That does sound like bliss 😌

I went to the botanical garden a few times in spring this year when a lot of things were blossoming and just… sat there for a few hours, wandering to different areas every now and then, looking at all of the pretty plants and listening to the birds around. They have so many different rhododendrons there, I really love those.

I, too, would be impressed by a pretty rock. Who needs absurdly expensive rings when you could have pretty rock 😌

(Plus, I’d always take a nice rock in my hand over the sensory nightmare of a ring on my finger)

Currently, it’s… going. Not good, but I somehow manage. Some days are better, some are worse, but at least there are some brief moments of happiness every now and then.

I “came out” (I really don’t like that term, especially if I’m not even sure what “out” is on most days) to my family and a few friends over the past months, and while they’ve all been accepting, only one friend actually spent a good amount of time talking about it with me and genuinely felt supporting. When they messaged me a few days later and simply started the message with “Hey girl”, I was stupidly giggling to myself about that for the rest of the evening. But then my brain quickly goes back to ‘No, stop being happy about that!’ and I’m back to questioning my entire existence and worrying that everything might be a mistake.

Am I optimistic about it improving? I want to, but it feels like this world has drained me of every last bit of hope and optimism I might have once had. But hey, maybe I can at least feel like a miserable girl some day. I’m (very slowly) moving my way forward, I’m trying my best.

I may not be OP, but holy hell, that link you sent hit me hard, seeing myself in almost all of what they describe there. I didn’t have crying in bed at ten in the morning on my bingo card today, but here we are…

That last paragraph you wrote hit close to home as well. I wish my brain went that way, instead of me feeling absolutely miserable for the past… year or so? I don’t even remember at this point.

And yet, knowing myself, my brain will probably find a way to rationalise everything away in an hour. Or at least try its hardest to do so. It’s been feeling like I’m at war with my own brain for a good while now, I’m just so exhausted.

Does curling up on my bed and hugging my Blåhaj count?

Onto the “didn’t realise that was dysphoria” pile you go!

I guess when you keep passing imaginary money in a circle with your tech buddies in order to make line go up with no regulation and an enabling government the actual business doesn’t have to make sense anymore…

First point, fair. I’m not arguing that. I despise Microsoft as much as the next person here. I honestly don’t have strong feelings about Windows at its core, I’ve used it extensively, but I also always knew how to work around Microsofts bullshit, whatever. Doesn’t make the paractices any less predatory. Fair.

Second point, I in no way defended Microsoft and/or Windows. I only talked about Linux there. That’s quite some interpretation, equating that to defending an abuser in a toxic relationship.

And third point, yeah, “Windows is for people with no self-respect” totally sounds like psychology and business ethics. Just what is the point of such a statement? It is hardly the average users fault that Windows has the market share it has and that Microsoft has the power it has. Or that its shitty practices are allowed in the first place. Call it lazy or complacent or “no self-respect” or whatever you want that most users just accept it, unless there are alternatives that work for the majority, people are getting educated about them (and the problems with how things are otherwise) and the community actually helps with issues in good faith at large, I don’t expect things to change drastically. Which is what I was trying to get at, but I certainly could have explained that significantly better. And we desperately need regulatory changes to restrict and prevent such predatory behavior in the first place.

I’ll try to do the educating and helping part in my immediate surroundings, anyone I can get to try Linux (or other alternatives in other categories) is good in my book. Instead of telling my friends and family they have no self respect.

And before you read that into this, I am not talking about people who actively defend Microsofts shitty practices. I am talking about people who just use it because that’s what was on the device when they got it. And created an account during setup simply because it asked for it, without giving it a second thought (since that sadly has become commonplace, which, again, I am not defending). And I assume that is the vast majority.

It sounds a lot more like you are the one categorically not respecting people who use Windows, as opposed them having no self respect. Blanket statements like that help noone.

Maybe I’m stupid here, maybe I’m misreading your comment, whatever, tell me if I’m wrong. I currently don’t feel like putting more energy into this discussion, if you can call it that, but I’ll see.

And memes like this and statements like these just feel like some pointless superiority complex circlejerk which achieve nothing to actually promote Linux adoption (or rather hurt it).

I like Linux, I’ve been using Linux on all of my desktop systems for a few months now and on various servers for many years. It’s nice. A lot of things are great. But there are just as many hiccups to encounter. And the kind of superior, unhelpful attitude that a noticable part of the Linux communities show (whether that is just a vocal minority or actual major part is irrelevant to someone looking for help), especially towards new users who often have no idea about various Linux-isms, is really shitty.

Finally a sponsor I can get behind!

Ich hatte die Wartung nicht auf dem Schirm und hab schon Vietnam-Flashbacks von feddit.de bekommen

CoMaps is a fork of Organic Maps that emerged after some drama with Organic Maps, the details of which (or even topic) I don’t remember.

Comparing to OsmAnd, I suppose it’s a matter of a relatively clean and simple UI but more limited features, while OsmAnd (from what I’ve heard) does kind of everything but has a less intuitive and more cluttered UI. I can’t speak to that from first-hand experience but I’ve heard that quite often.

Can’t speak to any other alternatives, personally. I find CoMaps perfect for on-foot navigation, and that’s all I need since I hardly ever travel by car.

Damn that really is a cool rock

If you feel like it, tell me the first random astronomy thing that comes to your mind 👀

4kW CO2, Jesus xD. I don’t know if that is a lot, but sure sounds like it ^^

I’m happy I even got to work with some CO2 lasers around the 100W mark at a rapid prototyping workshop for a few years. I loved working with those, even if it was just on wood and acrylic (and they constantly needed recalibration and tuning).

Now I just sit at a computer all the time… I honestly miss that even just slightly more hands-on work ^^

I’ve seen the xTool MetalFab laser cutter/welder thingy pop up in some DIY and metalworking YouTube channels somewhat recently and it seems wild to me that you can reasonably just buy a machine like that for non-astronomical (for an individual) prices nowadays. I mean, it I assume it probably can’t compete with actual industrial machines but still, the fact that this is even feasible for a home workshop… I have absolutely no use for it but I really want one anyway, these things are so cool >_<