It’s all about who the most important prophet is, and anyone that disagrees is wrong and we hate them.

Religion is wild.

It’s about to get absolutely stupid. Like I know everyone thinks things are bonkers now, but up until this week vendors I work with, that supply electronic equipment either partially or entirely manufactured in China, were still honoring quotes created weeks ago. This week we’re being told that quotes we’ve had in the works for weeks or months are now likely going to be pulled and not honored, and that was BEFORE this additional increase. We’re talking large spend that’s likely going to be delayed indefinitely, which will almost certainly shrink the entire GDP and cause mass layoffs, and we’ll be in a depression before we know it. I wish I was being hyperbolic, but I’m watching multi million dollar spends planned for the better part of a year evaporate because quotes won’t be honored.

1 point - I’ve never sent a postcard lol

A lot of Europe is like this and I think part of the difference is social expectation with dogs. Because it’s more normal for dogs to go places, and less normal to have private yards at your home for your dog to spend time in, people in Europe tend to spend more time training their dogs to be good members of society because they basically have to. If you have to walk your dog multiple times a day for potty instead of letting it into the back yard, you’re probably more likely to make sure your dog is leash trained properly.

I also think the USA (and Canada to some extent as you’ve kind of adopted many of our values, for good or ill) are more individualistic than many European countries. In America we train our pets because WE want them trained, not because of societal expectations about dog ownership. It’s truly telling when you walk a dog that is properly leash trained and get compliments about how well trained your dog is. That a dog can walk on leash without pulling is the exception, not the norm. (This happened yesterday to me, just walking around a park path.) It’s depressing. American individualism insists, “I don’t need to train my dog, he’s perfect being the cute little terrorist that he is, and if you don’t like it, that’s your problem.” As a result, dogs aren’t allowed most places in the US because entitled dog owners are the norm, not the minority. I love dogs, and I love taking my dog places, but if I owned a business of any kind I wouldn’t allow dogs because it’s not worth the headache here.

Fair. You asked where I would move to though lol. If it wasn’t for family and job tying me here in the US I would move to Longyearbyen in a heartbeat!

Svalbard

My husband and I split things by % of income. First, we made a list of all household bills that we both benefit from - this includes everything from the mortgage to Netflix. Everything. We put it on a shared spreadsheet in Google Drive so we can both access it and update it. The sheet includes the bill description, the amount of it, the due date, and the frequency (weekly, monthly, annually), with another column to deduce the monthly cost of all bills based on frequency.

Next up we made a section for income, and totaled out what we each take home every month. This is AFTER taxes and insurance, what actually lands in the bank accounts. Then we take the total of all the bills and figure out what % it is of our total combined income. For instance if the combined income is 5000/mo and the total for all bills is 3500, then it’s 70%. Lastly, we then have a spot that determines what 70% of each of our monthly incomes are. So let’s say you bring home 3500 and she brings 1500 - in this scenario you would pay 70% of 3500, or 2450 monthly, and she would pay 1050. If you get paid twice in a month, divide that by 2 and you know what you each should contribute per pay period.

If you setup the sheet with proper formulas, you can just update the bills as needed, and change the income as needed, and it will update contributions automatically. This is the simplest version, but you can also include savings and stuff if you want as well. We opened a joint checking account separate from our main ones when we moved in together, and we transfer the money to it for bills each time we’re paid, and all bills come out of that account. Our personal accounts are kept separate and private, because anything left after bills and savings is our own money to spend or save however we like.

Personally I think this is the most equitable way of doing things. We ensure that all bills are paid and that we both have a bit of spending money. We’ve been together for 20 years, and have kept this system for most of it!

Oh man I loved Dragonheart as a kid! I haven’t seen it in ages! Guess I know what I’m watching tonight!

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Oh I definitely wasn’t throwing shade at you! I love that your little buddy is all bundled up! I just hate the sentiment in general of people being snarky over dogs in clothes or shoes. Just had to get the rant out of my system is all!

Edit: dog tax

My response to “wolves don’t wear sweaters” is “apes don’t wear coats, yet here we are”. Both are equally stupid. Just because a distinct other species that evolved with/from/alongside doesn’t do something doesn’t mean we shouldn’t if it is advantageous for us.

I put boots on my dog in snow or the little turd gets snowballs frozen between his toes, chews them out, licking his feet, making them wet so snowballs attach bigger and faster, until his feet are ice balls. All this because it feels weird to him when the ice balls push on his toes so he removes them. He gets boots so the balls never form and he can run around like an idiot and enjoy the snow!

Depending on the type, my grocery store is anywhere from $5-9 per dozen. Baking is getting expensive yo!

Boy would I like to live in the America that you think exists lol. Nearly 20% of US Hospital beds are at religiously affiliated hospitals. According to the Catholic Health Association 1 in 7 patients in the US are cared for in a Catholic hospital

They’re not a “drop in the ocean” - they’re prolific and everywhere. This is especially a problem in rural locations where they are the ONLY hospital. Even places that are metropolitan outliers, like a place I lived in high school, have issues because it may be a 30-45min drive to another hospital, that may or may not be covered by your insurance.

You think you understand the problem, but it’s way bigger than you realize.

The irony is the state government in many instances has defacto prevented it in many states, even before the overturning of Roe. In a lot of states the governments passed laws making it so egregiously difficult, both logistically and financially, for small clinics to provide even simple abortion pill services, that every clinic was forced to close. This leaves only the larger hospitals, which are, you guessed it, religious institutions.

The long and short is, our country is a shit show. That said, I still do not think people should be able to deny medical care or government services (like marriage licenses) to others based on religious beliefs unless there is someone else immediately available to provide them instead.

I’m so confused here.

The right lanes are the slow lanes - we overtake/pass on the left, and you are advised to stay out of the left lane unless you are passing. This makes sense because you need to slow down to exit the freeway, or in case of emergency, you are closer to the side of the road to be able to do so.

How else are you supposed to deal with 4-way stops? In my state it’s first arrival goes first, however if two cars arrive at the same time the car on the right proceeds first. It’s not that complicated, and I’m not sure what’s wrong with it?

And I’m not at all sure what you’re referring to regarding coming from the right? Coming from the right in relation to where?

The problem is that in many areas there are no alternative institutions for someone to receive care. Choosing to go to another non-religious hospital is often not an option in many places. I live in a major metro and the majority of hospitals here are religiously affiliated. It’s not a matter of allowing a few random institutions to uphold their beliefs, it’s an institutional problem when a person cannot receive valid medical care because of the objections of a religion. If you live in a small town with a single hospital, and the next closest one is an 8 hour drive away, then that hospital should be required to provide all FDA approved treatments the doctors are physically capable of administering.

I’m all for allowing people to practice their religion however it best suits them to do so, until it negatively interferes with the lives of others. When your religion starts preventing people from accessing widely approved and safe healthcare, then your beliefs should not be protected. I don’t care if you’re Catholic, Muslim, or Pastafarian - you have no right to prevent someone from accessing healthcare because of your beliefs.

I definitely commiserate with this. This is almost certainly the biggest moral quandary in my life. I think in my lifetime there will be a tipping point where vegetarianism will be a large enough minority to make it personally viable for me, but for the moment I reduce consumption where I can. Breakfast sausage will be the hardest thing to give up for me - but I continuously try meat alternatives in hopes of finding something I like.

Many cats die every year from them actually, just like children. I am super vigilant about hiding mine out of the way so ours can’t see them to play with because I’m terrified of it happening. I really just need to replace them, but they’re the nice heavy wooden white ones and throwing them out seems like such a waste.

I agree with this, though part of it is that I am still grandfathered into the $7.99/mo original Google Music launch promo price. It is worth it to me not to see ads to continue paying for it. The current monthly premium at $14/mo for new users is insanity.

Part of why cats like you is probably because you don’t like them and seek them out. Most cats are wary of people directly trying to approach them without invitation or greeting. In general cats will find the person ignoring them the least threatening and most approachable.

It never fails that cats tend to flock toward the person that is allergic to them, because that person is typically entirely disinterested in them lol. Not being interested in the cats is likely why you make friends with them so quickly!