Five stairs at time down would break my ankles

One of the subreddits I miss terribly is /r/divorcedbirds. She would fit in nicely. But someone cleverer than me should come up with a good backstory.

I looked into this for my son, who gets really bad hiccups. We have lots of regular straws, so before I bought a special one, I had him try a regular straw that was pointing straight down at the bottom of the cup so that it was letting in as little water as possible. Totally works (most of the time).

Seems like you got your answer, but I’d also like to say sorry that your shower broke! I’m sure it was nasty to clean up and now it has to be replaced which is likely either an unexpected cost or your landlord’s problem, in which case I hope you have a responsive landlord.

It’s great! I’ve picked up sewing now (knitting got too easy after nearly twenty years…) and the first major disappointment is how there is nothing like Ravelry for sewing. There are major pattern companies, indie pattern companies, review sites, blogs, etc. but they’re not all in one central location and it bums me out. Oh well.

This is super niche but Ravelry is a fantastic place for knitters and crocheters. I don’t personally participate in many forums there, but there are lots of other ways to be involved and it’s very informative.

Then or now?

5 year old me: She-Ra

10 year old me: maybe Bugs Bunny honestly

Adult me: Bluey hands down forever. And my kids like it too.

I know it makes me super basic but… dragons. I know, it’s not inspiring. But I must add a caveat. I prefer that they are intelligent, on par with or surpassing humans in intelligence and willing (if reluctantly) to interact with them. Game of Thrones dragons are cool and all but they don’t really do it for me in the same way as, say, the dragon from Dragonheart.

No Such Thing as a Fish, from the QI Elves. Funny, informative, rarely about current events which is a breath of fresh air. Just nerds getting nerdy about stuff.

Wizard’s First Rule by Terry BrooksGoodkind. I suffered through the whole thing because I was young enough that I thought that’s what you should do when you’ve started a book, but I was also old enough to know that it was very bad. I’ve heard many people say they read it as teens and loved it, but I assure you, it does not hold up.

Hmm, maybe that’s why my English teacher assigned Huck Finn instead (which I remember liking).

I’m not saying it’s always the right idea to stay with someone in this sort of situation. But the fact that you did was probably a major reason she could be successful. She knew she had support and that is so, so important.

Yes! Pretzel buns are the superior bun for holding a burger in your hands. Definitely needs moisture from the other ingredients though. Also they have great flavor. I’m personally not particularly fond of the overly sweet brioche buns.

Mine is super annoying so the silent mode is clutch. You just have to remember that you were heating something if you’re also distracted with other stuff. Whenever the power goes out and I have to reset it, I swear I turn the sound off before I do the clock because every button press is super loud. Even my MIL commented on it once when she was visiting, before we figured out how to turn the sound off.

I feel like most of the people answering you are not actually sewists.

The person mentioning the serger/overlocker machine is correct regarding stretchy material. You can do it on a sewing machine but it won’t look nice. On a regular sewing machine, a straight stitch will give you a non-stretchy seam. A zigzag stitch will be stretchy but most often people aren’t pleased with the look of it. If you look at the inside of a t-shirt, the side seams are generally done with a serger. (A coverstitch machine is usually what is used for a hem. It makes a row of two lines on the front. It only does that.) The reason a serger works better for knit fabric is because of the differential feed, meaning it can better handle sewing two stretchy fabrics together such as in a seam. A sewing machine only feeds by catching the bottom fabric and scooting it forward, and that can cause issues if the fabric is stretchy.

You also need appropriate needles, especially for something like spandex. I haven’t worked with it at all so I’m not sure 100% what to recommend, but possibly a ball point or microtex needle.

Meanwhile, for upholstery, all you need (I think) is a straight stitch. Technically you could even try to do it by hand, but depending on the material, it could be really difficult. You’d definitely need a heavy duty needle, and possibly pliers to pull the needle through thick fabric. If you went for a machine, you’d want something robust. I’m actually about to try an upholstery project using my mid-range Bernina; it has successfully sewn several bags so I think it can handle it. But Bernina is not a mid-level brand, and I spent good money on that machine. Certainly, like in most things, you get what you pay for.

Winter, but I’m in California so of course it’s a bit different for us. I love rainy days, particularly with no wind. I prefer to be inside listening to it, but if there’s no wind, I don’t mind being out in it too much.

Totally get that. I used to be that way; somewhere along the line I decided that I would not allow myself more than three WIPs at a time, and I’ve mostly been pretty disciplined about that, and it’s helped. I make a lot of sweaters for myself so when people learn that I knit, they know to ask me if I made what I’m wearing, and the answer is often “yes.” The ones who are also crafters just admire the work, but the ones who aren’t start telling me I should sell (big lol) or that they’d pay me to make them one. If I charged an hourly rate, it’d probably mean upwards of a thousand bucks for a single sweater, but they have no concept of that.

Anyway, I hear you on the learning new stitch patterns and then getting bored. I mostly knit while in meetings or watching TV these days, because it got easy. I had to learn something new (sewing) to stretch my brain because knitting wasn’t doing it anymore.

People want to pay me for my knitting. Too bad for them that the amount they want to pay me is laughable and also there’s no way in hell I’d take the time to knit someone I barely know a sweater.

Running is the worst for me personally, between weak ankles and maybe sports-induced asthma. Thankfully in high school I got a pass out of any running due to a slightly nuts podiatrist who thought the only sport that was safe was snow skiing because my ankles were bound in. (Even swimming was out, apparently? Made no sense to me. I went on to play water polo anyway.)

Loved badminton.

Even walking barefoot seems like it would be painful!