FWIW, in nursing school in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital (class of ‘81), we were taught emphatically and stringently that the open end of the pillowcase was to at all times to be placed away from/opposite to the door opening into the room, regardless of what cardinal direction that was.it was hammered into us that this was to somehow mysteriously, magically and inexplicably decrease infectious agents entering the room via drafts of air through the open door from landing on the pillow inside the case. Pillow cases were laundered and disinfected at a minimum daily, pillows themselves much less often.
I can remember thinking at the time that that was contrived and arcane to the point of silliness but I always complied because to not orient pillowcase openings opposite the room door would cause the student nurse to lose clinical practicum points if our clinical supervisors noticed it.
SMH that this nonsense has occupied synapses in my beleaguered brain for 44 years.
Yeah, my infectious disease& pillowcase practices are limited to washing all the linens as soon as i start to feel better after being sick.
We have square pillows with button closings. The opening goes towards the head of the bed.
In my nursing school training (class of '83), we were not directed as to how to orient the pillowcase.
FWIW, I failed the bedmaking “lab” and had to re-do the bed for the instructor.
mmm
I don’t care which way the cases open, but do prefer all pillow cases on the bed to be oriented in the same direction. I cut the tags off the pillows.
That would have made my mother very unhappy!
– I didn’t imagine either the fortuneteller or the psychic clearly enough to have an idea of their genders. I think I was mostly focused on wondering what the poll was going to be.
If you do that, you must eat them - why else would it state, “Tag may only be removed by consumer”
What’s your point?
The bear is a polar bear.
Mae, Adam, or Kanye?
Adam, of course.
No doubt there are some celebrities that use regular dating apps. Jason Kelce may not have been a celebrity yet but he was a well known celebrity when he met his wife on Tinder. However there is an app for celebrities where they get verified. I don’t know how much it costs. You will probably never hear someone saying they started dating after meeting on Raya.
After the 1st I’m getting back on the wagon with food and exercise. It’s not a resolution it’s an ongoing process. It’s just nearly an impossible thing to do around the holidays. Not only are there the usual holiday dinners, most of the important birthdays in my life are stacked up around now so that means a lot more special dinners. Seems like I’m barely past one before I’m on to the next one. Heading off to a birthday party now.
My feelings for the new year echo the majority, worried, doubtful, sad and even to a degree apathetic. There’s also a (worrying to me) increased incidence of nihilism - this is the world a small majority of the voting public wants and far too many can’t be bothered to care enough about to vote.
So there’s this internal undercurrent that feels “fuck it, we deserve to be subjugated, destroyed, and left in the dustbin of history” as the world spirals into a series of autocratic (democratic trappings or not) saptraps that lack the combined will to save ourselves from economic and near-certain environmental collapse.
Thankfully, my concerns for all who aren’t part of the problem (people below voting age, people who aren’t allowed to vote, cute pets, and the rest of world who just want a chance to live a better life) keeps that streak of nihilism at bay. For now.
I am predominantly worried about 2025. Not just the guaranteed calamity that is the incoming Trump administration, but also that my girlfriend and I are likely headed towards breakup, my parents are becoming increasingly MAGA-unhinged and I worry they may blow their retirement savings on some QAnon-ish scam, and there is still a lot of job insecurity in my career.
Mixed emotions as I head into 2025.
Honestly, right now my life is better than it has ever been. And by nature I’m a pretty laid-back guy, so I am indeed relatively happy and cheerful.
That said, I definitely am also worried about the shitshow that will surely be the next four years, determined to counter its effects in whatever small ways I am able, and hopeful that things won’t be as terrible as I fear and that we’ll all get through it OK.
As for resolutions, I voted “something else” because I tend to use the turning of the calendar as a reminder to take stock in myself, tweak my habits as necessary, and generally try to improve as a human being. But I don’t call this a “resolution,” as I haven’t actually set any specific goals for myself.
My goals for 2025 are fairly simple. I am going to finish my end of life preparations. I have all the legal work done but need to do some more organization/tossing/etc. Plus get my burial arrangements completed.
I started all this last year but …life got in the way 
As for my feelings about 2025? I could write a dissertation but I am going to go with some snarky poetry.
Do we get to see the snarky poetry?
I guarantee it.
I’ll be working on it.