Posts by rapidmaker10

None of that matters... just keep trying.

SOS!

Does anyone know a good lateral thinking puzzle? Something like: a man walks into a diner, orders turtle soup, takes one bite, pulls out a gun, and ends it all. Why? I need to host a session where people can only ask me yes-or-no questions until they crack the case...

I've got a deadline tomorrow. I'm chaperoning a huge group of kids on a field trip and they eat this stuff up, but my brain is completely fried...

I simply laid out my own experience and suggested a healthy lifestyle—proper diet and regular exercise...
I say this because I personally know a massive crowd of people who constantly complain about various ailments or their weight, yet they aren't willing to lift a single finger to follow any advice. Nobody wants to put in the effort to help themselves in the long run; everyone just wants to eat junk and sit on the couch, hoping for some magic ointment or a pill to make the problem vanish overnight...
but unfortunately, that’s not how life works...

I first dealt with hemorrhoids back when I was 27... A buddy suggested switching from red to white wine, claiming the red was the culprit. So, I took the advice, and honestly, they just kept coming back periodically over the next decade. Nothing major, though. Ever since I started training for triathlons about eight years ago, the issue has completely vanished. Staying active means staying on top of my diet and weight, and believe me—whether you're talking about chemistry or most other health issues—it just makes everything disappear.

I have a small gel pack available for sale via DM. It’s a little plastic cushion filled with some kind of gel, and it comes with a cloth pouch. Usually, people use them to soothe aches in places like the knee, elbow, ankle, or lower back...
I was thinking it might even work as a cushion for sitting on a bike saddle, just to take the chill off...

Unfortunately, everyone seems to be acting like this isn't even an issue... what's the latest? I can't find any recent articles. Has the situation with the Salonit plant in Vranjic been resolved? Or the one in Ploca? I'm only finding stuff from a few years back...🤷
Are we still importing asbestos from Russia?

casualraven43 said:and rinse with cold water (which I absolutely hate because I'm still a young woman hoping to have kids one day, so having that cold sensation hit me down there just doesn't feel right)

😕

Has anyone here actually tried those handmade propolis lozenges based on Simon Ash’s recipe?
He claims they completely cured him!

Everyone loves to act like an expert on my life... I walk into the school for some basic info, and the teacher starts lecturing me on how I should be handling him, like she’s got the magic formula for getting him to actually study or finish his homework. Then we see the pediatrician, and instead of just giving us medical facts, she starts dumping all these unsolicited nutrition tips on me because he's carrying a little extra weight...
It’s like they think I’m an idiot who doesn't know the basics. The real issue isn't *what* needs to happen, it's HOW on earth am I supposed to make him do it? If I even mention cutting back on a third slice of bread, he practically has a meltdown right there in front of me. But then, the second we're sitting in the doctor's office, he's all smiles and agrees with everything she says, telling me, "Yeah, I'll start doing that tomorrow."

Dana Vaughn3 said:Did most of you kids go through this kind of thing?
I honestly thought I was the only one who saw—and actually FELT—those tiny, massive ripples vibrating in some kind of liquid. 😍
I kind of miss it, actually. It was pretty cool. Not that I'm worried, I guess, though maybe there’s something to it now that you mentioned the epilepsy connection 🤔.

The brain is a weird thing, I suppose.

It’s because a child's brain is still under construction... and once you hit a fever, the whole system glitches out—electrical signals and nerves just don't cooperate properly.

nimbletrucker132 said:It’s like reading a description of my own son from about three years ago. It feels like they were cloned. 😂They always claim they have nothing to study or write about; and when I show up at the school, all they can do is 😲
I'm actually home right now on maternity leave, and he’s incredibly excited about getting a little sister. It wasn't planned, but he's totally on board with it—except for the constant complaining about how much better things were before, back when I was working all the time and he was the king of the castle at home ☕ You can probably imagine how much "studying" he actually did: endless hours of surfing the web, gaming, PlayStation, TV, snacks, and then doing it all over again... Now he tells me the only perk of me being home is that he doesn't have to microwave his food because lunch is always freshly cooked 🤣 Meanwhile, according to him, I'm just boring, annoying, and outdated because all I ever want to do is talk about school and push him to study (to quote him)...

Here's the latest craze—LEGO sets. But get this: not the new stuff, but "vintage" sets from ten or more years ago. Collectors buy them, keep them mint in the box, and now they're flipping them for two or three times the retail price...
When he stumbled upon an auction like that and made a wishlist, the total climbed north of $350. 😲

I told him, fine, once you save up enough, we'll order them. Everyone helps him out, so he could theoretically hit his goal fast, but he has zero patience. Every time a hundred bucks lands in his hand, it vanishes just as quickly...

Now, he’s badgering me every single day, asking when we’re ordering, claiming they’ll sell out before we know it...
The worst part? He isn't even trying to flip them for profit. He just wants to play with them. Which means in two or three months—maybe even weeks—they'll just be another pile of plastic scattered across the floor.😠

Quincy:

dustymarlin10 says: Well, don't act surprised when you can't get those kids under control...

I think you're being a bit harsh on the rest of us...
If your kid turned out fine, great. But not every child is the same. You can't pin everything on parents. Take us, for example—we both gave it our all, but things didn't exactly go according to plan...

My kid is 11, but he’s basically a hermit who refuses to hang out with any of the boys. He comes home from school, grabs some food, and immediately disappears into his computer... then he spends hours in this endless loop of playing games, collecting Bionicle figures, and drawing them. When I try to force him to actually sit down and do his homework, he insists he doesn't have any. He won't even pack his backpack until 9 PM, just tossing everything in haphazardly. On top of all that, he’s been incredibly rude and mouthy lately.
Regarding what xanas said...😲
Absolutely terrifying...

Michael Parker15 said:Reading this makes me wonder what the future holds. The other day, I was watching the local news here in the States—and honestly, things feel ten times more intense here than back home—about something that happened right in my city.
A girl and a Boy, both only 13, ended a five-month relationship🙄. The girl's mother, furious that her daughter was dumped, threatened the Boy, saying if he didn't get back with her daughter, she'd leak all his private nude photos online to his entire friend group😲😲😲 The Boy and the girl had been exchanging explicit photos over the phone, and now this mother is actually indulging her daughter's blackmail. The Boy eventually told his parents, even threatening self-harm, and it all escalated until the police got involved🙏. 🙏Most likely, we'll see that mother facing a courtroom and potentially jail time🙏
. It’s wild how "advanced" kids are these days (at 13, I didn't even know how to wipe my own nose🤣), but parents are also going way too far by allowing all this craziness. Clearly, it's fine with this mom that her daughter is taking naked photos🙄; if my child ever did that...ugh, I can't even wrap my head around it...the consequences would be
. corrina If I were in your shoes, I would have done exactly what you did. Good luck!👍

Everything is just circling the drain at this point. Americans have basically managed to mess up the entire world in every possible way...

To paraphrase a classic line: we are just sliding further into the gutter every single day, in every single sense of the word.

Gregory Wells6 said:I feel like I’ve been navigating the teenage years through various stages of chaos with almost everyone in my orbit. First, there was my former brother-in-law—back when I married my brother, he was just ten and we all lived under one roof. Then came the divorce, followed by my marriage to a truly wonderful, patient man who has three sons from a previous marriage. So, here I am dealing with his three boys hitting their stride—he’s the one doing all the heavy lifting with them since their mom checked out—and my own daughter, who is right around the same age as his youngest. Even our friends' kids are in that same rough patch—mostly boys, too. But this whirlwind my daughter is currently putting us through? I have never seen anything quite like it. When you multiply all those variables together... well, it's overwhelming. I’ve stopped sweating the messy rooms, but the sheer defiance? That nearly knocked me off my feet. People actually ask me, "How can you let her talk to you like that?" and honestly, I’m trying my best to stand my ground, but I am reaching my breaking point. Her stubbornness, the mood swings, the outbursts, and that sudden surge of resentment... it's exhausting. It makes me wonder—are some people just born with a streak of malice? People love to say that children are simply reflections of their parents, but I can't bring myself to agree with that. This behavior she's displaying? She certainly didn't pick it up from us. There hasn't been a hint of drugs, smoking, drinking, or any kind of reckless behavior in our house—not even laziness or a lack of hygiene, despite how much of a mess she lives in.
The part that truly drives me up the wall is how endless this feels! It’s like a marathon with no finish line. You find yourself hoping that tomorrow might bring a little peace, only to find that every day is actually getting harder. It’s enough to make anyone lose their mind!

This sounds truly horrific... absolutely terrifying...😲

So, I'm clearly not the only one... I wouldn't say I'm happy about it, but at least there's some small comfort in knowing...

wiredcanyon25 said:Reading this nightmare makes me wonder if I was the one who wrote it...
It feels like my own story, just with one difference—I have an 11-year-old boy...
He's basically in a constant state of mood swings and chaos...
Puberty has already started hitting him, and his attitude... which was always a bit much... has gone through the roof...
One minute there's warmth and conversation, and the next, everything falls apart if things don't go his way. He'll sulk, pout, and complain even more than when he was a baby...
And he was such a sweet, smiling little thing back then. I find myself wondering where this grumpy kid came from...
I read a ton of books, and even with a background in education, nothing seems to work—not being gentle and not being strict either...

It makes me feel a little less alone. I'll probably be back here to vent again soon...

I don't really get this part. When only one of my kids is home, it’s pure bliss... total peace and quiet. But once they're together? Absolute chaos. This whole "one child vs. two" thing is a fascinating topic. Both my wife and I grew up as only children, so we have zero clue what the whole sibling dynamic is actually like. When my wife was pregnant with our second, a friend of ours—a mom with two girls close in age (about two and a half years apart)—told me point-blank: "Having two kids isn't just double the crap you deal with with one; it's a thousand times more." And she wasn't lying. Back when we only had one, it wasn't even that bad. Even if that kid was being a handful, they eventually had to sleep, or my wife could handle them alone while I relaxed. But with two? Someone is always acting up. Mom is busy with one, so you're stuck with the other. One is sleeping, the other is screaming their head off... (back when they were little, obviously). Ugh!😢

I feel compelled to jump in here even though my kids haven't hit puberty yet—my boy is 11 and my girl is 8.5—but honestly, I’m already at my wit's end...

They perform fine at school, at least academically, but at home 👎 it’s an absolute disaster. It’s just the basics, really: they walk through the door, rip off their backpacks and clothes, and literally toss everything into a crumpled heap in the hallway. They are constantly bickering or wrestling, and if they aren't doing that, they're playing in these chaotic ways, screaming and jumping all over the house, or just tackling each other on the couch or floor while yelling... they simply won't listen to a word. My son is quiet when he's alone, but instead of studying, he just glues himself to his PC or the TV; he won't touch any sports, he just eats and gains weight. My daughter is slightly better in that regard since she actually enjoys her extracurricular activities, but neither of them listens to anything... not nicely, not harshly. We've tried it all—rewards, punishments, you name it—nothing sticks. When you force them to clean up after school, they do the bare minimum just to get you off their backs, and by tomorrow, it's the exact same mess again...
On top of that, their room looks like a pigsty. They leave toys scattered everywhere they play, they're constantly raiding the fridge, eating or drinking whatever they find—I can't even keep a snack stash for myself... it goes on and on...

If this is how it is now, what on earth is puberty going to be like? I'd love to hear from other parents dealing with this age group...

That’s probably exactly what I’ll end up doing...

Thanks for the reply. In the meantime, I’ve actually figured out what the issue is myself. I spent some time digging through threads on a music forum and even chatted with some piano tuners who work with Steinway & Sons (they handle upright rentals 😁 too) ...
Since I'm a total novice, this whole thing caught me off guard, and now I have to decide how to proceed ...
Buying an entire piano feels like overkill, especially since I haven't even determined if my kid has any actual talent or a sense for music yet—he's only 8, after all ...

Greetings to the esteemed group...

Does anyone here have experience with this specific school? It’s located in Cleveland. My little girl attended some kind of musical gallery last year, but she’s starting first grade this term...
After much deliberation, we settled on voice lessons. However, I was quite surprised when, following her audition—which went well—she received a document stating that students choosing voice must own an instrument (or a piano), or provide proof of rental. Apparently, digital keyboards aren't even an option. Why on earth is that the case? I can't seem to find any logical explanation for such a rule.🤷