I was vegetarian for about 20 years and never really missed meat (feel like for most people, giving up meat only means giving up 4 things - pigs, cows, chickens, and fishes), but vegan I couldn’t do. Cheese. And mayo and eggs. I joke with my vegan daughter that the vegan versions are made from xanthan gum and wishes. But yeah things like chicken nuggets? Processed meat things I can’t tell the difference and for some items do like the veggie or vegan versions much better - burgers in particular, I love all sorts of veggie burgers but hate hamburgers. Order black bean burger with bacon and cheese at my work cafe and nobody bats an eye so I’m not the only one.

Healthier as an omnivore, I’m sure that’s different for different people, but for me personally it is working better.

Cheese is an absolute pinnacle achievement of humanity. It’s delicious.

Not really, no. Was an anorexic teen, so kind of like you but in the other direction, then so poor we just ate what we could, at this point in my life I am at a healthy weight and can certainly tell physical hunger from wanting to eat, and can tell the difference between not hungry and lack of appetite from anxiety around eating (the latter is very infrequent now). May have broken it in all the years I had water when hungry.

I don’t have a repetitive diet though, and don’t do endurance sport so maybe don’t have the specific cravings. And try not to ever eat too much. And women in general do carry more reserves even when lean, I don’t know if that makes a difference.

Best: kit-kats, twix, heath bar, and the wee chocolates dark/light/crunch mix assortment.

Worst: banana laffy taffy, smarties

Also I freaking love black licorice and my kids do too but would never, ever dare hand it out, absolutely a trick not a treat for most kids.

Ten Thousand Years Won’t Save Your Life by the band Hammock is like this, I wouldn’t call it alternative, but wow, it opens up, takes you on a trip, gently sets you down.

“a masterclass in”

Get them hard!

I had a friend who would catch them out of the air and eat them, said it kept them from biting him.

I don’t know. If I am outside with others (like on the porch or in the yard - not counting wilderness areas where they are aggressive) I don’t get bitten but if I am alone they do bite me.

I do run cold, can stay cool in warm weather, don’t sweat easily, and I breathe quite slowly. So my money is on warmth and CO2 as the biggest factors. Other people are probably louder and distract them away from me.

ETA This was interesting too, maybe you really are mosquito bait.

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/the-chemistry-of-mosquito-attraction

Move to a different planet? I think this cat is out of the bag, they are everywhere now, it’s the lead of the current generation.

The steps you listed seem like reasonable action anyway, but there simply isn’t anything you can do to avoid them here.

He is nice to me always, but like the other response here, picking up the housework that I am so shit at doing and getting us the biweekly cleaning so we can do other stuff, instead of complaining (I do pull my weight in other ways) has been so wonderful. Really a life improvement.

Cool. Well, fungus thrives in damp, so once you get clean make sure you dry off thoroughly, and there’s more than one antifungal drug used in creams, if one bothers you maybe try another? I really don’t know if the pills would work, if the doctor recommended topical treatment.

Ha, this brought back a memory.

I wore 2 layered T shirts to the mall way back in the day when any deviation in style was seen as shocking, (ETA my kids do not understand just how ridiculously conformist the past was, it’s hard to believe if you didn’t live through it) and this somehow caught the eye of a guy who was in a punk band, which got me into that scene, which, while I wouldn’t call it wholesome, probably saved my life, as I was so alienated at school and really unhappy.

How do you even know it’s fungal? Can you get to a doctor for an actual diagnosis so you know what to use?

Husband says the same. Deadlifts fixed his back. I have this far been lucky but do yoga 4x/week and lift once or twice a week. The yoga I am sure really helps.

I feel great physically, but:

Finally got hips at 50 (neither pregnancy not age changed my lean build until age 50).

Both nearsighted and farsighted now instead of just nearsighted.

And my goodness, supper at teatime is the best! We go out to eat at 4pm all the time now. So funny, I used to wait until after 8pm but now prefer either a late breakfast and a teatime meal, or lunch and early supper.

I’ve never had a great memory, wouldn’t say it’s gotten worse yet.

Well, I wake up happy every day because I don’t really think anyone ‘deserves’ anything, including physical existence. So I am happy to be physically embodied, so happy nothing hurts most days and that I can move freely and breathe freely. I just kind of think anything above constant agony is above the baseline of existence.

I do think you can deserve things like pay for work, you can earn things. But even so, so many people get so much for nothing, and so many others get nothing for giving so much.

I will wish for your success beyond your expectations.

I have driven manual shift cars for my whole life, and the transmission in my new (ish, about 10 years) car is incredible.

The first one was a 3 speed Mustang without hydraulic clutch. It was so hard to shift I only let one other person drive it. 1st speed so rough, 2nd at like 10mph, 3rd at about 30, that was it. It was just springs and chains and gears.

This one? Smooth as silk, there is enough overlap between gears that it is so easy to shift, 6 speeds, the 6th gear I can drive 90mph and it is cool and comfortable. It’s ridiculously easy to drive and so much fun.

Janis Joplin is I think the best example of cat screeching in tune, on beat, in key. I find her both great and near unlistenable.

The no caffeine sodas I like best have too much sugar to drink often. Ginger Beer and Jarritos Grapefruit soda.

Probably when my dad died and my mom (understandably) fell apart.

I will say though - it has gotten better. Much better. I would not call my life difficult now. Only took half a century!