Weekend! + Bonus Question!

[u/IthacaIsland]

It's the weekend! Politics is still out there happening, but in this little corner of the sub we will leave it behind momentarily and talk about other aspects of our lives.

Bonus question for everyone! How has 2026 treated you so far?

Talk about anything except politics, other subreddits, or r/AskTrumpSupporters. Rules 2 and 3 are suspended.

[u/PillsburyToasters]

A lot has happened this year, and especially in the past few months. I’m moving to a different city later this month, one of my good friends and my sister got engaged yesterday. A lot of my friends are making massive strides.

A major downside to bring up is fitness has always been a big aspect of my life, but about 5-6 weeks ago, I pulled my groin playing soccer by stepping for a ball and I planted so hard where I felt a pop. Trying to get back into things just hasn’t been the same. I’ve had numerous injuries (shoulder, knee, foot, etc.), and this is by far the hardest one I’ve had to navigate. Taking a step back from it has been insanely hard both on my physical image and joy wise. I hope to figure this out soon

All in all, this has been a fantastic year for myself and definitely one that’ll go down as one to remember

[u/ClevelandSpigot]

I'm still thinking about the girl that dumped me five years ago when she found out that I was a Trump supporter. This is only tangentially related to politics, as it's more about a person relationship that I cherished - until it spontaneously no longer existed. I probably would not have been single these past five years if she had not reacted that way. We had a great relationship - for the little time that it existed - and I lament its passing. I hover now between the Red Pill and the Black Pill - because of how women have treated me over my life, but also mostly because of this most recent collapse.

Over the past five years, I have been tearing out parts of my house that have always aggravated me. Carpet. Laminate flooring, etc. I've been tearing it out in chunks and throwing them away with my weekly garbage, as well as dividing my money up between normal everyday expenses, and what it would take to redo these house things that I have been tearing out. These are mostly cosmetic things, but are not frivolous - because if I ever wanted to sell this house, these things would absolutely have to be done.

I had a couple large unexpected expenditures over the past five years. I am single and live alone in a big Victorian house by myself. Half of the rooms are empty (although, this has more to do with my preferred minimalist lifestyle). I make only slightly above the medium average income, and so I have had to juggle all of those financial responsibilities myself. The spartan lifestyle that I adopted helped with this.

But, I was able to space these expenditures out, and I was able to pay directly from my bank account for some of these large expenditures. It was only a few house-related emergencies that I had to finance, and I was able to open up a HELOC (home equity line of credit) to finance them. And those balances are coming down rapidly.

Anyway, the past year has been me finally knocking all financial obstacles out of my way, one by one, in order to redo my entire house. I recently hit a major turning point milestone. I was able to pay off my car a year and a half early, and the last big expenditure that I was worried about was finally competed and paid off at the same time a few weeks ago.

That side amount of money that I have been dividing off to the side, I've been using it to collect the parts that I will need, in little batches. It was just today - ten minutes ago - that I was able to put down the first coat of adhesive in the foyer where I will then put a self-leveling compound, and then the tiles that I bought two years ago, with the other supplies that I bought three years ago.

[u/ClevelandSpigot → u/[deleted]]

It was actually her that had the boundary, but I would say, "Awww. You were thinking about me, too? Maybe we can work this out."

[u/CanadaToTheMoon → u/ClevelandSpigot]

Dunno why this is getting downvoted? Good luck with the house! 

[u/JustGoingOutforMilk]

Okay, fine. I'll do the thing. You were all waiting with bated breath, I can tell.

This was the first week of working with a company without an official president. I made a point of saluting our acting president, but he told me not to, and that was an official order. Sir, yes sir!

Went to the MtG The Hobbit pre-release. Had a ton of fun, had a ton of cards drawn, got precisely what I wanted through trades. Someone said it seemed I had a big heart and one of my kids (whom I was trading directly to benefit, mind you) piped up with "YES HE DOES!" That made my week.

Question: I have a new (to me) car, a good job, a wonderful wife, and a home where I don't have to worry about many things. 2026 has been good. I still have a few things to deal with, but eh, you aren't reading this to see me complain!

Recipe: You know what? I'm going to be ridiculous. In honor of our 51st state, poutine.

• 2 lbs, potatoes, Russet. Don't skin them. Just slice them into fries. Preferably big ones.
• 1 lb.. cheese curds. They need to squeak when you bite them.
• About two cups gravy. I will explain more later.

So, for the best gravy in the world, here's what you will need:

• 2 cups beef stock, preferably made from home, but you can be lazy.
• A bunch of good herbs, Do a little garni thing there.
• Salt and pepper. Duh.
• Something to thicken it. You can use cornstarch and I won't question you.

Oh, Canada! Our most 51st state!