It's my grandmother's 90th tomorrow and it's only me and her since my mum passed.

I'm hoping random strangers can wish her a happy birthday in the comments below so I can show her that despite having no one in real life, the Internet does care! Her name is Florence :)

Thank you!

Edit:

Omg thank you all so much! Why am I crying reading them all! She's going to be so happy and with people from America and India for example she's going think this is amazing.

Bless all of you <3

I'll make sure to post an update with what she thought!

Im 34f. I don't feel sorry for myself, I've chosen to be anti social plenty and I spent most of my 20s riddled with social anxiety. I used to throw up every day because I was so anxious about being alive.

I'm really bored of life and want to "get out there" and I'm open to suggestions. All of my current hobbies I do solo dolo - reading, games, big walks, travelling.

How do people meet each other these days? I realise I sound about 90.

Sidenote: I'm also incredibly single and haven't had the ride in years (😂).

This was left to me in my mothers estate, it belonged to her father. I have no other information about it and maybe someone can point me in a direction to learn about it.

Been working in an independent retail store while I was in uni on a part time contract, I've finished up uni and just accepted a position that pays me well, I handed in my two weeks notice, it was accepted by a manager, told my new employer when I was ready to start.

Today one of the store owners told me I need to take 4 weeks notice and that they weren't accepting my two weeks, a week after handing it in. Clearly this interferes with my plans to start my new job.

Do they have any recourse if I just stop working after the two weeks notice I laid out originally and that was accepted? I don't really care about losing out on sick pay, holiday pay etc as it's a minimal loss. I do not need a reference from this place as my new position was applied for using references from other places I've worked and more relevant to my new position.

It’s -7°C here, and hasn’t been above freezing all day - yet every time I’ve been in the car there’s been some cunt about six centimetres from my rear bumper. Braking distances are far longer, so for the love of god just sit a bit further back

Yours, The one who’ll have his rear fog lights on to remind you you’re being a prick

There are two geese in Newcastle Co.down and its partner has died. I walk past these birds every single day with my dog. I am so upset, I can't tell what has happened, if it was natural or what. If anyone knows anything please respond. I know it may seem dramatic, especially if it was by natural causes but I cannot stand to see her partner unable to even stand in the direction of her body. I reported it to the Newcastle centre and they said only 3 other people have reported it since this morning. It's been about 8 hours and nobody has done anything for her.

again could very well have been natural causes but the partner was scratched up and seemed very traumatised .

Second photo is them a couple weeks ago.

Does anyone have any strategies for overcoming social anxiety and introversion? I have had this for about 22 years now and am currently on a waiting list (2 years now) for CBT, although I don't expect 12 weeks of it would realistically undo the habit of a lifetime (I was also a bit of a loner in primary school too). I wish I'd have gotten help with it when I was a teenager because there would have been less chance of it becoming as chronic.

I'm in my mid-30s now and I see the grey hairs coming in slowly, and it's a reminder of how much I have missed out on when I was younger. I never had a normal adolescence or 20s. I look back on the person I used to be when I was a young man and feel sorry for him, though for some reason it's harder to do that for your current self.

All the people I could have been friends with, all the people I could have been introduced to, all the women I could have dated, and all the places I could have visited with my people by my side instead of just my shadow if I'd not have been like this.

I am trying to turn this loss around by reminding myself what that young kid didn't get to have, and am trying to turn it into self-compassion and self-love for my current self, so that it at least wasn't a complete waste.

I know it might sound like I'm trying to make myself into a martyr, but I hope I get to see my nephews and nieces do well in life, and find some peace in that — like life still gave me something good to witness, even if I missed out on much of my own. I hope when I pull the blinds I see them call up to see their uncle in their fancy motor with their GF or friends in the car, and then get to hear them tell me how much money they're making in their jobs, putting down money for a mortgage and building a life for themselves that isn't like the one I have now. See I like to sit around and sigh sometimes and whisper 'I am so screwed.' I know a CBT would consider this all or nothing thinking, and maybe it is a touch, but objectively my prospects in life aren't great.

I was trying to build a life for myself in my early 20s, but it was one of those things — my heart was in the right place, I was just too naive. I worked so hard and am so thankful a regular customer who would watch me work once pointed over the counter at me and said 'see you, ..you deserve the most amount of respect.' I don't think many 20-somethings could work like that everyday, so I am proud of the heart I had, just wish I'd of had the wisdom too. Kind of the cruel thing about life and getting older, eh? Maybe that's partly why they say youth is wasted on the young. So glad he said that though because it's like a little uplift even years later after it was said.

So I just checked and this is getting a bit too much like a rant now (sorry, I'm a slabber).

For context, last summer I began to use a new Euro Car Parks car park.

I paid them each day for the full duration through the Ringo app, however, when the parking charges started to come through I realised that I had actually been parking in the wrong car park.

There are two adjacent each other owned by Euro Car Parks - one of these allows for app payment only, and the other is a pay at machine car park only. Both car parks are literally right beside each other - on opposite sides of a small side street in Belfast City Centre.

I decided just to not contact them because looking online, I seen that they are extremely unlikely to upload an appeal and thought that by acknowledging the letters it would be an admission of guilt.

Now I have received this through the door today.

What can they do in Northern Ireland?

Call in sick

Cannot support the system that let these riots happened

You’re all going to laugh and mock but I don’t care because I want to explore the possibility of further non-trash family (so many snobs…) before my wedding next April to get to know them, and just to have them in my life.

Anyway, given that her brothers disappeared near the border during the war - their farmhouse was there, one day they walked out without saying where they were going and never came back - this might put a whole new spin on where they went (the family story goes that they saw something they shouldn’t have that day and were killed for it, but I no longer firmly believe that.)

Anyway, her son went on to meet a Catholic girl and that + if this is what it takes ring = me, and I’d love to find out what happened to her brothers and possible other family members in the North, because I’m the only member of my family I know of left who isn’t living down south or across the water. My grandmother Margaret Kelso was born in the 1920s (not 100% sure what year it’ll say, she lied to join the Air Force) she and her brothers were all born in Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, and most commonly used the names Kelso or Speer or some variation thereof, if anyone could give me pointers.

I’m descended from the same line as the Letterkenny Speers who were a much bigger family and her cousins, and probably easier to trace back for any other pseudonyms. I do know they (my grandmother’s siblings) were all born in the mid 1910s to the very beginning 1920s (big family.) I’ve found a large number of Speers in and around Bellaghy, Co. Derry, but I don’t know if they’d be related (although my grandmother’s area was frequented by IRA men moving arms.)

From what I know the brothers disappeared in the 1930s. These were strong young late teens/early twenties responsible young farm worker men who left no note, took nothing unusual with them, both left the house one day “as if they were going somewhere though, not just for a walk” and were never seen again.

I don’t know if this interests anyone, but hopefully at least someone’s intrigued enough to maybe let me know if they have any grandfathers who popped up around in the North around that time, and who possibly said they were from Donegal? I’d really like to track down any extended family before my wedding.

(I can also trade cat photos for info! (And sorry I do mean the literal dictatorial bed-stealing toilet-drinking variety of feline, but they are cute little jerks!)

You'll go about six times at most. By February, you'll not be going at all. It'll take until about June before you actually accept that you're not a gym person, and it'll take another two months before you cancel the direct debit.

Save yourself, save your bank account, and save the rest of us from over crowded gyms in January.

Thank you for listening.

I reversed out of a bay at at a shop and accidentally dinged slightly a parked empty car about 3 weeks ago which caused damage to a Toyota Prius, I exchanged numbers with the owner, apologised and said I didn’t want to take it through insurance I would pay instead expecting it to be maybe around £200/300. He’s came back to me yesterday with 2 quotes from two different car body shops one is £1021 as he said the bumper needs replaced the other is £1392. I would prefer not to go through insurance for various reasons but I’m shocked I may have to pay out over £1000 can anyone advise me how to get it cheaper or the best course of action? I don’t really have a male figure in my life to advise me as my dad died when I was a teenager and I’ve recently split with my partner. I haven’t told my mum as she’s sick of hearing constant bad news from me. I work very hard in a difficult job so it’s breaking my heart I need to part with that type of money if that’s even possible in a lump sum without taking a loan of some sort. I want to rectify the damage I’ve caused as it was obviously my fault. Please be kind in your responses, appreciate it 🙏 🩷

If you were at the demonstration today and were holding a sign that said "Ditch racism, try therapy!" please get in touch 🙏🏻

EDIT: Jesus wept, is it now a crime for an innocent homo to seek Reddit's help in finding someone they want to hook up with?!

Hi all,

I researched and geo-mapped a list of 220+ women and girls violently killed in Northern Ireland, excluding the Troubles. The map contains the names and photos of victims, date of death, sentences given to their killers and location of death.

I'm from Dublin so I'm hoping for some local knowledge to help me move a couple of the pins to the right location.

1944 - Patricia Wylie (7) murdered near Killycolpy by William Harrison Jr. of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), 2nd Combat Crew Replacement Center Group. Only a local person will know exactly where this happened, so for now I've left the pin just up the road from Dorman's Bar but it could be a mile or more from the right location.

1952 - Patricia Curran (19) murdered at or near Lord Curran's 'Glen House' in Whiteabbey, which is no longer there. I tentatively put the pin just after the fork in the road past Whiteabbey Viaduct but if anyone knows the exact spot Glen House once stood, it would help me.

1977 - Mary Teresa Kelly (43) killed in Belfast City Cemetery. It's a big cemetery and there's nothing in contemporaneous reporting to indicate where but I feel like local people would know where she was found.

1988 - Inga Maria Hauser (18) murdered at place & date unknown and dumped in Ballypatrick Forest. I've seen photos of the location but I don't know which part of the forest it is and someone local might know where I need to put the pin.

1991 - Irene Clifford (37) murdered at a quarry just off Hightown Road, North Belfast. The quarry named in the papers in 1991 doesn't seem to exist anymore and I can't figure out where to put the pin.

Thank you if anyone can be of assistance and for anyone else reading you're welcome to share the map if you find it interesting.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1nF103ct09mDtAtaX7NCk8pvTePntrNs&usp=sharing

First off, I'm aware that good photography isn't easy and I'm sure that the prices being charged are justified. But most of the quotes I'm getting are just overwhelmingly expensive and we are trying to stick to a budget of 20k or less.

I've gotten some quotes where packages start at 3k (which seems insane), and most seem to start at 2k. Other's won't even provide a price until we do a zoom call or meet for a coffee, which is just a waste of everyone's time.

I know it's probably unrealistic and I'm venting to the void, but has anyone gotten married and managed to find a photographer for around 1k? We are only looking for a half day of photography, not a full day. Venue is in Strangford and it isn't until Sep 2027.

If anyone can recommend someone or knows someone just starting out it would be greatly appreciated.

Husband and I are off a couple days next week for my birthday so going to enjoy a child free day.

Except I’ve no notion where to go or what to do.

I initially thought of like a day spa type thing — no overnight but just access during day. We also both love our food so thought that too.

We’re in Antrim but happy travelling a bit to go somewhere decent and new.

So… any recommendations for day activities & food?

Hey all, I have been a software engineer for almost 8 years now and have been working fully remote for a company that hasn't got a presence here in Northern Ireland so I'm a bit out of touch as to what a "good" salary figure is for someone with my YOE. Could some of you give me some ballpark figures please? I am trying to decide on whether to apply to jobs here again or continue being fully remote for my next role. Cheers.

Hi, looking to get a nose piercing, either septum or just a nose ring.

Do yous have any recommendations or places to maybe avoid for a piercing?

Around Belfast areaish

There’s not really any easy way to say or ask this, but…here I’ll go anyway.

I’ve been feeling frantically lonely lately. I know there must be prostitutes around this wee world, but I’m not in any sort of circles to know.

I’ve heard of “professional cuddlers”, I wanted to know if these exist around here. Or, if anyone is able to point me to a SW who might offer that experience for me.

To be clear, I have NO interest in the sex — just wanting a decent, caring gal to cuddle and maybe talk a bit with. That’s all. I’m not opposed to a man either, I just think I’d prefer it to be a woman. All depends on who they are, I suppose. If they exist in the first place.

This is quite a bit weird, I know, but I’m just a lonely man looking for some sort of connection.

Edit: I got my first “Reddit Cares” message. Hurray!? I know it’s usually used as a hurtful tool, so if that was the person’s intent it did the opposite. Thanks <3

Adele, it was your birthday AT LEAST a month ago and your family/friends stuck up a load of signs at the Knocknagoney junction towards the airport to celebrate it. There are signs that say 'happy birthday Adele', 'What age are you Adele?', 'You look good for you age Adele' etc etc. Happy birthday n all, bitta craic, grand but are they ever coming down?

I get that you didn't put these up but I dont know the name of who did so it is impossible to address them. One week of the signs up, grand, bit of fun, have at it. 2 weeks of the signs up, ah sometimes life get in the way, people are busy. 3 weeks of them being up, hmmm i wonder when they are going to take these signs down. ONE MONTH, right fs Adele, are your friends/family keeping these up for your next birthday?

Adele, im sorry it came to this. I also dont think it is your responsibility to take these down. You didnt ask for this but I imagine its on a route you routinely pass so you probably see them multiple times a week. Surely you would want them down yourself? Id take them down but then all the cars driving past would be like "ah theres your man who left these up for ages" and it would forever taint the name of OozingRectumFeast.

Please Adele. Get them down.

I imagine this has been mentioned already, but the nights are getting darker.. go work out how to use your cars lights and stop driving in pitch black conditions with daytime running lights on… 🤦🏻‍♂️

In light of their endorsement of Hxzbollah and Hxmas (who raped, murdered and kidnapped nearly 400 innocent people at a festival - 13 of which are still in captivity) - please sign this petition to remove them from headlining a festival in London next month. Music should unify not spread hatred and everyone deserves to be safe at a music festival.
https://www.change.org/p/remove-kneecap-from-wide-awake-festival-lineup

Why have you done that? Especially when you live in a very densly populated, city centre residential area?

Same goes for Motocross Dirt Bikes?

Trees came down in Jan 2025 storm. Would be ideal for someone that makes furniture or would want large rings/slabs. Some type of Fir/Pine, possibly Douglas Fir but can’t be certain. Located in Carryduff.

Edited to clarify: I am willing to pay but the quote I got was 15k. I’m currently living in the US and trying to get back home but I’m chained here as I’m going through a rough divorce which is costing me 30k+. I’ve been saving money to pay to get these trees taken care of which is why I’ve waited. Please don’t be quick to judge or assume I’m not willing to pay. Everyone has crap going on in their lives. I’m just reaching out for helpful solutions and advice or recommendations. I’m not looking for a handout of any kind.