We used to be friends. I remember the good old days when you were happier and kinder, now you’ve changed clearly. But not for the better. You’ve become a completely different person. You seem spiteful, cynical, and just downright mean. What happened? Where did we lose connection? We were friends. You never used to be like this. Where did we lose each other. Did it just slip away? Did something happen in your life that caused you to behave the way you do? Is there something about you that maybe I should know about? How can I help you? I wish you would just tell me what’s bothering you so that we could put an end to all this. I’m tired of fighting and I don’t want to fight anymore. There’s no need. Just tell me what’s wrong and maybe I can try to help you, even if it’s slightest bit.

I want a relationship but it never ends up there. It just ends up being sex and not much else. I would like to have a relationship that's more then sex. Its like you bounce from one woman to another. Its always "We're just hanging out". So we're never dating but we have sex 2 or 3 times a week. I don't understand why I am not bf material. I am not a #$#$# boy.

I feel that customer service has gone downhill. They make you wait for so long and they rarely solve a problem.

Two options: Do I take Door 1 - job I have no honest interest in for a 40% pay cut or what I was making 20 years ago. Or Do I take Door 2 - status quo unemployment and build business with partner who is super eager to launch? It seems like a betrayal to myself to rewind my salary gains 2 decades back. Advocating for more. It’s 2024 with killer inflation after all. If I do #1 I’ll just end up quitting anyway rite?

I’ve spent less and less time with my friend. The last 4 years, she moves out of Vancouver for 4-12 months at a time living elsewhere. There’s no contact when she’s out of town and I get on with my life and get closer to other friends. Then a week before she comes back, she texts me “Hey I’m coming back!” But we have no glue and I’m not in any rush to see her. She’ll be here for a bit, and then it’s the same thing from her: “Leaving soon, we should catch up before I go!” She knows so little of my day to day. And if I text her, she’ll return a text 3WEEKS later. What does one do with a person like this?

I can only speak through my own experiences, however I’d like to offer some advice to those out there who have children with Autism. Don’t force your children to want friends. If they want friends, put them in a situation where they’ll be able to find some. Once they feel comfortable, then they’ll gradually learn the ropes on their own. If your kids don’t like something, there’s a good chance they never will, especially if you keep pushing it upon them. Leave them to find their own interests and they’ll be happier about themselves.

You spend the whole relationship you have with someone making sure that they always know how replaceable they are. You take extra pains to let them know that they’re not special, and you criticize them constantly. You refuse to make a commitment of any kind. So eventually they just give up and accept that it’s never going to be what they want and need, and they leave you. If you’re genuinely surprised by their decision, I think you need to wake the hell up.

I ran away from home when I was ten. I stayed away for a day and a half. My folks were plenty worried. I had unpleasant and frightening experiences which, in today's world, would have had very serious consequences, death being not an unlikely one of them. When I went home, because I could not imagine a way that staying away could work for me, at that time, my folks treated me well for a while, but then it was back to the way it was. The next time I ran away, years later, I had a better plan, and I never went home again.

I confess that I haven’t blocked their number because I’m waiting to see if they ever send me something real. So far it’s just a lot of casual nonsense stuff so there’s nothing for me to say. I know the chances are slim that they will finally get it, but I’d hate to block them only to find out later that they sent something I’d really want to hear.

I had a variation on my recurring dreams last night. I think of them as familiar places that have unexpectedly changed dreams. Often, the dreams are almost identical, sometimes, only the situation is similar. I am most often on my bicycle, but sometimes on foot, and very seldom by car. I start off riding in a safe area which I know well, and that I clearly recognize. Then, I make the same wrong turn, or a similar wrong turn, or the road has changed, and I end up in known area that I know to be dangerous, like very dangerous neighbourhoods in New York City, where I grew up. Sometimes, I am only at one of the confusing three-way intersections in a place like Victoria and always seem to pick the wrong way. Sometimes the wrong way leads me to a longer wronger way, although I had a feeling I was on the right road or direction. Last night, I went through what seemed to be an empty/vacant house and came across a young mother lying in bed with two boys so close in age that they might have been twins, but were not twins. She was not nursing them, but they were laying on her chest and she was holding them and the boys were sleeping. They all had black hair. The woman was not undressed, but was wearing a loosely fitted but not revealing white blouse. Then I thought I found the right way but there had been construction and I could not proceed and I was unsure whether it had actually been the right way. I never have any bicycle problems in the dream. It is always daytime, although sometimes close to the end of the day. I never find my way home. I don’t wake terrified, but unsettled.