Yeah, it can be really tough. I think you deserve a lot of credit for not giving up - it often takes a strong person mentally. You should be proud @teacake 
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No truer words have ever been spoken.
For abuse of all kinds, to power through.
Related to this I’ve always said therapy is for the strong, not for the weak as therapy isn’t easy to do if one is doing it correctly, really putting in the work, being honest with themselves, not withholding info back from the therapist etc.
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As I work on the front yard landscaping that neighbors and people passing by see , I also have extensive work in the backyard . Pond maintenance , patio , all the furniture , grass mowing tree and brush trimming and general cleaning . A thought crossed my mind , My wife does NOT like company and she rarely goes outside . Our oldest grandson and his girlfriend just moved 3,000 miles away . So I feel like I am wasting my time and effort . However I enjoy sitting on the patio listening to the waterfalls and having an adult beverage .
I am a little late to the conversation about privacy with dumb phones and Alexa etc . I have been studying about the AI Data Farms . They have no product to pay for themselves . Just a few years ago everyone was going insane about everybody had to have an EV , even though there is not enough electricity to charge them if everybody had one . Also the carbon credit scam along with stop oil . Now quietly here in the US there are over 5,400 Data farms that burn through electricity beyond belief and use up billions of gallons of water . one “farm” is something like 42,000 acres . The carbon foot print is staggering along with depleting drinking water . Most use evaporative cooling systems and most of the water is put into the atmosphere , much polluted . That coupled with many states stealing water rights from multi generation family farms . The more you look , the scarier it gets . A couple of movies come to mind , 2001 a space odyssey and terminator series .
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Definitely, a lot of people are earning big money from carbon offsetting bullshit whilst the average person struggles to pay for it. It’s ruining our economies and the hypocrisy regarding A.I. data farms against saving the planet and the damage they’re doing is astounding. There’s a hell of a lot of people going to be put out of work by A.I. in the near future.
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When i get my mum’s shopping from Sainsbury’s there’s always an old biddy rifling through the bunches of bananas. She never buys a bunch, but selects a single banana from half a dozen bunches (presumably what she considers the best one’s)
I find this both amusing and annoying! I feel like saying “Oi someone else has to buy them after you’ve fondled them!”
You won’t be surprised to know I have dubbed her The Banana Fondler! 
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What’s with this seemingly common behaviour of people letting their kids dictate to them what to buy as regards food shopping?
On several recent visits to supermarkets I’ve heard comments such as “I don’t like that one” or “I’ll only eat that” coming from kids to their parents.
There’s even an ad on TV for some supermarket that I can’t remember the name of, with a child asking her dad as he unpacks the shopping if he got the very specific types of food she wanted! 
When I was a child my mum did the shopping, bought what was needed and the choice was eat it or go without.
It seems there are some parents who can’t make the simplest decisions without consulting or getting approval from their kids!
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Oh definitely! I realise a lot of kids are SEN and have a limited range of food they will eat. But a lot of kids nowadays don’t understand or are taught the word “no” and throw tantrums cos they aren’t being bought a packet of biscuits.
Another shopping bugbear, a certain new store i frequent has saw fit to have a load of child sized shopping trolleys, so at weekends and school holidays you have loads of 2ft tall, unsupervised (parents always seem to have their faces in their phones) crotch goblins running amok, with no sense of danger or direction. Fabulous! 
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So many
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Veterinary practices. I have a cat that is 18 years old and is a cat flue carrier. Every now and then she has a relapse and sometimes it gets bad enough that she needs antibiotics. I know from experience when to take her to the vets (the stage where she is producing copious amounts of yellow green snot). So I took her to the vets on Tuesday and the vet who looked about 12 refused her the antibiotics saying there was no justification to give them, but that if she is no better in a week to bring her back. This means I will have to pay yet another consultation fee. I believe that gets do this on purpose to get as much money from their clients as possible with no regard to the animals health of suffering and it makes me so mad.
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I’m with you on this one @Wood-Nymph We needed medication for our cat £35 from vet, could have got on line for £10 but needed prescription. They (vets) get you one way or another.
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They charge you for writing a prescription so you can buy medication online. Ours charge £16 each time. So he’s they get you every which way they can.
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We changed our vets recently after using them for about 30 years. They were taken over by another practice and the prices doubled.
My wife took our dog for his annual booster and I gave her £50 based on the usual cost. When she got back I asked if everything had gone ok (I was at work) and she said it cost £90!
We are now on the books of a local vet that is in walking distance.
Too many vets are now owned by companies not independent little practices.
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Yes they seem to.take your eyes out and come back.for the sockets
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Royal feckin Mail AGAIN! Had an email on Tuesday to say a package i ordered 3 weeks ago would be delivered on Wednesday between a certain time. That time came and went then I get an email saying sorry we were unable to deliver it today we’ll try and deliver it tomorrow ie-today Thursday. No message today to give me a delivery time frame. FFS if Evri and Amazon can deliver exactly when they say, why can’t Royal Mail? I really think their Royal warrant should be removed as their service is pitiful. They can’t even deliver a letter on time.
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This one concerns internet “Karen’s” …on a local Facebook group a young woman has posted about a local pub restaurant. She went with a family group and ordered food. One person’s food was served 20 minutes after everone else’s. So she complained as they were going somewhere after the meal. The establishment apologised, gave her the late food packed to take away (it was a baguette, so easy to eat on the hoof) , and reimbursed her for it. But she still felt it was OK to badmouth the business on social media. I can’t understand the mentality of younger people who HAVE to go running to social media over a simple mistake/oversite. We’re all human and make mistakes, and the business dealt with the mistake. I see this a lot lately and it annoys me! Also, it’s a busy pub/restaurant with everything made fresh, it’s NOT McDonalds!
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This reminds me of a similar event just recently on Facebook; often posts from groups I’m not part of come up because it’s local (ish) suggestion to me.
This story was because she lived on a main road, near a few shops and takeaway cafes; someone used her railing to lock up their bike safely.
Instead of waiting and being patient she took to said moan group. And put a threatening message saying the lock will be cut, and the bike will be left on the path.
The replies didn’t go the way she expected or wanted. After 20 minutes, she updated the post saying it had been removed.
For the sake of a few minutes, she decided moaning about it and giving out threats was more appropriate. She did end up deleting the post 
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Yeah i can’t believe how petty some people can be, especially sitting behind a keyboard! Another one that annoys me is people asking on social media when the local Asda or B&M opens, errr Google it you moron!
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Yes.i love the karens on our local facebook and the comments that fly … i sometimes like to wind them up too … but recently the Karens have calmed down
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Yeah i sometimes talk sense to them too, depending on how mischievous I feel!
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The problem with FB is that it’s chock a block full of people whinging about daft things like councils not cutting the grass verge outside their house or asking dopey questions that they could easily find the answer too if they tried! I do admit it can be quite entertaining watching an argument unfold with all the tit for tat posts! 
I mainly use FB to keep up to date on local issues.
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