Sounds like you’ve got some stuff figured out and you should be proud of that! It sucks when friends drift apart, maybe you could initiate some hangouts if you haven’t tried that already. Not just ‘we should hang out some time’ but something like ‘hey want to to get together this weekend and see a movie’.

As for feeling lost and bored, I can relate. I still don’t really know how to handle that, I try to lose myself in a hobby, or deep dive into something that interests me. Doesn’t make it stop but it helps forget about it for a while.

Stay real friend <3

Most bots out there aren’t backed by chat gpt. We had a flood of Russian boys using a sign up for on a site to send spam emails by putting the spam in the names and address fields. Slapping the most basic of captchas on the page solved it.

That’s sounds rad! You should post some pics on here if you do end up doing it! Totally understandable if you didn’t want the trouble tho!

The picture is of the ‘finished’ pin, I’d still like to refine the process a bit.

The general process I follow is:

• print the pin
• use a casting sand like petrobond and fill a metal container
• talcum power the printed pin
• press the pin into the casting sand to make the void for casting
• heat up the bismuth until it is liquid
• heat up the actual pin (looks like a thumbtack)
• pour the molten bismuth into the void, and quickly put the actual pin piece in the molten bismuth, if it’s not hot enough the bismuth will cool and the pin won’t sink in
• wait for it to cool (about a minute) then pull the pin out with some pliers (it’s still hot so you don’t want to touch it at that point)
• take a dremel to any flashing that occurred
• paint as required (I’m just using nail polish right now since it’s pretty durable)

Hopefully that helps! If you have any other questions I’d be happy to answer them :)

I’ve been using bismuth because of the low melting point (no need for a furnace) . I just picked up some used kitchenware so I could melt it on the stove top.

Pewter apparently has a pretty low melting point too, so that could be an option as well.

That looks awesome, way to go! I just want to squish them, they look so soft!

I’ve been designing and printing ‘enameled’ pins on my 3d printer for a bit and recently picked up the stuff to actually cast them out of metal. So far I’ve casted one, and it actually turned out, so I’ll probably be making some more this week!

Thanks for taking us along on that nostalgia ride, you did an amazing job of painting the picture of the setting to the point I was feeling a lot of the same emotions you described.

Thanks for sharing :)

One day I’ll learn flex and be able to make nice responsive displays, but until then Bootstrap it is.

Stories like these are why I love the internet. Just a wholesome little memory, made me smile thanks for sharing :)

Hell ya!

That’s actually so sweet and wholesome. More kids should hear that one.

I’m no strategist but what’s to stop Putin from agreeing, taking some time to regroup, and then just doing it again? Ukraine would be out whatever was agreed to but still in the same position.

That’s the neat part, all of them!

Alright what games should I be getting this time?

That color looks absolutely amazing on you!

Absolutely gorgeous!

Hey, thanks for taking the time to double check and come back even though you realized you got it wrong. Lots of people wouldn’t have done that so props :)

There are a couple benefits to a credit card as long as you are paying them off and not using them when you don’t actually have the money to pay them off.

• It can improve your credit score which is important if you ever plan on buying a house, so you can get a loan.

-There usually aren’t any fees for using the card like most debit cards have (at least where I live).

• many credit cards offer a reward system which you can use to get free stuff, or sometimes just cash back. I have a dividends and get a percentage back on every purchase up to a maximum.

So as long as you pay them off monthly, using a CC instead of debit can actually save you money and be a good thing. It’s when you can’t pay them off, and instead just meet the minimum payments that they become a problem since they have crazy interest rates.