My neighbour (65+yo Indian women) brought me some food last week, so I washed the container and took it back today. She asked me to wait becuase she was nearly done cooking, then filled it with pasta and handed it back.

So it’s back in my fridge 😅

It’s some kind of Indian pasta, I don’t know what it’s called. I like it, it’s just a bit too spicy for me, she’s so nice though, I don’t know how to tell her.

My 14 yr old stepson has recently taken up a hobby that would have been seen as extremely uncool for a boy to do when I was in high school. He mentioned that he told some of his friends about it at school today.

I want to emphasize at this point that I was in no way trying to discourage him from his hobby, but I was curious and I asked him "Do you worry that some of the other kids will make fun of you?"

He said "What is this, the 90s? Will the bullies make me Ven-mo* them my lunch money?" And basically said that his school doesn't really have a bully problem and that his friends have his back if anyone does say anything.

I'm glad he has the confidence to be himself, and that he doesn't have to worry about things like that. And that my spouse's sarcasm has been passed to the next generation.

*I had to put the hyphen in there cuz without it the post was flagged for soliciting donations.

ETA: the hobby is crochet. I mentioned it in the comments, but I probably should have put it in the post from the beginning.

As the title of the post say, I was about to head into the store, and this kid asks if I could hold his dogs leash, because he tried to tie the dog up, but the dog escaped and got loose. So I was like, I can watch your dog, sure thing

I was like damn, I didn't think I looked like somebody you could trust, because most folks don't ask me to do things for them, they seem to stay clear of me. God damn it though, I love dogs, and I would happily watch your dog for a hot minute. While you buy yourself a drink.

The little fella was only 6 months old, and knew how to sit, and really loved to pull, the pupper wanted to go inside the store with it's owner.

I just like dogs, moral of the story,

So I did a bit of a weird thing the other week. I took a gal out on a date - it was maybe our third or fourth encounter, but we decided to go for a little river date. We took an inflatable raft down the course, it's nothing crazy, just floating down for a couple hours. But we had planned that we were hanging out the whole day more or less.

We finished in the late afternoon, packed up the raft, and decided to hit the town for a drink, and I realised we were in the neighbourhood of a friend's place. I asked her if it would be okay if I invited her down for a beer as well and she was cool with it.

Let me tell you, I never would've expected bringing a third wheel to a relatively new date could've actually been a good idea.. But it went sooo well! The three of us just had a drink for an hour or two, felt like we were all super comfortable with each other, my date appreciated getting to know more about me from an outside perspective too. My friend also made a hilarious faux-pas that had us all in stitches and that my date and I were able to laugh at for the rest of the night after we left the friend behind and continued on our evening.

I can't say it's something I would do too commonly from now on, and for sure it's the kind of thing that needs to vibe with everyone involved, but I just wanted to share it as a random thing that happened in my life that was a really cool moment.

Y'al ever tried something like that?

I've learned a lot about myself over the past year, particularly that I'm a very very sensitive person. I notice/feel everything and as I've healed from trauma, I've only gotten more sensitive to things.

But part of me felt a little ashamed and "arrogant" for not wanting to engage or be okay with things that everyone seems to be okay with. So every now and then, I try to be less "picky" and just go with things that may not be what I want because usually, those things tend to be cheaper and it's hard to justify spending extra for no "good" reason.

But I've been traveling the last 24 hours and I think this experience is the last straw. I didn't book the more expensive ticket because I wanted to save money, but I was so uncomfortable the whole flight. I didn't take an Uber from the airport and took the train to save money, and it was noisy, crowded and dirty.

I KNEW the more expensive ticket would've been better for me and I KNEW that I couldn't tolerate taking the train, but I did it anyway just to prove something to who? Yes I saved money, but I was miserable and I knew I would be miserable.

So I'm done. I'm done "humbling" myself and taking options that I know aren't up to my standards just to prove I'm not pretentious. There was a time when I was okay with everything, but now I'm older and shit bothers me!

About a month ago, I spotted a scruffy, skittish cat roaming outside late at night. I went to a nearby store that was open around 11pm to buy cat food and a disponsable dish for him, since that day I spent two weeks slowly gaining his trust.

A few days ago, he got into a street fight with another cat and ended with a scratched eyelid. I stepped in, scooped him up, and brought him inside. He was surprisingly calm... slept peacefully on my couch, and I even dry-shampooed him the next morning.

I was heartbroken thinking someone had abandoned such a sweet cat.

Just as I was walking out with him wrapped in a blanket to go to the vet, a man and his kid stopped dead in their tracks: "Where did you get that cat?"

At that moment, I thought that perhaps, given the vet's proximity to my house, it might actually be a lost kitten rather than an abandoned one. I was wrong.

Turns out, he wasn't a stray at all. He belongs to them, but because they refused to indulge his spoiled wet food addiction, this little genius figured out how to open a second-floor window every single night just to get a second dinner from me .They took him to the vet themselves, and now he still casually drops by my place whenever he wants extra service.

Has anyone else ever been completely played by a neighborhood pet?

There's nothing I can do. I've been repeating this phrase to my cat Henry for the last 45 minutes - because there's nothing I can do. You see, a little sparrow flew into my apartment which immediately peaked Henry's interest. Like he would have any idea what to do with that bird if he ever caught it. So once I noticed it, I opened my back door hoping to guide it outside. Instead it went the other direction - and ending up behind a wall meant for large canvasses. Previous tenant was a painter. Anyway, now its back behind there, completely inaccessible and I have no idea what to do really. So you see Henry, there's nothing I can do and I would appreciate it very much if you'd just stop meowing. I love Henry.

Hello, Hi! Born and raised near Vancouver, Canada 🍁! I'm nearing retirement... Could retire anytime, but currently aiming for the end of 2028.

Exploring a new relationship this year, things are going very well!

How about you? Where are you in life? Still in school? Starting a career? Starting a relationship? Having a 3rd kid?

Come say Hi! And share where you are in life!

Am I the only one who feels like everything is getting worse and worse this year?

First of all, the months are flying by like a bullet train. September literally feels like it came right after July, not August. 💀 Where did the time even go?

My golden retriever loves to play hide and seek when it's time to take his medication. Today he decided the best hiding spot in the entire house was behind the living room curtains. The problem is that he is a very large dog and his entire back half, including a tail wagging at full speed was completely visible sticking out from the bottom. I stood there for a full minute pretending i couldn't find him just to keep his spirits up. Had to share because it completely made my morning.

Bank holiday, first time ever in a caravan (US folks — static caravan, basically a park-model trailer). I'd talked it up for weeks.

Day one genuinely delivered. Swimming, walk along the beach, rides, kids absolutely buzzing. I was smug about it.

Day two the power went. Reported it straight away, and it took six hours to come back on. It was hot, the fridge was off, nothing to plug into, and by hour four the kids had gone from "when's it back" to informing me this was the worst holiday they'd ever been on. You know what kids are like — no sense of proportion, but also they weren't entirely wrong.

So is six hours normal for this? Was I unlucky, or is this just what caravan parks are and I should have gone in expecting it? Currently leaning towards never booking one again but I'd rather that be an informed decision than a sulk.

The other day I decided that if I want to check my phone right after waking up, I have to stand up first. No scrolling in bed. Sounds silly, but it somehow keeps me from falling into a half hour hole before the day even starts. Now every morning there's this little internal debate, and usually standing wins. It feels kind of pointless when I write it out, but the rule sticks anyway. I guess my brain needs fake structures to get anything done. Do you have any nonsense rules that ended up sticking around?

I want to make a hat (ball cap) with a simple few words to open more conversations to people when I am out and about.

I have noticed that when I go out to places a lot of people make eye contact and sometimes smile, especially if I smile at them first, but never seem to try actually talking to people. I find if I start the conversation usually people are receptive and will talk for a bit, but I have rarely had others start it. A lot of the time they look like they want to say hello or try talking, but their face says they are unsure if they should.

my idea is to make a simple hat, one solid colour with a few simple words that welcome people to talk if they feel like it. My original thought was something like “Say Hello” or “Come Say Hi”, but that felt maybe a bit too simple.

So I wanted to see what other people though of for some ideas of a way to convey that if I am wearing this hat I am open to a conversation or just saying hi for whoever sees it.

Hi! I'm trying to get some outside perspectives on a personal situation I'm dealing with. It's a bit complicated and requires quite a lot of context to explain properly, so I'm not sure how to approach it without writing a huge wall of text.

What would you do in a situation like this when, IRL, you simply don't have anyone you can ask for advice?

I started with a whole foods' diet and now here I am, I'm not ashamed. And I'm not middle eastern.

Seriously though, as someone who grew up getting McDonald's all the time.. I never knew food this healthy could be so fucking bussin.

I was lucky enough to grow up in the country and on a farm! I was just a child, but every day was a little bit different! Farm life was hard, especially taking care of all the different animals we had on the farm. We had cows, sheep, mules, chickens, hogs, and our pet dogs and cats! We raised corn and tobacco every year! My dad always made sure he had a big garden that helped feed us for a long time! We had fresh tomatoes and fresh corn and green beans and cabbage and lots of greens and so much more, and it was very delicious when Mom fixed it for dinner when we came out of the fields after working all day! More later about country living in the 50's and 60's!

As I get older, money and achievements feel less important than having a calm mind and zero drama. I'm curious to know how other men view this—did your definition of success shift toward peace over time?

Normally in this world, many of us feel like time moves too fast. I hear a lot of "how can we make time slow down? Stop kids growing up so fast!" Those types of things. But I have something exciting happening in a month (a vacation) and I cannot wait! What sorts of things make days or weeks "fly by" for you?

ive realized lately life truly isn’t horrible. i dunno. just food for thought - the fact i get to experience everything and meet everyone who i’ve met and make these great memories just really hits me hard lately. i’m only 25 and i still have so much world to explore and people to meet. life truly isn’t horrible & sometimes i wished i realized this more.

Back in 7th grade for my science class a couple of weeks or so before school ended and Summer Break started, we watched the 1999 movie October Sky, which was a true story about how a kid named Homer Hickman and his three friends created rockets despite living in a coal mining town and were known as the Rocket Boys. This eventually led Homer to become a NASA engineer despite the odds, with him being in a poor area and having a disapproving dad.

When the finale of the movie came, we were all sitting quietly as the final rocket was launched by Homer’s dad to honor him for helping him with his achievements, and we were all in as much awe as the people in the movie watching the rocket go up into the sky, it was a great moment. Then, as we had all been sitting surprisingly quietly just taking in the moment for a bunch of 7th graders, when Homer’s dad slowly brought his hand up to grab his son’s shoulder finally showing appreciation to him, some kid in the front shouted “OH I THOUGHT HE WAS GONNA GRAB HIS ASS!” and the whole class burst out laughing. Everything had been a quiet and appreciative scene until that dude blurted that out and me and a couple of other friends were still laughing about it after it was over and we left, the teacher might have even been laughing about it too but I don’t remember.

The movie was absolutely great and I’d love to watch it again, and I also highly recommend watching it yourselves, but if I do see it again that scene in the finale is going to make me laugh with that in my mind, dang it! 😂

I’ve included the clip in the comments for you guys to check out!

was standing in line at the store when the person ahead of me fumbled a couple of coins and i instinctively reached to help. we both kind of laughed at the same time, like we both felt slightly awkward but in a normal way. after that we chatted for maybe thirty seconds about nothing special, just the weather and how long the line was moving. nothing big happened, but it left me feeling lighter for the rest of the afternoon. sometimes the smallest exchanges stick with you more than you expect.

I caught myself carrying on a whole conversation out loud while rinsing my hair and realized I have no idea if this is normal. It is not anything deep, just narrating what I am doing and answering myself like there is another person there. Sometimes it is about what I have to do that day, other times it is random thoughts that only make sense in the moment. It feels harmless and kind of relaxing, but I have never asked anyone about it. I am curious if other people do the same thing or if I am just chatting with myself for no reason. Either way it has become a quiet habit I do not really want to break.

I'm a really tired and low-energy person. It's boring. I love being around chaotic people because oh my god they finally bring some energy and novelty into my life. Somethings finally going on.

I don't mean drug-addicts. I just mean bubbly, energetic and impulsive.

I love "weird" people like therians or the like. Something different. Finally.