Hover your knee off the ground when you are in the all-fours helps. Like don’t put your whole weight on it. Do poses that don’t put as much weight on your knees. Look for better ground to practice, grassy areas.

When I yoga outside, it’s the last suggestion I use the most. My knees are also sensitive, and finding a flat surface, then using my usual sorta thick yoga mat works well.

Yeah and what anyone thinks is a 32b is probably a 32E or something. Again with the wire circumference! A 32b is like a shot glass not a champagne glass. I can tell any guy I’m an A or B cup because that’s what they “look like”, and I agree.

I just started thinking of them as numbers all, no letters. So I am wearing 34+4. That’s not big, a +4 just means 4" difference underbust to bust, and some of that is lats, not boobs!

Ha ha ha ha, no. We do have savings so at least some cushion but I took years off when my kids were born, got a late start in college, started a career later, I would say I got the time when I needed it I guess. But not likely to have enough to take time off paid work again at the end.

Most people don’t get to decide, they get disabled or laid off & cannot find work and are forced into retirement. I’m in good shape and work in an office so probably can keep going as long as jobs last for me, and our life will be better if we keep working.

You are talking to us here, now. I know you do rock climbing and weight lifting. If you have friends, you talk to them too. It’s not different from that. You are doing it already. There’s not a formula.

What friends can do is tell their friends you are a great guy and introduce you to other people. That’s what networking is, the same way you network computers, you network human relationships, by connecting them.

And it is more complicated even than that. I am a small busted woman and yet the best fit I can get is 34D. The 34 makes sense, underbust is 33. The D is what I measure but most have too much room. I still need that size because the circumference of the boobs fits in that wire; any smaller is too narrow.

I think bras need 3 measurements not 2. I need band 34, wire size D, cup capacity closer to C. And there are plenty of women in the opposite situation too, with more projection but smaller circumference.

So the non-standardized sizing is a workaround for that problem.

It’s ok to not have an opinion, and also ok to be ambivalent about something.

Your time and attention are not unlimited resources.

I mean, you can’t just get fit and expect someone to come knocking on your door. If you are feeling good about your looks now, that’s an accomplishment you can be happy about, and should, but it doesn’t send out some secret signal that you are ready for a relationship. You have to talk to actual people. You can meet them out in the world or on an app, you can also tell any friends you have that you are looking to start dating, network. I think friends of friends and dating apps are the most usual ways of getting dates now. When I was young we just hung out in groups and some people always people ended up paired off, didn’t really date per se, but my kids don’t seem to do that as much.

So basically - now you are happy about your physical shape, you still have to reach out to people, that is the next step.

My kids work because they want money.

It is hard to find a job, even harder to get by without one; I do have some friends who have never been employed exactly, only hustling, working for themselves, with varying results. It’s possible but not probable.

I’m really sorry you are hurting so bad but we can use every sane person, if we give up things just get worse.

Editing to add: Two things can be true at once - the system is designed to funnel money to people who don’t need it and keep most of us struggling. It’s baked in, yes. But it’s also true that your own life is yours to live, and your own actions and thoughts what you have the most control of, and that you can make changes that improve your life.

No, no, and yes.

No, you is the singular; y’all is the plural.

All y’all works because you might say “All of you all”, I suppose.

It’s still good where we are, is in a run down part of town, not generally even fast, technically, but still so good. Publix has good fried chicken too but the spicy Popeye’s, so good and the only ‘fast food’ I will eat. Even french fries I generally just make oven fries now, but I never even try to make fried chicken.

Doesn’t pot famously make food more enjoyable?

I agree, fast food is not worth what it costs. The reasonably quick food landscape has expanded though, we can get different things, better Mexican food, a Chinese fast to go place with some really good tasting stuff, a restaurant that advertises “curry in a hurry” even.

Popeyes is still good though.

Ha! It’s flavorful as fuck actually with the mostly ancho assortment and tomatillos but the venn diagram in my family for people who like meat heavy meals and the people who like very spicy (as in picante) food doesn’t have much overlap - me and the vegan are the only actual chiliheads.

When I make the vegetarian chili, it gets jalapenos, tomatoes, lots of bottled chili powder, some tinned chipotle powder, leftover very spicy salsa, sometimes beer or a splash of whiskey, I keep adjusting it until it seems like it will be good, then leave it to simmer or in the slow cooker. it’s more of a refrigerator stew but always pintos, I don’t like any other beans in there.

Ha, no they call it “meat” but of course there are chiles. Generally anchos & a guajillo and if I have one the smoked oaxacan pepper. rehydrated in the meat broth and blended with onion and roasted tomatillos, not tomato. It’s really good I just cannot think of it as chili.

This depends. Qi-Gon Jinn saying “concentrate on the moment, feel don’t think” oh my, and he does seem very dedicated and not so political.

But R2D2 gets it done. He is a great character every time he appears.

I compost (and save stuff for broth) and we have a sink disposal. It’s for the little bits of cooked food left on plates, are you composting those? The sink that has one is the least cloggy kitchen sink I’ve ever had, and as far as I understand they are pretty neutral in terms of waste stream.

Grease I agree shouldn’t go in there, that goes in the trash.

We have one, I like it. Never gross smelling, keeps the drains clear, seems to help the dishwasher run better.

The bras & underwear from Branwyn are great. The t shirts from Unbound are also fantastic, I haven’t tried their athletic stuff. Other brands I’ve had mixed experiences with, the socks from Smartwool I do love.

It’s hot here, not cold but Merino knits are remarkably comfortable all weather items.

I have not, but why not start by helping someone else cook, or inviting someone over to help you cook?

It does sound like an unhealthy obsession not an actual cooking problem but if it’s more like you just never did it and have built it up in your head, perhaps taking small steps and seeing that your fears are not fulfilled will deflate them.

I agree you don’t necessarily need to cook, assembling can go a long way, but if you want to cook that is a very good reason to cook!

I will say - as an experienced home cook, shit does (rarely) happen so maybe also taking a kitchen safety class and getting fire suppression equipment would help, practicing what to do if something does happen so you don’t panic at a small fire and let it become a big fire when it would have been easy to put it out.

I would think this - I am old enough to have been on text Usenet newsgroups and dial up; but plenty of people my age seem to have collectively lost their mind.