Mine sits politely at the counter while we cook (no paws on the counter) waiting to taste anything we are cooking.

I don't think she knows she's a cat.

I've found stolen tomatoes and eggplant that look just like that peach. It's like they were playing with it.

Delivery had a lot to do with softening the approach.

Definitely not for all situations, but to be fair, no approach could be.

I had a friend in college that would just say, "So, what's your deal?"

I'm shocked at how well it worked. Open ended, so you only get what they're willing to talk about, but they'll still be ok talking.

Because Bob usually knows, and/or did it.

(I use Bob too)

I think it was Lewis Black who said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but the two party system in this country is a bowl of shit looking at itself in the mirror."

I vote for who earns my vote. I refuse the forced choice of two terrible options.

Similarly, have they offered something worthy of my time and consideration?

Yes, consider engaging.

No? Next.

I have a coworker that had to talk to a colleague about something that they perceived as "difficult". They worried about it for a month before finally scheduling it, and in the end, everything was fine. Our colleague took the "difficult" feedback very well, said they would make sure to work on it, encouraged further feedback, etc.

All this time, I encouraged them to just get it over with. When they finally did, I shared Seneca's quote that, "We suffer more in our imagination than in reality." They suffered for a month over something that was trivial in the end.

There's no such thing as quiet quitting. I prefer acting your wage.

Debian. Stable and works for what I need.

300 hours of sick leave? I think I feel a fever coming on.

I was just thinking that I've mowed the lawn shockingly few times so far this year, between the heat and lack of rain.

Usually June and July are twice a week or more to keep up. This year, there were weeks I didn't mow at all.

I know it's anecdata, but it's a meaningful metric to me...