The problem is the inability to be attracted to “regular looking” people.

The problem is that you’re shallow. That’s a personality problem. Improve your personality until you see the people around you as more than objects.

I started watching Scavengers Reign recently on a suggestion from a friend. I normally don’t go for animated shows, but this one is really enjoyable for me. Calm & explorative.

If my choices are a z-wave/zigbee thermostat that connects to my HomeAssistant instance and a Raspberry Pi that I have to maintain, I’ll pick the z-wave one (and I did, 10 years ago. It’s been rock solid.)

For my smart devices I prefer devices that can’t send information over the internet no matter what. I don’t want to worry about my thermostat mining bitcoin for some dude in China.