Llama

I once watched a movie called Wild Thyme Mountain starring Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan. The movie is set in rural Ireland and is about the two of them being perfect for each other and Emily Blunt's character being desperately in love with Jamie Dornan's character, but Jamie is rather...peculiar and not particularly interested in her or in women (or men). That's basically 95% of the movie. In the last 5% of the movie, Jamie admits that he is indeed in love with Emily but feels he can't be with her because he believes >!he is actually a bee.!<

No, I did not mistype that. The man literally believes that >!he is a honeybee. Turns out, Emily doesn't give a fuck about that, and they end up happily ever after.!<

Why this movie exists, I truly can't even begin to say. But I watched it ironically at the behest of a friend who needed someone else to experience this absolute travesty of a movie to share in the sheer what-the-fuckery of it. I can't even imagine how gobsmacked I would have been had I watched it not knowing it would be batshit crazy.

Suggestions for accurate gridding:

If you have access to a 3d printer, you can print these gridding rulers, which have made my life way easier since I discovered them.

If you don't have access to a 3d printer, you could cut a small scrap of aida in the same count as your working fabric and essentially create a ruler for yourself. You'd still have to manually count out and mark the ruler, but you'd only have to do it once. Then you can just transfer the lines to your working fabric each time you start a new project.

Note that there is some variance in sizing, stretchiness, and whatnot between fabrics though, even if they're all the same count. So you may still want to do a quick double check against the ruler before gridding the entire fabric.

My work keeps putting on social events that involve a boat. Boat to this island or that island or just sail around on a boat for the afternoon. Everyone else seems to think it's fun, but I really would rather not be stranded for hours of forced bonding with my coworkers because we have to wait for the damn boat to take us back.

I agree with all of this except your example about choosing not to leave an abusive relationship. The most dangerous time for an abuse victim is when they try to leave their abuser. Often, there is a very real threat of death hanging over them. It's an over-simplification at best and straight up victim-blaming at worst to say that a victim's inaction is the reason they continue to be abused.

Many people don't find meaning and fulfillment through their jobs, and that's okay. No one is saying go out and find a job you hate just to pay the bills, but the advice of finding something you love so much that you'll feel like you've never worked a day in your life is inapplicable to most people. If you happen to be one of the few people in the world who love what you do, great. But the reality is that the vast majority of people do not make a career out of their passion, and that's just fine.

To OP, find a job you don't mind, one that gives you the right balance of money, time, and fulfillment in your life. Even if that fulfillment comes from things outside of work like hobbies, friends, family, or something else. And remember that the choices you make now are not set in stone. You can always change your mind later if you find you're not happy.