u/sct_0

I do like to get a little buzzed every once in a blue moon, but I mostly enjoy alcohol simply for the taste and burn. My mum's spouse had a whisky collection, I would have a glass every once in a while, and that's when I fell in love with the variety and dimension of flavours even just one type of liquor can offer.
I also love to take a sip and hold it in my mouth and really feel that sting creeping into my gums and throat, it's so satisfying.
I have since moved out and I just can't justify investing in a fancy liquor collection of my own yet, so I was mostly sipping away on cheap whisky and vodka for the last few years, but I've been getting bored with that.
Therefore I decided to try out cocktails for more variety instead, and it's been really fun!

However, a friend of mine informed me that unfortunately even just one cocktail per day is bad for one's health, and I am really not in the market for liver damage or an alcohol dependency.

What are some mocktail recommendations that (somewhat) capture the sharpness and burn of liquors? Preferably without being too bitter, I've tried a few cocktails that turned out to be mostly bitter and while I could still enjoy them, I would've liked them much more if they'd been less bitter.

Thankful for any suggestions!

Edit: I don't like beer or wine.

Last year I came across an autistic influencer reviewing a Needoh Niceberg, and it looked perfect for me because I have pretty strong hands and I love a hard, slow squish.
I have the hardest type of therapy putty and it's just hard enough for me to enjoy, but the squish gets softer as it warms up, so I can't enjoy it for more than 5 minutes.

I bought myself some cheap, smaller squishies of the same type to see if I generally enjoy them, and once I knew that I like them, I asked for the Niceberg as a Christmas present.
But the person I asked didn't get around to ordering it before they sold out and now websites are saying the Niceberg will be back in stock in August, which is already delayed bc a month ago it said July.

At the same time, I have been seeing more and more people posting about their Needoh toys breaking, which confused me because I thought the point of Needoh toys was that they are made with durability in mind.

I am worried that their production quality has gone down to meet demand, meaning that even if I can get a Niceberg in August, it would be more fragile than their original stock, and not be able to withstand the pressure of me squishing it.

On the other hand, it could also just be that I am seeing more about Needoh toys failing, because more people are buying and posting about the products.

So to the people who have bought Needoh products, especially the Niceberg, 1-2 years ago and then again recently, would you say the quality has gotten worse?

In English, things that have to do with women are often titled "girl-something", and women are often called girls.
And don't get me wrong, I absolutely believe that this is in part due to society's allergy when it comes to women aging, and also in part due to women regularly being infantilized.

But I also think there's another reason I have yet to see mentioned:
"Girl" is so much faster to say than "woman".

In my native language, the word for "girl" ("Mädchen") is longer than that for "woman"/"women" ("Frau"/"Frauen") and here. Sometimes "Mädchen" is shortened to "Mädels" and that word is often used in the same sense as "girl" for adult women, eg "girls' night" is "Mädelsabend".

However I do feel like the discrepancy between people using "Mädel" vs "Frau" in German is not nearly as big as the discrepancy between people using "girl" and "woman" in the US.

Then again, I do believe we don't do the "girl-something"-thing here nearly as much, and I also think "Mädel" is a tad more age neutral than "girl", but that could very well be my own bias.

So I wonder, could it be that part of the commonality of calling women "girls" is just because the word is faster to say?
And how much of it is culturally specific to the US vs other English speaking countries?
In general I would be curious for input from different cultures, languages:
Which word is longer in your language? That for "girl" or that for "woman"? And which one is more commonly used for adult women?

Been pondering this for a while now, would be thankful for some opinions/insights.

I experienced hypertension for the first time today. I didn't know what it was at first.
It felt like what I would guess ht would feel like, but when I googled, it said that hypertension doesn't cause symptoms unless it's severe/long term, so I wasn't sure what to make of that.

I ended up getting my pressure checked at the pharmacy a couple hours later and it was hypertension!
They sent me home saying I should lay down for 30min with my legs up and to go to the ER if it doesn't improve, so it wasn't even severe.
(I did that and feel much better now, no worries.)

What I don't understand though is why it so commonly says that hypertension doesn't cause symptoms, because I felt dreadful.
I can't imagine walking around like that with no concerns for longer than a day or two.

I originally wanted to ask this in r/fashion, but they only allow posts with pictures, so this sub seemed like the next best fit.

I buy almost all my clothing and fabrics second hand for frugality, comfort and environmental reasons, and try to avoid synthetic and mixed fabrics as much as possible.*

Unfortunately, it seems to be almost unavoidable to buy synthetics when it comes to lining fabrics. I have yet to find a piece of clothing that had a lining made entirely from natural fibers, and looking for second hand lining fabrics online, I also have yet to find any natural materials.

Since I also prefer natural fibers for their moisture and temperature management properties, I have been wondering how synthetic linings impact natural outer layers.
Say for example, a polyester lined wool skirt. How much breathability does the wool still offer with the polyester in between it and my skin?
Of course I can imagine that a natural outer is generally better than having a poly lining under a poly skirt.
But lets say the poly cancels out 80% of the benefits of the wool, then I should maybe consider replacing my skirt linings with fully natural fabrics.

I think one exception here might be viscose, which is synthetic and not great for the environment, but afaik still has better skin climatizing properties than most other synthetics?

*I know that even when buying second hand, there is still the issue of synthetic fabrics shedding microplastics, especially when washing, hence why I only buy lined garments that don't require frequent washing