Hahaha, definitely something that has crossed my mind more than a few times. I definitely see marriage as a business arrangement between good friends that hopefully includes a romantic/sexual component. Just not really sure how/where to go about interviewing for that role. Lol.

I’m just not thrilled about the idea of sharing a home with a dog, and cohabitation is something I’d like in a long term romantic relationship. I grew up with dogs, and lots of friends family have dogs, so it’s not an absolute, 100% deal breaker, but I hate when they jump on me, I don’t enjoy their “kisses”, and I’m easily irritated by many of the noises they make when I’m chilling quietly at home. I’m also easily irritated by noises that humans make when sharing close quarters, but it’s rare to really notice those on a first date.

I also live in a dense area with very few private yards, so anyone I’m dating likely has a similar living situation, making it so that dating a dog owner has more overlaps than I’d like compared with dating a single parent of a young child. If you want to take an overnight trip together somewhere, you either have to bring the dog/child along, or you have to find a sitter.

On top of that, I have young adult cats, so the possibility of eventually moving in together becomes much more complicated.

Yup, and even surgical sterilizations have failure rates.

An exercise routine has helped me a lot, exercising sporadically, not so much. I don’t really feel a sudden sense of relief from a single session, but I’ve noticed that when I’m working out regularly, I feel better overall. It’s not a sudden change, and not a “cure all”, but it helps me focus better during the day, sleep better at night, crave less junk food/alcohol, and just feel less sense of “everything sucks”. The routine also really helps me stick to other daily habits that I’m embarrassed to admit I struggle with, such as brushing my teeth.

I’m currently working to get back on my full routine, but in the past, I did weightlifting Mon-Fri, with intense cardio (running, stairs, etc.) MWF and chill cardio (walking) TTh. When I was really, really into it, that naturally led to being quite active on weekends too, such as 5k’s, long ass walks around town, and hiking.

My advice to anyone trying to start a routine is to start small and gradually build it up. So step 1 for getting back to my full routine right now is a short daily walk. Once the short walks become a natural part of my daily rhythm, I might make the walks a little longer, add in a little running, and/or add in some light strength training moves, all depending on my overall goals and what feels within reach.

The one that really drives me nuts is when the faucet is too short/too far back meaning that your knuckles are constantly hitting the rear edge of the sink in order to get your palms under the stream. This is especially annoying when it’s in an otherwise large sink!

In the short term maybe, but there’s definitely some areas where things become more affordable when you have two incomes contributing. Housing is a big one, and apparently also taxes.

Recent article about that: https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/24055481/single-benefits-married-couple-taxes-money

Oh man, I’ve really slowed down my dating, so it’s hard to remember many of them. I know some of these are actually reasonable, but others are just me looking for faults/expecting perfection:

• Is a night owl
• Works in a field that requires odd hours
• Isn’t 100% against having kids (most recent one said they didn’t mind either way, which makes me worried they’ll eventually realize they want kids)
• Has children, even if they’re already adults
• Laughs weird
• Previously married (most recent one lost their previous partner to cancer a few years ago)
• Not regularly physically active
• Has dietary restrictions/allergies
• Doesn’t drink alcohol ever
• Obvious political differences
• Doesn’t like cats and/or my cats are scared of them
• Has a dog, especially if it’s small and/or if they take it everywhere
• Has “weird” pets, like snakes or spiders
• Has a messy home
• Still lives with their parents

Dating/romantic relationships. I usually manage to uncover multiple deal breakers on the first date, and I’m pretty sure that’s more of a “me” problem, than a problem with the type of people I date.