she’s in my political party,

Hol’ up here, pardner. I dunno about you, but I can’t imagine trying to date outside of my political party. I can’t even imagine dating someone that’s religious or even “spiritual”.

I’ve already deleted as much of my FB history as I can (I’m getting error messages at this point), but I keep it active solely because Craigslist is effectively dead.

I’m not going to tell you how to live your life–I can barely live my own–but is there a specific reason that you aren’t interested, other than the fact that she’s more comfortable with the idea of sex than you are?

First: as someone with a strong evangelical Christian background, I can sympathize with discussions about sex–and specifically about your sex life–being deeply uncomfortable. Unfortunately, that’s something that you’re going to have to discuss with any potential romantic partner, and sooner rather than later. (Because let me tell you, significant differences in sex drive and desire will tank every and any relationship).

Second: Drinks are not necessarily a commitment to anything more. I would prefer coffee (or tea) as a first date since it’s even lower pressure, but many people prefer alcohol because it’s a social lubricant. Your call there. My suggestion would be to start by getting to know the person. I’m autistic (seriously), and IMO the most honest approach is to be direct, despite how hard it is when you want to please people. Yes, being a people pleaser means that you’re going to want to tell her what you think she wants to hear, rather than what you really feel, and that will bite you in the ass, repeatedly. And yeah, anxiety and things like rejection sensitive dysphoria are going to make that exceptionally hard.

Third: you said that she was a ride to a meeting; can you elaborate on what kind of meeting? I’m asking because if this is someone that you’re going to have to see in a professional setting, you do need to proceed very carefully. Workplace relationships–or relationship rejections–can be very fraught.

Last: I’m not as immediately opposed to age gaps in relationships as some people. I do generally think that the (n/2)+7 rule is a decent rule of thumb, but it’s not an absolute. The reason that rule generally exists, IMO, is that people in different generations have different cultural markers, things that were significant in the formation of their personality and worldview, and large differences there can make relationships more challenging. E.g., if you remember 11 September '01 and the political fallout, while she grew up fully immersed in the prevailing political climate, then it might be hard to see eye to eye on some things. There can also be imbalances of maturity and power that can result from larger age differences, e.g., you might be much more set both professionally and financially, which could make the relationship less equal. So it’s something to be aware of and careful about.

God no. Quite the opposite. SSRIs tend to seriously blunt sexual response. The most common effect is sharply delayed orgasms, but it can cause near total anorgasmia, and/or difficultly with sexual arousal at all. Sexual dysfunction and weight gain are the two most common side effects of SSRIs.

Thought that the discomfort in overhead presses and triceps dips was something I should push through. The result was that I tore both a rotator cuff muscle and the labrum ibn one of my shoulders. I’m still recovering from the surgery to put my shoulder back together. :|

If I thought I would actually make money? Sure. But most people that do OF aren’t really making more than pocket change.

I don’t think most people would be interested in paying for first-person shooting competition video–although maybe they would if I had the $8k or so for a VR camera so that it could be immersive–and most people don’t have a huge interest in rope tops. So, eh.

About 50/50. SCOTUS has already ruled that the 3rd section of the 14th amendment to the US constitution doesn’t mean what it plainly says, so there’s no real hope that they’d uphold the 22nd.

The only reason I place it that low is because he’s ripe for a fatal heart attack or stroke.

Then you have ADHD. (Probably.) Stimulants tend to make ppl with ADHD feel like they’re slowing down, because it allows them to pay attention to just one thing instead of everything all at once (depending in the exact flavor of ADHD, anyways).

Adderall is, uh, not a sedative.

What about using OneKey so that she mostly needs to worry about remembering a PIN? It looks like you can set it up to automatically open your password manager. Might also need to synch her browsers.

As an added bonus, she would have to hold on to the key without losing it, because if she lost it, she’s effectively locked out of accounts forever.

Hit up exrx.net and look for weight lifting exercises that target back muscles specifically. For lower back (erector spinae), thing like weighted hyperextensions are going to target it specifically. I would suggest doing about 12 weeks where you start you back workout with basic compound lifts–deadlifts, squats, bent over barbell rows–and progress to more isolating lifts like hyperextensions at the end of the workout. I would suggest doing that 12 weeks with just 1-2 sets of 12-15 reps for each exercise, with rests of 30-90 seconds between sets and exercises; that will get your body ready to progress to more sets at higher weight and reduced repetitions. And yes, you need to change you workout every 3-4 months or so; that’s a basic principle of periodization. Changing your workout will mean more or fewer sets, with lower or higher numbers of repetitions, and different weight. In general, you’ll do a few sets of high repetitions with lower weights, and more sets of low repetitions with higher weights.

Also, don’t forget to do abdominals; those are important stabilizing your back.

For cardio, rowing is going to be your go-to choice for a strong back.

I would strongly suggest getting a personal trainer for a few sessions specifically to work on your form for squats, deadlifts, etc. If you do that though, be very, very firm with them that the only thing you want is direction on form; PTs will have a strong tendency to try and sign you up for months or years of training that may or may not help with your specific goals. Look for trainers with ACSM or NSCA certifications only (most other certs are barely worth the paper they’re printed on), ans a BS in kinesiology or exercise science.

I’m officially in the 99th+ percentile, but IIRC your score gets less accurate the farther you deviate from the mean. And a high reasoning ability is absolutely no predictor of success in life.

Plus, I feel like a douchebag when I say shit like, “oh, my IQ is 140…” as if that’s some kind of achievement or worth something all on it’s own.

Neither was the SR-71. Both programs had a very limited mission, which is why neither was ever produced in quantity.

Call my parents and my very few friends and let them know, and make sure that they understood how much they’d meant to me. Then I’d spend the rest of my time with my partner, making sure that I’d tied up loose ends, gave them full access to all my accounts so that they didn’t get nasty surprises after my death, and then just talk to them.

Honestly, according to IQ tests, I’m already in the 95th+ percentile for intelligence. I’m also on the autism spectrum, and just got diagnosed with severe ADHD late last year. I’ve accomplished fuck-all by being smart, and it’s mostly made me depressed. I’d pick being slightly dumb, but hot.

That’s one of the major issues that I have with corporations; there’s very little interest in sustainable profitability, and a laser-like focus on growth for the sake of growth. And sometimes the product that a company makes isn’t even “sustainable” per se. That is, if you make certain durable goods, eventually you should be reaching a point where demand will slow to a trickle as the market becomes saturated, and that’s okay.

IDK; my partner has met ppl that have become very close friends at their workplace. I’ve become more and more isolated as I’ve worked as an adult, to the point where I have zero close friends.

I hope to fix that this year though; I’ll be trying to get my handgun and rifle instructor cert so I can work with the Pink Pistols and Operation Blazing Sword, and connect with my local SRA chapter. E.g., try to do something good in my community, and also meet people.

IMO, it might be a good idea to compare those prices against relative purchasing power of a dollar. I don’t know how those prices stack up to the overall rate of inflation or CPI, or even the cost of the specific ingredients. I would have less of an issue with price increases if a) McDonald’s profit margin–as a percentage of cost–remained steady, and b) the cost held steady against the relative value of the dollar overall. If it’s just arbitrarily raising prices because they can, then that’s bullshit.

I think that you’re thinking i2p torrent. It’s not necessarily encrypted, but it’s extremely difficult to trace.

(I’ve never managed to make i2p work for some reason. I assume I’m fucking up somewhere, but I don’t know where.)