Only alternative is to become a music teacher or Discworld Assassin. I don’t make the rules.

They’re space corgis, I’ll have you know.

And I’m the one with the boring underwear. The cuts I like tend to come in solid colors, maybe sometimes with flowers.

I knew a music teacher that only owned black underwear, on the in theory that if her underwear showed during a student’s recital it wouldn’t be obvious. (Her recital uniform was all black.)

Are your a music teacher?

I got my measles booster this year and it was no worse than a COVID shot. Scheduling at my local pharmacy it was easy and I got no pushback. (CT, USA)

I’m from the era where we only got 1 shot and now the recommendation is 2 shots for best coverage. I may have gotten a second shot as a kid but I have no record or recollection of it. I figured it’s better to be sure.

Maybe, if something speaks to me. Downside of face tattoos is wrinkles. I’m middle-aged, and wrinkles are right around the corner for me.

Right now a cute critter on my wrist would make me happy (and, side-benefit, keep me from biting my wrist when I get super stressed–no biting wrist friend! [I’ve tested this with temporary tattoos and it works for me.])

But do you know the trucker’s hitch?

Come to academia. At least 25% of my coworkers have visible tattoos (generally ankle or forearm).

I’m strongly considering a wrist tattoo, on the side facing me but not the underside.

Nah, it’s just not as deep as they’re making it out to be.

Graciously, I think they’re coming from a place of ADHD and assuming that engineers, artists, and scientists either don’t have ADHD or have the superpower “hyperfocus”.

Sadly, hyperfocus is a fickle muse who has chosen not to grace me today. [sobs in ADHD techie]

I sure hope not. I don’t want to have to deal with new plumbing at my age, the factory-issued set gives me enough problems

I’d expect everyone is robed in heavenly garments, to save the embarrassment from having been raptured with your pants down.

Thank you for clarifying. TBH I got who was saying what a tad mixed up in the thread.

I can get behind not outright mocking folks that seem interested in leaving the cult. I just also think the sadistic and casually cruel folk are the norm rather than the outlier, based on experiences growing up in a Red State and visiting as an adult.

Bad joke. I have distant elderly relatives (my aunts’ cousins) in Fall River. Now I’m worried I’ll get bad news at tomorrow’s family stitch 'n bitch.

I’m not convinced that “showing empathy” is the way to court Republicans. It’s just seen as weakness, and weakness is a joke to them.

I’m thinking back to my grandmother’s funeral in Appalachia. She had a small terrier as her companion in her final years. They were inseparable. Multiple of her male relatives made the joke “I thought we were just going to toss the dog in the grave and bury him with her”. Hardy-har har. The dog was small and therefore weak and therefore a joke.

There were similar scenes between my mom and her coworkers when my dad was in hospital dieing of COVID-19. I’m not going into them because I already done triggered myself.

Anyways, that’s how I ended up with a surprise dog to take back home to a blue state. He’s still a good boy, even though he’s now a grumpy teenager.

[Lapsed] mechanical engineering gang checking in. I was also surprised. Though, tbh, I think it came down to personal preference of the professor more than field-wide consensus.

My last pup had a liquid medication, twice a day. We had them make it fish flavored. She loved that stuff, it was so easy to squirt it in her mouth with the dosing syringe.

Current pup has 2 pills twice a day. He’s mostly deaf but can still hear that bottle open. He’s sneaky and will walk away to spit out the pills. He’ll refuse pill pockets. He knows all the tricks. I just have to shove the pills down his throat, then watch him eat a treat so I know he didn’t cough a pill up into his cheek or beard. Grumpy old man dog.

I lay down and tuck a blanket around me. I can’t imagine having a blanket or sheet lie flat underneath me. I have experimented with a sleeping bag and that worked pretty well until the zipper broke.

And oh no, poor crushed kids! That’s pretty much how it works. I’ve shared a hammock with a friend out in the yard and it was ok until either of us had to shift or get up or anything.

Oh! And even the hammocks that claim you can fit multiple people… they lie. This is not a bed for partners or sleepovers. (My partner has his own room and traditional bed. We have very different bedtimes.)

I started out with a hammock in living room as an experiment, then just kept sleeping in it. Same stand, the hammock itself has changed over the years.

The mesh/Mayan ones are comfy but will leave a grid on your skin. I’m currently in a Wise Owl hammock. The cotton ones are comfy but they will break down after a few years of use, usually suddenly while you’re laying down.

Don’t hang your hammock higher than you’re comfortable falling. I’ve only torn a hammock twice in maybe 10 years, but both times were within the same week.

I’m a side sleeper and hyper-mobile. I keep a pillow behind my knees so they don’t flex wonky. I have a travel/neck pillow. I use an under-hammock blanket in the winter because otherwise your butt gets cold.

Here’s a photo of the messiest corner of my bedroom/craft room :) Tiny terrier to for scale.