ArtieShaw

It sounds like she had a lot of fun in your home. I try to remember things like that when I’m feeling a loss like this.

hotel and meal vouchers

In the US? Not in the past decade. I usually get a link to an app that’s like shitty Expedia for local hotels. You can race to compete for rooms with other stranded passengers while your partner tries to re-book the flight for the next day. “I’m sorry - all flights are full until next Tuesday. We can put you on standby, but there’s a list of people ahead of you.”

This probably goes hand in hand with the trend of providing sleepable bench seating in airports. For awhile they were doing the anti-homeless park bench design. You’ll have to fight your fellow passengers for space, but it’s better than the floor at DIA or ORD.

masks in the cabin aren’t designed to keep you awake. They’re just designed to keep you alive.

In that situation I’m perfectly fine with that. More than perfectly fine, in fact. Sounds like a feature I’d pay extra for (don’t tell United).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Faye_Messner

Some people just like to fuck their shit up.

I’ve always called it “map brain,” and am fascinated to watch people who don’t have that ability.

For example, my husband has been to the library and he has been to the grocery store. From home, he can get to either without any trouble. But if he’s at the grocery store and needs to go to the library? He’ll need to go home first. He just can’t visualize the steps if it’s a new path. He’s a brilliant guy, but he has a foggy brain map.

I’m pretty much the opposite, but what I love about GPS is that they’ll tell you which lane is optimal for the next exit. If it’s a new route, that’s super helpful.

Oh, those eyes. You are about to be murdered.

This advice always gets downvoted, but it works for me. I’ll offer it for what it is.

When I lose something I’ll take a moment and politely ask the thieving house elves to give it back. Then I stop thinking or stressing about it. I usually find it within a day.

Having moved to Canada as a 23 y-o with a valuable (NAFTA approved) skill set that got me a quick but temporary work visa. Hahahahaha. No.

At the time, the process for landed immigrant status took 2 years and $1,500 in 1996 money (neither of which I had to spare).

My best advice is to look at the official immigration website. If you feel like there’s some special loophole, consult an immigration lawyer from Canada. It will be worth the money, even if they can simply spell out the reasons why you shouldn’t waste your time.

Also - good luck finding housing in Canada. It was bad in 1996 and hasn’t gotten better.

Lovely girl.

Mine has been diagnosed with murder in her heart. It’s pretty common though.

I had a professor whose ice breaker question was some version of, “what book do you want to write/planning to write?” Everyone seems to have one.

Might not be as relevant today after blogs perhaps cleared that out of peoples’ systems.

As for me, I cycle through mostly craft-based hobbies. Embroidery, leather work, candle making, 3D printing. I can make candles much faster than I can burn them, so that’s self-limiting. 3D printing is great to have the materials and skills for, and I’m slowly learning to design in Blender. But at the moment I only use it when I suddenly need to have a thing-a-ma-widget and remember: “hey! I’ve got a 3D printer. Of course I can make a valve stem cover!”

I’ll probably be back to leather crafts as we head into the fall and winter.

My friends in Italy have told me that it’s not normal to change your surname after marriage. They could be messing with me, though. They’re mildly evil.

I went from a “normal” western last name that was ethnically coded (like McCoy) to another ethnically coded name (like Nguyen, or - um - Fink).

My options were to keep a common and dull name that I share with people I don’t like, get a new one (that I’d need to spell to every customer service representative ever), hyphenate (HELL NO), or make up something new (which would involve a shitstorm among relatives on both sides.)

The only real options were A and B. I was undecided until we were leaving the county courthouse after we were married. He asked me “are you going to change your name?” He didn’t care. He thought it was a weird custom and was curious. And I realized - this is an opportunity. It’s a relatively easy and socially acceptable way to shed your old name.

I took it.

The new name honestly messes with quite a few people who are meeting me for the first time, and it’s interesting to see how they react. I’ve had people ask straightforward questions (I prefer that - there’s an easy and straightforward answer), get half-way through a straight-up racist comment before they stutter to a stop (helps me get to know them), get all the way through a racist comment (again - helpful to know where you stand), or just not comment at all (just fine by me).

I’ve found that it’s not the worst way to get a read on someone.

tldr: part spite, part novelty, part legitimately helpful when your profession means you need to meet strangers and get a quick read on their personality/potential biases/willingness to be straightforward when there’s no reason to be weird about it

it could use a couple of peepholes and an escape hatch. Otherwise, a solid fort.

This is a really nice idea. Which is refreshing, because my go-to is always something mildly disturbing but not too scary or criminal.

If I were going the wholesome route, I’d add a paper note to the USB or other digital storage, though. If I were to find a LaserDisc from 1990, that would be more or less unreadable without expending some significant effort.

But maybe future folk will have magical devices that can read cassettes, 8-tracks, or whatever.

I’m a big fan of concealing doll heads behind drywall. The local hobby shop used to sell half-heads (just the face and neck, including eyes), so that was my go-to.

It was also a hard to fix drywall job, so it looks a little janky. It’s almost guaranteed that the next owner rips out that section and finds her.

That’s some classic cat & wire deterrent advice. Needs to be repeated for every new member of the pride, but it works.

They’re keeping you safe!

Classic cat.

I’d only add the two gross things that mine did while they were kittens is that they enjoyed licking my nose and eyes, for reasons known only to cats. That’s a hell of an alarm clock.

Each state has different rules. Some allow “early voting” on selected days prior to the main election day. This allows people who can’t get time off from work on the main day to work it into their schedule.

Absentee or mail-in votes are also done early. Where allowed.

Votes aren’t counted until the main day.

They look so healthy! My favorite has a similar fur pattern.

We trapped her accidentally when she took shelter from a rainstorm in our garage. We only realized she was there when we heard her cries. About 5 months old, but tiny and infested with fleas. Her whiskers were so short and brittle. I loved her immediately, but looking back on pictures from that time now breaks my heart a little. Her life as a stray was clearly rough.

She was definitely an accidental cat for us, but she took to housecat living standards almost immediately.

She’s still doing well in her old age.