Daniel Tafoya

Abdelkader Grooters

@tinylion730517 · Jan 12, 2026 11:37 am

We are disgustingly free

It’s not a metaphor.
We are not bound to anything.
Not to relationships.
Not to society.
You don’t even owe anything to your own life.
Nothing external to your core can truly touch you.
If you’re an atheist, not even death.
There are no consequences.
No punishment.
That makes you even freer,
because not even the fear of physical consequences
is attached to you.
That makes us almost free.
But what about someone with enough individual power?
Someone who can move within society,
among people,
using the system to move through the world
without belonging to it.
That person is absolutely free here.
Because their core is already theirs.
They depend on nothing,
because they owe nothing.
And what are they going to do with that?
They are alone.
Sometimes isolated.
If their core is real, it can even be liberating.
But there’s a problem:
they won’t have a purpose.
They will simply keep existing.
And that is torture
for someone who searches for meaning
in a world that doesn’t have it.
They can create a purpose.
As long as it’s real.
As long as it doesn’t cage them.
I’m not talking about getting a job.
Or becoming a millionaire.
I’m talking about a purpose that,
even if it has a material side,
h

Meinhard Zell

@tinysnake864956 · Jan 12, 2026 9:02 am

I think my brother and I experienced abuse.

When I was a little girl, I thought I had the best dad in the whole world. He was gentle, kind, he took me to the park on his free time and would push me on the swings, he used to sing songs to me and let me play games with him.
I feel horrible writing this because my dad is praised for being a good man who raised a “well rounded family”. My brother and I are considered “good kids” and my mom is a “good wife” and my dad is an “honest, good man”.
In public, I really liked my dad’s personality. He is charismatic, goofy, and has an infectious smile.
Even in private, I liked him on his good days.
He was really good. Until he was stressed or upset. Then suddenly… he was a little scary.
I first noticed this pattern when I was 5 years old. My brother, a smart mouthed 15 year old was failing multiple classes. I watched as my parents lectured him, standing next to his bed, my brother (I’ll call him Oliver for privacy reasons) talked back… and suddenly the screaming escalated and I watched as my dad raised his hand and smack him. My brother fell onto his bed. Dad almost hit him again… and my mom stopped everybody and calmed the situation down.
The hitting occurred occasionally after that. My

Edgar Hestnes

@yellowsnake109271 · Jan 11, 2026 8:09 pm

I just need to vent

I share a wall between offices with a new senior ops manager that is “revolutionizing” our manufacturing processes with technology.
**Excel.**
***He’s trying to make an ERP out of Excel.***
I suggested from the start that no matter how sure he is he can do it, that he is building himself into a World of Hurt™ and his vision ***may*** be possible if he’s the only one to use it ever. I offered him other methods, SQL database, Dataverse, even Access.
Nope.
> “Excel was build for this.”
It’s now 3+ months into this abomination, and they’re trying to implement it and it’s failing in all the ways I said it would. Dates entered “wrong.” Painful performance. Never ending spinners. Collaborative usage conflicts that can’t be auto fixed. On and on.
He’s scrambling. Getting defensive. Blaming lack of “real” database, etc.
I’m just collecting emails, chat logs, and even surveillance video of a convo caught in the hallway between us, about this very thing.
Fuck off, bus. I ain’t getting thrown under you by anyone.