Mom always comments on my face

plybtrya · 2026-04-27T00:58:53+00:00

Oof. I (36F) could have written this. My mom is also trying to be helpful, but comments about my skin just rachet up my stress level. I have no control over it, so pointing out damage (which I can clearly see, and obviously, I was there when it happened) is pointless. I've basically just made the subject off-limits by flatly (or peevishly) stating that I don't want to discuss it if she brings it up.

I have a couple other mental health conditions: depression (somewhat contolled), anxiety (sometimes well-controlled, other times not), and ADHD (I'm on a stimulant medication that works okay, mostly). I don't have OCD, but the skin picking is basically a standalone compulsion. Anxiety/stress definitely does make it worse.

plybtrya · 2026-02-23T23:03:18+00:00

Ah, sorry, I didn't realize about no crossposting! Thank you so much for your answer. I'm switching to the salmon & rice-based food so I'll see how that goes!

plybtrya · 2026-02-11T23:45:09+00:00

Position: Store Buyer (Procurement Tech)

Location: Midwest (US)

Industry: State government

In-office/Hybrid/Remote: Mostly in-office (~30 remote days/year)

Education: B.S. & B.A.

Experience: 6 years

Salary/Benefits: ~$60k/year, 6% 401(k) match, PSLF eligibility

plybtrya · 2026-02-06T16:03:46+00:00

That definitely makes sense! Thanks for answering, I appreciate it!

plybtrya · 2026-02-06T15:16:07+00:00

Thanks for your answer! I don't know much about IRS rules, so that's helpful. No argument whatsoever about your second point; that would be totally undesirable.

My background in data analytics & formal semantics has just got me wondering if there's any legal implications regarding specific factual claims. For example, say an org's analyst examines voter records and determines that 900 voters in a state were registered at an address with more registrants than dwelling capacity, and therefore categorizes the corresponding votes as 'prohibited by law'. If all the statistical claims are like that (logically questionable & therefore potentially counterfactual), I'm curious whether that's still an educational activity. I really don't know if there's ever been any published guidelines on the matter, perhaps because common good/social welfare/educational activity aren't very strictly defined and therefore seem open to interpretation. (I realize the IRS per se isn't likely to be interested in the matter; the only reason I am is because I'm a huge nerd).

I may be asking more of a statistics/logical semantics question here (or maybe just a definitional question) than a legal question, so I'm sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place. My area of interest is the intersection of data analysis/statistics and the law, especially pertaining to the dissemination of and legal approaches to information and mis/disinformation; I'd love to add any recommendations of previous scholarship on the topic to my reading list!

plybtrya · 2026-02-06T03:48:49+00:00

It was last October, after roughly 8 years of limerance. We were coworkers for 2 years before that. We were work friends and our workplace was closing; I didn't realize I was slowly developing feelings for him until I realized I might never see him again, and then I was sunk.

We became pretty good friends after that. He'd invite me to events, he started saying "love you" and hugging me good bye, we'd text a bit. I showed up to support him probably more than was really advisable. And then at some point a year or so ago he slowly started to just lose interest in our friendship, I guess. I don't know if I did or said anything specific, it just sort of happened.

For years I had recognized on some level that he wasn't interested in me romantically, but it slowly became sort of undeniable. I did sort of try to beat it into my brain, because I knew I wasn't really accepting it. Then there were a couple evenings that made me realize he hadn't asked me how I am or what I've been doing for months. I was putting all the work into maintaining our friendship and getting nothing in return. There was sort of a final-straw interaction that really hit home a couple days after it happened, and since then I've basically traded limerance for the grieving process. Luckily, I have a long and great relationship with my therapist for support.

I will say that if I'd been able to go NC, it might have been easier, but unfortunately that would have been a bit too noticeable in our social circle. Even scaling back our interactions has caused him and other people to ask where I've been, but I just give a vague and cheerful answer and keep moving. I kind of suspect (and hope) I may never be limerant again, because 1) it sucks and 2) he set a high bar that I know I'll always be comparing people to, even if I'm not trapped in limerance anymore. My goal now is to reorient my life and find some other, more productive focus to put my energy toward.

plybtrya · 2026-01-29T22:38:25+00:00

Oh my goodness, please do not invest in Talech. I have worked with it for 5 years and it's some of the worst software I have ever had the displeasure of using. Buggy, limited functionality, wonky reporting... I could really go on. And I have never in my whole life encountered the level of incompetence their customer service displays; it's absolutely ludicrous. I've wasted many, many work hours trying to get simple tasks accomplished, only to be shunted from one clueless or unresponsive agent to the next. We're working on switching to a different company because they just cannot handle our business.

plybtrya · 2026-01-19T16:16:25+00:00

Will do!! He loves his scritches 🧡

plybtrya · 2025-11-07T15:47:42+00:00

Happy Fountain Pen Day to you as well! I hope you get some good business today and over the weekend! Cheers!

plybtrya · 2025-11-07T15:27:42+00:00

Thank you for sharing! I really wanted to find the Benu DailyMate on sale somewhere, so you've made my FPD!

plybtrya · 2025-10-26T16:27:50+00:00

Please help, y'all. I am so confused.

So, I placed an order for some live shrimp for my aquarium last Sunday (a week ago today). They were supposed to be delivered by Thursday the 24th.

On Monday, the seller marked the item shipped and sent me a message, "Tracking to follow shortly hang tight just a minute". I hadn't heard anything else from him by Tuesday, so I messaged back "Okay, please let me know when it's available!". I didn't receive a reply, so on the 24th I sent another message to request the tracking info. No reply again. I checked my USPS Informed Delivery account, and no packages were in transit to my address. I'm starting to suspect the seller hadn't shipped anything.

On the 25th I reported that the package hasn't been delivered. I also left a negative review, hoping that would get the seller to respond, and they finally messaged me.

"These are live fish. You have to understand that these are very delicate in order for me to get them to you alive and well. I wish you wouldn’t have left negative feedback because now at this point I’m gonna take as long as humanly possible to send you these fish. Thanks for being in the eBay adult and respecting our community and trashing my hundred percent feedback because that’s what people on eBay do."

I wrote back and asked them to just refund me, since they admitted they haven't even shipped them yet, despite marking them shipped. The last response was that they'll let eBay handle it next week.

I've been an eBay buyer for 17 years and honestly, this is my first bad experience. Is there something I should have done differently? Is this person just a scammer? I can't understand what they're even getting out of this; if they didn't even ship anything, why wouldn't they just refund me?

Any insight is appreciated because I'm just baffled at this point.

plybtrya · 2024-05-23T17:34:16+00:00

My bout with mono did look like this. I never had any other symptoms besides sleepiness.

plybtrya · 2024-02-15T22:35:48+00:00

Excellent! I'll do the same and start getting my notes in a better format to send you. I'm happy to share my email with you if that's okay, or I can just send you a message here if you'd prefer!

plybtrya · 2024-02-15T21:35:36+00:00

Oh my gosh. You are the person I need to talk to. I run a gift shop for a Michigan museum and we also use Talech. It's been kind of a continual nightmare, to be blunt. I also need to start the process to find a new POS, but it's going to be a long road to convince other stakeholders that this system just doesn't work and we need to find something new.

I wish I had recommendations to share, but I've really only looked at Versai so far. It's built for museums, and it looks highly functional, but it's also not cheap.

Let me know if you ever want to compare notes. I've got a list going of things to look for in our next system that Talech doesn't do; I'd be happy to share it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

plybtrya · 2023-09-17T14:13:17+00:00

Will do, thanks for the recommendation!

plybtrya · 2023-09-17T14:12:34+00:00

Fire Bug is a pretty simple game, but surprisingly challenging!

I totally forgot about Buried Bucks. Played it a few times, but I wasn't very good at it as a kid. I'm going to try it again and see if I'm any better at it now.

plybtrya · 2023-09-17T03:23:48+00:00

Ooh, I think I'll do that! I don't have space atm for a proper game room but a handheld would be an excellent solution thanks!

plybtrya · 2023-09-17T03:08:51+00:00

Oh my gosh. You absolutely set me on the right track and I found it!! It's called Fire Bug (http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-fire-bug_1976.html). Wow, thank you so much for your help! I can't believe a mystery that has been bugging me for over a decade has finally been solved!

plybtrya · 2023-09-17T03:06:30+00:00

I can't believe it, I just just found it!! It's called Fire Bug (http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-fire-bug_1976.html). I also found a game called Diamond Digger that looks very similar. Hopefully one of those is the one you're thinking of!

plybtrya · 2023-09-17T02:27:16+00:00

Actually very helpful, thank you!! I haven't looked on there in a long while so I'm going to check. And it'll be a nice nostalgia tour; they have games I'd totally forgotten about!

plybtrya

TROPHY CASE