“The only “people” moving to Texas are tax mules and corpo scumbags”

Or in my brother’s case, following an ex wife who decided to marry someone from Texas and move there with the kids. Sometimes moving is cheaper and less complicated than legal battles with a parent you still have to work with for another 10 years.

The clock is ticking though. As soon as the youngest graduates high school they’re getting the hell out of there.

I appreciate the wholesomeness of the Narnia reference against your username lol.

Similarly, I have an iPhone. It was provided by my employer for work purposes. It’s about as enjoyable as having a small stone in my shoe that can’t be removed. Oh, and the other shoe is half a size too small.

My Pixel is so much easier and makes more sense. I carry both when working and use the iPhone only when absolutely necessary.

Something I haven’t seen other commenters bring up that can have a huge impact, is the overall lifestyles people are living.

The unhealthiest years of my life were when I was working 2 jobs and struggling to keep a roof over mine and my 3 kids heads. Stress and depression were huge problems and money was tight, so sometimes the little bit of dopamine or serotonin from eating a “treat” were the highlights of the day. Add to that, the guilt of not being around to cook regular meals for my kids lead to 1) making large amounts of food on my one day off that could be eaten as leftovers throughout the week or 2) easy convenience foods (frozen pizzas, boxed Mac and cheese, etc) that the kids could make when I wasn’t around.

Fast forward many years - my kids are adults taking care of themselves and I’m down to 1 good job that offers financial stability. My diet and health have completely changed. I actually have the time and energy to cook and plan better.

I’m not saying this to shift blame or responsibility, but to bring a different experience. When I hear (hopefully well meaning) people suggest “just cook healthier meals” it strikes me about the same as “stop eating avocado toast and you could afford a house.”

For marketability, it’s horrendous. While I’m open to dramatic, unique, and off the wall stuff it’s still not my taste.

BUT! I would absolutely take advantage of the discount I’d get on the property after it’s spent over a year on the market. I also wouldn’t be in a rush to remodel, but would look for ways to highlight it till the novelty wore off.

LMAO - I haven’t seen anyone do that before. Everything after the ? is for site tracking info, so you can remove it. There was a post about it sometime in the last couple weeks that gave examples and where to chop it off to not offer more tracking info.

After the birth of my first child I ended up with a hemorrhoid. Truth be told, I was scared shitless to touch anything down there for a couple days after the trauma. They had given me a squishy bottle to rinse myself while everything recovered. Warm water from the tap was heavenly lol.

Keep in mind that for a number of people, places like Starbucks and Dunkin create an accessable entry to something beyond a home made pot of Folgers.

I grew up smelling my parents coffee and enjoying the smell, but the taste was horrific so I swore off drinking coffee. Fast forward many years and I dipped my toe into that overly sweet and milky Starbucks and found something that actually tasted good to me. Many years later I have my own grinder and espresso machine, and numerous other coffee gadgets, and might only darken the door of Starbucks/Dunkin a few times a year for convenience. Can I make something at home I enjoy more? Yep. But there’s nothing wrong with other people having other tastes along their coffee journey.

I love horror movies! Your comment got me to look this up to see if I should add it to my watch list.

Then I read the synopsis.

Thanks, but no thanks. Damn.

As a Midwestern American with a fondness for music from the UK, I both blindly accept your answer as 100% believable and complete bullshit at the same time lol.

Nice work! 👍

Careful. With those proportions might need a wider base.

The first 35 years of my life I was surrounded by nothing but Midwestern American conservatives, with splashes of evangelical Christians in the mix. I was raised that we should love our neighbors, give to the poor and needy, work hard, and or needs would be met. When I was no longer a child the clarifications started to creep in. I should love and help others, but only if they really deserved it. Who deserved it had a long list of unspoken qualifiers. If my needs weren’t being met, I must not be working hard enough, even if that meant working 2 jobs and my health suffering for it.

In my 30s I had the opportunity to meet people outside my bubble, and what do you know - I started recognizing the hypocrisy I was raised with and living, and finally started to grow as a person.

Huh. I raised my children to treat people the way they want to be treated and to share their toys with others. As teens and adults they’ve tended to cultivate friend groups of supportive, welcoming people. I consider them extended family, and if someone has a need we should be available to help.

The people they’re skeptical of are the “I’ve got mine, fuck you” types.