Not saying you ARE definitely neurodivergent, but difficulty with jokes and sarcasm to the extent you’re describing is not neurotypical behavior. Basically, no, the behavior is not normal, it’s atypical.

Regarding your longer comment, having rigid, unconventional, self-made rules is another behavior I see in a lot of the neurodivergent individuals I work with. Again, not saying you definitely are neurodivergent, but these are not neurotypical behaviors

Not exactly neurotypical behavior, particularly if it’s all the time. Working with the neurodivergent community, difficulty sensing jokes and sarcasm is something I see a lot. Just worked with a child who was pretty distraught with all the April fools jokes going on with their peers and not being able to tell what’s real or not

Well that’s scary… But I have also always heard you’re not supposed to bathe your dogs for a few days after application. Guess that’s one reason why but I imagine anything they rub themselves on might be a problem

I’ve had the same experience with the topical stuff. In-laws had never tried it, used it on one of their dogs, and ticks were just crawling off and dying within minutes. Was really gross but fascinating at the same time. Crazy that they thought for years all they could do was wash their dogs and pick ticks off.

In my family, Frontline was a regular purchase for our cats.

I was actually thinking of things like Frontline that you put on their skin. The way it was explained to me is it gets absorbed and essentially makes their blood poisonous to many parasites. I know there are oral versions of these medications too but I have no experience with them

This is how topical tick treatments for pets work, no?

I’m taking a sick day too. Except for the first time in nearly a decade, my current employer doesn’t require a doctor’s note for anything less than 3 days.

Honestly, most doctors just give you a note if you go in no matter what anyway, so I’ve always felt that it’s more about your workplace tracking you than trying to make sure you’re alright. The need for a doctor’s note doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Sucky, relatable situation, you got my sympathy

As a relatively recent Windows refugee, I want to share a recent success that has made me feel fully confident in never needing Windows again and fully feeling the Linux superiority.

I got Cyberpunk with all my previous mods running.

Maybe not a big deal for most people, but this was one thing that had kept me holding onto dual boot on my main device. Conversations online also kept making modding on Linux seem so impenetrable.

Then I decided to spend an afternoon figuring out modding games in general on Linux, and yeah parts of it was tough for me to figure out, but now I’m confident that anything I used to do on PC, I can probably do better on Linux.

I am ready to take up arms alongside the Weaponized Assault Penguin squad.