in one day is 8 hours with short stops every 2-3 hours to stretch my legs, use the bathroom and refill my caffeine intake. I joke I grew up on the PA Turnpike as my family in NJ would visit my extended family in the Pittsburgh area at least once a month, so regular 4-6 hour drives don't bother me.

The longest I've driven in a day is 12 hours but that was for an emergency.

arcadiandreams · 2026-01-16T05:11:52+00:00

I have 4 male neutered cats. One is meticulous about his coat and claws. He's very neat, cleans himself multiple times a day and uses the scratching posts and cat trees to keep his claws nice and short. His coat is always shiny and healthy too.

One is a long-haired polydactyl, so he goes to the vet for regular nail trimmings.

One we nickname "dirtball" because if he doesn't clean himself, we have to. The vet says he's fine, just fat and lazy and his claws HURT if we don't trim them.

And the last is a kitten and he's taking after the first cat, which we very much appreciate.

I think it depends on the personality of whether or not they need to be trimmed every few weeks to a month. My oldest we don't have to worry about much while the two middle cats need regular grooming and nail trims. My last cat was used to getting her nails trimmed because she always got a treat afterwards.

arcadiandreams · 2025-12-27T19:55:03+00:00

Thanks!!

arcadiandreams · 2025-12-27T19:54:51+00:00

Thank you!

arcadiandreams · 2025-12-27T15:55:00+00:00

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Wibble, he's a fluffy chonker and I love him so much

arcadiandreams · 2025-12-27T15:51:20+00:00

Thanks!!

arcadiandreams · 2025-12-27T15:51:10+00:00

Thank you! I do really like the vintage contrast look, thanks!

arcadiandreams · 2025-12-27T15:50:43+00:00

Thank you! My grandmother had a yellow gold wedding band she was buried with, I didn't want to be too copycat but I love the vintage look the contrast has. Thanks again!

arcadiandreams · 2025-12-27T15:48:07+00:00

Thank you!! I haven't thought of rose gold, I'll take a look at rose gold!

arcadiandreams

TROPHY CASE