It’s true. When I posted this I was basically at that point, but it still took me a few months to pull the plug. I ended up leaving my partner of 5 years towards the end of 2023 and it was absolutely the right call. It’s made my daily life more challenging in some respects, but the peace of mind that came from not needing to deliberate anymore was SO worth it.

Conversation logs (for the games where they make sense). I loved having this available in Dragon Age: Origins and it helped me remember my rationale for doing specific things. Also was just fun to read back through.

I recently listened to Daisy Jones and the Six and the audiobook was incredible. The book was written as a series of interviews, which worked great as an audiobook. There were definitely times I got a bit distracted but it didn’t impede my understanding too much. It does take a bit to absorb all the characters, so you’d probably want to listen uninterrupted for the first ~hour.

Killers of a Certain Age is another good one. Written about mature women assassins. It’s a fun thriller and an easy listen.

Final rec is any of Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series as read by John Lee. They’re long as hell, but straightforwardly told. There’s something I just love about how John read them, too.

Absolutely. Good shoes, a good rain jacket, and switching from glasses to contacts made a world of difference for me!

Blundstones. I live in a coastal city that’s wet (but rarely snowy) the vast majority of the year. Having rain-resistant shoes that are comfortable AND durable has been a game changer.

And if I can mention a second: A proper, long raincoat. Combined with good shoes, I’m able to tolerate the weather here much better than when I’d first moved to this city and relied on sneakers + regular jackets.

I love to see this moment mentioned. It was so moving. Even thinking about it now, I have chills.

I’m thinking of Jira right now. October 1 rolls around and a comment from yesterday is suddenly “last month”. Very often not helpful. I just want to see when it was made!

One I haven’t seen mentioned here is familiarize yourself with tenancy laws in the place you want to move to. It is always good to know your rights, and with landlords these days, you have to be as savvy as you can. A lot will come from experience, but knowing what they’re allowed to do or not do is priceless.

Steel cut oats boiled with fruit, sweetened with maple syrup, and served with some type of dairy. I always use cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ground ginger!

Fruit is either:

• Cut apples
• Frozen blueberries or strawberries

Dairy is either:

• A drizzle of milk
• A couple tablespoons of plain greek yogurt

I have regular ole bipolar disorder but I find that I tend to have depressive mood episodes more often in the depths of winter, when it’s darkest and coldest. Before I was medicated, I routinely blanked out basically from December to February.