egg_fried_rice

I've got a flowermate, and whilst I know it's 'better' for me, I don't enjoy it as much as a big ol' bifta. Like you say, it's probably the tobacco, of which I'm not a regular smoker.

Interesting to read all your thoughts. Seems to echo my experience, particularly the bits along the lines of 'if I've got it I'll smoke it'. I completely agree about the availability aspect, and was discussing similar with a friend just the other day. If I could pop down the shops at any point and pick it up like a bottle of wine, I know moderation would be easier.

Apologies if this is not the right thread for it, but has anyone on this forum been able to smoke cannabis on an occasional basis, akin to having a few beers or glasses of wines once or twice a week? I used to smoke weed to varying degrees, and it ended up a daily occurrence. I'm not sure if I'd class it as an addiction, but it was at the very least habitual. I'd always get my work and household jobs done, and it would be my 'reward' at the end of the evening. I quit cold turkey about a year ago.The reasons I stopped were mainly health, the fact I was allowing it to isolate me and restrict my personal development, and the possibility I was using it to avoid facing my anxieties, insecurities, and problems in life. Essentially, it made me lazy. However, I did almost always enjoy it. It's fun getting high. What's not so fun is being in a place in life you're not so happy with and doing nothing about it. I did the bare minimum, and that was that. For that reason, I had to kick it. Recently, I've been craving a spliff. Thinking about it every day. As I said, it's been more or less a year since I last smoked and, the first week or two aside, the cravings have really not been there at all. Firstly, I wondered if anyone else had experienced something similar, and secondly, are any of you occasional smokers? I'd like to be able to enjoy a spliff from time to time, maybe once a fortnight or so, when I can make an active and conscious decision that is what I would like to spend my time doing. But I've seen in the past how easily that can slip into an every day occurrence. I feel in a better place in life that I was when smoking daily. I've more discipline and am happier in asking more of myself on a daily basis, so do feel better equipped to moderate. I wonder if any of you find moderation possible?

For sure - I can recommend both the 10% Happier, and Calm apps. They offer free guided meditation courses for beginners you can try out before subscribing to get the full content. I believe other people have had success with the Headspace app too. There is also a book/audiobook I would really recommend called 10% Happier written by an ABC news anchor called Dan Harris who had a panic attack live on air. It chronicles his journey from a depressive striver who self medicated with drugs, through his various struggles and therapies and initial scepticism towards meditation, to the point where he now hosts a weekly podcast on the subject and has produced the related app. It resonated with me as this man was a high-achieving, 'normal', professional guy who still had his demons, and was equally sceptical of the wishy-washy new-age stuff that meditation is often bundled with. Of course you don't need either an app or guidance to meditate, but I believe the guided meditations are really useful - especially to begin with - as they will give you some insight as to what to do and what to expect. Anchoring your focus on your breathing for example, or a phrase I often bring to mind, 'sit, and know you are sitting'. Many people with little to no knowledge about mindfulness meditation assume it's all about clearing the mind and having no thoughts at all. Not only is this nearly impossible (as just a few sessions of meditation will likely show you!), but it is sort of the opposite of the purpose. At it's core (although there are a few different schools of thought on this which I won't bog you down with now!), mindfulness meditation is about bringing non-judgemental awareness to the present moment, whatever that present moment might consist of. For example, if I'm sat meditating and my hand feels tingly, I would bring my attention there and observe it internally. Not judge it, or push it away, just be with it. I think most people find body based meditations fairly intuitive. The same process is also applied to thoughts, which in my experience is less intuitive. Most of the time, we don't even realise we are lost in thought - the way we think about things is the only reality we are used to. The crux of mindfulness is to notice when you are thinking. This can be difficult at first, but it does get easier. A soft mental label like 'planning', 'judging', or 'reminiscing' etc. can be applied when we become able to identify the type of thought we are having. Even just the generic label 'thinking' is useful. You will continually get lost in thought - that is just how our minds work and is nothing to be annoyed about. Each time you are able to notice you are lost in thought and are able to bring your attention back to the breath or the body, you might like to think of that as a 'bicep curl for the brain'. It is those 'bicep curls' that allow our brains, over time, to notice more quickly when we are becoming lost in an unskillful thought spiral. And the simple act of noticing often leads to it stopping. In learning to recognise when we are thinking along with the content of those thoughts, they start to have less sway over us. We can learn to let thoughts come and go without getting attached to them, just like we would let the tingling of a hand come and go. It really highlights the impermanent nature of our thoughts (and our existence!) and allows us to bring a greater focus to our present-moment experience. I hope that reads clearly for you, although I think I babbled on a bit! It's difficult to think back about how much of this stuff made sense to me when I first started out. There has been an explosion of scientific research into the subject over recent years which has confirmed many benefits. Here's an NHS assessment of a mindfulness based CBT study carried out by Oxford University and the National Institute for Health Research - just one of many: https://www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/mindfulness-as-good-as-drugs-for-preventing-depression-relapse/ I could talk about this for hours, so I'll stop here. Hopefully that's saved you from too many unwanted Google cocks for now.

Dr Pepper or Pepsi Max is the go-to. Ice cold sprite on a summer's day. Chilled Coca-Cola from a can on a hangover. Honourable mentions to Lilt, San Pellegrino Lemon, and Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

If anyone hasn't given it a fair shot yet and is struggling with other forms of treatment, I'd really recommend mindfulness meditation. And by fair shot, i mean 10-20 mins a day for at least two weeks to a month. I do it first thing when I get in from work and haven't found it too difficult to incorporate into my daily routine. It really helped with my negative thinking. To the point where I would say I've not had a full-on depressive episode since I've been doing it regularly. I don't want to make it sound like a cure-all panacea though. It doesn't so much stop the thinking, rather it allows you to recognise when you're being tugged around by thoughts and create a bit of distance from them. It took me a couple of tries to establish it regularly. I think the first time I gave it two sessions before writing it off as pointless woo-woo. I read a bit more and listened to some podcasts on the subject which helped me develop a greater understanding of the process and point of it, which I think can often be confused. When it helped me to first truly, intuitively realise that 'I am not my thoughts', it was somewhat of a revelation. Just thought I'd share my two pennies worth. If anyone needs a little extra push to give it a go, I'd be happy to share what worked for me or provide a little more info. All the best to everyone commenting in and reading this thread. It's been said before, but it is really quite remarkable and touching.

I think the last 3 seasons as a whole haven't been as good as the previous ones, but there are still several individual episodes within each of those seasons that trump most other sitcoms currently airing. I think as they move away from Paddy's more and more, things inevitably become a little more hit-and-miss. I would expect the same this season, especially with less Dennis. The Simpsons jumped the shark so long ago now I think they've churned out more shite than good which is a pretty miserable thought.

I ****in love this show. Criminally underrated by so many who haven't seen it. I believe it will become the longest running live action sitcom in American history with this series which is remarkable considering its beginnings and the irredeemable nature of the characters. Looks like they're pushing the boat out with the plot-lines this season based on that trailer - hope it's up to the usual standard!

It's a definite red for Vardy. You've not been allowed to make challenges like that for a decade.

What the **** is vardy doing there

Spectacular finish 

Jonny Evans playing like Matt Heath

Mendy playing like ngolo kante

Zahore playing like Trevor Benjamin

I use Pocket Casts on Android. They do an iOS version too which I imagine is very similar but I've never used it. It is one of the very few paid apps I have - think it cost me about £2.50 - but it does the job I want with minimal fuss I get heaps of use from it.

Ooo yes please. Broadly comedy based podcasts: Elis James and John Robins (chat from their radio show), The Adam Buxton Podcast (light-hearted amusing chats with various interesting folk), Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (similar to Adam Buxton, but recorded live and Herring is a bit more of a tit), The Comedian's Comedian (in depth chats with comics about the craft). Mostly serious one-on-one chats: Waking up with Sam Harris (tackles a lot of weighty subjects and can be pretty dry, but the guy is lightspeed smart and subjects are often interesting), The Joe Rogan Experience (Sam Harris for dude-bros), WTF with Marc Maron (Curmudgeon comedian turned surprisingly incisive interviewer) 10% Happier (ABC news anchor Dan Harris interviews people about meditation - great for those interested in the subject but a little sceptical). Social science / pop psychology: Malcolm Gladwell Revisionist History (if you like his books, you'll like this), Radiolab, Freakonomics Radio.

Joined - Little Slugs (with no personality...) Can't seem to find a way to fit in any Man City players whilst retaining a good balance so I hope they crash and burn this year

Wes more or less throwing himself out of position there

A couple of bits of wallpaper in my house have started peeling in the hot weather. Nothing major, but it looks a bit shit. It's just lining paper that I've painted over. Do i just slap a bit of paste behind it and stick it back down, or is there a better way to go about it?

Good player and would suit us, but doubt he'd want to play second fiddle to Vardy as I understand he wants to play regularly. Could see him at Palace or Saints, or maybe even back at Burnley although they probably wouldn't put up the pound notes required.

Maddison looks like a graceful player with a deftness of touch. Very much looking forward to seeing him this season.

We've got three weeks of the transfer window left. It's absolutely ages. Christ alive you're a bunch of hysterical tarts. Log out, have a drink, and enjoy your evening

There is no evidence to suggest Gunn will automatically be first choice. In fact, on the saints website he's quoted as saying “I want to push for the number one spot straightaway" so he clearly recognises that too. Why do we deserve to lose money for signing a player we think will improve our squad? You can compare it to Lunin if you like, but I won't because 19 year old supposed wonder goalies don't grow on trees, £7.65m (not forgetting the 5m add-ons) is a proportionally much greater amount of money to Zorya Luhansk that £10m is to Liverpool, and the lure of Real Madrid is several degrees larger than that of Leicester City. On what basis do you say Ward's ceiling is bottom half PL? How much have you watched him play? How much have you watched Lunin play to think he's so much better? You could of course be right, but to say that's his ceiling seems baseless to me. 25 is still young for a keeper. Just because Liverpool may have been pleased to get rid, doesn't mean we should be any less pleased to get him. Bids don't just go in blind these days. Availability is discussed along with ball park figures, before an official bid goes in. We've bid that amount because we thought he was worth it. Whether it pays off is a different matter, but all things considered I think this is a positive move by the club.

A strong reserve keeper is necessary if you're a club with ambitions of competing across numerous tournaments. I'll think he first choice in both cups. Your question on fees is a tad misleading, due to the recent rapid inflation of player costs across the board. We've seen Gunn go for the same amount this window, and are about to see Alisson more or less double the previous record for Ederson, which was itself only set last season after Buffon had it for yonks. As as already been pointed out in this thread - you'll start to see both first choice keepers and backups moving for significantly inflated amounts from here on in, as we've already seen with outfield players. Obviously you'll have your own options on his quality as a player, but please calm down about the fee - I'm concerned you'll do yourself an injury