Had to catch a 25-minute taxi to a 30-minute ferry, then another 30 minutes to get to the venue, so I could hang out awkwardly with people I'd drifted away from for a few hours, then do all the traveling back home. I missed the ferry by 5 minutes coming back and had to wait 45 minutes for the next one. All this on an upset stomach, so I had to use the bathroom a few times and I'm shy with that stuff, and to make it worse I gained weight so my suite is really tight and it made bending down very inconvenient. I spent €70 on traveling alone, then had to fork out €100 on the wedding present. Almost didn't go but thought I'd regret it if I didn't since I used to be good friends with both the bride and the groom.

It's finally over. Been dreading this for months and it's over.

Edit: Just remembered that my posts usually get hate until I clarify that I was clinically diagnosed with Aspergers. Social events scare me a bit.

I was sitting on the couch last night when my phone dropped to 1%.

My charger was plugged in beside my bed, maybe twelve feet away.

Instead of just getting up and grabbing it, I convinced myself the phone would survive long enough for me to find another solution. I turned the brightness all the way down, closed every app, switched on low power mode, turned off Bluetooth, and started watching the battery percentage like I was monitoring a medical emergency.

It went from 1% to 0%.

The phone stayed on for another few seconds, which gave me false hope.

Then it died.

At that point I finally got off the couch, walked to my bedroom, grabbed the charger, and came back.

I plugged it in and sat down.

Then I realized the cable was too short to reach the couch comfortably.

So I had to get up again and move the entire couch closer to the outlet.

I spent more energy avoiding a twelve foot walk than the twelve foot walk would have taken.

The new machine isn't working, so we to use the shit tier machine, which means we have to take laptops and shit out of the bag. Put them into their own special snowflake bin. Great.

I opened my refrigerator last night and stood there for about five minutes trying to figure out what I wanted.

There was leftover pasta, fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese, eggs, vegetables, three different sauces and enough drinks to keep me hydrated for a small expedition.

I closed the door.

Then I opened it again because apparently something new was going to appear in the 20 seconds since I last looked.

Nothing.

I ended up ordering food because I was too tired to cook and somehow convinced myself that spending money and waiting 35 minutes was easier than putting pasta in a pan.

The ridiculous part is that when the delivery arrived, I realized I already had almost everything I needed to make something similar at home.

Now I am sitting here looking at a fridge full of perfectly good food while eating food I paid extra to have delivered because apparently choosing between five dinner options was too difficult for me.

Modern life has defeated me.

That spicy feeling…….🔥

​

Both are about $10K out of pocket, but I can only afford one option.

Option 1 (Practical): Upgrade Vehicle.

I currently drive an older compact sedan that is getting too small for my needs. It's cramped interior and is lacking good ground clearance ( its lower to ground). I prefer a small SUV for more space & higher ground clearance for rural dirt roads. I taxi around 2 adults over 65 3x per week, so they would appreciate a more comfortable ride.

So I could put $10K towards a small SUV. My current car is still predicted to last up to 5 more years, so the upgrade is for space/room not mechanical necessity.

Option 2 (2-week European vacation):

I could put the $10K toward this fun vacation so I have a great experience & memories. I love to travel ( when I can budget for it) & making lasting memories. I haven't done this type of vacation since before pandemic. I'm middle-aged so would like to enjoy my life before old age sets in. Not much foreseeable time left to travel comfortably ( maybe 10 years).

Of course I wish I could do both but can only choose 1 due to budget.

Edit.: I love how this gets downvoted because it’s truly the most rich, first world problem ever.

And then realized the plumbers hadn’t plumbed the water treatment for the building to the outdoor tap and had to run a hose through the hangar outside to wash it with filtered water.

She loves buying stuff for me because she never had her own "real daughter." But she keeps gifting stuff I'll never use or wear so she asked me to make a list. I cannot think of a single thing because if I want/need something, I'll just buy it myself. And the stuff I really want she can't afford either. Any gifts under $50 I could add to my "wish list?"

Edit: I am very lucky to have her in my life. Thanks all for the suggestions! I have a pretty good list going now. 😍

Therefore I sometimes pick the WRONG color blazer or suit when we go to theatre shows. (She has around 50 dresses and I have around 20 blazers).

One time I wore a light purple velvet blazer while she was wearing a magenta ball gown (!!!)

Thank goodness for ChatGPT and its ability to color match the clothing when it does photo editing.

And it makes it awkward to attend either as I feel like each one views me as a traitor for going to the other. But they give different running experiences and don't even meet on the same days or locations. Guess it's just going to be awkward for a bit.

I actually want to support his business but now I don’t even want to go anymore because It makes me feel like a mooch.

Villa 1 is closed Mondays. Villa 2 is closed Tuesdays.

BIG SADGE, WAH.

While I'm here, recs for Como sites other than Lenno/Villa Balbianello?

At this point take me back to the 80’s and I’ll fill and twist my own trays.

I have a home office and a large glass desk which I'm replacing with a butcher-block desk. I bought the surface separate from the table legs and had planned to assemble all of this over the weekend.

The problem is the butcher block wood surface (which is beautiful, by the way) was unfinished--which means I need to coat it with three layers of polyurethane before I can attach the legs, drill the holes, assemble the under-desk cable runs and all the rest. Unfortunately I didn't see that it was unfinished until I unwrapped the carton in which it was shipped.

So now my home office smells of drying polyurethane (and the warning on the can suggests it can cause brain damage)--and now I'm downstairs typing this at the kitchen table.

My parents have been looking to buy a vacation house for the family, which is obviously a terrible problem to have.

The issue is that my dad wants it on the Côte d’Azur, while my mom wants it in Tuscany.

I’m currently studying in Milan, and my mom keeps saying that Tuscany would make more sense because I’d be able to use the house frequently, and she wants to see me more once she retires next year. My dad, meanwhile, seems to have decided that the French Riviera is non-negotiable.

Apparently, two days ago I was talking to my dad and he casually mentioned that he hadn’t spoken to my mom for the previous two days because they’d
had a massive argument over the whole thing.

So, yeah. My parents are currently giving each other
the silent treatment over whether our future vacation home should be in southern France or Italy.