My hygienist told me to just use OTC instead of trying to do it at the dentist’s office. She didn’t suggest a specific brand though.

You’re very young to have decided that a partner will never happen for you.

The very best thing you can do is socialize without expectation of partnership and learn to have fun and enjoy flirting with people without the intention of following through. When you can get with a bunch of friends, laugh and flirt and go home alone and feel good about it, like appreciate the joy inherent in those moments without ruining it by pining for more… you will be doing yourself two favors.

One, you’ll stop feeling like not dating is celibacy - it’s just where you’re at.

Two, you’ll become much more attractive to potential partners, and you’ll find folks won’t care so much about your looks. The vibe will be way different, for real, because of the self-confidence inherent in enjoying your life without needing anything from anyone else.

Bonus - You might find, by flirting with people you have no intention of sleeping with, that your tastes expand. Just don’t tell a woman you’re not following through because she doesn’t meet your physical standards, that will get you in a dating blacklist in no time.

Being in my 40s, I am relieved to say that I keep finding women attractive that are my age, and I look at people in their 20s as, well, kids. Even in my porn, I keep looking for women more my age.

That’s true physically, but also emotionally. There is a humbling nearly all decent people seem to go through in their late 20s to 30s that at this point is a necessary point of bonding for me.

I put to you that minimum wage should be the minimum amount people need to live and that companies that can’t cope with that overhead should go out of business or adjust their business plan accordingly because otherwise they are causing harm to their employees.

I do understand that will indeed increase unemployment for a time, but there are many major corporations with record profits whose bottom tier employees are already subsidized by the government because they can’t afford to live.

I think we do need a better support structure to help people who are unemployed for any reason. I get that this all puts stress on companies, but in 2023 companies need to face more pressure to care for the people who make their profit possible, IMO.

Minimum wage needs to be tied to inflation because otherwise it is divorced of meaning and no longer keeps our fellow citizens alive.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gone sailing. I do have Plex running but I don’t want to unsafely sail. I see some folks do alternate streaming but I’m sick of relying on a service that will yank things away, I want to store stuff.

I’d like to yarr, especially anything no longer available via any streaming, but I’m well past my Napster days and pretty positive I’ll screw it up, either privacy wise or safety wise.

I do know how to avoid keywords after that ISP-reddit court debacle, tho…