Ask Lemmy

About 15 years ago I decided not to be in a hurry when I’m driving, and also to not get frustrated with any other drivers. I just figured I’m gonna be spending too much time of my life in a car I might as well not be getting upset about it. For aggressive drivers I make up a story about how they have explosive diarrhea or something else urgent to attend to. It has made a profound and permanent improvement to my life. Would recommend to a friend.

Started taking migraine meds. Instead of a three-day incapacitating pounder, I get an occasional throbbing headache - not even on the scale of a migraine.

My cat decided to live at a neighbor's 3 doors down. One day I thought "I'll invite her to the barbecue party". Six years later, we're married and have a 2 year old boy (and five more cats).

Did a sleep study. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea about a month ago because of it and got a machine. Now even if I have a short sleep, I feel more rested that I ever did sleeping a full 8 or even 9 hours.

Getting a computer, back when that was not a thing (early 80s). Changed so many things that wouldn't have happened without it.

When I rolled my character on that WoW server, I didn't expect to move so far from home and spend the rest of my life with someone I'd meet online.

I got hacked on Facebook (2018), stopped using Instagram (2019), quit Reddit (2023) & Xitter (2025).

Now I have only books (lots of audiobooks), Google Keep (own thoughts and pics), Lemmy (random thoughts), and Bluesky (microblog).

My input and output are much healthier, the people I interact with (when actually people) are nicer, and I generally don't feel doomed.

Well, yes, I realize the world is fucked, fucked up, and fucking crazy. I've reduced by orders of magnitude how toxic it is to my headspace because I'm cutting out the worst of the dreck and engaging with more objectively real information. I'm not in screaming echo chambers populated in the millions. I'm happy if I get 10 responses to a post. Updoots are incidental.

Its like leaving L.A. to settle down in Schitt's Creek.

Started putting powdered fiber in my morning coffee and now I have fantastic poops. I also bought a bidet which is nice too.

https://leisureguy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/rcaf_xbx_5bx_exercise_plans_text.pdf

15 minute a day exercise program.

Left school in Boston. Got a job in Rhode Island. Nine months in and I got bored. Started looking at jobs on Craigslist. Didn't find anything local. Started scrolling down the cities in the right column. Made it alphabetically down to Seattle. Never been.

Got the job, moved.

Lived here for 15 years. Bought a house, met my wife. Found a place where I feel like I always belonged.

I was bored as hell, sitting in a hotel room with literally nothingbto do for three days (waiting to get my passport back from visa processing), so I looked up the phone number of someone I used to know before we moved to opposite ends of the country years ago. I ended up getting an invite to a discord, and we now have two nights per week set aside for gaming together. Not just him, but the others on the discord too, so I'm not as socially isolated anymore.

And when there's no gaming going on, just hanging out in VoIP is still nice. I might be baking stuff in blender or perl, while someone else is painting minifigs or planning a D&D campaign. It's not easy having a social life when I'm a family man with four kids, living in the middle of nowhere with no shared interests with anyone nearby. This is my remedy.

Stopped drinking soda. The weight just fell off

I went to Critical Mass even though I was tired.

Set in motion meeting my wife.

I started putting bananas in the fridges crisper drawer. They keep a heck of a lot longer in there. It's almost as if that's what a fridge is meant for... :O

Now I can buy 14 bananas and they'll be good for weeks.

I live in a small city, the kind there is not much to do but go out to eat. But i started joining clubs with specific interest, membership fees are pretty minimal most of them, and now there is always something interesting to do.

Does it have to be a change for the better?

Swapped drinking coffee for matcha. Energy levels are way more balanced now

Finally said yes when a coworker kept asking if I'd like to sub on her co-ed low level team.

A dozen years later, I'm in better shape than ever, have made a whole bunch of great new friends from all walks of life and really look forward to most days. (I'm a glutton, so I play 3 times a week, so by definition almost half my nights are amazing.)