Jackie's Fridge

Yup. Friend of mine finally cut loose her deadweight husband after 2 kids. She started dating an amazing woman and I’ve never seen her more happy. Luckily she also got custody, and her kids are awesome human beings.

This is the way

Try everything you find remotely interesting - you never know what will click.

Draw stick figure comics. Stories, jokes, whatever you like.

Create music (if you have an iPad or MacBook, Garage Band is free and excellent). There are lots of YouTube videos you can learn from.

Learn how to solder and repair electronics and appliances. It’s a great skill to have and you can save money if you know how things work and can do even minor repairs.

Sewing! You can find vintage Singer sewing machines on Facebook Marketplace cheap or free (seriously, just because they’re old doesn’t mean they’re worth $100). Read up on what to look for and how to maintain these machines (if they move, they can be repaired). Use this skill to make stuff or just to alter or repair the stuff you have.

Volunteer at an animal shelter! (Assuming you are okay with animals.)

Take up cooking or baking and try new recipes. Your parents might get into that.

As for gamedev, that’s something I don’t do, but again, there are all sorts of resources online you can use to hone your skills, get new ideas, and realise your vision. Working on your own projects might be more fulfilling than working for a game company, just with how devs are treated in the industry.

Fireworks are a tough one. Ear plugs or some aggressive noise cancelling headphones are about it, because people loooove their boom pops. I had to go to an NFL game recently and my AirPod Pros were a lifesaver.

For entertaining, I’ve just started asserting myself (excrutiating, but the brief social embarrassment is worth the longer stress of dealing with the circus). It’s honestly easier these days because a) I’m older and starting to realise most people I hang out with will take it in stride and b) I am lucky to have extremely low pressure family and friends. So this might not work for you but I hope it might.

If you can’t be 100% honest, tell people you get stressed easily - they usually understand that. Or if they’re selfish, that you have a migraine (which I would get from the anxiety of an upcoming event, so not necessarily a lie for me). Migraines have a similar look & feel and if you prime them to accept that you have one, they are more likely to roll with it if you need to disappear and decompress for a while.

I also like the other poster’s suggestion of helping prepare food or clean up. It gives you something to focus on and takes you out of the main event. People will appreciate not having to do the work themselves so they can enjoy the party. It’s a win-win.

Finally, if you need a shield, offer to take photos. It’s not glamorous, but personally I am far more comfortable staying to the sidelines and hiding behind the camera. Just remember to follow through and upload the best photos to a cloud drive to share with everyone.

Okay it’s obvious I need to re-watch it. Thanks for putting this one back on my radar!

Good luck - you’ll do great!

I don’t have anything more helpful than what others have posted, but I wanted to add that you cannot control the actions of other drivers, but you can watch them and plan for their actions.

I ride a motorcycle, so I assume other drivers are always trying to kill me (that is an extreme way of putting it, but not inaccurate). Under this assumption, I am constantly scanning the road conditions, signs, traffic flow, and importantly, other vehicles’ behaviour. It sounds like a lot to take in, but with practise it is not so bad.

Start small - sit behind the wheel in a car park to get used to how things look from that position. I love the suggestion to place paper bags as obstacles when you start moving to improve your perception of space around the car. Typically, people will eventually “extend” their sense of their own body to include the car itself, but that is easier for some people and harder for others.

Getting back to my original point: when you drive, you are almost driving the cars around you as well, since you should monitor and predict potential issues caused by other drivers. Like “feeling” the car around you, this is also something that comes with practise.

Most of the time, I leave ample distance between me and other cars and drive a comfortable speed. If someone doesn’t like my pace, they can pass me. Their urgency is not my concern. I watch how cars ahead of me drift and move along the road, how their front wheels are angled at intersections (to predict where they plan to go) and how they navigate around other drivers.

After a while, based on other cars’ “body language” it will get easier to predict their actions and leave yourself plenty of time to react, or even take a different route to avoid issues.

Finally, a positive note. Most drivers do not want to damage their expensive car. Around 90% of problem drivers are simply distracted, which is usually something you can predict by their movement, or by any change in traffic flow that might surprise someone not paying attention (curves, road hazards, roundabouts and intersections, highway exits and onramps, etc.).

Driving is something you can do, and it is a lot of small, quick observations that become part of your technique the more you drive. Start small and practise at your own pace with someone who is supportive.

If you were comfortable with it, you might be prone to distraction while driving, so use your discomfort as a weapon! It will keep you vigilant and likely be your biggest strength on the road.

Yup. The one thing I tell Linux-curious friends is that you will install the distro of your choice, spend a week and a half on random forums digging up random commands to get everything working properly, and then you should be good.

Is Chicago pizza not just lasagna with crust?

Had to scroll too far to find The Orphanage. Seriously in my top 5 of all time

Literally no speaking. Solid choice.

City of Lost Children is amazing

Yup. I have way too many headphones because I wanted to hear the different sound signatures. 90% of the time I’m either listening to my AirPods Pro or Grado SR325s. The other 10% is Koss PortaPro. Why do I have so many headphones?

This is a solid list with descriptions so you can figure out if the theme and game play is appealing to you: https://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/single-player-board-games/

Wingspan is on the list, and while it’s pricy, it’s a lovely engine-building game that can get very involving. A couple of my friends were obsessed with this one for a few years.

I’d also add Sagrada, another pretty game where you work within set parameters to match dice colours & pips to “build” stained glass windows. It can be challenging and requires strategy and a little luck, but again, very involving and satisfying.

There’s also a single-person dungeon crawler from an indie developer that you can take anywhere: https://gladdendesign.com/products/paper-apps-dungeon

And if you don’t mind screen time, there are a surprising number of board games on Steam, with online play options so you can play with others.

I really enjoy tinkering with stuff and repairing it if I can. Doesn’t matter what. It’s satisfying keeping stuff out of the landfill.

Probably not ‘barrels’ of fun, but at least a couple of buckets’ worth.

I try to create - drawing, making music, sewing, repairing appliances, learning how to do new things. Single-player games (video or board) are a nice way to unwind and distract your mind while still keeping it challenged. I am lucky enough to have a couple chill days who like to snuggle, and that snuggling helps way more than I ever thought.

Literally ask someone which switch it is. Then ask them what idiot wired them up that way

First thought: now I want grilled cheese and tomato soup Second and all-consuming thought: holy carp that is my exact stove

If you have an M8 you don’t need the Polyends. Simplify, simplify

Absolutely! I’ve had luck with the iFixIt step by step tutorials, but for this specific TV there was a YouTube video where the person walks you through troubleshooting and teardown. I kinda lucked out finding that!

I highly recommend learning how to solder as well as the basic techniques of using a voltmeter to test power and continuity. There are YouTube videos for these and other skills that help demystify troubleshooting and repair.

It also helps to have the mindset of “It’s already broken, so what’s the harm in trying to fix it?”