Hoping this week goes better than last week. The terribleness of it all peaked on Saturday, when I was rudely checking my phone at the funeral of someone who died in a very sudden, tragic way, because my dad was having emergency surgery >1000 miles away.

The number one secret of dog training: It is just creating a shared language between you and your pup so that they can be successful.

Are they doing something you don’t want them to? Teach them what you want them to do in that scenario instead. For instance, my dog used to sprint towards the road when he wanted to cross. I taught him to sit instead, and then we crossed whenever he asked by sitting to reinforce the much safer behavior.

The point is to teach them how to tell you what they want/need in healthy ways, and actually listen when they do what you taught them. Another example, give them a way to tell you they need to go outside (bells they can ring is a good option) and then let them out when they ask in the way you taught them.

The Humane Society has some suggestions for how to protect feral cat colonies from coyotes. Not sure if you’ve already tried all of these or if they would even work for your location, but it seems worth considering.

I volunteered to moonlight in a second role at my day job. This week is the first time that the workload has been getting to me. I guess it’s just going to be a stressful couple of weeks and then I’ll get through it.

I’m sorry to hear you are struggling. It may take time and it may be a tough road, but you can absolutely dig yourself out of this hole.

I’d recommend focusing on one loan at a time, if the whole makes you feel overwhelmed. While I’m not the biggest fan, Dave Ramsey suggests paying loans off using something called the snowball method. I think this can help you, because it will allow you to have wins and see progress faster. Since it sounds like you are struggling with motivation and seeing progress, this method will be the most useful. Small, achievable goals are important!

Basically, you pay the minimums on all of your current loans. Then you pay any extra on your loan with the lowest balance. Once that is knocked out, you take what you were paying for the first loan (minimum payment plus the extra) and put it towards your second smallest loan. A secondary benefit with this approach is that you will reduce your required cash outflow if you do end up losing your job. Good luck!

At the end of the day, you know deep inside what the right choice for you is. The unknown is scary, but the future is always unknown, no matter what you choose.

I went the route of going back to school for a fresh start, after my first career attempt didn’t work out. It was absolutely the right choice. I went from feeling stuck in a bad situation and absolutely miserable, to a career that allows me to live my best life and I am infinitely more happy.

I didn’t know what was going to come out of the change. I knew I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. When I went back to school, I did as many different internships as I could, since I knew what I didn’t want to do, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore. I ended up falling into a career field I never even knew existed, but matches up to my strengths perfectly. Bonus points for being paid more than I ever imagined I could make (I basically tripled my income from my old job when I started my current one).

Life’s short. Change is constant, no matter what you choose. Do what makes you happy, even if it’s scary. We all end up as worm food, do you want to live your life as a series of “What ifs?” Or do you want to take a chance and try new things?

I’m here for the people. I don’t want to be a part of a community that is bots talking with bots, which is what I felt like places like Reddit had become. When I found Beehaw, it was a breath of fresh air to actually see intelligent conversations between real people. I’d hate to see that be lost.

I spent so much time at our neighborhood pool as a kid. We would get dropped off by a parent and then they’d come pick us up either around dinner time or when a thunderstorm rolled in. Other days, we would go after dinner and stay until it got dark and the pool would close.

I just looked it up, since my hometown had budget issues a few years ago, and it is now owned by the YMCA.

For ages. Sometimes they have pretty good movies for free.

I’m the opposite. I saw it as white and gold, saw a picture of it in better lighting, and now can only see it as blue and black

Earthship homes are also an alternative that are pretty decent at remaining a stable temperature. Plus, I think they look pretty cool!

I was walking my dog earlier this week and came across a cat that had most likely been killed by a coyote. It was incredibly upsetting to see and completely ruined my day. That cat did not need to live it’s last moments in fear and fighting for its life, if only it’s owners had kept it inside/supervised it when outside.

On a better note. I once saw a woman walking down the street and her cat was just following her along (no leash). It was super cute and you could definitely tell they had a fantastic bond. More cat owners should be like that lady.

Hmmm. It almost like medical treatment decisions should be handled between the patient and doctor, not by politicians.

I recently started tracking what I was eating for nutrition/weight loss purposes and realized I should be eating way more protein. I’ve tried protein powders in the past (a lot of online recipes for oats recommend adding protein powder) and hate how strongly they are flavored. I saw a lot of diy protein powder recipes have a base of dry milk powder which I already had in my cupboard, so I just use that. It’s fine with the same amount of liquid.

You could just use normal milk instead of milk powder + water, but this was lower calorie and never goes bad.

My current go to for the past few years is oatmeal. I mix oats, dry milk powder, frozen cherries, and water. Then I throw it in the microwave for a few minutes to cook. Once it’s done, I add cinnamon and a handful of chocolate chips and mix it all together. It’s probably not the most healthy option, but it’s tasty and reasonably nutritious.

Honestly, dating apps have always weirded me out so I never used them. I’ve only dated people I met in real life; which, as an introvert, means I haven’t dated many people at all. I’d rather quality over quantity. Every date I’ve been on has lead to a LTR, because we already knew we had chemistry before our first date.

I met my spouse through work. I know lots of people recommend not dating people from your job, and it can be risky, but it worked for us. Of course, my parents have been married for over 40 years and also met at their job, so I guess maybe it’s genetic.

As for what keeps us together? It’s just easy. We like being around each other and work well together, despite our many differences. Life’s better with them in it.

This is not an issue for me. I swipe back and it returns to where I left.

I live in an older neighborhood and at least 50% of every house that has gone on the market since we bought in 2019 has been sold to flippers and listed for $200k more 3-6 months later. I can’t believe how much they have driven up prices in the area.