My wife found an Emerald ring she really liked from more of a boutique style jewelry store owned by a young woman. It had the vibe of a brick-and-mortar Etsy store. We went to a few old school jewelers and hated the experience. It felt like we were being scammed by some slimy diamond dealer.

I semi-regularly dream that I'm playing a video game, but it usually is a more like a hybrid between controlling a video game character, and being the actual character.

It usually manifests itself as some alternate reality version of WoW (because I've played that more than any other game, I assume). Sometimes I even think to myself, "it's amazing that I've never seen this part of WoW before!"

You're being obtuse about the definition of "go to war". If they invade your country and you fight back you're still going to war.

This is slightly extreme. Go tell Europeans in the late 30s and early 40s that there's no justification for going to war against Germany. There are always exceptions.

Sports subs are the #1 reason I still occasionally check in on Reddit. I've removed every non-sports sub. Sports subs can also be sorta "reddity", but it's still my favorite place for news and discussion.

I have similar nightsweat problems, so I did something close to this once: https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Bed-with-Baking-Soda

If you Google "clean mattress with baking soda" you'll find a bunch of similar recipes. Lots suggest using essential oils, which I didn't use.

The results were decent when I did it. Definitely de-funkified the mattress a bit, and removed some of the stains. It was hardly like new, but it was definitely better than before.

It's an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody good.

I think happiness is a misunderstood concept. It's something that many people take for granted when they're young, but as they get older it seems to wane and comes with a lot more caveats. Your baseline used to be happy, but now your baseline is more neutral. You spend 80% of your time being neither happy nor sad. The idea of being happy all the time is sort of a farce, and I tend to assume people who claim to be are either lying or stupid.

Happiness is more about taking a step back from your life and viewing it all in one big picture. If you like what you see, then you can consider yourself happy, even if that doesn't mean you're smiling about it right this moment.

My wife and I gave up after two episodes. Neither of us have read the books or played the games. We just think the show sucks.

I really should give it a try. I liked almost everything else about S1.

I really liked The OA, but I thought the end of season 1 was the absolute worst, most cringe-inducing nonsense I've ever seen in my life. I'm not even being hyperbolic. It almost completely ruined what I thought was a great show before that. Haven't given season 2 a chance because of it.