I see you and raise, Las Vegas, NM.

They actually do care believe it or not. When our city council was voting on municipal fiber we showed up to petition our conservative city council representative to vote in favor. Guess who also attended, a representative from our federal senator’s office. Oh man the look on his face when only 3 members of the public showed up, two of them major supporters of municipal broadband, and the third spoke up to agree with us. Mmmm priceless. The city council man and conservative rep were so damn flustered. The senator’s rep took notes the whole time and we got to talk to him one on one. These outreach events do way more than you would think, this is how they gauge what they can get away with. Don’t let them discourage you, show up and bitch!

I try to buy local loose leaf.

If you are looking for a grocery store recommendations, I love Celestial Seasonings herbal teas. They have an amazing peppermint tea.

Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning just rolled around in my head for day after I first read it. It’s really dark but feels so completely human at the same time.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46313/porphyrias-lover

I am really happy that people are willing to consider how toxic that aggression is. It’s so engrained in our culture that it’s considered normal when a father threatens to have his gun out when first meeting his daughter’s partner. Nobody really thinks about the effects of this normalized violence.

I apologize but this will be kind of dark. As a father I know you are going to be desperate to protect her, but don’t wax poetic about dealing violence to anyone who would do her wrong. For example, don’t talk about beating her current boyfriend/girlfriend if they cross her. Girls are going to have shitty relationships because that’s a part of growing up. Don’t make her think talking to you about them is the nuclear option when she’s still trying to figure out what is acceptable and her boundaries. If she thinks you’ll go beat the shit out of any one who looks at her funny, she might not come to you with her problems until she is willing to accept her dad going to prison for a long time. Everyone is right about listening to her, but make sure she that she knows that you can be trusted. Listen, accept her decisions, work with her, and not to fly off of the handle. Best of luck new father, since you’re asking the right questions I think you are going to be fine.

Good on you for sticking by her while she was working it out. Changing medication is so hard and takes a while especially if you’re taking more than one kind. I am really happy you both got through it and that she found something better!

Take my meds- man I never thought I was that different on or off meds until the recent ADHD medication shortage combined with some personal issues last Fall made me fall apart. My poor SO was worried sick because I was losing my damn mind, turns out I do not mask well. I didn’t realize that being properly medicated is as much of a public service as a personal one. May your meds always be available and well balanced.

Can’t stand listening to tech “evangelists” talk about tech. It’s so hard no roll my eyes when someone goes on and on about how the _____ (block chain, AI, whatever buzz word we’re on now) will change the world. Like yes, but not in the way you are describing because it clear you fundamentally misunderstand the technology. I work in tech and there are really cool projects out there, and discussions with my peers are really insightful. However, when a person starts telling me how excited they are to get I chip in their brain to control their phone, I can’t help but wonder if they already have brain damage.

Portal. I have terrible FPS skills but love puzzle games. Having a FPS where I could proceed at my own pace and wasn’t constantly letting down teammates let me develop the skills needed to actually play.

If you want to get into things but are unsure how to get started, I recommend checking out your local community college. Having a class is nice because it provides the starting point and goal so you don’t get overwhelmed with where to start. I find I really benefit from the schedule that taking classes enforces, otherwise I find myself really struggling to make progress when I do learning on my own. Also it comes with its own built in community that you can reach out to if you’re stuck. Classes tend to be really affordable so it’s a way to try things out casually.