On the flip side, the ukulele community is so open and friendly, helped me stick with a hobby I sucked at to begin with, and now I've released actual music!
Actually I use it as a starting point for fungi. Seek will usually get me to the genus, and from there I can cross reference various books to narrow it down. Hell, sometimes it'll give me an exact match, and then I just have to perform a yes or no ID with my field guides. That being said, I mostly end up with no, I'm shit scared of all amanitas and most mushrooms just aren't tasty enough to warrant the effort.
Airbnb is expensive. It also is often awkward, I always seem to get places where the owner wants to give me a tour of the place when I show up. Checkout time is always a massive stress, trying to figure out where the outside bin is, how to start the dishwasher, and remembering to return all the furniture to it's original position, lest we break a rule and lose our deposit. You don't get mini bars or room service or daily housekeeping, and you have no idea if the host is secretly keeping tabs on you somehow. It's just so much more work to stay at an Airbnb than a hotel, with none of the cost benefits as a trade off.
The other week we stayed at a Hilton and I checked in and out without speaking to a soul (via the app). It's a no brainer at this point.
And the non kitten fellows! We wanted a third cat after adopting two kittens years ago. We were so over the erratic nature combined with the roll the dice luck of whether they were floor pissers, plant eaters, etc, so we decided to look for adult cats. The only one the shelter had was this mongy manky stray who was estimated to be 5 years old. When we went in the adoption room with her, she looked at us and did a massive wet shit that made us all evacuate the room. Her adoption photos make her look mangy, aloof, old, dirty, and distant, not to mention smelly.
Later, when the poo particles had settled, we went back in and picked her up. She sank into my arms and I just knew... I cried and couldn't bear to let her go.
Four years on, her shaggy fur has became soft, her distant eyes started slow blinking and showing emotion, her little frame filled out and she became an absolute hellhound for dinner time. When you walk in the door, no matter who you are (literally, you could be a burglar), she will run up to you and do this silent meow asking to be picked up. When you hold her, she purrs so much her body shakes and she drools until her face is dripping. She will climb into bed and play little spoon at night, and she loves laps all times of the day.
We've had her 4 years and she no longer does wet shits, but is the same loving cat that melted when someone held her and showed her love. She converted me to older cats.
Funny story, usually when you go to delete a Kindle book it's asks like "are u sure?" But for this book it was like my kindle couldn't free itself quick enough. No warning, just like "oh thank god, I've been waiting for this"
I've been keeping my mind busy, learning actionable skills and survival stuff. I am learning foraging, growing food, I've made a real decision to not reserve my happiness for retirement, as that day isn't guaranteed but today is. I convert the worry into little reminders about how today is the most important time to do the thing. I live immediacy and radical self reliance. I recycle, upcycle, reuse, buy second hand, adopt, occasionally dumpster dive, and reduce my negative impact on the planet. I donate to charities that help people in crisis, so more people can enjoy today while they have it. Also, instead of anxious, I get high.
After working overseas, I went travelling. I tried to book in at a popular hostel but it was booked up, and the second best one only had co-ed dorms. Booked into one of those and the dude in the room greeted me with "THIS ROOM IS FULL, MY FRIENDS ARE IN THOSE BUNKS, SORRY". I went back to the desk to check and they told me two people left that morning. I went back and told him "your friends left you, I'm your friend now". Later I bought beers and offered him one. We played cards. We eventually kissed a bit. I went home to the UK.
6 months later I saw a ridiculously cheap flight and booked it. Told him, and wasn't sure he'd come meet me at the airport, but he was waiting at the bottom of the escalator. We spent two weeks together and it was magical. I flew home again and decided to return in the summer. For the next two years I flew back and forth until eventually we moved in. Six years later we married in the park where we took our first walk together. We posed for photos in the dorm where we met. This year we got tattoos, both with a little symbol to represent the room number.
I'd travel the world 600 times over to find him if I had to. At our wedding I talked about how saying yes to opportunities led me to him, and I still believe strongly in the power of yes. I love him so much.
Woah. Yeah this is fascinating shit. I kinda like the husbands style tbh, I'd defo ask for my hubs skull back to display if it was an option (which it definitely isn't, as he's alive).
On the flip side, the ukulele community is so open and friendly, helped me stick with a hobby I sucked at to begin with, and now I've released actual music!