I paid about $80 all told the other day for this service at our family’s long-time mechanic. I don’t think you’re going to get much cheaper than that.

I understand the desire to be in the same physical space with someone.

Deirdre Fay is someone else who works extensively with C-PTSD. In addition to her books, she also has some YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/DeirdreFay

(Edited to clarify: unfortunately, Deirdre Fay is not local. I mentioned her here in the spirit of giving other supplementary resources and because I have found her video presence to be not just knowledgeable but also calm and compassionate.)

Why would you think it was a joke?

There’s no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now. … What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that’s your own lookout. Energize the demolition beams.

Idk, it sounded like you thought you were encouraging a kid.

… you know he sells this stuff professionally, right?

This may be technically true, but you really don’t understand how abusive situations work, or people who are stuck in them.

He hangs out on redpill subs, so don’t expect much

No. No, I refuse. “Acrisure Stadium” is bad enough, but this is a bridge too far.

I hope you did not literally buy a gallon-sized container of cumin and expect it to be any good at all after a year. I’m all for saving money but there’s a threshold beneath which things are too cheap for a reason.

Second the advice to shop at Indian groceries.

It’s not that early — Ash Wednesday is not that far away.

We went the Party Cake route this year and were overall pretty pleased. We thought the fruit flavors were a step above the flavored-buttercream. Custard also a big win, but maybe that’s just because I really like custard. 😁

Someone said that the ones at S&D are in fact Party Cake ones, with a special flavor (rosehip) that they make just for S&D.

Thanks for this list! I can’t make the 6th but it would be fun to come another time. I played D&D a lot in high school in the 80s but haven’t played since then — maybe I should come to a “new player” event since it has been such a long time!

I see that you have attempted a reply, which Reddit hasn’t yet recognized somehow. That’s cute that you have an undergraduate degree from Columbia. You evidently have avoided learning the things that college is supposed to teach you. Columbia is probably embarrassed, because these things are things that you could have learned from any community college (at which I have also taught, before you think that that’s a potential arrow in your quiver). I’m sorry you’re so ignorant. Have a pretty life. You won’t get another response from me.

I teach college. I have a doctoral degree from an Ivy. I care about words and names. I don’t misspell them, and if I accidentally did, I would correct it and beat myself up about it.

What you denigrate as “pedantic” is merely “respecting others.”

I note that in your comments to me you have not addressed or recognized at all the misogynistic slur in the other poster’s username, so apparently that’s A-OK with you while we argue about whether or not it’s necessary to spell the city name correctly?

Any “anger” that you think I have is really not about Pittsburgh with an H, but about the misogynistic word in the other person’s username.

Also, for the record, I speak two other languages and also frequently visit other places where I am not fluent in the language and somehow I have never managed to misspell a city or town name in any of those places. And I don’t give a shit about anyone’s age, so don’t try to shame me in that regard.

Yes. The fact that you don’t know that indicates that you need to do more “getting to know the city” research before moving here.

No, once you have an account, Reddit does not let you change the name. However, since the account is only a few days old, and you don’t have any meaningful history on it yet, you could just jettison it and make a new one with no real losses.

Also, yikes at your username. Maybe you’re from a part of the world where that isn’t a huge insult, but in the US it is.

What do you think they do with the profits they make from your patronage?

I mean, you weren’t listening to start with, and you are clearly so privileged that none of this stuff that affects non-white-males matters a jot to you. Your apathy hurts everyone. But you do you. I’m sure you sleep well at night.

One of them will let me govern my own body. The other one won’t.

No way do I think the Democrats are the world’s best political organization. But they’re leaps and bounds ahead of Christofascists.

How lucky for you that you can conceive of a life in which politics don’t govern your ability to obtain services or healthcare.