[Migrated, see pinned post] Casual Conversation

(please don't tell me about how wrong it is to own pugs, he was a stray I adopted who was found on the street, not a breeder dog I bought. He has a lot of health problems and I've devoted a lot to keeping him well cared for).

My poor old puppy. The restlessness and spinning in circles, the staring off into space, the coughing fits. We are already treating the cough but started some dementia-type medicine and melatonin last night. I don't want to do extensive interventions if he's unhappy but I want to try to improve his quality of life and make his geriatric years as happy and peaceful as possible.

It's so hard to make good decisions about elderly pets isn't it? You want to do the right thing.

I was listening to the New Year's Day concert by the Vienna philharmonic and wondered who one of the composers was so used a popular song recognition app. (I expected it would make some fuzzy match on the piece and give me the name + composer). To my amazement it did give the name and composer but as played by the Vienna philharmonic in 2005 in the same location. The orchestra does not have the same members as 19 years ago, nor was it the same conductor, so it seemed the piece was matched on the acoustics of the Musikverein where they were playing, which I found astonishing.

In this dream of mine, there was an issue with zombies. Not the conventional undead fare but people that carried a disease that made them attack those who didn't carried it.

The strangest part is that these zombies would attempt to season their potential meals with salt and pepper before the first bite. And it was possible to snap the potential cannibal from their frenzied state by slapping them hard enough.

I woke half terrified and half face palming, undecided if I should laugh or question my sanity.

I'm not an horror movie fan. Why would my brain come up with this sort of plot for a dream?

Fuckin love beans. Especially in a chili on a cold winter day. Hits the spot!

At work, sometimes I take a bathroom break just to escape. Don't use the bathroom, I just wanna stop looking people I don't care about around me and the noise. I'm not physically tired, since the job isn't demanding that way, but mentally I can't stand it. That's the main problem, it's a warehouse so it's inevitable. In a perfect world I would be almost completely alone and the job would be a 15 minutes from my home at walking speed...

Both of it aren't a reality.

I spent a few years living in the international district (Chinatown, Japantown, Little Saigon) and people would set off fireworks and firecrackers in the neighborhood for days or even a couple of weeks after New Year's. And then again on Chinese New Year's. And there's also this group that likes to go and bang on drums while marching around the neighborhood at those times. It was awful and it made my dogs so stressed out.

Now that I live in a mostly Vietnamese neighborhood outside of the international district, I only hear fireworks on New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year's. It's great not having to worry about whether or not I should drug my dogs for days on end.

I personally enjoy fireworks displays, but I don't think they should be allowed by unlicensed people at their own homes.

I've always hated how alcohol commercials play up like a cool beer is the best thing in the world, or a glass of whiskey is what will put hair on your chest. It's a disgusting narrative that ruins people's lives.

On social media, there's a huge variety of it. People posting how they were sober on NYE. Folks sharing before/after as they've gone cold turkey. I see people share tips of what type of mocktails to get at bars, and alternatives to having a fun night over getting drunk.

I appreciate that.

And this is not bashing alcohol. Moderation in everything.

I took a nap after I got off work today because I had to head in at 5am today. I had a dream where I was traversing an ever burning field where werewolves lived in the not burning parts. I even conversed and broke bread with them. They even had cook fires. Like why do you need a cook fire your home is literally always on fire

And like what an absurd concept that is. How did my brain even come up with that? Dreams like that are why I don't believe that dreams have any real meaning.

Mom hung a mass produced art print on my bedroom wall when I was about 8. It's of a little girl holding her puppy.

Cute, right?

Thing is, this painting terrified me. And I was raised in the time where you just kind of swallowed any complaints and didn't bother mom or dad with kid foolishness.

Here is a copy of the thing I actually had hanging on my wall. This same frame. Probably came from Service Merchandise or some such.

What in the everloving hell is lurking just over her shoulder?!?! To me it always looked like a skull wearing a hat on the side of his head, like a little old timey jaunty hat a clown would wear.

It's a wonder I got any sleep. I was too afraid to tell mom I hated it. I never considered that I possessed the agency to take it off my wall and hide it at the bottom of the closet.

I think of this cursed painting still.

Did you ever have something in your childhood that unnecessarily scared the bejeezus out of you?

I just sold the first Harley Davidson muffler system my company has made... and I'm not in sales! I am giddy... hustled as fast as possible up the hall and told the COO and VP of Sales together. Leaving early today for the holiday, what a way to end the year! Happy New Year everyone!!!

Let's talk fashion for once

Feel free to have a look at

• !movies@lemm.ee
• !showsandmovies@lemm.ee
• !animation@lemm.ee
• !horrormovies@lemm.ee

No gf, no friends, it's hard to meet new people. Tinder and other apps don't work. Idk even if I travel somewhere I'm alone

For the first time in my life, I find myself writting in my head a list of goals I want to achieve next year. Some are mundane, some are harder to achieve. I thought about sharing that list here.

Please consider sharing yours as well. Consider it like sharing ideas, something to push others in to thinking about small things they can do as well just because they can.

Now, without further ado:

The List

• survive

A reminder from j4k3. Should always be a priority.

• renew my entire fleet of hand tools and, if money allows it, some power tools

I have lot of maintenance chores, renovations and improvements to do around the house and my current tool stock is essentially shot, so...

• start making furniture for my house

Have you seen the price furniture goes for these days? I have a carpentry shop nearby willing to look at my doodles and work out the details with me and make the rough cutting of the big pieces that require precision tools for it. I'll have to take care of the rest.

• put together a cook book with my partner

This just came to me/us the other day.

Throughout this year, we shared with a good number of people food from our table. We are not foodies nor trained chefs, we just enjoy having good, tasty, healthy food. Many people told us they could never make what we cook daily and a few even told us we should open a place of our own. Because we're not that insane yet, the book will do.

No publishing intention: it will be about putting together a collection of recipes anyone can follow and share it. All inclusive.

• paint the freaking walls

• finish that computer tech course

I've been playing with computers for twenty+ years. Now I want my know-how recognized. And on this I have money tied and a deadline!

• write my own first book (romance, with raunchy bits)

Or should I say just put it together? I write my fantasies basically since I was taught to put letters together to form words. My biggest flaw is that I'm my worst critic and I drop draft after draft. Well... it needs to end.

• work with my dogs

I have two, very over reactive dogs. Of the big kind, that are constantly fighting each other for no reason. I need to do something to counter this.

• get back on working on my plot of land

That place is a fire hazard and I want to start growing my own food again.

• read more books

As an added incentive to culture and reading habits: support an online ebook repository, download and keep offline copies of as many books you can manage. Culture is the worst enemy of bigotry and ignorance.

I didn't went anywhere and stood in my room 24, 25 and 26 as usual... Why can't I just never wake up... I don't wanna go to work, I hate the people there but I need money and I most likely get fired at January

Fuck life. Honestly

One random night, I lay on my bed in my silent bedroom, and I felt that the silence is uncomfortable. Why, I asked myself, that the silence felt sharp, like I prefer the noise of my annoyingly loud dehumidifier, or the muffled sound of traffic in my old apartment?

I realized that the silence was ringing, in a high pitched noise that we all associate with being hit near the ears. My inner voice told myself: "man, you have tinnitus."

Thinking back, that wasn't the first time I thought that I have tinnitus, but I was probably in denial for years, or it just got louder. The sad part is that I'm only 26, and somehow, I feared getting tinnitus ever since my childhood.

Even worse, I just ordered a pair of headphones with ANC, and when I don't play anything through it, the ringing gets very clear.

Was depressed for a few days, thinking that it's not fair that I got it even though I don't expose myself to loud noises often, I listen to music at a couple levels lower than my preference, and I don't turn up my music to drown out noises.

But nothing in life is fair, and to compared to the suffering of others, this is only a mild discomfort. So I'll try to keep positive about it, and be grateful that I still enjoy a comparatively luxurious life.

I'll visit a doctor soon though!

Any of you have a similar experience? I'll be happy to read your stories!

Hey @friendless@lemmy.blahaj.zone - did you find anyone else to hang out with?

Hey @iii@mander.xyz - what are your thoughts about Christmas on this fine day?

Hey @Platypus@lemmings.world - you said you'd be around today, what are you up to?

Personally, I might make a big pot of spaghetti later on. My cousin said they might pass by at some point but no guarantees. If I don't find anyone to talk to online, I'll probably just watch some free movies and game.