There's DadMode, and then there's DadGodMode.

Occasionally a mom activates DadGodMode, and all men marvel at her glory.

I'm fairly uninformed, but I wouldn't think the pickets at the big box store compare to stuff that you use, of which I am now ravenously envious.

That said, I don't know how big box treated pickets compared to big box cedar pickets. I'd have to look and see if they're absolutely full of knots and stuff. Anecdotally, I've found HD and Lowes to have huge price discrepancy between the two types, whereas Menards is negligible, which would factor in for me.

I have previously owned a couple of cars where the cabin air filter alone was more of a PITA than changing the oil and rotating the tires combined.

And simple service things seem to get worse.

That said, if doing this all at once doesn't save me money, hard pass. I'll take the nickel and diming. I don't want to be part of the target demo that incentivizes this to exist.

I always tell folks I have three sisters that add up to two whole sisters.

I think your definition of suburb may be fairly limited.

And no, where I lived was far, FAR more diverse than 80% of Fort Wayne.

She can be a lady, but I draw the line at their kids looking like them. They don't. They look exactly like their godparents.

Bruh, I learned to drive in a 95 Saturn SL1 that my dad bought new off the lot negotiated to around a 11 grand through some 3rd party employer plan. I learned to drive in it.

Had power locks and windows. Even child safety locks. I remember thinking how cool it was that turning the key in the passenger lock twice unlocked all the doors. And the driver window switch was super aggressive.

Or Elks club. Or Moose. Or any VFW in a small, rural town... Bc much of America, at least, doesn't look like the CW.

But I am def talking out of turn. I know (to me) surprisingly little about the masons.

I mean, that's still a lot of communities. But also if that's still a rule, then ew.

I hear trappings like they enjoy pretending they're a cult, but it sounds more cosplay than anything dark. Just different creepy strokes for different folks?

"WHOAH there, traveler! I'm in a weakened state and in dire need of highly specified medical attention!" - every goat ever.

I agree. If there are any wild goats in the area, the cops might shrug it off from experience. But I'd rather I make a call so they can make THE call.

And his other leg is... PATRICK DUFFY.

At least we're humble when it comes to our interstellar perspectives...

Strong place to approach from. I always feel like a dork when saying anything about my experiences matter-of-factly. But the practical side of me just accepts it, and I don't expect anyone else to unless they've seen things for themselves. I'm okay sounding like the wishers and nuts who think every fleck of dust is a dead relative, though I def don't count myself amongst them. 😁

I also have a "story mode" my brain will tap into sometimes on the rare occasion I talk about them IRL, which apparently is pretty convincing judging from others' reactions, but that's not worth all that much IMO, other than a bit of fun.

Yoders, redneck for Yoda's.

Bgrgrgrgrgrgrgrgruh?

Hallucination is a more likely explanation than "unexplainable" only in the cases where the conditions are right for it. High fevers, extreme dehydration or malnourishment, ongoing sleep deprivation, neurological disorders, drugs and medications - without those, hallucination becomes highly unlikely. However, the eyes do play tricks on themselves.

In my case, things I have seen happened in the absence of any of the above, in some cases have been demonstrably repeatable, were not sudden but sustained experiences, and were corroborated by others, sometimes together and sometimes independently.

Edit: Forgot to answer the "what stuff" part. I've seen one thing very much like the image above over a sustained moment, only feet away. Years later, many people corroborated having similar experiences in that same location, and none of us had any idea until that time.

I've also seen real life "orbs," but in this case they look absolutely nothing like the pictures often posted here. Other folks don't usually see them, but I helped three other people see/notice them at different times, and all of them have had hugely emotional reactions, which I've never had. All three also avoid talking about it for many years since.

Also visited some classically "haunted" locations. Only experienced strange phenomenon at one, and everyone present was hearing/seeing/smelling the same things at the same time. Had less fortune with repeat visits.

Folks think it's a brag, but it's a curse. 😁

When I was in college, all the guys wore Curve.

If I spray on Curve at 7am, guaranteed I will smell like a dirty diaper by noon. Happens every time. My girlfriend at the time bought me a bottle bc she liked the smell, but then I gave it to a friend bc it made me smell absolutely terrible.

I actually go out of the way to not stink bc of my own sensitivity to smell, but something's def don't mix right with me.

Stellantis says hello!

Yeah I recall everyone in design and engineering for a commercial truck company spending years questioning why the five foot tall president of the truck side of the company wanted "Porsche fit and finish" on vehicles that deliver soda to gas stations.

One of the greatest examples of burning money that the fleet owners would NEVER care about. Little rich guy from overseas decides the same thing he wants from his own sports car is what commercial beat-on trucks have to have.

I can use it to chill. Happy chill or calm down from stress/anger chill. Sometimes during the chill process, I may become slightly weepy, but that's just part of the purging of emotions.

The music doesn't make me emotional - it actually resets my logic centers, and my emotions then purge a bit.

It can do this through tempo and repetition. It can also achieve this through nostalgia, allowing my brain to focus on a thought or a feeling associated with the sounds or lyrics.

Then my brain can get rid of pent up stress and find its normal "rhythm."

I can also elevate that rhythm and amplify my excitement very temporarily with hype music, but only if I already have a surplus of energy. Otherwise it just becomes noise.

Music doesn't make me angry ever (except for almost all modern music bc I'm getting old, and yeh damned kids wouldn't know good music if it bit yeh on the keister).

And there was no title, honorary or otherwise, that Harlan wouldn't jump on given the chance. Even his "Kentucky Colonel" garb and title were BS. He was a walking marketing tool for his own persona.

Bro was a mountain midwife with a mule and a roadside stand before he went practically bankrupt trying to find a faster way to make fried chicken. Nevermind the gunfight.

The KFC empire was not colonized by Harlan. He'd sold it off and just became the mascot in the agreement. He was a human logo.

So I'm cautious to put much stock in anything he was or claimed to be beyond that.

This is my take exactly. I seent stuff. So when I see obvious dust and bugs posted by people who don't know how cameras work, I'm happy to debunk, even if it causes some folks to clutch their crystals and weep.

I'm here for the otherwise unexplainable bc of things I've seen with my eye-grapes.

Good point. That's actually the best case for deodorant. We can't all just get used to body odor bc some folks smell decidedly different.

I also have a sensitive schnoz (low-grade super-taster), so I appreciate folks who cover up they's stank. I also have a body chemistry that does WEIRD things to different fragrances in deodorants and colognes, so I have a narrow list of things that work. I switched from aluminum containing antiperspirants to some Amazon Basics all natural stuff with arrowroot, and I wish I'd had this stuff all my life. It is an absolute champ.