So, that’s what makes all of his complaints even crazier! I’ve heard multiple stories about cats that wouldn’t even use a box after it’s been used once, or at least very high standards for cleanliness!

For mine, I have multiple different boxes for them, but they each have their own preferences. I have tried waiting until the box that my oldest prefers is so gross that he’s no longer using it, a d has moved to a different box, but even then, he gets crazy mad at me for touching it. I’ve tried sprinkling some used litter in the new box for him, so that it still smells like him, and he still gets very angry!

One of the boxes that he gets angry about me cleaning is automatic, but it’s a "PetSafe ScoopFree Crystal Classic", not a Litter Robot, so it only scoops solid waste to one side. The Litter Robots were too tall for the space I had previously, and as long as my current box works, I just can’t justify something a few hundred bucks on adding another box.

I foster, so I get to see a wide variety of illnesses and learn about their early symptoms, many of which are diarrhea or other abnormal poops. My foster fail had an intussusception, likely caused by irritable bowel disease/syndrome (IBD/IBS). As much as I would absolutely love to spend waaaaay less time thinking about/looking at poop, I just don’t see any practical way around it without putting the health of my cats at risk.

One of mine legitimately gets angry when I scoop his poop, and even more upset when I do a full litter change. I have to wait until he’s napping so that I can get at least part way through the process before he comes to yell at me. If I’m not fast enough, he’ll even nip at my feet and/or (soft paw) swat at me.

This is more targeted to other people than you, but was the post right next to the couch? One of the smaller details that people often overlook is that scratching leaves their scent behind and says “I live here”, so they will often want to scratch in socially significant parts of the house. So, if the only acceptable scratching surfaces are hidden away from the rooms you actually hang out in, they’re probably going to find something else to scratch on.

Unfortunately, the same logic is sometimes behind litter box issues too.

Awesome! A friend of mine recently found a whole litter of abandoned kittens, so I was trying to help them find some low cost options, and everything around here was booked months out too.

What an adorable little standard issue cat! Looks a lot like my princess.

Please be sure to get her spayed ASAP, if she’s not already. They can go into their first heat as early as 4 months old, and will become desperate to get outside!

Garmin. You’ll probably spend a bit more on the hardware, but there’s nothing locked behind a subscription. I had the Fitbit Sense and switched to the Garmin Forerunner 265. If the skin temperature sensor is important to you, you’ll want a different model, but that’s the only thing I’ve noticed as missing so far.

I’m not sure about compatibility with HA (saw this via /all), but I bought the Whynter ARC-14S and a Broadlink IR universal remote + sensor cable so that I could set up some automations and/or control the AC via my phone. I think any AC with an IR remote should work in that setup.

If you’re in an area that gets lots of poor air quality days while you’ll be running it (my area usually gets a few weeks of terrible air in August & September due to wildfires), a dual hose AC is definitely worthwhile.

So I totally agree that tipping is getting out of control, but when I worked as a server, I was required to tip out my bartender 10% of my alcohol sales. So for your $45 worth of wine, I had to give the bartender $4.50. I also had to tip out the busser a portion of my total sales, but I forget what that number was.

Nowadays, I just avoid businesses that rely on tipping as much as possible.

While I do share similar feelings, selectively bred cats and dogs do also wind up in shelters and rescues too.

If only I could remember to put my tasks in them. And then, if only I didn’t also end up ignoring the reminders because there’s just too many reminders.

And if they say, “I don’t know, I haven’t heard it”, then what?

TFW !greentext@sh.itjust.works is more uplifting/wholesome than !comicstrips@lemmy.world! Hahaha

https://sh.itjust.works/post/21432200

I absolutely agree, but it was already posted there 6 days ago: https://reddthat.com/post/20943545

I could be completely wrong, but my life experience so far suggests that the best way to get better at something is to put yourself into situations where you have to actually practice the skill. I’ve been fostering cats and kittens for a few years, and I think it has really pushed me to learn how to manage my emotions better.

I’ve used them in a few rentals. There’s a wide variety of options available that are just bulbs + an app, or bulbs & a hub + an app, so unless you have some unusual fixtures, they can be used anywhere.

In fact, my last apartment had an unusual fixture: an overhead fixture that had hardwired LEDs in it, rather than any sort of swappable bulb, so I found a cheap overhead fixture that fit standard E26 bulbs, and just swapped the fixtures for the duration of my stay, then switched them back when I moved out. As long as you can ensure the power to the fixture is off at the breaker, it should be a pretty simple swap.

• Smart lights throughout the house. Mine very gradually dim off in the evening, simulating sunset, which helps convince my body to crawl into bed. They also gradually dim on in the mornings, which helps ease me into being awake. When my routines are strong, I’m often up and out of bed before my alarm (and before sunrise).
• Exercise. I find that working out first thing in the morning works best for me, but my friend does better with evening workouts. Consistency is much more important than time of day, but maybe don’t expect to fall asleep immediately after working out.
• Sleep cycles. A typical sleep cycle is roughly 90 minutes, so aiming for a bedtime that gives you a multiple of 90 minutes total sleep time can make the waking up part easier. I used to use the Sleep ad Android app for my alarm because it could try to detect your sleep cycles and would wake you up early if it meant waking you up in the ideal sleep phase.
• Don’t sleep in. I know it’s a real tough one, but if you can force yourself to get up on a consistent schedule, you’re more likely to be actually tired on schedule also. This one is especially challenging to stick to if you want to get up early on weekdays, but stay up late on weekends. Naps may help here, but it can take some practice to find what works.
• Bed is for sleep (and sex) only. Don’t hang out in bed, and if you’re having a lot of trouble falling asleep, get out of bed for a while until you’re feeling more tired. This helps your brain form a stronger association where bed = sleep.
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol, marijuana, etc., before bed. While some of these may help you fall asleep, they often result in lower quality sleep and may make it more likely that you wake up.
• Limit fluid intake before bed so that you don’t wake up in the middle of the night to pee. *Routine. I think I kinda loosely touched on this in a few other points, but sticking to a consistent routine makes it so much easier to fall asleep and wake up.

Oh, and if your responsibilities and/or latitude have you regularly trying to sleep during daylight hours, definitely get a sleep mask and/or some good blackout curtains so you can block out the light. Ear plugs may also be helpful if noise is an issue.

Some of the Lemmy apps have keyword filters. I’m using Thunder, but I know some others have it too. No clue if there’s anything for desktop though.

Does it have any mechanisms to detect someone who might just install the app on an old phone that just lives in the glove box? Seems like a real easy way to get around the “don’t use your phone” aspect.

I’ve used Windows since I can remember… at least since Windows 95, then probably early 2000’s, added OSX into the mix. I currently use an old Mac Mini as my Plex machine, and the computer provided by my employer runs Windows.

My “journey” began around 2015 on an old Dell laptop that I set up to dual boot Windows and Linux. I tried 2 or 3 distros, one of which was probably Ubuntu, before settling on Mint. I remember having enough minor issues with Mint that I kept booting back to Windows, and eventually stopped booting to Mint at all.

Then one day, I have no clue what I was trying to do, but I was confident that I knew what I was doing, so I just went for it without pulling up the instructions. Welp, I ended up deleting my bootloader, or something like that, and now couldn’t boot to any OS. I tried using my parents’ Mac to create a bootable USB, but that wasn’t working. I wound up buying and returning a random open box laptop from Best Buy just so I could create a functional bootable USB. I also found help from a very kind internet stranger who walked me through the process to fix my bootloader. They happened to only use Arch btw, so that’s what we used to get my laptop fixed.

That whole drama really scared me away from fiddling with it for a while, then I just got busy and had no motivation. That laptop is collecting dust and still dual boots Windows (7?) and headless Arch. I’m thinking of fiddling around with Linux again, but most definitely need something more noobie friendly than Arch without a DE.