At my work we jokingly dismiss each other, someone will stand up and say to someone else “hey, John, you can go home now” as though they are the boss, and then that person will say to someone else “hey, Jane, you can go home” and so on. Until we are all dismissed for the day.

I read books to read what’s inside them, not to save them forever as objects. So chaotic evil it is. Unless there is a receipt handy.

Garlic toast! Yes that’s usually on white bread here, I use a baguette to make it.

Just make it. I don’t buy bread and haven’t in years. It’s not saving me any money but flour, salt, and water are the only ingredients in most of my breads and they are as good as the fanciest bakery rustic sourdough. And easy as heck to make, sourdough is so forgiving.

Oh hell no. Nonstick pans have to be babied - plastic spatulas, gentle sponges, and they get worse with time. Cast iron you almost cannot destroy, and gets better and better with use. Scrub away with chainmail, scrape with a metal spatula, it doesn’t care. Too hot? Doesn’t care.

You have those prices reversed though. My cast iron collection, as noted further down, cost less in total than my one really good stainless steel pan, and guess where some of that cast iron was purchased? For $10 at Walmart, LOL. And at thrift stores and Target.

I use cast iron for most of my stovetop cooking, but I’m sure it’s because my cooking style evolved around them, they were so cheap and absolutely the best pans I could afford. They become nearly nonstick, can go from stove to oven to grill, even fire. So for something like $5-20 each I accumulated a set over time, and I love them. We do wash with soap, dry right away, it doesn’t kill the surface. Now I have some money for pans, we do have one gorgeous stainless All-Clad skillet I call the “stick skillet”, my kids like it. But in terms of PRICE to quality, cast iron is where it’s at. That one All-Clad pan cost almost as much as all my cast iron put together.

Reverse sear is great. When I cook steak only in the skillet, two of them (I have a family) one always overcooks and one undercooks and it’s fine because my penultimate daughter and I like rare, husband and youngest like them overcooked by my standards, somewhere around medium, medium well.

But if you want it perfect, reverse sear.

You are talking to us here, now. I know you do rock climbing and weight lifting. If you have friends, you talk to them too. It’s not different from that. You are doing it already. There’s not a formula.

What friends can do is tell their friends you are a great guy and introduce you to other people. That’s what networking is, the same way you network computers, you network human relationships, by connecting them.

I mean, you can’t just get fit and expect someone to come knocking on your door. If you are feeling good about your looks now, that’s an accomplishment you can be happy about, and should, but it doesn’t send out some secret signal that you are ready for a relationship. You have to talk to actual people. You can meet them out in the world or on an app, you can also tell any friends you have that you are looking to start dating, network. I think friends of friends and dating apps are the most usual ways of getting dates now. When I was young we just hung out in groups and some people always people ended up paired off, didn’t really date per se, but my kids don’t seem to do that as much.

So basically - now you are happy about your physical shape, you still have to reach out to people, that is the next step.

That is the way we had birthday parties too, and they are the best. Invite the whole family not just the kid. Nobody HAS to drink, and I didn’t because hosting, but it’s more hospitable to have adult beverages available. Often a “fancy drinks” area for the kids too, with colorful non alcoholic drinks and garnishes for them to create their own drinks.

So, so much better than a house full of kids all the same age. Kids running around in packs, adults chilling.

A large majority of us born female (female-bodied) also do not have that shape either. In fact even those models probably don’t have that shape.

Ha! Yes once we were working extra days for an audit - I try to work in the office only and leave my laptop there, had worked Monday though Saturday, long hours, took Sunday off, the boss of my boss yelled at my boss (who was a devout Christian) because I left my laptop at the office. He told me and I looked him straight in the eye and said “I don’t work on Sundays” and he absolutely backed me up.

But now that upper management have families, in general the flexibility does run in both directions. Most consider it a benefit to be able to work remotely, I’m sort of an outlier in that way (because the office is so close to my home, the space there is a benefit to me).

But yeah pretty close - people are working today until the power goes out.

Yes, “off with pay” is the appropriate work status. My work is actually pretty flexible with us, I just hate working from home now because I have to drag everything out and set it up somewhere, particularly bad for a storm because everything from outside is also stuffed in the house.

Here they close the office and say to work remotely from wherever you are. Which strikes me as worse. Like, if my power goes out or home floods I am not going to take my laptop and find a co-working space at a shelter. If it’s bad enough we shouldn’t drive it’s likely bad enough we shouldn’t work.

One of our coworkers was off this week to be married yesterday. I guess it will be a good story someday.

I hesitate to say this out loud, but mid-50s and nothing hurts yet, except the migraines I’ve gotten since teenage years.

Knees last if you take care of them. Back lasts if you take care of it and are lucky, and don’t get fat, and are lucky, and don’t work a physical job, and are lucky.

Stretch. Exercise. Don’t overeat.

Hello, world!

It did this for me until I hit 30, then it just made me up up up and not hungry, now past 50 it feels smooth and I can eat but can’t have it in the evening because it will keep me from getting sleepy!

Caffeine & Daily Exercise & a job that is flexible about how we do things. I have only worked at startups and places that change systems a lot, that seems to suit my nature better somehow.

But my favorite T-shirt says

Whiskey and Yoga