Your ISP controls what ports you can access using one or more firewalls and traffic control devices somewhere past the point where you connect to their network.

They can block whatever ports they want. The only way around this is to use a VPN, which creates a tunnel directly from your device to a remote server to route traffic. This still goes through your ISP and whatever firewall they have but does so over a port that they (probably) don’t block. They can’t see what ports your web or network requests are using so they can’t block it directly.

Depending on your technical know how and what type of router you have, you could set up a VPN at the device level (PC, phone, etc.) to send just requests from that device or at the router level which could send all traffic from your network through the VPN.

It’s important to remember when using a VPN that the VPN servers can still see (and potentially log) all of your traffic, even if your ISP cannot. You still need to find a VPN service that you trust to not monitor your traffic.

I think that sometimes the burnout is internal, rather than in relation to something external like my job. It’s also hard to separate the DGAF mood from other stressors like lack of sleep (something my video game habit has not helped with).

Burnout is absolutely real, though I had a vacation a few weeks ago so I think this is just due to not having enough downtime to myself over the weekend. It seems like the older I get the more distance that I need from people in order to recharge.

This week is starting out complicated. I have a ton to do for work and absolutely no motivation to do any of it, so I’m having to spend more willpower than I’m used to just to get started. I’m coming off of a bad weekend mood-wise and really feeling the “want to run away to a cave and live there forever” vibes, which is also taking effort to move past.

One thing that’s cheering me up is planning out the details of some house changes for August/September, which hopefully will end up going well. Visualizing the end result is giving me something positive to look forward to.

I would absolutely choose this mode without any shame. I already spend plenty of time in “Story Mode” difficulty; I don’t care to spend hours of frustration trying to hit just the right dodge pattern for a boss because I no longer have the finger dexterity that I did when I was 20.

Supergiant has always been great at music and soundtracks. I especially enjoyed the Bastion soundtrack.

I beat my head against Hollow Knight when it was released and set it aside after a while. I recently went back and somehow was able to get through it (I’m convinced they made it easier vs me getting better).

Make sure to explore and find all the story and world building tidbits. It’s definitely worth digging into, and I love some of the little side stories and character interactions as you go deeper into Hollownest.

Grinding through nightmare dungeons in Diablo 4, and because I fell down a YouTube tutorial hole I’m retrying Frostpunk. Hopefully I can stave off the guilt from slapping makeshift prosthetics on orphans long enough to finish it this time.

Modal or bamboo underwear - soft, stretchy, silky, the solution to everything I hated about cotton underwear. They are usually more expensive than Walmart (or other box store) brands and take more care when washing, but to me are definitely worth it. You can find them for fairly good prices on Amazon if you don’t want to splurge on name brands, but you have to do the research and check the reviews. You can get them in boxers, briefs, and thongs for men and even more styles for women.